Tower Records

[sofasurfer]

The Picadilly one is owned by Richard Branson so I dunno what's happening there.

Really?So Branson has both Virgin and Tower records?I need confirmation of this as I find it hard to believe that they would sell one of their stores to a rival.

[spanx]

I'm not surprised. The last time I went in there (admittedly a couple of years back) I had to remortgage my house to buy a CD. Awful awful shop.

[Pandy]

Yeah, I second that. Its truly a mess. And the aisles between each section are so bloody small, its impossible to walk through when its crowded.

[bingowings]

I thought they folded years ago anyway. The Tower Records in Glasgow has been empty for years now. They really ought to do something with that building. It's in a prime location.... to snipe down the neds outside McDonalds.

yeah - it was a decent shop, when all the floors were open. it died a slow, sucking chest-wound of a death when they closed the top few depts. plus all the staff with any knowledge of music jumped ship.

good indie/alternative sections. a reasonable selection of mags and fanzines - got all my copies of 'Bugs and Drugs' from there, for which i will be forever grateful.

as for sniping the neds outside McDonalds - seconded - bunch o' fuckers. as if that part of the street wasn't black enough without those goons spilling out and dropping all their fucking litter. herd them all under the bridge, and switch off the extractor fans then watch them all turn blue from the diesel fumes.

[Unofficial Who]

I'd only ever seen Tower Records in Crazy Taxi

[Guest Cecil McBee]

'awful' shop if all you were ever after was chart bollocks..

Tower Records was FAR superior to HMV and Virgin. They stocked hordes of stunning LPs lesser chains would never stock.

If you're a funk/jazz lover (for example) you'll be well aware of the treasures only the Japanese market holds..some choice CDs that were only stocked regularly in the UK by Tower. The reggae dept (unlike the avarage high street store) actually had music reggae lovers could enjoy..

Tower employed some buyers who actually knew a little about music, something no other chain has.

[idiwa]

yeah - it was a decent shop, when all the floors were open. it died a slow, sucking chest-wound of a death when they closed the top few depts. plus all the staff with any knowledge of music jumped ship.

I used to work in the Glasgow store, we used to get some good shit in but the sodding management were a right buncha muppets. Like a few said above Tower was getting a shitty end of the stick as far as its buying power in the UK...so no big ass discounts when buying in chart stock.

I know when i was there (about 5-6 years ago) we were all pissed off at the fact that we could not order in stock or get what we knew the punters wanted cos the budgets were always fucked. (this being due to them ignoring the shop floor staff and buying in 80+ units of the Avengers soundtrack....ack wankers!)

The main good thing about the store thou was the customers, very few neds and most people had respect for us... whilst HMV, Virgin Fopp is just full of shelf stackers.

As for blaming CD sales and downloading muzaaak of the net: Bolloxs... down to mis-management on a grande scale

[f. grimes]

Not contributing much, I know - but no-one <cough> 'backed-up' <cough cough> in Ye Olde Days™ of cassette, did they? Nooooo...

Poor music biz execs...

;)

[bomber]

Tower used to be great for import CD's but they've been pretty dire over the last 5 years or so and very over-priced.

Is "Our Price" still going? All the ones near me seem to have closed...

[Rex Grossman]

Tower used to be great for import CD's but they've been pretty dire over the last 5 years or so and very over-priced.

Is "Our Price" still going? All the ones near me seem to have closed...

Didn't they become V Shops/Virgin Megastore Expresses?

[idiwa]

Our Price were always part of the Virgin group, then some Aussie guy bought them up and closed them down.....dunno why. I think the only OurPrice now are at airports and railway stations.

[furq]

Really?So Branson has both Virgin and Tower records?I need confirmation of this as I find it hard to believe that they would sell one of their stores to a rival.

Tower Records stopped trading in the UK last year, I believe.

The Virgin group* took over the property at Picc Circus but kept the Tower name going for some unknown reason.

* Branson's lot, not S Club 8. Huh.

[Deltaflux]

The Tower Records in Birmingham was pretty dire from the moment it opened. Occasionally you could get things that weren't availale in HMV or Virgin but you always paid through the nose for the privilege.

I suspect Amazon is more to blame for Tower's downfall than piracy. I find it far easier to get hold of 'rare' CDs that way.

[MrPogo]

Tower Records stopped trading in the UK last year, I believe.

The Virgin group* took over the property at Picc Circus but kept the Tower name going for some unknown reason.

* Branson's lot, not S Club 8. Huh.

Having a Virgin Megastore about 20 yards away was probably one reason for not rebranding it as another one of those.

[Beertiger]

Fancy that!

Caption on that story: "The music industry blames downloading for falling CD sales"

Article elsewhere on the website: "UK album sales 'reach new high'"

The BBC website is officially a joke. They do no research and just chop up press releases.

See they couldn't even be bothered to check their own archives to see that CD sales were up.

Stupid piranha haters.

[footle]

Tower Records, Piccadilly. Tonight.

Copy of Freezepop Forever.

:-) :-) :-)