More on Tower Records--Dave Remus
Mike Osegueda has a nice column in the Bee today about Tower Records.
It has some nice quotes from folks in there that sum up what will be missed about that place:
*The 'hang-out' side of it--a place to run into fellow music-freaks.
*The huge support of Local Music, esp. beginning with the Kat Jones Era (who's quoted in the column).
Whether the Tower Records of 2006 matches up with the golden memories we have
of the Tower of 1996 or 1986 or 1976…..
it does seem that their becoming the Big-Giant-Retail-Company may have had a little bit to do with the things people have not liked recently about Tower.
Big-Giant-Retail-Companies do not always favor long-term, years-long employees, even though those workers are sometimes the ones that bring customers back week after week after week.
One guy that I believe sold me more CD's, not by any pressure, but because of his immense knowledge of music was Dave Remus. Even if you didn't know him by name, there's a good chance he helped you. I can't even guess the amount of years he put into that store. He turned folks onto so much new music. He'd say, "Hey, if you like that, you might also wanna check out this."
Though it's been a few years since Dave worked at Tower, he has continued to share his knowledge and love of music through various shifts on local
radio like KFSR and Radio Bilingue . I think he still has his Tuesday night shifts on
KFSR which he calls "The Music Box".
Hats off to him and all the folks (there's a bunch of you, from members of the current staff to folks from long ago) who helped turn people on to new music through the years over at Tower.
tower sad
The world changes, that's normal enough. It's obviously not a question of 'oh no, now I won't be able to find the albums I want'---I can do that easily enough on Amazon or Ebay--even the obscure stuff. And yeah, Borders/Barnes&Noble are nice enough places to be, and Warehouse has a big used section. But if Piemonte's closed, it would be no comfort to know that I could still buy a sandwhich at Subway.
By the way, someone told me once but I can't 'member:
What NUMBER time-line-wise was Fresno's Tower? The first was Sac. The second SF. We were definately one of the first seven or so?.
One of you ex-employees gots to know.
dave & roy
yup, Dave was the go-to guy and always worth the wait for him helping others. i bought countless cd's & vinyl just on his suggestion and was never disappointed. Roy turned me on to Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs back in junior high, way before Wooly Bully. These guys know their stuff having lived and breathed music retail for decades. Feels now like a distant uncle that just passed away. Long ago were so many good times when i could count on a transcendent evening of shoptalk, happy discoveries and deep listening.
Yes, saying that Wherehouse
Yes, saying that Wherehouse can't be doing well was a bit of leap on my part, obviously I don't know their financial situation, but I know that all the rest of the Wherehouses around here crumbled real quick. The prices can't compare to the big-box stores, and they don't have that same warm music store environment. Take it from someone who worked in a Wherehouse for a three years.
That store might not be gone next month, but I doubt it'll be there two years from now unless they make some serious business advances. The music store is done. People aren't buying CDs anymore, and if they are, they're not paying $17.99 for them. Put a Circuit City or something up in Clovis and that Wherehouse will fail. It's sad, but true.
re: the article
...I was just reading the article, out of respect for Theramin's reference,
-and a somewhat interesting and comforting fact was not presented therein.
(It's a bit opposite of the 'tower's gone, Warehouse can't be doing good,' sentiment.)
-A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to the manager of 'Warehouse,' and one of the staff, -and was telling them how cool the place was, and wondered how business was holding up in general.
-Not only are they apparently doing quite well, but they may be openning up another store soon.(?!)
Borders also is not to be sneezed at, (though Warehouse is excellent for the low prices of the 'like new,' used stuff., -Borders probably has the cheapest 'new,' and tons of 'nice price,' releases.
Don't play the Don McClane ditty yet, fellas, there's plenty of good tunage for sale at good prices in town.
Time heals all wounds.
(Time also wounds all heels, too.)
Tower Records RIP
as an ex Tower employee, I will agree, Dave was the man that knew everything about music, even more than Roy.
I remember Tower Records 1976 , with it's back room of 8 Track Tapes.
but for me it's Tower 1989 / 1990 before it moved to it's other location. That place was like a mellow party on the weekend's especially Saturday Night, if not on Friday night.
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