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Record Store Day 2024?

 

I don’t know what percentage of AG members participate in RSD, but I figure the topic warrants a thread.

The RSD titles offered this time (April 20th) seemed pretty strong to me, and I was apparently not alone in that opinion: when I arrived at Music Millennium at 6:00 A.M. the line went down Burnside Blvd. from 32nd Avenue to 29th, over one block, and then up the street behind the store all the way back to 32nd, all in attendance waiting for the 8:00 A.M. opening of the store. Over a thousand people I reckon, more than the 6:00 A.M. line at last year’s Black Friday RSD. And when I exited the store at 11:00, the line still stretched from 32nd down to 29th.

This years titles as always included offerings in many genres, my list below merely reflecting my musical tastes. Here are the albums I decided I didn’t want to live without:

 

- The Bottle Rockets: The Brooklyn Side. Expanded 2-LP set, lacquers cut from analogue master tapes at Masterdisk by Scott Hull. 1500 copies worldwide.

- Gene Clark: The Lost Studio Sessions 1964-1982. 2-LP set containing unreleased studio and live recordings. 1500 copies.

- Lowell George: Thanks I’ll Eat It Here. Expanded 2-LP set, lacquers cut from analogue master tapes by Bernie Grundman. 3500 copies.

- Chris Isaak: Beyond The Sun. Expanded 2-LP set containing every song Chris and his band recorded at Sun Studios. 2000 copies.

- Tommy McLain: Moving To Heaven. Recorded in 2003 and pressed as 500 CD’s, Elvis Costello discovered this album in a used record store down in Louisiana. 1000 copies.

- The Ramones: The 1975 Sire Demos. These recordings led to the boys getting a deal with Sire Records. 6000 copies.

- Mavis Staples: Have A Little Faith. 20th anniversary reissue of the Alligator Records original. 2500 copies.

- Television: Live At the Academy NYC 12.4.92. 2500 copies.

- Sister Rosetta Tharpe: Live In France/The 1966 Concert In Limoges. Just Rosetta and her white Gibson SG, tearin’ up the joint! 1800 copies.

 

And my pick-of-the-litter:

- Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman with Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives: Celebrate The 50th Anniversary Of Sweetheart Of The Rodeo. The two living Byrds perform the entire album and other songs live, aided by the best band in the world. Unfortunately also the most expensive of the lot: $79.99 for a 2-LP set?! 2500 copies.

 

 

128x128bdp24
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,841 posts
 

To each his own. A Portland buddy and awesome dude @spiritofradio was gracious enough to pick up the Dead box and L George for me as i toiled in line in California sunshine at Lou’s in Encinitas….

Fun…

 

bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,470 posts
 

 

@tomic601: At least this year it wasn’t raining in Portland!

 

slaw's avatar
slaw
20,458 posts
 

Did my shopping online next day. I wanted that Chris Isaak but it was not to be. I got the Television At The Academy and was very impressed. 

Wilco " The Whole Love expanded" 

Got several more.

bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,470 posts
 

 

@slaw: I too missed out on the Chris Isaak 2-LP set in Millennium Music (by the time I was in the store it had already sold out.). I bought my copy online the day after RSD, from The In Groove in Phoenix Arizona. This 2-LP set is already out-of-print, a sure design of a future collector's item.

 

tylermunns
591 posts
 

Not my cup of tea. It’s not a celebration of vinyl or music. It’s record labels trying to fleece buyers. It’s probably 50/50 (perhaps a generous estimate) that the pressings sound any good. Usually it’s a trumped-up exploitation of the idea of “exclusivity” even though they often get released a few month later anyway…so much for “RSD Exclusive”…it’s really a racket. Poorly-mastered cast-offs (live shows, a 45 that includes some cover of some song, a cover you could find digitally for a fraction of the price, etc.), or just reissues with really nothing special about them at all. Some cute little box set of 45s, nothing one couldn’t get at a fraction of the price in a digital format without the hassle of standing in line for a long time, only to pass the gauntlet of Black Friday-esque, manic, elbow-wielding shoppers taking the last copy of one of the 2 or 3 overpriced things you were somewhat interested in.

I’ve never met a record store owner who likes it. I’ve only heard commentary that expressed resentment. They said no matter what you order, you’re always stuck with whatever they ship you, so you can’t tell customers who want certain RSD releases that you’ll have it, because you won’t know until you open the box when the order comes in a few days before RSD.  
Lots of customers come expecting to get a certain RSD release and get nasty when they don’t have it. If a record store just decides to pass on Record Store Day because they just want to skip the hassle and stress and not get stuck with a bunch of over-priced stock they can’t sell, people show up and get really poopy when you tell them, “sorry, we didn’t participate in Record Store Day this year”; now the store owner is dealing with the bad blood being spread in the community by the one customer who never really goes to the store anyway but just showed up that one day because it was Record Store Day telling everyone what a “bad store” they have.

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