I'm a sales clerk at Tower Records.

[drumwolf]

Ask me anything (and help me get through the 700 Club).

[bbernardini]

1. Why do people buy such godawful crap?!?

[drumwolf]

17. For the same reason they voted for such a godawful crap president

and consider clowns like O'Reilly and Coulter to be legitimate political pundits, and think Saddam was directly responsible for 9/11.

[Richardo]

2. How's "Smile" selling?

And for how much?

[drumwolf]

11. I don't know, but I'm very curious to find out.

I only work part-time on the weekends (Friday through Sunday), and "Smile" came out just yesterday. I'll find out when I go back to work on Friday, I guess.

[Throckmorton]

3. Does this shirt make me look fat?

[drumwolf]

16. You look maaah-velous.

Just maaaah-velous. :D

[Gothic Sponge]

4. How much is this Supertramp 8 track tape?

[drumwolf]

21. Don't know, but

most cassette tapes actually sell for $3.99 individually or 3 for $10.

[Gothic Sponge]

22. cassette tapes?

I don't use any of that "futuristic technology!"

:silly:

[drumwolf]

25. *LOL*

You'd be amazed at how many people to this day don't use any of that "futuristic technology." As in, many of them (mostly the older customers) don't have Internet access or sometimes even a CD player for that matter.

[faithnotgreed]

28. wheres my copy of "even in the quietest moments"?

didnt i loan it to you in 1978?

[Lady Effingbroke]

40. LOL! I had that album on 8 track in 1979!

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. Are in-store appearences...

as bad for you guys as the are for band tour managers?

Note: I used to be a tour manager. I hated in-stores, but knew why we were there.

[drumwolf]

32. I've never worked at Tower during an in-store where the artist performed

so I couldn't tell you about that. But I have worked at Tower during in-store appearances where the artist just signed autographs.

It was no big deal, from what I can remember -- yeah, long lines of customers filling the aisles waiting for autographs. I've never heard any stories about in-stores being major horror stories for management. But I'm sure it's a huge headache for the loss-prevention/security folks because the huge lines of fans make it a prime opportunity for individuals to try to steal stuff.

[Wickerman]

6. what artist do you hope never records another slab?

and why do you hate stocking their records so much?

[drumwolf]

23. Jessica Simpson.

Not because of her music, which I've never even heard to my knowledge. And I'm guessing that I wouldn't dislike her music any more than I dislike a lot of other stuff.

But she is the one artist whose records I dislike stocking the most. As a straight male, I don't find her attractive in the slightest. I loathe looking at her schlocky Barbie-doll bimbo mug on every cover, and her entire personality makes me ill.

Britney would come in a reasonably close second, for the same reasons.

[Wickerman]

27. I like you and your way of thinking

[bif]

7. What kind of discount do you get?

Do you like it absolutely silent when you get home?

[drumwolf]

24. I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's five percent above cost.

And working at Tower does make me jaded about music, but not to the point where I don't like to listen to music when I'm at home.

That's mainly because the music that I listen to at home isn't the same as the music that I sell and hear in the store. At home right now i mostly listen to a lot of techno/electronica, dub reggae, old psych and kraut-rock as well as old-school punk -- none of which I hear in-store or sell to customers.

[Pax Argent]

42. Then I know you got a copy of Dub Side of the Moon

I heard this for the first time at Tower a month or so ago and thought it was great. When I got it home it was even better.

Used to have a partner about ten years back who worked there. Do you guys still make side cash selling "Cleans" to the local used CD stores?

[drumwolf]

50. Haven't heard "Dub Side of the Moon"

We have it in our store, but I haven't actually heard it. Thanks for the recommendation.

As far as the side cash, I'm sure my co-workers still do sell promo CDs from Tower to used CD stores for cash, even though doing so is grounds for termination. I know I sure as hell did all the time during my first Tower stint a decade ago (I worked at Tower in the mid-'90s, left for nearly a decade and worked in the dot-com industry, and then returned to Tower just this summer).

I don't engage in the practice this time around, mainly because the promos I see at my store are worthless crap. And now that everyone can just digitize and/or download their music, I would think everyone and their mother nowadays is trying to sell CD's and it's probably even harder to get money for just any ole' CD now than it would have been a decade ago.

[sundog]

8. Where? I worked at one in Annapolis, MD when I was in college.

Do they search you when you leave for the day?

[drumwolf]

15. I'm in San Francisco.

There are three Tower stores in that city, and I work at the one in North Beach near Fisherman's Wharf.

And yes, they always search you when you leave to go home. Not a major search, but a very quick perfunctory look in your bags that doesn't take more than ten seconds.

[ronnykmarshall]

30. I like that Tower ..

It's set up like the one on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood.

I used to shop at the one on Market in the Castro.

Do you ever get people looking for 45's?

[drumwolf]

31. maybe every once per two blue moons, if ever

We actually do have a decent (although obviously not big) vinyl selection and I'm sure we do sell some 45's (haven't looked).

But I would probably tell anyone looking for 45's to try Amoeba Records on Haight near GG Park, and I'm sure most people looking for them probably do so already to begin with.

[redqueen]

9. Do you have Street Signs by Ozomatli?

And why was it so friggin hard to find down here? :grr:

[drumwolf]

20. Yes. And it sells respectably, too.

I couldn't tell you why you couldn't get it in Dallas. I'm in San Francisco, and there's certainly going to be more people who'd want to buy Ozomatli in my hometown than you'd find in, say, Iowa City.

[Jokerman]

10. I'm looking for a song...

I don't know the artist, title, or any of the lyrics but it goes something like this:


daa de da da de dum

Can you help me?

[drumwolf]

18. you forgot to mention:

"and I hear it on the radio"

By the way, I don't listen to the radio.

[ET Awful]

12. How many pre-sales of F9/11 have you sold?

n/t

[drumwolf]

37. none, but that's only because

from what I can tell, our customers rarely ever make pre-sale orders on anything in general. They're inclined to just wait until it comes out.

I've only made one pre-sale order, for "The Passion of the Christ" soundtrack.

[ET Awful]

49. LOL. . . why the hell would anyone want that soundtrack?

or Score really, a soundtrack for the Passion would just be . . . ewwwwwwww.

[Phillycat]

13. Tell me your favorite "I'm looking for" story.

"I'm looking for an album. The cover is blue."

"I'm looking for a song. It has love in the title."

"I'm looking for a song. I heard it in my car on the way to the gym."

:eyes:

I feel your pain.

[pagerbear]

14. Can I get free or discounted stuff?

I can make it worth your while! ;-)

[drumwolf]

45. You can make it worth my while?

You mean you can arrange for Jennifer Aniston to, er, give me pleasure? :evilgrin:

[Mojambo]

19. Can you get me a job? n/t

[Tom Kitten]

26. Do you get lots of groupies?

being in the music business and all...

[Tom Kitten]

39. well you said ask me anything! nt

[drumwolf]

44. I did!

I didn't say I would answer it, though. :evilgrin: Seriously, I wasn't blowing you off, I just don't have time to answer every question right away. In fact, I just got back home a few minutes ago from my calculus class, but I'm now back to answer questions.

No, I don't get any groupies. :evilfrown: Because of the part of town my store is in, most of my customers are tourists and yuppies, not hipsters. And as a lowly sales clerk, I'm not considered as being "in the music business," but as a slacker working a shit retail job, who is basically just a step above flipping burgers.

I'm sure I'd get more "groupies" if I worked at Amoeba Records, which I've already mentioned elsewhere on this thread. It's considered much more hip and desirable to work at than Tower, and it's more geared towards fans of indie and/or eclectic sounds.

[LincolnMcGrath]

29. Do you have any DOWN?

[drumwolf]

33. yes, we do.

I've never heard them, though. I assume they're either metal or hardcore, although I don't really know if there's really a distinction between the two genres nowadays.

I don't listen to any new bands from either genre, even though I grew up on both metal and hardcore punk from the '80s. Slayer/ Metallica/ Maiden/ Priest on the one hand, Bad Brains/ GBH/ Subhumans on the other, I love 'em both. But I really don't care for any of the new metal or hardcore out today.

[LincolnMcGrath]

35. Not new; Released 1995

Give it a listen. You might like it.

[argyl]

34. How's "The Revolution Starts...Now" selling in the Bay Area?

[drumwolf]

36. You mean the new Steve Earle?

It's not really selling at all in my store as far as I can tell. We do have it in stock at our store, but I don't remember ringing up any purchases of it.

In general, the entire country music genre isn't a big seller at my store.

[mvd]

38. Did you get Bonnie McKee's Trouble in?

I just ordered it at the Circuit City website, but I'm curious.

It sounds like you like different music than I do, but do you comment when you think someone bought a great CD?

[drumwolf]

46. I haven't seen it.

I never heard of her until you asked. I took a look at her album cover on the Internet and I've never seen it in our store.

If someone buys a CD that I really dig a lot, sometimes I'll comment if I'm in the mood. More often, though, I don't like getting in too deep conversation with customers if I'm on register.

[getoffmytrain]

41. Where...

Where can I get an acoustic version of 'Who Far is Heaven' by Los Lonely Boys? (heard it on the radio the other day)

[MrScorpio]

43. How much is a copy os the Bobby Hughes Combination Nhu Golden Era?

I'm looking to see if you got it in stock

[MagicBoy]

47. Family question

Why is it the Ramones keep dying off in very painful ways and yet the Jacksons live on ...

???

[drumwolf]

48. Because, in the words of wise man Billy Joel, "only the good die young..."

However, I could make the case that Michael Jackson isn't so much alive as he is undead, and that he's enduring a living death in a very painful way.

I always say that Michael Jackson and Keith Richards are the living dead of pop music.