Hey vinyl collectors and audiophiles; good news from the recording industry! In this reporters’ opinion, it’s very fun to have something yummy to look forward to during these strange days, indeed.
Don’t believe me? Well see what these cats have to say about it…..
“Any artist that doesn’t support the wonderful Ma and Pa Record Stores is contributing to our own extinction.”
Joan Jett
“I miss the experience of walking into a record store and find old stuff without expecting to“
Mark Hoppus | Blink 182
“It was so exciting to go to the record shop and buy a piece of vinyl and hold it, read the liner notes, look at the pictures… even the smell of the vinyl.”
Martin Gore | Depeche Mode
“Once I got into punk rock, I started mail-ordering albums, because a lot of records stores in my area didnl;t carry th epunk bands from England, or Sweden, Or Chicago or Los Angeles.”
Dave Grohl | Foo Fighters
Record Store Day is an annual event; it features the issue and release of several limited edition vinyl albums and packaging for general public consumption. It has become a pilgrimage of sorts for many.
Like everything else, Coronavirus adversely impacted the set date. Luckily RSD 2020 will go on after all. This year it will be done virtually on August 29th – September 26th and October 24th.
First Chance will Be August 29th
This will be the day to pick up some of your favorite and most iconic music from the soundtrack of your life.
Purchasing these special releases is a super way to support your favorite artists, labels and local record stores while collecting rarities; oftentimes mini works of art.
The following top ten list represents just a few of my favorite picks (among the 413 records to be released this year). Happy Shopping!
1. ALPHAVILLE | Sounds Like A Melody (Grant & Kelly Remix by Blank & Jones x Gold & Lloyd)
Special unreleased new mix for Record Store Day 2020 created by original band members Marian Gold and Bernhardt Lloyd together with Blank & Jones. For the first time since he left Alphaville in 2003, Bernhard worked with Marian in the studio and they used only original parts from the 1984 multi track tapes, no additional instruments.
Blank & Jones [have worked] closely with the band since 2013 on various projects like “so8os (So Eighties) Reconstructions Presents Alphaville and the “Forever Young – Super Deluxe Edition. The name “Grant & Kelly Remix results from a line in the second verse of the song: “…Like the Cary Grants and Kellys once before.”
This limited edition also features a special long version on the B-side.”
2. DAVID BOWIE | I’m Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74)
I’m Only Dancing – Taken from recently discovered sources in The David Bowie Archive®, I’m Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74) was recorded mostly during David’s performance at the Michigan Palace, Detroit on 20th October, 1974, with the encores taken from the Municipal Auditorium, Nashville on 30th November, 1974.
The Soul Tour was a radical mid-tour departure from Bowie’s 1974 Diamond Dogs theatrical extravaganza. During a three week break in late 1974, the Diamond Dogs Tour’s elaborate six-ton Hunger City stage set was drastically stripped back, and the tour’s set list overhauled to include as-yet-unreleased tracks from the Young Americans sessions at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia. The Soul Tour also featured a revamped band, augmented to include musicians and vocalists from those sessions, and rechristened The Mike Garson Band.
I’m Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74) follows on from the previous Record Store Day 2 LP release Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74) and is an incredible historical document of a performer and band at the height of their live powers.
The artwork for both the 2 LP and 2 CD releases is based on the original design for the programs available at venues for dates on The Soul Tour. The Soul Tour has taken on mythical status among Bowie fans, as the tour only visited 17 cities in the East and South of US.
This is the first time that any audio from this incarnation of the tour has ever been officially released.
3. TED CASSIDY | The Lurch
Format: 7″ Vinyl | Label: Jackpot Records | Quantity: 500
Ted Cassidy sings as Lurch of TV’s The Addams Family–the Motown influenced monster track “The Lurch.” One of the rarest US Capitol Records 7” picture sleeves. Never before reissued. Sourced from the original 1965 master tapes.
4. CHEAP TRICK | Out To Get You! Live 1977
Format: 2 x LP | Label: Legacy | Quantity: 4,700
Dateline: 1977. With punk on the rise in the United Kingdom, rock ‘n’ roll experienced a tectonic shift the world over. Rockford, Illinois’ Cheap Trick rode that shake-up, touring relentlessly in support of their self-titled debut album.
In June of that year, bursting with kinetic energy while recording follow-up In Color, the group spontaneously booked a handful of club shows at The Whisky a Go-Go in Los Angeles, knocking out audiences with an onslaught of down-‘n’-dirty rock righteousness – including favorite songs that wouldn’t appear on albums for years.
Released for the first time ever and newly mixed by two-time Grammy Award winner Guy Massey (The Beatles, Ray Davies, The Jayhawks), Out To Get You! showcases a band taking determined steps toward world domination.
Modern English’s most beloved song, in two versions, along with songs from the band’s 2016 album in a special RSD 2020 release, featuring brand new reimagined artwork from original 4AD/Modern English designer Vaughan Oliver.
6. PEPPER | Kona Town
Label: Volcom Entertainment | Quantity: 1,500
Pepper’s most popular album was released in 2002 and has been out of print on vinyl for more than a decade. This RSD 2020 edition is pressed on clear vinyl with a blue splatter.
7. RAMONES | It’s Alive II | Special Edition 40th Anniversary Release
Format: 2 x LP | Label: Rhino/Warner Records | Quantity: 8000
It’s Alive II includes a live show recorded in the UK – Live at Victoria Hall, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, Dec, 29, 1977 – prior to the original New Years’ Eve live performance recorded at the Rainbow Theatre, Dec, 31, 1977. The album was mixed by original Ramones engineer and producer Ed Stasium. Exclusive for Record Store Day 2020; on double heavyweight, numbered vinyl with a “Gabba Gabba Hey” etching on Side Four.
8. The Ska (From Jamaica) | Featuring Various Artists
Format: LP | Label: BMG | Quantity: 1,000
Originally scheduled for release in 1966, The Ska (From Jamaica) album remained lost for well over half a century before the ¼ master tape was finally discovered in the Trojan archives earlier this year. Comprising a dozen top-quality tracks, the collection features numerous musical talents now widely regarded as Jamaican legends, their number including the Maytals, Ken Boothe, Clancy Eccles and Derrick Harriott.
The album comes presented in a stylishly designed sleeve and includes an annotated insert, relating the story behind the discovery of the long-lost tape and the essential ska music featured therein.
Mike Watt, legendary bassist behind Minutemen, FIREHOSE, Dos, and so much more, is the latest to release a cover of a Squeeze song for Record Store Day. Mike teams up with his Secondmen for a cover of ‘In Quintessence,’ the opening track from Squeeze’s 1981 album East Side Story. This is the fifth installment from the Swindles series and was produced and engineered by Squeeze-aficionado Steve Mandel.
This is the first time Mike’s version of “In Quintessence” has ever been released and will be available as a 45 single, with the vocal version on the A-side and the instrumental version on the B-side, for Record Store Day 2020.
10. THE WHO | A Quick Live One
Format: Vinyl | Label: The Monterey International Pop Festival Foundation | Quantity: 6,500
The Who’s incendiary live performance at the legendary 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival, available for the first time on vinyl. Classic high-gloss tip-on style jacket, printed inner sleeve and red/white/blue striped vinyl, for Record Store Day 2020.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL RECORD STORE
For a Full List of Available Merchandise
For More Information on Record Store Day
“Record stores keep the human social contact alive it brings people together. Without the independent record stores the community breaks down with everyone sitting in front of their computers”
Ziggy Marley
“If it wasn’t for independent record stores, I would be a San Fernando valley real estate agent”
