Freebird Records Closing (1978 - 2009)

1968

The recent spate of record shop closures in Dublin continues with latest victim Freebird Records announcing its closure this month. According to the Evening Herald, the shop will close on Saturday 28th. This means both branches, the Secret Book & Record Store branch on Wicklow St and the old Comet shop premises on Cope Street.

Sad day.

What's your memories of the Freebird?

Lazy Evening Herald article: http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/around-town/u2-to-make-a-final-visit-to-closing-music-store-that-made-their-name-1945663.html

Sr. Pirotecnic

Have fond memories of stepping past the punks to go upstairs on Grafton St in early 80s. Was that Freebird's first location?

1968

Sr. Pirotecnic wrote: »

Have fond memories of stepping past the punks to go upstairs on Grafton St in early 80s. Was that Freebird's first location?

It was.

Where on Grafton Street was it? (Long before my time)

arybvtcw0eolkf

1968 wrote: »

It was.

Where on Grafton Street was it? (Long before my time)

From memory, it was down near the Nassau St. end on the left.

I discovered Freebird Records through a mate as I was discovering heavy metal and rock in my mid-teens. I bought some cracking second hand and obscure LP's here, sad to hear its closing.

1968

Noah Few Vender wrote: »

From memory, it was down near the Nassau St. end on the left.

I discovered Freebird Records through a mate as I was discovering heavy metal and rock in my mid-teens. I bought some cracking second hand and obscure LP's here, sad to hear its closing.

Possibly in the building that River Island is now?

Just seen this description - "Freebird is Ireland’s second oldest independent music store".

I wonder what the oldest is?

arybvtcw0eolkf

1968 wrote: »

Possibly in the building that River Island is now?

Just seen this description - "Freebird is Ireland’s second oldest independent music store".

I wonder what the oldest is?

Don't know, is Dolphin Disc's still around?.

I'd hazard a guess and say Degsy just might have some more recollections of Freebird Records - if he's got an old photo it would be a gem for the forum!.

1968

Noah Few Vender wrote: »

Don't know, is Dolphin Disc's still around

I think it's still on Moore Street.

humberklog

I think the one on Nassua St. was another place (Soundcellar?). I remember Freebird being downstairs in the where the newsagents on the corner of the laneway to Lily's is.
Reason why I recall 2 different 2nd hand stores in the same area is because my 1st memories of the place is hocking a few of my elder brother's LPs (Cream- Wheels of Fire was one of'm:(). I used both shops at the time to garner some filthy lucre for fags.


The shop on Wicklow St. will be missed by me. I always liked popping in there for a little stop off but only for books. It had a great selection.

Gaspode

humberklog wrote: »

I think the one on Nassua St. was another place (Soundcellar?). I remember Freebird being downstairs in the where the newsagents on the corner of the laneway to Lily's is.
Reason why I recall 2 different 2nd hand stores in the same area is because my 1st memories of the place is hocking a few of my elder brother's LPs (Cream- Wheels of Fire was one of'm:(). I used both shops at the time to garner some filthy lucre for fags.


The shop on Wicklow St. will be missed by me. I always liked popping in there for a little stop off but only for books. It had a great selection.

The one on Nassau Street was indeed the Sound Cellar, another great shop and the place to go if you wanted gig tickets in the days before the great ticketmaster ripoff.

Strangely enough, my memory tells me thart Freebird on Grafton Street was originally upstairs, though I cant recall exactly where on the street it was. You'd think I'd know, I spent so many hours in there some of the staff knew me by name (I still have most of the LPs/Cassette albums I bought there).
Sad to hear it's going, but I suppose it had a good run in the face of massive competition from the large UK retailers that moved in here in the late 80s.

humberklog

Oooh I think you could well be right Gaspode...upstairs is ringing the right bell now. I'd still place it at that same corner though, well... up until someone says somewhere else that will then too ring a new bell!

Wishbone Ash

humberklog wrote: »

I remember Freebird being downstairs in the where the newsagents on the corner of the laneway to Lily's is

Was it not below a newsagents on Eden Quay (near O'Connell Bridge)? I don't recall it on Grafton Street but bought quite a lot of stuff on Eden Quay in the 1980s.

humberklog wrote:

The shop on Wicklow St. will be missed by me. I always liked popping in there for a little stop off but only for books. It had a great selection.

Is it just me or are the staff there a bit 'frosty'? They also have a ridiculous habit of displaying books which are not for sale. :rolleyes:

Lab_Mouse

use to buy all my punk and ska there..its a shame small shops are going bust.Just dont thi9nk they can compete with online stores which is a shame

humberklog

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Was it not below a newsagents on Eden Quay (near O'Connell Bridge)? I don't recall it on Grafton Street but bought quite a lot of stuff on Eden Quay in the 1980s.

Is it just me or are the staff there a bit 'frosty'? They also have a ridiculous habit of displaying books which are not for sale. :rolleyes:

It moved from Grafton St. to Eden Qy. Not sure what year but I'd guess it moved northside in about...eh..er...'88?

Never noticed books out that weren't for sale and always liked the room in the shop for moving about in. I didn't mention the music section as I've had a frosty experience or two down at music end of the shop.

Dord

I bought my first album in Freebird on Eden Quay and as I grew older bought a fair bit in the Secret Book & record store. The stock they had wasn't great in recent years so I pretty much resorted to buying online.

stanley1

Gaspode wrote: »

The one on Nassau Street was indeed the Sound Cellar, another great shop and the place to go if you wanted gig tickets in the days before the great ticketmaster ripoff.

Strangely enough, my memory tells me thart Freebird on Grafton Street was originally upstairs, though I cant recall exactly where on the street it was. You'd think I'd know, I spent so many hours in there some of the staff knew me by name (I still have most of the LPs/Cassette albums I bought there).
Sad to hear it's going, but I suppose it had a good run in the face of massive competition from the large UK retailers that moved in here in the late 80s.

Yep, bought tickets for Jeff Beck there a few months ago, has not changed in 30 years, used to be Pat Egan's Sound celler, wonder if he's still around.

1968

5mins documentary made last year about Freebird Records and the Sound Cellar. "Dublin record shops soldier on in the face of download culture."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOC_66hS4D8

irlirishkev

I used to by 2nd hand cassettes down in Freebird in the late 80s, early 90s. It was there that I heard 'Smells like Teen Spirit' for the first time. I remember walking upstairs and asking my bro if knew who it was..

Esel

stanley1 wrote: »

Yep, bought tickets for Jeff Beck there a few months ago, has not changed in 30 years, used to be Pat Egan's Sound celler, wonder if he's still around.

Think Pat Egan is a concert promoter now. Tommy has been running the Sound Cellar for a good few years now. Sound bloke!

ArmCandyBaby

I remember this sign they'd stuck all over the place...

HEY PEOPLE WE ONLY ALLOW PEOPLE TO LISTEN TO FIVE RECORDS FULL STOP.! IF WE GET TO KNOW YOU COOL BUT UNTIL THEN YOU GOT BETTER THINGS TO BE DOING THAN LISTENING 20 RECORDS! P.S. IF YOUR FIRST THOUGH WAS! BUT IM A DJ THEN
A. YOU MUSN'T BE ANY GOOD IF YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO 20 RECORDS.
B. BUY A MUSIC MAGAZINE AND READ IT
C. CALL A DOCTOR YOURE DEAF OR DEAD
D. THIS IS A RECORD SHOP NOT A YOUTH CLUB
E. SO WHAT!
YOU MUST HANDLE RECORDS CORRECTLY YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE IT BUT SOMEONE ELSE MIGHT WANT IT WITHOUT YOUR FINGERPRINTS AND DNA ON IT!

And thought that they were tossers because of it. I hope this condescending attitude left potential customers feeling alienated and thus had a hand in their downfall when the tides turned.

tony 2 tone

ArmCandyBaby wrote: »

I remember this sign they'd stuck all over the place...

HEY PEOPLE WE ONLY ALLOW PEOPLE TO LISTEN TO FIVE RECORDS FULL STOP.! IF WE GET TO KNOW YOU COOL BUT UNTIL THEN YOU GOT BETTER THINGS TO BE DOING THAN LISTENING 20 RECORDS! P.S. IF YOUR FIRST THOUGH WAS! BUT IM A DJ THEN
A. YOU MUSN'T BE ANY GOOD IF YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO 20 RECORDS.
B. BUY A MUSIC MAGAZINE AND READ IT
C. CALL A DOCTOR YOURE DEAF OR DEAD
D. THIS IS A RECORD SHOP NOT A YOUTH CLUB
E. SO WHAT!
YOU MUST HANDLE RECORDS CORRECTLY YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE IT BUT SOMEONE ELSE MIGHT WANT IT WITHOUT YOUR FINGERPRINTS AND DNA ON IT!

And thought that they were tossers because of it. I hope this condescending attitude left potential customers feeling alienated and thus had a hand in their downfall when the tides turned.

That will actually make me miss the shop even more.

deaddonkey

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/just-for-the-1950466.html

Wicklow street branch is staying open.

I love this shop, about 3/4 of my music is from there.

Nolanger

Remember that Freebird guy who use to touch the CD cases by the corners as if they were covered in germs? What a wan*er!!!!!!!!!!

Dord

Don't know if many are aware of this but Borderline Records in Temple Bar is closing soon too.

Have a closing down sale on at the mo....

Wishbone Ash

tony 2 tone wrote: »

That will actually make me miss the shop even more.

+1

arybvtcw0eolkf

Nolanger wrote: »

Remember that Freebird guy who use to touch the CD cases by the corners as if they were covered in germs? What a wan*er!!!!!!!!!!

Give it over.

Oh, and read the forum's charter.

Degsy

Yeah freebird was originally upstairs on grafton st,near the entrance to lillys.
There used to be always punks "tapping" outside..basicly they'd be begging outside to raise the price of whatever album they were looking for.
I always thought the punk selection in that shop was pretty poor..they had the same Sex Pistols albums "flogging a dead horse" and " some product" everytime i went in there.
They also used to have Blue Grass and Psychobilly sections,both of which are long forgotten genres.
WHen the shop moved to the quays just beside o'connel bridge i used to doa punk fanzine and they used to stock it for us,i also used to get freebie albums from punk bands like paranoid visions t o review (favourably) in the magazine.
At one stasge i used to import records from independent labels in england and sell them in freebird or the sound cellar..this would be stuff nobody had ever heard of over here..hardcore,noise-core and ranting political punk like Oi Polloi,Atavistic,AOA,Amebix,Sore Throat etc etc...i had to give i t up when customs started busting the packages and charging duty on the contents..we used to sell albums for 1.50 and was making no profit whatsoever so that was that.
There was a long-running fued between the owner of Comet records in crown ally and the band Paranoid Visions...the owner was also the singer in the Gorehounds and they used to headline various gigs..they also had a reputation for never paying support acts.
The lead singer form PV is a big bloke and he walked into Comet,nicked a tray of albums and for good measure kicked the ownere round the place..he got a nocturnal visit from the drugs squad a little later...the war was on and the two factions did all they could to m ake the other lose money or lose gigs..Paranoid Visions even went so far as to releas a song about the owner of Comet..it was called "Gorebeard Comet Rip-Off..Fcuck Off and DIE!".
Ah great times!

Red Sleeping Beauty

Freebird hasn't really been in the old Comet that long has it? Is Borderline genuinely closing down?

Degsy

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Freebird hasn't really been in the old Comet that long has it? Is Borderline genuinely closing down?

Couldnt say exactly how long as i gave up noticing a long time ago..borderline couldnt be making any money seriously..i remember when it was in liffey st and yer man Paul made almost all his money from bootleg tapes from gigs..who buys them now?
On a side note..anybody remember the guys selling bootleg tapes on o'connel bridge from a small suitcase..you'd occasionaly see some bloke dressed all in black sprinting by being chased by the cops clutching his "valuable" collection of casettes!

Wishbone Ash

Degsy wrote: »

On a side note..anybody remember the guys selling bootleg tapes on o'connel bridge from a small suitcase

God, I'd forgotton about those lads. They used to frequent Westmoreland Street too, especially around Bewleys. And most of their bootlegs seemed to be Bob Dylan gigs.

jonny68

Oh dear what a shame, i used to buy vinyl in freebird years ago:(

Gaspode

Degsy wrote: »

Couldnt say exactly how long as i gave up noticing a long time ago..borderline couldnt be making any money seriously..i remember when it was in liffey st and yer man Paul made almost all his money from bootleg tapes from gigs..who buys them now?
On a side note..anybody remember the guys selling bootleg tapes on o'connel bridge from a small suitcase..you'd occasionaly see some bloke dressed all in black sprinting by being chased by the cops clutching his "valuable" collection of casettes!

Remember those guys alright, though i never bought from them - I knew too many people ended up with blank cassettes!