Idolator

As the fight over preserving Tower Records' former Sunset Strip outpost drags on, complete with controversy over where, exactly, one develops black-and-white photos in Los Angeles, one pundit has taken to the pages of the Los Angeles Times to decry the development that's been demolishing architectural structures all over the city. And what better way to make people realize the case for preserving historic buildings—no matter how ugly they might be!—than by doing what Rob Long did, and reworking Martin Niemöller's poem about the Nazis into an ode to urban preservation:

When they tore down the old Bob Burns Restaurant on Wilshire, I said nothing, for I never really went to Bob Burns.

When they tore down the El Patio Burrito Burger in West L.A., I said nothing, for I mostly went to La Salsa. Also, they replaced it with a UPS Store, which I find convenient.

When they tore down the Nickodell's restaurant on Melrose to make a larger parking lot for Paramount Studios, I said nothing, for I worked at Paramount at the time and wanted a parking space closer to my office.

And when they came for the Tower Records on Sunset, I said nothing, for I use iTunes.

What follows is a ranty, bloggy, Andy Rooney-ish rant on both development and the decline of the recorded-music industry—and it would almost be readable were the stench of those first few paragraphs not wafting over it. (I stress the word almost.) But instead of trying to rescue his polemic by writing a gimmick-free ending, Long instead chose to close it out by—what else?—invoking Niemoller's meter again:

When they came for the Pioneer Chicken on Barrington, I said nothing, for I preferred Koo Koo Roo. When they came for Chasen's, I said nothing, for I thought, "Bristol Farms? I'll give it a try." And now they're coming for the Tower Records on Sunset. And there's nothing we can do about it.

But to the developers of the retail/office/gym complex that will eventually occupy that magical corner, I offer a warning: Someday they'll come for you. And there will be no one left to speak up. We'll all be at Pinkberry.

Don't It Always Seem To Go... [LAT; HT Ned Raggett]
[Photo: AP]