I WAS SUPPOSED TO SPEND RECORD STORE DAY 2020 scouring the bins for treasure in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with my son (who lives there), and my brother-in-law, Mike, who like me resides in Ontario. It was supposed to be on April 18. Mike and I bought plane tickets and were really looking forward to our trip east.
But then along comes coronavirus and everything went straight to hell. On top of that, the airline refused give us back our money - even though they cancelled the flights - so I guess we've somehow agreed to give them an interest free loan to help them weather the storm. But that's another story.
Record Store Day (RSD) has always been lots of fun for me. I know some people think it's a bunch of hyperbole, that it's impossible to find the choice releases because they are supposedly somehow scooped up by "flippers" who turn around and resell them on eBay at grossly inflated prices. Record scalpers, I guess you could call them. And there's a bit of that, yes. Anytime there's a buck to be made you'll always find a couple of sleaze-balls looking to exploit the opportunity. But it's not exclusive to RSD. It's the way of the world.
And they don't get everything. Plus they actually have to get out of bed and go to the record stores, just like you. So all you have to do is get there first.
Then there's the people who think RSD releases are overpriced gimmicks. With this I disagree wholeheartedly. I find the prices, for the most part, to be fair. John Prine's four-LP Atlantic Records output, remastered from the original analogue tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl for $88? What's wrong with that?
I also know some record stores refuse to participate in RSD because they think it's … I don't know what they think it is. Or isn't. But they refuse to participate, just like some people refuse to wear a mask during a pandemic. A similar kind of logic, if you ask me.
I look forward to RSD. It's fun. And I always find something worth adding to the collection and it's usually a record I didn't even know was being released. In my books that's the best kind of find. This year I landed two releases that snuck up on me like that: the aforementioned John Prine's The Atlantic Albums and Blaze Foley's Live At The Austin Outhouse. Each one is a very limited release - the John Prine collection is limited to 2,000 copies worldwide - but that's the point. The chase is where the fun is with this hobby, and actually finding something really cool is like bagging the lion.
A quick perusal of my record collection shows me I have amassed something like 100 RSD releases over the years. Many of them are worth considerably more than what I paid for them because of their scarcity and/or desirability, but that's completely beside the point. It's not why I bought them. I bought them for the music. After all, isn't that what it's all about?
I like that there is one day every year that celebrates as well as helps independent record stores by releasing some really interesting records. This year RSD has been split into three separate days because of the pandemic, and I think that's a good thing. Three days of the year where my wife allows me to buy records because it's for a good cause!
Didn't find what you were looking for? Don't sweat. Some of the RSD releases I've collected were acquired months - sometimes even years - after the RSD they were released on. Also, a lot of RSD releases tend to show up in the stores after the fact for some reason, which a friend of mine who owns a record store finds incredibly annoying. But it might mean you'll get lucky. So don't despair! If you don't find what you're looking for on the day, you might very well find it later.
Without record stores this wouldn't be such a great hobby. It would be a lot harder to find records, especially since music is in the cloud now and almost everybody seems to think it sounds good enough. But if the mighty record were to succumb to digital it would be a much crappier sounding world.
So get out there on RSD and support your local record store! Your hobby depends on it!
But then along comes coronavirus and everything went straight to hell. On top of that, the airline refused give us back our money - even though they cancelled the flights - so I guess we've somehow agreed to give them an interest free loan to help them weather the storm. But that's another story.
Record Store Day (RSD) has always been lots of fun for me. I know some people think it's a bunch of hyperbole, that it's impossible to find the choice releases because they are supposedly somehow scooped up by "flippers" who turn around and resell them on eBay at grossly inflated prices. Record scalpers, I guess you could call them. And there's a bit of that, yes. Anytime there's a buck to be made you'll always find a couple of sleaze-balls looking to exploit the opportunity. But it's not exclusive to RSD. It's the way of the world.
And they don't get everything. Plus they actually have to get out of bed and go to the record stores, just like you. So all you have to do is get there first.
Then there's the people who think RSD releases are overpriced gimmicks. With this I disagree wholeheartedly. I find the prices, for the most part, to be fair. John Prine's four-LP Atlantic Records output, remastered from the original analogue tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl for $88? What's wrong with that?
I also know some record stores refuse to participate in RSD because they think it's … I don't know what they think it is. Or isn't. But they refuse to participate, just like some people refuse to wear a mask during a pandemic. A similar kind of logic, if you ask me.
I look forward to RSD. It's fun. And I always find something worth adding to the collection and it's usually a record I didn't even know was being released. In my books that's the best kind of find. This year I landed two releases that snuck up on me like that: the aforementioned John Prine's The Atlantic Albums and Blaze Foley's Live At The Austin Outhouse. Each one is a very limited release - the John Prine collection is limited to 2,000 copies worldwide - but that's the point. The chase is where the fun is with this hobby, and actually finding something really cool is like bagging the lion.
A quick perusal of my record collection shows me I have amassed something like 100 RSD releases over the years. Many of them are worth considerably more than what I paid for them because of their scarcity and/or desirability, but that's completely beside the point. It's not why I bought them. I bought them for the music. After all, isn't that what it's all about?
I like that there is one day every year that celebrates as well as helps independent record stores by releasing some really interesting records. This year RSD has been split into three separate days because of the pandemic, and I think that's a good thing. Three days of the year where my wife allows me to buy records because it's for a good cause!
Didn't find what you were looking for? Don't sweat. Some of the RSD releases I've collected were acquired months - sometimes even years - after the RSD they were released on. Also, a lot of RSD releases tend to show up in the stores after the fact for some reason, which a friend of mine who owns a record store finds incredibly annoying. But it might mean you'll get lucky. So don't despair! If you don't find what you're looking for on the day, you might very well find it later.
Without record stores this wouldn't be such a great hobby. It would be a lot harder to find records, especially since music is in the cloud now and almost everybody seems to think it sounds good enough. But if the mighty record were to succumb to digital it would be a much crappier sounding world.
So get out there on RSD and support your local record store! Your hobby depends on it!
I WAS SUPPOSED TO SPEND RECORD STORE DAY 2020 scouring the bins for treasure in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with my son (who lives there), and my brother-in-law, Mike, who like me resides in Ontario. It was supposed to be on April 18. Mike and I bought plane tickets and were really looking forward to our trip east.
But then along comes coronavirus and everything went straight to hell. On top of that, the airline refused give us back our money - even though they cancelled the flights - so I guess we've somehow agreed to give them an interest free loan to help them weather the storm. But that's another story.
Record Store Day (RSD) has always been lots of fun for me. I know some people think it's a bunch of hyperbole, that it's impossible to find the choice releases because they are supposedly somehow scooped up by "flippers" who turn around and resell them on eBay at grossly inflated prices. Record scalpers, I guess you could call them. And there's a bit of that, yes. Anytime there's a buck to be made you'll always find a couple of sleaze-balls looking to exploit the opportunity. But it's not exclusive to RSD. It's the way of the world.
And they don't get everything. Plus they actually have to get out of bed and go to the record stores, just like you. So all you have to do is get there first.
Then there's the people who think RSD releases are overpriced gimmicks. With this I disagree wholeheartedly. I find the prices, for the most part, to be fair. John Prine's four-LP Atlantic Records output, remastered from the original analogue tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl for $88? What's wrong with that?
I also know some record stores refuse to participate in RSD because they think it's … I don't know what they think it is. Or isn't. But they refuse to participate, just like some people refuse to wear a mask during a pandemic. A similar kind of logic, if you ask me.
I look forward to RSD. It's fun. And I always find something worth adding to the collection and it's usually a record I didn't even know was being released. In my books that's the best kind of find. This year I landed two releases that snuck up on me like that: the aforementioned John Prine's The Atlantic Albums and Blaze Foley's Live At The Austin Outhouse. Each one is a very limited release - the John Prine collection is limited to 2,000 copies worldwide - but that's the point. The chase is where the fun is with this hobby, and actually finding something really cool is like bagging the lion.
A quick perusal of my record collection shows me I have amassed something like 100 RSD releases over the years. Many of them are worth considerably more than what I paid for them because of their scarcity and/or desirability, but that's completely beside the point. It's not why I bought them. I bought them for the music. After all, isn't that what it's all about?
I like that there is one day every year that celebrates as well as helps independent record stores by releasing some really interesting records. This year RSD has been split into three separate days because of the pandemic, and I think that's a good thing. Three days of the year where my wife allows me to buy records because it's for a good cause!
Didn't find what you were looking for? Don't sweat. Some of the RSD releases I've collected were acquired months - sometimes even years - after the RSD they were released on. Also, a lot of RSD releases tend to show up in the stores after the fact for some reason, which a friend of mine who owns a record store finds incredibly annoying. But it might mean you'll get lucky. So don't despair! If you don't find what you're looking for on the day, you might very well find it later.
Without record stores this wouldn't be such a great hobby. It would be a lot harder to find records, especially since music is in the cloud now and almost everybody seems to think it sounds good enough. But if the mighty record were to succumb to digital it would be a much crappier sounding world.
So get out there on RSD and support your local record store! Your hobby depends on it!
But then along comes coronavirus and everything went straight to hell. On top of that, the airline refused give us back our money - even though they cancelled the flights - so I guess we've somehow agreed to give them an interest free loan to help them weather the storm. But that's another story.
Record Store Day (RSD) has always been lots of fun for me. I know some people think it's a bunch of hyperbole, that it's impossible to find the choice releases because they are supposedly somehow scooped up by "flippers" who turn around and resell them on eBay at grossly inflated prices. Record scalpers, I guess you could call them. And there's a bit of that, yes. Anytime there's a buck to be made you'll always find a couple of sleaze-balls looking to exploit the opportunity. But it's not exclusive to RSD. It's the way of the world.
And they don't get everything. Plus they actually have to get out of bed and go to the record stores, just like you. So all you have to do is get there first.
Then there's the people who think RSD releases are overpriced gimmicks. With this I disagree wholeheartedly. I find the prices, for the most part, to be fair. John Prine's four-LP Atlantic Records output, remastered from the original analogue tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl for $88? What's wrong with that?
I also know some record stores refuse to participate in RSD because they think it's … I don't know what they think it is. Or isn't. But they refuse to participate, just like some people refuse to wear a mask during a pandemic. A similar kind of logic, if you ask me.
I look forward to RSD. It's fun. And I always find something worth adding to the collection and it's usually a record I didn't even know was being released. In my books that's the best kind of find. This year I landed two releases that snuck up on me like that: the aforementioned John Prine's The Atlantic Albums and Blaze Foley's Live At The Austin Outhouse. Each one is a very limited release - the John Prine collection is limited to 2,000 copies worldwide - but that's the point. The chase is where the fun is with this hobby, and actually finding something really cool is like bagging the lion.
A quick perusal of my record collection shows me I have amassed something like 100 RSD releases over the years. Many of them are worth considerably more than what I paid for them because of their scarcity and/or desirability, but that's completely beside the point. It's not why I bought them. I bought them for the music. After all, isn't that what it's all about?
I like that there is one day every year that celebrates as well as helps independent record stores by releasing some really interesting records. This year RSD has been split into three separate days because of the pandemic, and I think that's a good thing. Three days of the year where my wife allows me to buy records because it's for a good cause!
Didn't find what you were looking for? Don't sweat. Some of the RSD releases I've collected were acquired months - sometimes even years - after the RSD they were released on. Also, a lot of RSD releases tend to show up in the stores after the fact for some reason, which a friend of mine who owns a record store finds incredibly annoying. But it might mean you'll get lucky. So don't despair! If you don't find what you're looking for on the day, you might very well find it later.
Without record stores this wouldn't be such a great hobby. It would be a lot harder to find records, especially since music is in the cloud now and almost everybody seems to think it sounds good enough. But if the mighty record were to succumb to digital it would be a much crappier sounding world.
So get out there on RSD and support your local record store! Your hobby depends on it!
BONUS TRACK
The very first Record Store Day (RSD), on April 19, 2008, was kicked off by the appearance of Metallica at Rasputin Music, in Mountain View, California. That year there were approximately 10 special releases, including records from such artists as Death Cab For Cutie, R.E.M., Stephen Malkmus, Vampire Weekend and Jason Mraz. Approximately 300 stores participated.
All these years later RSD has evolved into an annual international event held on a Saturday in April, and also on Black Friday in November. The concept for RSD was created during a brainstorming session of independent record store owners in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2007.
RSD 2013 is credited with achieving the highest U.S. vinyl sales ever for one day. The following year resulted in independent record stores recording the highest percentage of physical album sales since the SoundScan tracking system was introduced in 1991
While RSD has been criticised for catering to record collectors rather than casual music fans, and delaying the release of non-RSD records by monopolizing the capacity of record pressing plants in the months leading up to RSD, it's still considered to be an essential and vital celebration of the record collecting hobby.
I certainly look forward to it!
The very first Record Store Day (RSD), on April 19, 2008, was kicked off by the appearance of Metallica at Rasputin Music, in Mountain View, California. That year there were approximately 10 special releases, including records from such artists as Death Cab For Cutie, R.E.M., Stephen Malkmus, Vampire Weekend and Jason Mraz. Approximately 300 stores participated.
All these years later RSD has evolved into an annual international event held on a Saturday in April, and also on Black Friday in November. The concept for RSD was created during a brainstorming session of independent record store owners in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2007.
RSD 2013 is credited with achieving the highest U.S. vinyl sales ever for one day. The following year resulted in independent record stores recording the highest percentage of physical album sales since the SoundScan tracking system was introduced in 1991
While RSD has been criticised for catering to record collectors rather than casual music fans, and delaying the release of non-RSD records by monopolizing the capacity of record pressing plants in the months leading up to RSD, it's still considered to be an essential and vital celebration of the record collecting hobby.
I certainly look forward to it!
