Adam writes… Welcome to The London Music Tours Film Festival. In this series, I’ll recommend a music movie for your viewing pleasure. In the post I’ll add a location map, a soundtrack/soundtrack highlights playlist and (where possible) any bits of trivia relating to the film.
These posts were curated in conjunction with members of The Monday Night Music History Club who recommended some of their favourite music films.
Empire Records
Director: Allan Moyle
Year: 1995
Starring: Liv Tyler, Renee Zellweger, Maxwell Caulfield
Awards: None. The film was a critical and commercial flop.
Imagine Breakfast Club but set in a record store. A gang of misfit teens find sanctuary working a record shop and salvation in the music. Sound cheesy? Well, it is. But also infectious and upbeat. Maxwell Caulfield is terrific as the narcissistic fading pop star Rex Manning. And, like Breakfast Club, there’s also a day to celebrate the movie. Rex Manning Day (the day in the movie when the dreadful Rex visits the store) is the 8th April.
Universally panned on its release, a piece in the The Guardian accentuated the positive 15 years after the movie came out:
“What saves this film is its unselfconsciously optimistic, goofy, principled spirit. Empire Records was about seeing the silver lining even in the most terrible, scrape-the-bottom-of-the-barrel times, forming unlikely friendships and finding family at work, challenging the financial security and mediocrity of signing on the dotted line and “selling out”, and riding out the highs and lows of an industry in its doom-and-gloom phase”
In short? Disaffected kids sticking it to The Man. I would probably have hated this movie if I’d been a teenager when it came out. But as an old geezer, I love its positivity.
Trailer
Soundtrack
Featuring Edwin Collins, The Cranberries, Evan Dando and more the soundtrack is a banger…
Trivia
A stage musical version of the movie was tried-out at Princeton, New Jersey in late 2024/ early 2025 with a view to a Broadway transfer.
The movie is set in Delaware but mainly filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina (see map below)
On Location
The shooting location of Empire Records in Wilmington, North Carolina…
London Music Tours
First time visitor to this site? Hello! My name’s Adam and I am an award-winning, qualified tour guide. I specialise in music-themed guided tours here in London. I’ve been a tour guide for 20+ years and I offer a regular schedule of walking tours throughout the year. For the full, up-to-date calendar click HERE.
Private tours are always available, too. Use the form at the bottom of this post to get in touch to book a private tour.
I’m qualified as a Westminster Guide (with distinction), a former visiting lecturer in tour guiding at the University of Westminster and an ex-national newspaper arts journalist . In my spare time I play guitar and sing and buy too many records. Drop me a line anytime using the form below.
To join one of my non-music-themed walking tours, visit the London Walks website HERE.
