Twenty one years ago, iconic international store Tower Records set up shop on Wicklow Street in the heart of Dublin City Centre.
With a number of notable exceptions, namely No Limits from 2 Unlimited, ’93 was a pretty good year for music. Nirvana released what was to be their final album, In Utero. Smashing Pumpkins hit back with their second LP Siamese Dream, with Today becoming a defining song of its generation. Wu-Tang Clan unleashed their debut Enter the Wu-Tang, creating the blueprint for hardcore hip hop throughout the 90’s. The Sugarcubes split and Icelandic goddess Bjork released Debut. Depeche Mode became the first alternative British band to score a No. 1 in the US with Songs of Faith and Devotion, Suede released their debut self-titled LP, Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and a little known Manchester band called Oasis signed to Creation Records. U2 continued their world domination with the release of Zooropa and The Cranberries unveiled Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?
Wednesday February 19th, 2014, will see Tower Records Dublin open in the former Waterstones building at 7 Dawson Street. The Dawson Street move has allowed Tower Records to create a record store model from scratch, the same old indie vibe wrapped up in brand new, shiny triple gatefold packaging. This is a welcome and long sought after opportunity to create a space that will endeavour to keep our tens of thousands of regulars happy and attract a whole new audience. Tower Records isn’t ‘just another’ record store, it’s a labour of love, created by the store’s fifty management and staff who are passionate about their work, truly love what they sell, live and breathe the music, the movies, the books, the art, the people.
We’ve brought more than 100,000 CDs, DVDs and LPs to Dawson Street with us – chart hits, classic cuts, deleted albums, jazz standards, classical gems, imports, exports, if we don’t have it, we’ll do our best to get it. The vinyl area has been extended, the catalogue goes way deep and there’s decks at hand to try out your latest pre purchase. There will be a dedicated Classical Room, the only one of its kind in Ireland, a haven from a world of noise for classical aficionados.
Tower Records Dawson Street will house a huge collection of film – new releases, boxsets, TV series, kid’s movies, world cinema and so much more. Shelves of books, music, cinema, art and the biggest collection of Taschen books in Ireland. The Tower Café will be bigger and better and continue to pump out the coffee, the bacon butties and the tunes. Ireland’s longest surviving Hi-fi purveyors, Cloney Audio, will have an old school Listening Suite, where audiophiles can lie back in big armchairs and plug in, to experience their favourite music as it was meant to be heard. There will be a tablet store and phone repair shop in-house, heaps of hardware and racks of personal accessories, walls of headphones, gadgets and goodies to satisfy the most demanding of customers. We are working with Irish designers and artists to build a great collection of home-grown merchandise and art, giving the local creative community the opportunity to showcase their work and sell it on.
Tower Records Dawson Street is more than music. It will be an open and welcoming space programmed with weekly events: international bands, Irish acts, signings, film screenings, book readings, DJ sets, art exhibitions and more. The store will host family days, student nights, listening sessions, industry events and much more. Tower Records Dawson Street will be somewhere that people will be welcome to gather, to hang out, the old record store vibe in a new and engaging venue.
Tower Records is 100% Irish, 100% independent and we are proud to have lasted through the smooth and the rough over the last twenty one years. We remain focused on the customer and strive to provide a great retail experience powered by genuine passion and knowledge. We look forward to welcoming customers old and new to our brand new home.
Here goes another twenty one years.
