Towers was formed in 1983 when Ben Schorr fell off a bridge and subsequently spent six months in physical therapy. His recovery trainer was a gypsy named John Lertch who taught him how to play the ukulele. Shortly thereafter, Lertch's millionaire uncle, D. Thomas Kaplan, died, willing to John his entire fortune under the condition that he release a platinum album by his twenty-seventh birthday. Lertch wasted no time in assembling his ukulele prodigy, along with stage magicians Craig Woods and Greg Fowler, to form Towers.
