With DVDs and CDs among the most popular Christmas gifts each year, what are people buying and do they care what single makes the number one slot for Christmas? Tony Clayton-Lea spends a day in a record store to find out.
10 a.m. Clearly, the entire record-buying population of Dublin is suffering from a hangover, as there are only a few people absent-mindedly shuffling through the aisles of Tower Records' (Wicklow Street) CD racks. I voice my concern to the store's marketing manager Seamus Carroll, but he assures me the day will get busier with each passing half hour. Decide to go for the first of several coffees of the day, but not before I flick through a few CD racks. Pick up a copy of Microdisney's Greatest Hits. Strolling through the Metal section, I decide not to buy a copy of a CD by a band called Impaled Nazarene, what with the season that's in it.
10.45 a.m. Although the store still doesn't look as busy as I'd expected, there are quite a few more browsers in. What the customers don't know is that Tower Records' staff members have been beavering away for hours, stocking up and preparing for the CD-buying frenzy. Over in the rock/pop section, Lisa Keogh (17) from Stepaside is studiously looking at the Phantom indie rock compilation. Her favourite bands include Goo Goo Dolls, Iron Maiden, Cradle of Filth, she tells me, but she also buys Irish music by the likes of "Damian Rice, The Frames, Gemma Hayes - the more mellow stuff. At Christmas time, I generally look for compilations, which I'd buy for friends. The Phantom compilation is one of the better ones around." Does she keep an eye out for the Christmas number one? "I don't care what's going to be Number One this year," Lisa replies. "I don't look towards the pop charts at all; I don't like them - they're far too manufactured."
11.45 a.m. The store is now beginning to look moderately hectic. There is more activity in all areas on the two floors from people who want to buy CDs/DVDs, and the like, and people who want to steal them. "Shoplifting is far worse at this time of year because there's a greater market for them," says Tower's retail manager, Clive Branagan. "We try to resolve it with increased floor presence, as we don't agree with the big guy and a radio on the front door - we're the kind of store that likes to invite people in. All members of Tower Records staff are aware of shoplifting techniques, anyway." Even at this relatively early hour of the day, however, people's smiles are starting to freeze. General manager of the two Tower Records stores in Dublin, Glaswegian Melissa McRae, mentions that the music scene in Dublin is "totally vibrant", a remark borne out by the amount of Irish music sold on the premises.
12.15 p.m. James McLaughlin (51), from Clontarf is browsing through the classical/opera section. He's the kind of music lover who purchases CDs throughout the year, so the record store experience isn't exactly new to him. "If there was a record that was well reviewed during the year, I'd buy it as a present for somebody around Christmas," he says. James's interests in music are largely opera and classical: "Mainly Italian opera - Donizetti, Verdi. I've just bought a rare opera record that was reviewed in Gramophone magazine - Auber; Wexford did one of his operas this year." Does he have any interest in the pop music charts? "I might turn the television on and see something, but I've no interest in it, really." And what about the Xmas number one - is it going to be Girls Aloud or One True Voice? "I've no interest; maybe when I was younger, but not anymore."
David George has been working in the classical department in Tower for over two years. As the Philip Glass Violin Concertos are playing, he tells me that there's nothing typical in classical music that people buy at this time of year. "What you're looking at are basically stocking fillers - they're not the main presents people buy, and I think it's similar with pop/rock. However, there are box sets, which can be over €100, so that could be a main present."
1 p.m. It might be lunchtime but people are thronging Tower. Even the rather less-frequented sections on the first floor (jazz/trad/country/books) are pulling in the customers. Two American ladies are deciding which Chieftains CDs they might buy. These sections are undoubtedly for the more mature, but just as discerning, customer, with more beards than I would have given credit for. Someone who doesn't have a hint of a beard is Stephanie (32). From Liverpool, she has been living in Stoneybatter for the past five years, and finds record stores in general "a bit overwhelming, a bit labyrinthine". She says she doesn't come into record shops that often, and more than likely only when she has something specific in mind. "I know pretty much exactly what I'm looking for - I'm not a big browser as a shopper, anyway. I like all sorts - from contemporary mainstream stuff to Latin and jazz music."
What does she buy for other people around Christmas time? "I keep an eye on things through the IMC gigs," she says. "My father likes jazz, so I think I might buy him the Latin Cool - Essential Latin Jazz CD." In what is fast becoming an obvious trend amongst anyone over the age of 15, Stephanie cares little about what pop act will be Number One at Christmas. "I'd watch Top Of The Pops for fun, but I wouldn't actually care, or remember, from week to week who is Number One. I'm probably a bit too old for that at this stage."
3 p.m. The atmosphere in Tower Records is now officially surreal: as people mill in, about and around the aisles on the ground and first floors, a melting pot of music can be heard: Haydn's Nelson Messe segues into Junior Walker & The All Stars' Roadrunner, which in turn blends into Grandaddy's Crystal Lake.
Curiously, there is one music section of the store that remains unruffled by the throng, and that's the dance/hip hop/vinyl area. I take this to be a good thing, as clearly all the DJs and clubbers are still in bed. I browse the CD racks again.
Buy the debut album by Busted (for my son, you understand) and Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding. I quickly realise I have bought more CDs in five hours than I have bought in five months.
4 p.m. Oh, goodie - the clubbers and DJs have woken up and have made their way into the back of the store. The area is now, as they probably say in all the best clubs, "buzzin'". Before they all start to slope off again, I talk to twentysomething Gareth O'Carroll, from Enniskerry, Co Wicklow. This man buys records throughout the year: "I'm one of these people that go into a record shop and doesn't leave empty-handed. I spend far too much money on music!" Gareth's preferences extend towards jazz and electronica: "Boards of Canada, Tortoise, Autechre - basically a wide spectrum. I also like some Irish stuff such as Automata and Tyco Brahe." What's he looking for today? "I've just come in for a wander, but I'm looking at the John Peel Fabric Live compilation. I tend to buy for myself, because usually I wouldn't buy for anyone else unless I really knew what they wanted." And now for the Christmas Number One question: could he be bothered? "I've no interest at all, and none of my friends have, either."
4.30 p.m. I leave the heaving mass of consumerism that is Tower Records, Wicklow Street, and come to the following two conclusions: first, no real music fan is concerned by the current commercial climate of the Pop Rivals this or the Pop Idol that; and second, that, after six hours on my feet, talking to nice strangers and having very rude strangers telling me to feck off and shove my tape recorder up my arse (I suppose this invasion of privacy lark works both ways), I definitely need a drink. Seasonal greetings to one and all - and here's hoping you get the CD or DVD you really want this Christmas!
The Ten Most Irritating Number One Christmas Songs In The World - Ever!
1) Lily The Pink (1968)/ Scaffold
2) Ernie (The Fastest Milk Man In The West) (1971)/Benny Hill
3) Mull Of Kintyre (1977)/Wings
4) Save Your Love (1982)/Renee & Renato
5) Only You (1983)/The Flying Pickets
6) Mistletoe And Wine (1988)/Cliff Richard
7) Ice, Ice Baby (1990)/Vanilla Ice
8) I Will Always Love You (1992)/Whitney Houston
9) Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh! (1997)/Teletubbies
10) Can We Fix It (2000)/Bob The Builder
Best Selling Albums 2002
1) Coldplay: A Rush of Blood to the Head
2) Damien Rice: O
3) Gemma Hayes: Night On My Side
4) Róyskopp: Melody A.M.
5) U2: Best of 1990-2000
6) Badly Drawn Boy: About A Boy OST
7) The Strokes: This Is It
8) Sigur Ros: (Untitled)
9) The Streets: Original Pirate Material
10) David Gray: A New Day At Midnight Best Selling DVDs 2002
Best Selling DVDs 2002
1) Lord of the Rings
2) Star Wars - Attack Of The Clones
3) Spider:Man
4) Band Of Brothers
5) Sopranos (Season 3)
6) The Office
7) The Last Waltz
8) Tommy Tiernan - Live At Vicar Street
9) ET: The Extra Terrestrial
10) Give Up Your Aul Sins (NB: this was the biggest selling DVD on the weekend the Irish Times visited Tower Records)
Best Selling Singles 2002
1) The Strokes: Hard To Explain
2) Coldplay: In My Place
3) Damien Rice: Cannonball
4) Badly Drawn Boy: Silent Sigh
5) The Frames: Headlong
6) The Walls: Bright & Shining Star
7) Gemma Hayes: Work To A Calm
8) Josh Ritter: Me & Jiggs
9) White Stripes: Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground
10) Elvis Vs JXL: A Little Less Conversation
Three "Best selling" lists compiled by Tower Records only
