Saturday Deluxe Live! RSD special

Hello Paul,
I agree with in what you had to say on Record Store Day. I stopped going to RSD a few years ago because I got tired of the greedy high prices charged on all of the RSD release. It is a ripoff ! This is it with RSD. It has devolved to being a big money cash grab to maximize profits for the indie and major labels. They’re all guilty in this inexcusable action. They are as bad the Ebay ReSellers who line up posing as fans on RSD to grab as many RSD Rarities as they can get their greedy little hands on. I actually saw an RSD 2016 item for sale on Ebay a couple of days before Saturday’s official selling date. The organizers of RSD should’ve requested that Ebay take down these sellers/scalpers once they violated the RSD agreement. I am also upset that all of the labels both major and indie have all but cast aside releasing anything on CD for RSD. CD buyers are record fans, too. It’s a stupid inconsiderate decision because, as you mentioned CD’s still outsell LP’s and, are a lot more affordable to fans and cheaper to make. The real fans are and have missed out for the large part and wasn’t RSD really created for them and to support the indie record stores ?! Well, I support them outside of RSD many times over a year, each year.

Can anyone help me- Regarding the RSD Exclusive in store release only of Christy Moore Debut LP Paddy on the Road- I cannot find anywhere how many were pressed- does anyone know? Paul? I know this is not the hippest release but I would love to know how many were pressed- Cheers everyone!

I actually found the Manics and Gang of Four (LOVE it!!) releases at our only small indie record store in Tallahassee, FL Saturday. I really wanted the UK only James release…and found it on Amazon US for $40USD with $4 postage….they were at least $150+$20 on eBay!! So I am happy!!

No problem, glad you got it. Swaps anyone ?

Hi Paul

Did you manage to get a FGTH in the end? I found a copy last night if you still need it?

I went to Resident in Brighton after work on Monday, still plenty available. Picked up the Six By Seven album and the last The Doors triple live. Very pleased.

The only one I really want but can’t find is Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts, so will be keeping an eye on websites next weekend.

I visited a store named Canterbury Record Shop in Pasadena, CA on Saturday afternoon. I was surprised to find 2 copies sitting there of the a-ha live EP, so I picked one up. I don’t really collect vinyl, but I love a-ha and it’s a nice-looking record. Just wish it came with a download code of the tracks. Saw a couple copies of the Manics 12″ – surprised any American store would actually carry those! I didn’t get it, though (much as I love the song and band).

I miss the days when there were exclusive CDs released on this day. Why restrict to vinyl?

Many RSD Items appearing on Amazon now. Just got Madonna 12″ for near enough face value if you take off the P+P. One of the items that was sold out on Saturday that I wanted!

I’m lucky where I live, there are 3 record stores within a 5-10 minute walk of each other.
the prices were all over the place in some cases.
the first store had the New Barbarians & Talking Heads/Echosmith releases listed at $18.99 cdn and sold out of both before I could get them.
lucky for me the second store had the New Barbarians for $14.98 and the third store had the Talking Heads for $11.99.
now the puzzler for me & several others on a Rolling Stones board I belong to is we thought that the New Barbarians was supposed to be on red vinyl but the copies we all bought are black.

managed to get the Frankie here in Sacramento California was pretty pleased. odd that they have it at 45RPM for a 17 minute song. sounded pretty good to me though.

didn’t even see a man who sold the world pic disc but got TVC15 which was what I really wanted since I have been collecting the 7″ series.

So many people above, asking where the cds are, if record companies and shops want to rejuvenate their sales TRY PRODUCING RARE CDS NOT STAMP COLLECTOR’S / HIPSTERS VINYL- CDS ARE WHERE THE DEMAND APPEARS TO BE!!!!!

Don’t have a RSD story as I live about 100 miles from a record shop, but what I find annoying is that it all seems to be more about the formats than the actual music. Ok, back in the punk / new wave heyday I was collecting coloured vinyl / 12″ers with vigour, but that was only because the music contained on these ‘first editions’ was both new and great, however I simply can’t get excited about this new formats for old music trend.
Obviously we all want the record shops to do well out RSD, but I think we need to be wary of hype without substance…

Anyone know when the next Bowie Remasters box set will be released?

Completely agree with all the comments regarding people just buying these releases to make a profit on ebay – totally out of order! To me RSD is what you make it and as a collector of vinyl, cd’s & cassettes all year round is still a day that I look forward to & really enjoy. Finished a night shift at 6am, got to Vinyl Eddie’s in York about 7.15 and was about 8th in the queue. Managed to pick up Madonna, Alanis Morrisette, Florence 12″, Johnny Cash TV Show & Buena Vista Social Club Ibrahim Ferrer so all in all was well pleased & home before 9am. Good luck in finding what you are still missing Paul!

I had the same experience at Flashback in Bethnal Green Road. Got there at 9.15. List was given out at 9.55 and only then did I find out that they only had two items on the list out of the 8 I was looking for. By the time I got in the Bowie Man Who Sold the World pic disc had gone and managed to get the last copy of Lush’s Origami box set. Popped over to Sister Ray Ace and got the Bowie pic disc and noticed that they had had all the other items I wanted but had already sold out of them. This year Flashback got a really bad allocation of items. Last year I managed to get everything from Flashback apart from 1 record hence why I tried them again this year. Next year, if I do RSD again, I won’t be going to Flashback, I’ll try somewhere. RSD doesn’t really work if you do not got the allocation of the records right.

There have been CDs in the past, I remember the REM 5 track live EP (though I had to get a friend in the US to pick that one up). A couple of years ago there was the Green Day – Demolicious CD too, but nowhere near enough CD wise. It is recordSTORE day, not record day!

How about limited vinyl editions backed up with a larger number of cd versions of the same release? This maybe go someway to kill the ebay sellers

I had a great time friday/saturday. I queued from Midnight outside Resident Records in Brighton and ended up 20th in the queue. I was in the shop at 7am and out of the shop with my purchases at 830am. I got everything I wanted and a few freebies great fun day!
I really cant see why people are fussing over it so much if you dont like the idea of it no one is forcing you to buy anything, the ebay argument I also find a bit weird like with anything limited or special edition related there are always going to be people who buy to sell on, I cant see why that is such an issue its basically saying people shouldnt be making money off things which seems crazy! sure it may get in the way of real fans buying things or having to buy at higher prices but if you want it that bad theres always a way and most people here know that the prices eventually come crashing down once the ebay store is flooded with stuff.
Ive been for the last 5 years and have always had a great time, the one thing I will say about this year is it did seem quitier, the queues werent as long as previous year, but to be fair I dont think the list was as great this year.

Hi Paul, I’m glad somebody locally is able to get you a copy of FGTH. Even though I live in the US, I would have gladly sent it to you with no questions asked. Simply one music collector doing a favor for a fellow music collector. Not to mention, a small appreciation for the joy SDE brings me every day.

Oops, just realised the Quo vinyl is in fact double, still seems step to me though at £30

And yes, I do miss the cd releases on RSD, forgot to say that also.

Went to David’s Letchworth on Sunday, same as last year. They had a reasonable amount left but alas the items I was interested in had all gone. Fine with that though – its understandable. As much as I love record shopping getting up in the middle of the night to queue isn’t for me. I don’t like the pressure, waiting in line to review one sheet (as it was yesterday,) then when you get to the counter having people behind you waiting too, hardly a relaxed buying experience. I know its a necessity but its not enjoyable. Much prefer to browse and choose at my own pace. I also don’t like the fact RSD doesn’t announce the prices until the actual day, that for me is wrong!

The one item Davids still had copies of and probably will for a long time until they themselves reduce the price, Status Quo Vinyl Remix of Rocking all over the world album. Noted this has been out on the recentish deluxe edition cd. So this was a limited edition vinyl release. I expected £14/15 top whack as it is an album common secondhand in charity shops. RSD price was £30!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stick dumbfounded by that one, record company greed!

I have mixed feelings about RSD myself. I go to the 2 indie record shops in Cheltenham quite regularly anyway so don’t worry about queuing up to get these RSD exclusives on RSD. They’re nice but can be very expensive. My RSD triumph was picking up an original copy of The Beatles Long Tall Sally EP for a bargain price on Saturday so was very happy with that; much happier than getting a new piece of vinyl created and priced for one day. To me, the magic of vinyl is the older the better and not record company reissues, they’re just not the same to me. I like new recordings or new singles on vinyl – the Bob Dylan singles from the last few years have been great and not too expensive.

Plus agree some other commentators here – where are the RSD CD’s?

I decided not to bother this year. Reasons are these:

1. Ridiculous queues
2. Birmingham is not well represented with RSD anyway
3. Prices
4. Where are the CDs? I’ve bought vinyl in the past but to be honest, they just sit there and don’t get played
5. some record stores have been seriously screwed in the past both in the amount they’re expected to buy, no returns policies and quite often what they order don’t show up -there is a pecking order in independent record shops.

I now question if it’s a good thing any more. Sorry to be a downer.

Paul – I really like your Week In Review! You’ve summed up the issues really well. I hope at some point we do see some changes to RSD, but time will tell. Incidentally, since RSD 2015, three of my local record stores have closed, so RSD certainly doesn’t help to create a longterm customer base.

Cheers :-)

I visited the recently opened Elephant record shop in Winchester UK on RSD. It’s a small place but in the afternoon they had a few local acts doing live sets and the place was packed out and buzzing. I didn’t buy anything on the day – like a few others I’m strictly CD – but outside of RSD it’s a great place to visit when my girlfriend is shopping for clothes. They have a good selection of stuff that you don’t find in HMV (particularly reissue labels that I like such Numero Group, Light in the Attic, Honest Jon’s, etc) on both vinyl and CD. I was speaking to the owner a couple of weeks ago and there’s a strict code of conduct that shops partaking in RSD are expected to abide by.

Well this is my second RSD experience. I originally swerved it 100% – because I can’t handle queues, and I didn’t want to support something that was engineered in the way I and many others perceived it to be. I didn’t want to queue up for something and then not be able to get it – worse, maybe the shop never got what I wanted in the first place…

But last year, that all changed. We actually had no intention of going but a friend told me he’d just been in our local shop and there was a. no queue, and b. plenty of stock. This was about noon, and we were in the neighbourhood on our way to somewhere else, so we thought we’d pop in.

I had an imaginary list, should I have decided to go – and pretty much I found it all. No stress, no queue, no bother.

So this year, I decided to have another go a the same place. I was anxious because this year I thought I’d go a bit sooner – and I actually wound up queuing at around 8:10am. I was #51 in the queue, and the shop took mine and everyone else’s orders as they waited in line, so by the time I reached the counter, it’d already been picked for me. I assume they picked in order of priority, so I could still be disappointed.

It took about an hour for me to get there, but I got everything I fancied. There were maybe 6 or 7 items that had already sold out, and I assume it’s because the shop only got one or two copies of those things.

I still don’t like it.

Interesting to read these thoughts here and plenty of varied experiences.

I got to pie and vinyl at 4PM and was already 5th in line (I would have got there sooner but had a 5hr drive from Cornwall first. The 4 in front were fellow regulars and at 5 a sixth joined us. We kept,ourselves amused until the queue really started from around 3am. Pie and vinyl laid on free tea all night, chairs but sadly (as it was freezing) no blankets. The shop opened on time at 8 (why such variance in opening it Es I don’t know) and I managed to bag all I wanted, got home had a couple of hours and then went back to see Band of Skulls play live. I agree that RSD isn’t what it could be but my experience was enjoyable with fellow fans.

Just a friendly request- if any one has a spare copy of The Undertones single would be most appreciated – tough quacking up in Tokyo! No stock ….

I thought this was an interesting view about RSD: http://doublej.net.au/news/features/its-time-to-make-record-store-day-about-record-stores

yeah if they put out special edition or limited edition CD/Blu-ray/DVD’s I’d be in more than vinyl.

I do understand people’s gripes about RSD but I really enjoy it every year – for me a big part of it is talking to folks in the queue, having a laugh and discussing our collections. May sound nuts to some of you but I rucked up to Rough Trade East at 2:30am and was 7th or 8th in the queue. Had such a good time hanging out that it didn’t seem like 5 1/2 hours! Doors opened at 8am and I managed to get almost everything I wanted. I definitely play my vinyl – so to get a brand new pristine copies of the Isley Bros. LP and Glen Campbell’s Wichita Lineman (for example) is exciting – they sound fantastic. I also got the Bowie picture discs, FGTH, Soft Cell, a-Ha, Grace Jones, Madonna, the Star Wars 10″, the Nosferatu 7″ and a few others. Had to go to Flashback to find the Suspiria 7″ which was the most overpriced item (£19!). The only downside was being too tired to come back out and enjoy some of the live in-store events and performances. My favorite holiday after Christmas.

FYI just checked Amazon and The 2 Bowie items and the Madonna item are on there all for over or about £50.

It was my first RSD I had attended. I loved it. It was like a Cup Final day atmosphere! As i was working until 11.30 am I could only get to Manchester at about 12,45pm. I didnt get everything I wanted, but was happy with what I did get. There was a buzz around the shops taking part AND the other outlets that were not. I went to an indoor market and nearly everyone had bags from the RSD shops and music stall holders were saying they had bumper sales days too, so music sales in Manchester had a boost because of RSD day. RSD Stores that sell online can list items from this Saturday 23rd April at 00.01 am so look out there for the items you still want to buy. Why was The Monkees Pic Disc release only for the USA. Really wanted one of those? All the best – Colin.

I had a pretty positive RSD weekend in the Dallas area. Had plans to queue up in line at Good Records around 5:30 a.m. (the store opened @ 7:00 a.m.). Somehow I woke up before the alarm went off and found myself the 14th person in line around 4:30 a.m. I had no trouble getting the four items on my list: Best Coast and Death Cab For Cutie 7″s and the Chvrches and Florence 12″s. Even made a few RSD and non-RSD impulse purchases. RSD: Foals 7″, Walk The Moon live LP….non-RSD: 2 Lower Dens 7″s and FGTH Relax and Rage Hard used CD singles.

I became somewhat interested in the FGTH RSD 12″ after I left Good but wasn’t even considering eBay or discogs as options. More than 24 hours later, I headed up to Recycled Books and Records in Denton (this afternoon) to see that they still had a copy (as well as a few of the MSP 12″s). I picked up the Rage Hard 12″ and managed to kill a few hours browsing through the used CDs. The FGTH 12″ was marked $25, but everything in the store was 20% off, so it came out to $20. I’m happy to have it, but Paul, it’s yours if you’d like.

My one small complaint is that the Noel Gallagher 12″ wasn’t released in the US.

My one HUGE complaint is the couple that was at the front of line at Good Records again for the 4th yr in-a-row who are so obviously buying RSD merch just to flog it on eBay. I would love for the powers-that-be to find a way to prevent this from happening.

I’d also like to see more CD titles released as part of RSD. I enjoy vinyl, but prefer the convenience CDs.

Thanks for the effort you put into the site Paul. It’s an excellent source of information and it’s always great to read posts by other avid music fans who still collect physical releases. I visit this site multiple times every day!

Hi Paul, Found my 2 RSD items: Jethro Tull and Jimi Hendrix with no problems. But, I was shocked to find the Bryan Ferry Island Singles box here in Canada. I knew that this was a UK RSD release. I was thinking about getting it, even though I said to myself, I was not going to buy any overpriced 7 inch releases this year so I put it back. After sleeping on it, I called the store the next day to see if was still available. It was! – So I picked it up, because I thought I will not see this in a store in Canada again. I mean, how many do you think Canada got. Anyways, Paul do you know how many of these box sets were made. I can’t seem to find that answer. All I know it’s a limited release. Any thoughts? thanks

“Rip off” Store Day more like

Totally agree with you Paul regarding Record Day.
I gave up record day when I discovered years ago that they only have a few titles and they don’t have CDs as part of the special deals.
I don’t have a turntable but I sure do have a CD player.
I find it bizarre that record shops and the manufacturers of music are only catering for a small market of vinyl when I would be happy to buy it in digital form such as CD/DVD or even BlueRay if the music is good.

5 am in the snow in Wolverhampton – and only 10th in queue but store opened at 8 and bought tea and biscuits out from 7 ish – max of 10 items and 1 of each – got all stuff I was after bar ocs and lush sets – which eBay has sorted with some mark up but not extortionate – all for my own collection and no flipping etc
Nice numbered Metallica cd for charity – but I agree – some decent cd stuff would be welcome as that format needs support too – but the vinyl selection this year was really well done IMO – numbered, coloured etc – but the best part of the day is conversing with the other maniacs dithering in snow at 6am about their passion and realising YOUR NOT ALONE! – even dragged the wife along this year to help grab an ocs for a mate – to no avail as all gone by time got to my turn. But she brought the Madonna pink vinyl and was thrilled – no skips on my copy but I did spin clean it first as I do most new vinyl

I have never participated in RSD ever. I’m old school. 45,000 pieces of recorded music and not a one is a RSD item. Just never cared. IMHO the day was created to as they say in the flix: “To put asses in the seats”. What once once a way to drive traffic to old timey vinyl stores has become a scam. The fact that the stores cannot return unsold product is bullshit which then forces brick and mortar shops to head to Internet retailing to recoup their layout for the day. And seeing how the on line platforms rape sellers (that’s you Ebay), the sellers need to jack their prices through the roof. And are any of these manufactured rarities really gonna hold value? I think not. Your experience on the day Paul says it all. All that scouting around London takes time and money, hiking the prices ever higher. I’ll pass. If there were some CD specials I might actually partake, but rebuying Soft Cell again. NAH. And finally a post somewhere on the Interweb has a poll that shows that the hipsters aren’t even playing their vinyl. Just ridiculous. My 2 cents.

US Bowie Ebay update
* There are 166 listings for the RSD Man Who Sold
* Successful bids are in the $50 range w/US shipping
* In buy it now tab there are 20 LPs listed @ over $85
* 14 of the 20 are from UK with another $16 in shipping & none are selling
* Also FGTW Rage is buy it now for $29 from Decatur GA, $4 US shipping
I don’t know how these prices compare to UK but most seem reasonable to me
J

I wandered into a record shop 30 mins from where I live 3 hours after it opened, I got the Tom Petty LP I wanted. There was no queue or crush and the whole thing was well mannered. Picked up the Elvis I’m Leavin’ LP on Amazon today for less than £16, overall pleased.

I missed the big artwork from vinyl albums but was glad to see the back of vinyl when cds hit the market.
Why can’t they release limited cd singles on rsd, of releases that have only ever been released on vinyl in the past? These in my eyes would be real rarities, as opposed to yet another different coloured vinyl release of an old star wars soundtrack, made specifically for the “stamp collectors” out there.
Many collectors may be scared of playing vinyl, as you can tell its used from the first time its played (many collectors probably don’t even own a turntable!). With a cd, you can rip it to your hdd, or play it on your system without fear of it wearing and losing its value after playing.
It should be all about the value of the music, not a novelty for completist stamp collectors.

I queued up at 6am in the sleet in Newcastle and got everything I wanted associates,soft cell,jona lewi,fgth,Bowie,h17,squeeze dr who,to name a few.I have no problem with eBay,it like anything you don’t have to buy them and if you can’t be bothered to que or don’t live near a store well at least it’s an option.I have more issue with lazy boring reissues of the sane thing,there should be more effort to put out rarities,not just coloured or picture discs.especially at the prices they are asking.Was in Newcastle today and plenty of stock still to have from fgth and both the Bowie releases.

Paul,

I am with you on all counts. Yes, I would like to have some of those rarities on CD as well. Yes, the picture discs and what not are simple tokens to create interest and almost seem artificial. I heard they had released a Simple Minds live Record Store Day collection called Celebrate which only numbered 1,000 copies in all. This is what I am talking about. Or the Doors live collections. These are what collectors like me would like to have. I myself have a $ 50.00 gift card to a record store and will redeem to buy a Rush Moving Pictures box set reissue (including T-shirt) as well as the Fleetwood Mac Alternate Tusk vinyl Record Store Day release.
I agree whole heartedly with you that as imperfect as the day and some of the random “carrot on the stick” of fish bait some of these releases may seem if these help to keep us in a world that we celebrate the independent retailers, vinyl and a part of our childhood kept alive as well…. I am all for it. May we have another 100 Record Store Days.

Thank you Paul,

God bless you all SDE and the readership as well

Tino

I failed to haul myself out of bed super-early and instead arrived to a queue of about 20 people at Music Mania at around 9am. They’d opened at 8am, so I was really taking my chances, but amazingly, the two items which I really wanted (Lush and Carina Round) were both still available – with just one copy of each remaining!!

The guy in the store told me that some items had sold-out very early and that some people had been queueing from around 2:30am.

I even managed to pick up a few bargain CDs during my visit – there were several racks of discs available, many of which were just £1 each!

A lot of the time, you can still get RSD releases at reasonable prices on either Discogs or Amazon. Months if not years later.

Hi Paul,

Do you still need the FGTH Rage Hard?
My local record store had quite a few copies – I snagged one for myself, but can go back tomorrow?

I always thought there was a one copy of each item per customer, sad to hear this may not be the case in certain shops.

Upon getting to the front of my queue I asked for “the two Bowie picture disks”, the shopkeeper shook his head. It was only then I clicked and mentioned “no, I only want one of each, two in total”. Sad if people are buying 4-5 of certain releases.

I queued from 6:15 outside Probe in Liverpool, i only really wanted the Bowie disks and the FGTH 12″. Luckily got all 3 although it was really cold and I was nursing a pretty bad hangover after going to watch Rick Astley the night before.

Couple of different experiences yesterday. First to Carnival in Worcester – wonderful store but owner decided not to stock RSD releases. Instead he discounted his own stock and the shop was buzzing. Got the Edwyn Collins box of 7′ singles which i had been after for a while – good price too at £20.00.
Also picked up Chris Rea Blue Guitars 11cds and 1 dvd for £25.00. A good haul.

Then to Rise in Worcester – good stock levels – picked up the Nuggets double album and a Joe Strummer 12′ but decided I didn’t need either. I did however get the My Darling Clementine 10″ which is what I gads wanted before the day started.

Yes the ebay bastards are a pain in the ass but I still love the vibe of the day. RSD is better than no day at all.

rsd is nothing now but a ebay flippers dream