I just received the CD/Blu-Ray set of The Yes Album and I’m awaiting a CD of Buffalo’s Volcanic Rock (which is a great early ‘70s hard rock lost classic if you are unfamiliar with it). So they seem to be stocking more CDs now as those aren’t particularly easy to find titles. They also had the King Crimson boxes for decent prices, was thinking of grabbing one of those at some point. Regardless, the service was quick and I found things I’ve been meaning to purchase so I’m happy. I only ever went to the Tower in Burlington, MA when I was much younger and had no income, but it was the only place that I ever saw brand new CDs by Free and that made it cool in my book, so it’s great to be able to purchase from Tower again, even if it’s not the same. It would be great if they open up a physical store or two at some point...
I enjoyed documentary but never made it to actual Tower Store. Their site is good but most of the stuff you can find amazon or anywhere else for most part. I hope it does well.
I just browsed the site. I didn’t see any information as to what version of LP you would be purchasing. I didn’t see any UPC codes, product codes, registered dates of release, credit information. Maybe I just missed it, but, I looked for a while trying to find any identifying information.
Tower Records on the Sunset Strip during the 70’s was freaking awesome and by itself was worth a trip over the hill from The Valley into Hollywood. Going to the Hollywood Palladium? Automatic stop at Tower. Going to the Roxy? Automatic stop at Tower. Brian Wilson signed a “Pet Sounds” for me there. Huge sentimental attachment to that place. Thanks for the heads up.
I've been waiting since early November for my online purchase to ship. Argh! I hope that the store can get its act together.
Nope...a quick google search found this video: Tower Records Documentary I distinctly remember finding the Heart Never/These Dreams UK CD single there. I did frequent that HMV as well.
Are you serious? Tower Records is back, but only for vinyl records. What, did all the hipsters get together and petition for this? It's cool that they're back in business, but offer CDs, SACDs, cassettes and other formats, not just vinyl to appease the hipsters.
Same here. I don't understand this "vinyl resurgence." It's just a bunch of long time hobbyists and hipsters.
The moderators here might want to spin off this thread into a more general one about record stores in Tokyo, Japan if we start going up that avenue. On my first trip to Japan in December 2005 (I was covering F.I.F.A.'s Club World Championship.), I dumped all remnant copies of the previous issues of "Incendiary Words", my soccer zine, into a kiosk on the zine floor of this Tower store. I think it was on the 3rd floor. (I had the current issue of "Incendiary Words" with me as well, but I was trying to get ¥100 for it.) As someone who has brought lots of artifacts back to the U.S.A. from Japan, including CDs which were gifted to my dad [R.I.P.], it is much easier doing so in 2020. Now, when you are directed to the pre-Customs kiosk, the main query is "Did you spend more than $800 on items you are bringing into the U.S.A.?" Back then though, you had to break out what you bought. If you kept your store receipts {doh}, there are a number of World-Wide Web sites which convert Yen to Dollars, and you could identify them as Compact Discs = Records = DVDs = That would be annotated on the (paper) Customs form you submitted to the U.S. Customs agent. {Handy hint: Compact Disc and DVD cases are fairly cheap to buy in the U.S.A. Breaking down the Japanese packaging into one bag for the physical media, and a separate bag for the cover | packaging will be much less weighty and bulky in your carry-on baggage. Send the Japanese cases to recycling. } One of the significant recommendations mentioned by Steve Schultz in his "Tokyo Damage Report" W-WW site was that there were eight Disc Union shops in Shinjuku, each selling a different genré of music. There was even a shop with nothing but 'noise' releases. As far as walking from Shinjuku to Shibuya, errr..., it is a seven minute subway ride, ¥170. It may be a beautiful walk, but if you are toting a bag with an amount of CDs and records in it, it might get tiring and exhaustive. If you arrive via Tokyo Metro, amidst the labyrinth underneath Shibuya Station, the exit closest to Tower Records is B1. (Walk west toward the overpass.)
Loved the actual stores...first saw the big store in LA in 76 and later when moved to Nashville, TN delighted one came here later.
I just happen to purchase a couple records from the website the other day and they were shipped out almost instantly. The prices were cheaper than most places and the standard 2-8 day shipping option was like $3. I'm hoping the records arrive fully intact with no issues. If so, it could become one of my go-to sites.
Here are photographs of pamphlets I grommed from the Disc Union Jazz store in Shinjuku in December 2011. This was a shop where I bought my dad [R.I.P.] some only-in-Japan CD releases. (I was again covering the F.I.F.A. Club World Cup.)
Tower Records in Shibuya is STILL a must-go destination. Really fun and always find some things. Have never gone into Tokyo without making time for it. And I got Tower Records plastic record-sized bags there, which I double to make them stronger. And then I just keep using them at every record store I visit (now in 10 different countries!). And people seem to love seeing those yellow and red bags.
I would very much like to visit the store in Japan, I spent my teenager years about a couple blocks from the original in Sacramento. Would be a trip as we used to say. jb