Features

Saturday Deluxe Live! RSD special

By Paul Sinclair

Comments

201

image

Morning! Welcome to this special Record Store Day ‘edition’ of Saturday Deluxe coming to you LIVE from outside a record shop in North London!

7.45: I was worried because in the past I’ve been here an hour earlier than this, but it’s a good result because after a cold and windy cycle down to Flashback in Islington I’m eighth in the queue! Make that seventh, since the bloke in front of me has just said “I’m off in a minute so you can have my place”. Nice!

image8.15: Only 8 people have arrived here in the last half hour. Dolce Coffee next door NOT coming out with tea and pastries. It’s starting to rain lightly. Didn’t bring an umbrella (obviously!)

8.45: It’s freezing. Just checked Flashback’s ‘list’ and they don’t have Frankie Goes To Hollywood, so I’m officially in a bad mood!

09.00: They haven’t got Madonna either. Starting to wish I’d stayed in bed.

9.15: Shutters still down on Flashback on the busiest day of the year. Other people in the UK have already bought their records and are at home with hot chocolate and crumpets! Did I say that it’s FREEZING!

This is the queue at present.

1460794642088238059873

9.30: Someone has arrived to open up. But we have to wait until 10am.

9.40: I’m number six apparently.

10.00: They think it’s all over, it is now. Even though I was 6th in the queue and had stood outside in the cold for two hours, they’d sold out of the David Bowie Man Who Sold The World picture disc, Air and the Manics by the time I’d got to the front! Bought three items in the end…808 State (which I will trade for a Frankie Rage Hard!), Etienne De Crecy Super Discount, and the Bob Dylan EP. Off home now for a bacon sandwich….

P1030674
The RSD haul from Flashback Records in Essex Road

Please sir, can I have some more?

13:00: At home. A bacon sandwich has never tasted better! Still annoyed about not picking up the Bowie picture disc when I spot broadcaster and journalist Danny Kelly tweet about how ‘Brill Cafe’ (which is in Exmouth Market in Central London, not actually that far from Flashback in Islington) has plenty of Bowie left!

IMAG4552
Brill by name, Brill by nature

13.30: Can’t resist jumping in the car and nipping down there. Lovely little cafe and they had at least three or four Man Who Sold the World picture discs and loads of TVC15 seven-inch picture discs. Buy one of each and grab a flat white too while I’m at it.

bowie_RSD
I snag some Bowie thanks to Danny Kelly!

 

SuperDeluxeEdition.com helps fans around the world discover physical music and discuss releases. To keep the site free, SDE participates in various affiliate programs, including Amazon and earns from qualifying purchases.

Related Content

201 Comments

201 thoughts on “Saturday Deluxe Live! RSD special”

  1. 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.

  2. 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!

  3. 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!!

  6. 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.

  7. 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?

  8. 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!

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. 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!!!!!

  12. 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…

  14. 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!

  15. 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.

  16. 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!

  17. 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

  18. 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.

  19. 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.

  20. 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.

  21. 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!

  22. 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?

  23. 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.

    1. I used to live in Brum years back in the eighties and the place was riddled with small record shops all over the city and market stalls in/near the Bull Ring. Still have all my vinyl bought in those halcyon days. Has this changed since then? Sad if it has.

      Another vote for RSD CDs – Let’s have some proper rarities on disc instead of ridiculously overpriced picture discs and other artificially created vinyl collectibles.

  24. 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 :-)

  25. 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.

  26. 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.

  27. 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.

  28. 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 ….

  31. 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.

  33. 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.

  34. 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!

  35. 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

  37. 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.

  38. 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

  39. 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.

  40. 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

  41. 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.

  42. 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.

    1. Hear, hear! Never understood why anyone would buy music they already own because it ‘looks’ pretty. Why are people spending top dollar on a picture disc of a Bowie album they already own or a picture disc single from an album they already own? Seriously, could somebody explain? Is it filed away and forgotten about, framed and put on display, kept in the hope that it’ll be worth a few quid one day, actually played, etc? I buy plenty of physical media but only ever purchase something again if there is extra music.

  43. 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.

  44. 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

  45. 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!

  47. 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?

  48. 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.

  49. 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.

  51. Hi Paul. Haven’t read all of this thread so sorry if this a repeat. Was just in Adrian’s in Wickford, they had a fair wedge of the Madonna 12″ if you’ve still not got one, and I’m sure they do mail order. They had quite a bit of stuff that I heard people bemoaning about in Berwick St yesterday (I was manning a pop up Richer Sounds store and spoke to literally hundreds of RSD punters).

    I think the very limited numbers of pressings and inflated prices for these releases fuels the e-bay RSD problem. Larger pressings and lower prices would scupper the business men and leave more for the punters. And if the idea is to promote the stores then why no CD pressings? Still, the whole thing gives great promotion to the still standing stores and great publicity for the physical format music industry, so I give it a thumbs up mostly. Just wish true fans could more easily get their hands on the rare (sometimes in content too) releases.

  52. Hearing that the Madonna pink vinyl is skipping and defective just as listings from online shops are starting to go up. Contemplating that one and the Air vinyl. Either one worth the $16-ish?

  53. Paul – Greetings from Toledo, US of A. RSD here was a real breeze. The locals had all but one of my A list choices. Salutes to The Culture Clash, Friendly Beaver Records, and Allied Record Exchange, all doing brisk biz and well-stocked with both RSD and ROTM (Run Of The Mill) releases. Huge deals on used stuff and I was surprised that RSD titles were just a little cheaper than I expected. I visited Flashback while in London 3 years ago or so, and found it to be a terrific little store with a great used LP section. Hope your next stop there pays better winnings. Thanks for the blog.

  54. Took an early trip into Dublin city today as don’t have patience for the main event yesterday.

    General impression is that there is less stock than in prior years so either yesterday was mental or the shops have invested in less stock.

    No sign of Matthew sweet goodfriend- which was main thing I was after (probably Us only release – seen the Susanna huff duet albums but had bought the vinyl box set earlier in year) or Manics.

    Started in spindizzy – picked up a copy of James live album and last copy of Bowie man who sold which was lurking in window display. Plenty of stock there – bundles of Madonna, couple of aha, no Frankie but probably best selection of stock left in Dublin.
    Next golden discs and got a copy of the alternate Tusk and thankfully allowed to get 2 copies of Ian Brown solarized- as had a mate looking for one too.
    Than to Tower in Dawson street and a bit of a bomb scene after the day before so left after a few mins as it is near where I work and I can go in tomorrow when it’s tidied up.
    Went to the other Tower in O’Connell st. and picked up the Alan Partridge picture disc.
    Not a bad haul and a lot less hassle than the day itself.

  55. There’s a lot of griping about ebay sellers here, but stop and spare a thought for the millions of fans around the world who don’t live in cities with a record shop at all, or a record shop that gets any RSD items in at all. i.e. they may be flipping for profit but they are doing a service to a lot of people.

  56. Dave H makes a very valid point. Whilst Paul was standing around in the cold to come home with an 808 State and the flu, the BBC ran a short but intelligent piece on RSD, and the figures on the amount of vinyl shifted between January and March this year are spectacular, tying in with the report last week that many people are streaming an album and then buying the physical item on vinyl. As Dave says, does the day need so many Limited Editions [it always seemed a paradox to me that RSD was the day when you could be almost guaranteed to go to a Record Store and come home empty handed!]. Advertise what’s coming out for a month beforehand, let the shops take pre-orders, and arrange the print-run accordingly. There’s always going to be a shortage – by definition, everything is a Limited Edition, it’s just the quantity of the limit – but at least the fans can be better catered for. Maybe some sensible record company could arrange a not-for-resale-above-face-value thing, as with the attempts to curtail ticket touts, for RSD items.

  57. Last year went to Soul Brother records in Putney, but didn’t buy anything as it was all too pricey (I dithered over Otis Blue but decided not to in the end.)

    This year the markup merchants on Ebay put me right off, and although I quite liked the Bowie pic discs decided that just couldn’t justify the expense.

    I agree that RSD really needs to feature CDs as well as vinyl.

  58. It’s interesting to read all the blogs above, some varied views on RSD.

    Are shops selling their copies on ebay, discogs etc for extra profit? Many people above seem to be able to purchase their wants above so if this is happening, it’s not everyone. It does beg the question where do these sellers get their copies? Are they queuing up with collectors? Are there promotional copies created? Do they work in manufacturing sites and sneak out a few copies to sell?

    I remember reading an article on Paul Weller who has been a fan of RSD and as most people know is a real avid vinyl collector. On the question of his material being sold on ebay and alike, he then questioned himself whether he should release material for RSD!

    It’s definitely a double edged sword but with vinyl sales making a resurgent does RSD need as many limited editions? Should more copies be pressed so real collectors can get their wants without having to pay over the odds?

  59. Back to the eBay debate, just checked, there are 223 items of DB Man a Who Sold The World picture disc up. Various prices as you would expect. I think I read that UK got 800 copies of 2,000 / 2,500. That’s a high percentage getting snuffled by profiteers.

  61. Just adding my fourpence worth [two comments], as someone who supported record stores for much of the Nineties and the black hole of the early Millenies [or whatever they are called], RSD is a day when I am excluded as I am way too old to stand outside a record shop in the freezing cold Somerset morning for a several hours whilst people I have never seen before are clogging the queue and preparing their eBay listings on their smartphones. And the second point, as many posts – this one included of course – are haranguing the speculators over the collectors, it has to be pointed out that for several weeks now sellers on Amazon have been advertising RSD items ‘to be despatched Monday 18 April’ or similar wording, so one should not forget that vendors have had the thought of, ‘well, I can sell this at face value in the store on the day, or I can sell it online at 3-4 times the price.’ On the plus side, whilst everyone was queuing up to get their Bowie et al, I was able to get an amazing deal on Amazon for the spectacular Bob Dylan Cutting Edge Blu-Spec II Japanese-only Box Set [went up by almost £100 quid ten minutes after I ordered mine].

  62. RSD needs to stop.It doesn’t have anything to do with supporting record stores, it’s just a corporate rationalisation of greed. Doesn’t anyone else find queueing for hours to buy artificially created “rarities” embarassing?

        1. Actually I don’t queue for hours on RSD, but clearly those who do so aren’t embarrassed. It is the best way to get the record they want before the eBay dealers get it. another way is to build up a relationship with the shop and maybe they might set things aside for regulars, clearly some shops did this year, looking at the comments.

          I agree with you on prices. Some singles are over ten pounds. LAst yea the Fotheringay single was going for £15 (you can get it now for much less if you look around)

          Corporate greed has ruled the music business since forever, this is novel way of supporting your local shop and keeping it going in an increasing digital marketplace.

          Other markets (eg furniture and John Lewis type department stores) are having to look at how to keep physical shops viable so that they continue to have shop front where people can see their goods (before buying online). This may be behind phenomena like Black Friday. Businesses are realising that physical shops are important and shouldn’t be allowed to go to the wall.

  63. Not sure what the prices are like elsewhere, but in Australia, $30 odd dollars for a 7 inch single, $40 for the Notorious B.I .G. 12 inch and $60 for an album seems exceedingly high, even for something that is supposedly a limited release. I don’t recall items being anywhere near that high a few years ago. For instance, I picked up The Cure’s “Kiss Me…” red double vinyl for
    $40 at the time. It just seems to me that retailers or the suppliers are taking real music lovers for a ride.

  64. Was working so couldn’t queue in the morning but at 7pm on Saturday, Rough Trade East in London still had a good 10 copies each of Grace Jones, Heaven 17 and FGTH 12″s, as well as a few Dylan EPs. They closed at 8pm so chances are if you get there when they open on Sunday you may be lucky.
    Wanted the Glen Campbell “Wichita Lineman”, Associates and Bowie 7″s, Neneh Cherry and Soft Cell 12″s. Anyone seen them still available in London?

  65. Hi Paul, I was able to get a copy of Frankie Goes to Hollywood in a store in upstate NY about a half hour ago. It’s yours if you want it. Just let me know.

  66. Was a good day this year!
    I picked these up at my local store:

    FGTH – Rage Hard 12inch color
    808 State – Pacific 12inch color
    David Bowie – TVC15 7inch PicDisc
    David Bowie – TMWSTW LP PicDisc
    Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance 12inch PicDisc
    Clint Mansell – Requiem For A Dream 2xLP
    Alanis Morissette – Demos LP color
    Jean-Michel Jarre & Edward Snowden – Exit 7inch
    John Williams – StarWars 10inch PicDisc
    Madonna – Like A Virgin & Other Big Hits! 12inch color
    Simple Minds Live – Big Music Tour 2015 2xLP color
    Soft Cell – Sex Dwarf 12inch color
    Grace Jones – Private Life / She’s Lost Control 12inch
    Mike Oldfield – Nuclear 7inch PicDisc

    …and for the few titles I missed, the next destinations will have to be eBay and Discogs…

    1. Hello bertielego. Can you please give an indication of the prices you paid for those items. I’m trying to gauge whether we are getting fleeced Down Under as some of the prices ($30 for a 7 inch, $40 for a 12 inch record) seems outrageously expensive. Cheers.

  67. And in Detroit, by 11.00 the line at Third Man Records was right down to Cass but The White Stripes – Peel and the Kate Pearson were readily available. Being Jack White, it was a great promote with live music and entertainment.

    The Stripes download is downloaded and fab. John sounds more than pleased with the sessions

  69. Oh yes, forgot to mention that about 30 seconds after the shop had opened we were joined by load of girls which surely destroys the myth that girls are not interested in collecting records?

  70. Right, beat this. New local shop doing RSD for the first time. It’s actually a charity shop that began stocking new vinyl about a year ago. Got there at 7:30 and was first in the queue. Joined a couple of minutes later by another guy and together we waited until the door opened dead on 8:00 am. Had a list of 16 wants, and got The Animals LP, The Fall live LP, Joe Strummer 12″, and Doctor Who/Daleks OST, Iggy Pop 7″ and compilation Sensible Record labels vol.2 Not a bad haul at all, and all profits go to charity so everyone’s happy. Home by 8:30 and missed the rain!

  71. One copy of each item is part of the agreement that stores pledge to when they become an official RSD location. They can get into trouble for doing differently. Though the total item limit is not part of the regulations, it’s a good idea to capture those eBay touts.

  72. Got to my local store just after 4am with 5 people in front. Freezing cold and raining :( store opened at 8am and only a few allowed in at a time which worked at first, and only 1 ofceach item allowed. Problem happened when the first few in bought armfuls, and as it’s a small store they had very limited numbers. This lead to people getting very anxious. I got the 2 items I wanted but felt sorry for the guy and his young son who didn’t get the star wars 10″

  73. Despite my early arrival I had missed out. My want list was quite simple – Soft Cell – Sex Dwarf, Associates – Party Fears Two & Grace Jones – Private Life. There are now (21.38 GMT) 44 copies of RSD Sex Dwarf on ebay (and I didn’t even deign to search further) which really annoys me as the whole point of Record Store Day was to promote independent record shops, not for profiteers to resell on line. I feel robbed and there’s no way I’ll be paying exorbitant prices to a selfish, money making tout on an online auction site – I’d rather go without than support these c***s.

  74. Gotta say the staff at Sister Ray were fantastic as always. Regular updates on stock levels and other information. Arrived at 6am and was 47th in the queue.. 40 places closer than last year. Managed to secure both Bowie, Associates, TRex, Star Wars, Madonna, Soft Cell but missed out on Undertones, Jean Michel Jarre, Mike Oldfield and Squeeze unfortunately. Seeing them all appear on eBay in a matter of minutes is really infuriating.

  75. RSD is just ridicolous. Why the hell should I queue outside a shop, really? That’s just stupid and pointless. And why buy another Bowie pressing, really? Stupid thing for stupid people, sorry.

  76. Thought that this would be a bad day as had to be at a meeting from 9 til 1pm. Normally would be at Banquet in Kingston 4.30 and 11pm the last 2 years [ still 45 mins Q] . After finding No1 target sold out quickly went elsewhere on my way to Banquet at 1.30. Walked in and got the other 4 of my 5 targets. Walked out again 5 mins later a happy bunny. Then off to Banquet and had 50 mins queue to get 2 extra items . They had loads of stock – the last Bowie went in front of me, though funnily 3 of 4 that I’d got earlier weren’t there.
    Shame that some Ebay stuff – but that’s the way of the world.

  77. When I got to my local (and favourite) indie store at 6:55, there was nobody yet queuing so I was really happy to be the first one in line!
    Somebody arrived about 20 minutes later.
    When the store finally opened at 9:00 we were no more than 15 queuing in beautiful sunshine (sorry Paul ;-) ).
    I snagged:
    the three Bowie titles (TVC15, The Man Who Sold the World and 1966, that last one is not a picture disc)
    the Sex Pistols picture disc (Never Mind the Bollocks)
    the Muse picture disc (Reapers)
    and the Star Wars 10” picture disc (didn’t even know there was one and this was the only copy they had).
    Overall quite happy as what I really wanted were the three Bowie items, the other items are bonuses (not a single copy of the Manics 12” though, I would have take that as well).

    Is it me or are the prices over the top?
    55$ (Canadian dollars) for The Man Who Sold the World pic disc (that’s about 30£)!!!

  78. Another thing – I noticed that all the shops near me now have a ‘one copy of each item per customer’ rule. One also had a limit of 15 items per customer. Both seem like great ideas to me!

  79. Scored all my wanted titles here in Amsterdam in 2 shops: was in line at the first one at 7,30 with 20 people in front: for myself: Bowie TMWSTW & TVC15 , Madonna, Isley Brothers TOHOM, Larry Levan double and Ladies Of Too Slow Too Disco double with 7 inch (2 longer remixes), for a friend: 7 inches of Jimmy Page, The Syndicats, The Mickey Finn and The Remains album.

  80. I had a pretty good day. I usually go in to the centre of the city where I live for RSD. Typically, I get there about 6am and am 30th in the queue. This year, I did some research and found that a small local shop was getting all the items I wanted. I arrived at 6:50 and, other than a fox, the place was deserted! Got the 6 items I wanted – Lush, both Bowie, Low, Magazine, Frankie – and was home for 9:30. Result!

  81. Had a decent one here in the US. Passed on FGTH at $24 (I own the original 12″ and CD) and Lush box at $100 (got the CD box already), and didn’t see 808 State or Residents. Wasn’t able to get the one copy of the Casale or Mothersbaugh records the store had, either.

    Ended up with Foals, African Head Charge, Cavern of Anti-Matter, Tom Petty, Skywave and Florence and the Machine. Gave my buddy the last copy of the Feelies 12″ in the store. Add that to the two Metallica boxes that arrived yesterday, and I’m good to go for a while. :-)

  82. Been in a small record store in Saint Ghislain (Belgium). Arrived at 11 am. They were 2 customers in the store and 4 boxes full of RSD exclusive releases. I’ve seen 3 copies of Bowie pict disc, 36€, too expensive for me. Also seen FGTH and many other things discussed here that don’t interests me at all. Finally bought La Dispute LP.

  84. Unfortunately we don’t have any record stores in Scunthorpe anymore (The last one closed over 10 years ago) so today I decided to drive the 30 mile to Grimsby. I arrived at 7:00 am and was 29th in the queue. The shop had someone there from 5:oo handing out raffle tickets so people could take their ticket and go sit in the car or whatever to save getting cold and wet. Then at 7:30, half an hour before opening, the owners wife arrived with a couple of bags of bacon sarnies which were handed out free. This is how to do RSD properly and I will definitely be returning to this shop in the near future.

    I went for the TVC15 pic disc to keep my collection going and picked up TMWSTW as well. I got both.

  85. In Seattle, the fans and record shops are largely respectful of what RSD means for music lovers. Sure, there are people who buy to resell later but in all honesty, if you want something bad enough, you’ll do a little research ahead of time and see which shops open early, line up early, plan of attack with friends in different areas of town and you can usually get what you want. Rarely have I missed out on something because I’ve planned ahead. Not only that, fellow fans would assist others waiting patiently for their turn at the bins and pull stuff out for others.

  86. Standing in front of Record Runner, Paul. In fact, the guy with whom you met had the exact same NY Yankees shirt that he wore in the picture with you in November. I added to some of my “S” 12″ Singles. Simple Minds, Spandau Ballet, The Style Council… They had many of the Madonna picture discs. That definitely stood out.

  88. Ironically, as a record collector, Record Store Day is the one day of the year I DON’T bother popping into the record stores of Newcastle. I’ll leave today for the johnny come latelies and profiteers, and if they keep the record stores open for the rest of the year by coming in today, then great, I can stay at home today and enjoy the stores when they’re quiet every other day of the year….oh and if you’re selling stuff on ebay, you can ruddy well keep it, I don’t need anything that much.

  89. I am afraid I can’t afford to make a long journey and lose a day’s pay to visit a shop which might or might not have the records I am looking for. If the participating shops think it works for them, then that’s great. But I do wonder how successful the exercise really is in terms of attracting significant numbers of new, repeat customers.

  90. Just arrived in Brighton and made a b-line for Resident, in the Lanes.
    Slits, Partridge, Run the Jewels and FGTH all bought at 4pm. And they’ve got tonnes I could have splurged for too.

  92. A couple of weeks ago I downloaded Jodie Abacus’ excellent For Real Life And Not Pretend EP from iTunes. My nine year old son has heard me playing this around the house, in the car etc. I took him with me today to our local record store and he immediately spotted the vinyl version released for RSD. He’s just bought, with his own money, his first piece of vinyl and is over the moon with the inner sleeve which has the lyrics and the fact that the vinyl is pink.
    So, not all doom and gloom and, in this case, RSD has served it’s purpose.

  93. Joined the queue at David’s Letchworth at 3:15am with at least 20 ahead of me and one guy since 2.00pm on Friday! Staff arrived at 7.00am and promptly came along the queue with lists and highlighter pens. Then followed with free tea/ coffee biscuits and cakes. Opened dead on 8.00am and all customers greeted by Andy the Manager and handed raffle ticket for signed stuff. All done by 9.00am and purchased around 20 including the Bowies, FGTH, Thompson Twins, Ocean Colour Scene, Doors live, PSB, Simple Minds, 808 State, the three Kings of Convenience, Go Team. My daughter got the Manics & Madonna. Could not get Air or Soft Cell though. Well organised event with friendly banter from returning faces from previous years. Then went to Empire in St Albans and The LP Cafe in Watford but no luck. Asked my mate in West Wales to try The Tangled Parrot in Carmarthen and Andys in Aberystwyth but again no joy. Will have to resort to inflated prices on Ebay now but a great RSD experience for me.

    1. Well done. Could have done with some free tea and biscuits down here in London! I do feel Flashback in Islington could open a bit earlier, 10am is very late if you’ve been queuing from 6 or 7am. I’d be raring to go on the busiest day of the year if I was the owner. The shop was still closed with shutters down at 9.30 for heaven’s sake!

  94. Broke my arrival record and landed in the queue at 3.20am this time, was 7th in the queue and got everything I wanted (17 items in total), same people in the queue that have been going for years, excellent banter which was needed considering we got snowed and rained on several times throughout the morning.

    One thing I did notice was queues seemed to be slightly down on previous years but that might have been down to the grim weather in Newcastle this morning putting a few people off.

    All in all another successful RSD for me, I’ve got no gripes (apart from some obvious price inflations here and there)

    Only thing now is that I have to decide what to play first, will it be Doors, Ian Brown, Ocean Colour Scene, David Bowie, Field Music, White Stripes, Nirvana, Lynyrd Skynrd. I think it will be names out of a hat and we’ll go from there.

    PS don’t go paying Ebay prices just yet, all left over stock goes online tonight in European countries and the UK follows in 7 days time at Midnight Friday running into Saturday.

  95. Just home from Leeds (and after leaving home just after 5am) and managed to pick almost all on my list.
    Crash records were excellent in their choice of vinyl and availability. Jumbo records round the corner supplied me with the Dude which I was missing….

    Great day in Leeds many thanks to the Guys at Crash

  97. “Can’t resist jumping in the car…”
    No staying power,these weekend cyclists.
    Pleased you purloined the goods,Paul.

    Bet Brill Cafe staff wondering if they’ll ever see you again before RSD 2017.

    Cosmic Rock to one and all.

        1. Yes, but I’m talking about a solution to the problem of people going in to a shop, buying and immediately selling on ebay. That is the ONE thing that everyone hates and a systems similar to what I proposed would alleviate this.

  99. I was able to pick up the couple of items I wanted: The White Stripes Peel sessions and the Carl Douglas ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ 7 inch single. A friend of mine did me a solid when she picked me up the Jack White ‘You Are The Sunshine’ green vinyl 7 inch single. That one was only available at the Third Man Records store. Im not normally into RSD as its way too crowded for me but there seems to be one or two items every year that I like.

  100. Went to Vinyl Exchange in Manchester instead of Piccadilly Records this time, had a bad experience there last year queuing for hours and not getting Placebo, so thought I’d have a change and go to Exchange, there was barely any queue at Exchange where as Piccadilly across the road was huge, I found out Vinyl Exchange had Madonna, so I queued for 30 minutes and left with Madonna in my hands! I was very happy and quite smug that I wasn’t in the rediculous queue across the road at Piccadilly Records.

  102. I bet Townsend had at least 15 of the Manics by the time I got in, I imagine this won’t sell out at the price, they also had a few left of the Man Who Sold The World

  103. I LOVE Flashback for finding rare used gems, but they’re a very small shop. As others have said, safer to go with bigger ones for RSD as they’ll tend to get more of a “spread” and can be more resistant to eBay buyers thanks to higher number and the consistent 1-per-person policy. That said, after what’s been happening in recent years, with it becoming more and more difficult to actually get anything at all, I’ve actually had decent luck finding my desired items on Discogs and eBay in the weeks after RSD. I know it’s feeding the trolls somewhat, but many times, these buyers tend to overdo it, and for a handful of items, there ends up being a flooded market, at least for a short while. Keep you eye on listings, and you may be pleasantly surprised to see a short period of your targets selling for close to their list prices. But don’t wait too long or they could get rare again!

  104. I went to Townsend in Chorley, opened at 8 but the other shop in town didn’t open until 10, so had to skip that one. Managed to get 1 of the 6 items I was looking for, a Space picture disc LP for £29.99. It was for a friend, not for me, as £29.99 for an LP is way too expensive. Fancied the Manics 12″ but £17.99 was too steep for a 4 track 12″ single. They only let 3 people in the shop at once, giving you no chance to browse other items, so kind of a waste of time if the idea is to get more people into record shops. It reminded me of a NEXT sale, loads of items you’ve never seen on the shelves all year suddenly appearing, only difference at double the price, rather than half. I fancied the James LP, but shudder to think how much that was. I do hope though that the Doors LP will mean they will re-issue some of the earlier Bright Midnight releases.

  105. Queued up at stupid o’clock this morning at Rough Trade West, was 8th in the queue. Was chatting to a lovely couple who were ahead of me in the queue, only to be told that the guy at the head of the queue was only there to resell his purchases on Ebay. What a leech.

  106. Paul, it’s really got outta hand. I’m a long time collector, like yourself & many of your readers. My main wants would have been Madonna, FGTH, State 808 & the 2 Bowie discs. ALL of them have been on eBay since WEDNESDAY. Last nite at 5.30 they were plentiful. Now these must be coming from Shops / Dealers…… Let’s be honest, there is also an awful lot of shite that really shouldn’t be given pressing plant time in the first place. Everyday is Record Store Day to us isn’t it! I don’t have a magic answer, there isn’t one. The Record Co’s have smelt a cash cow & being big business they are going to milk it to death. Like many of your fellow readers I’m done with RSD. Shame

    2. I can’t go to RSD, but I managed to get the Madonna release TWO days ago on ebay. Very glad to have it but I do feel that RSD has become more stressful in many ways than fun. Same with some of those ltd releases (unrelated to RSD). For example, the new Kylie & Dannii 12″ was available for a few hours last night in Kylie’s official webstore. Now it’s out of stock. I managed to grab it, thankfully, but I wonder if it will even be back in stock…

  107. 14th in the queue at 4.00 this morning outside Square Records Wimborne – opened at 8 – excellentlly organised as ever – managed to get Bob Dylan” 72, Big Star LP, Emmylou Harris 3LP, Matthew Sweet – Goodfriend, Squeeze 7″ and Pere Ubu 7″. Delighted. They’re going nowhere but my record collection. Also plenty of Bowie Picture disc LP and 7″ TVC 15s being sold to people in front of me in the queue – at least 5-6 copies of each if not more. Maybe RSD stock is allocated on the basis of past ‘success’ of RSD events??

      1. Around 10 people had been there since midnight – one of whom had began camping out at 9.00 am Friday morning! That’s a top ten that’s hard to break into!

  108. The purpose of RSD is not to please fans but to promote independent record shops. That much of the stuff bought later ends up on eBay and Discogs is of little consequence. The independent record shops get their largest single day footfall of the year and, one would hope, attract future regular customers. RSD merchandise has to be limited and the distribution somewhat random in order to get people into the shops on RSD. Of course there are winners and losers amongst the buyers, chancers and genuine fans but the day is all about the independent record shops really.

    1. You are correct to point out that RSD is primarily about promoting the indie shops, as opposed to merely pleasing fans, but, without the fans, there would be no market for said shops to sell anything to! It seems to me that something which started as a genuine attempt to revive the record store industry has quickly devolved into a cynical marketing and exploitation exercise. It’s great for the shops as they get the footfall, and I absolutely don’t blame them for making the most of it, but from the comments on here one gets the impression that more people are becoming more disillusioned with the whole thing.

      1. I do like the idea of people building up ‘credits’ via some kind of loyalty card, when using their local record shop. When it comes to RSD you get priority based on your points/credits accumulated. Can’t really see a downside to an idea like that and it means the loyal customers (true fans etc.) get rewarded appropriately.

  109. Easy for me as a non-vinyl buyer, stayed in bed until ten this morning. Annoying that there is a lack of CD releases as people like me (CD buyers) are the ones that kept record stores going through the lean times and even more annoying when Putchfork reports that almost 50% of UK vinyl buyers on RSD never play them! I saw this in action last time I ventored out on RSD on overhearing the salesmen in Crash in Leeds saying to some vinyl buyer, ‘you’ll never play it will you?’ to which the customer replied ‘no’. A shame for you genuine fans who might actually listen to them.

    1. Totally agree, DaveM. For example, I miss nicely packaged CD singles with rare/live/cover/extended tracks in particular. I would queue for special CD releases (albums or singles), and also feel a bit left out. Can’t understand the complete lack of silvery disc releases.

      1. I agree, as a CD collector myself I’d definitely fork out for special CD editions on RSD but I can’t see it happening yet – they aren’t seen as being remotely ‘cool’ enough.
        Anyway one advantage we have now is being able to pick up those cd singles/imports you might have missed first time around in most cases for pennies. Records were being given away at carboot sales 20 odd years ago, we have the equivalent now happening with CDs. Whether we’ll see the same bounceback remains to be seen.

  110. Who is behind RSD? Time for letters of protest me thinks….. Time for a change of doing things if profiteering is now as rife as people say.

  111. Great report but sorry for the rain!
    I got a-ha’s Live EP here in Bonn, Germany, and it is great. Genious. Brilliant. Hunting high and low starts with the Memorial Beach instrumental. On the back of the cover it says: “Absolutely live. No sequences. No overdubs. No samples” – Iwish they would still play live this way. Paul, do you have a contact in Rhino to whom we could send a thank you message? We need more!!!! For instance, the whole Ulleval concert from 2002 and a whole South America 1991 performance on CD/LP.

  112. I got everything that I went for and was out of the shop bang on 8am. I was customer no. 4. Shop owner took lists off those at the front from 7.30 and bagged everything up ready for 8am despatch. Was in M&S for breakfast by 8.20. I’m a collector who buys to keep but it’s inevitable that not everyone treats RSD that way. One observation was the queue this year started 30 minutes earlier but was about 1/3 as long as it was last year by the time the shop was trading so it does appear to be a fad that’s quickly fading. I won’t miss RSD if it never happens again but after my seventh participating year I’ve always got what I went for with 1 exception last year (which a mate sorted out for me anyway) and so I can’t complain really. It’s an OK event but the novelty appears to be wearing thin.

  113. This prompted me to go downstairs and look at my 12″ singles that I have kept over the years. Don’t know when or where I bought it, but I have a 1986 Frankie Goes To Hollywood “Rage Hard” with their cover of “Sufferagette City” and “(Don’t Lose What’s Left) Of Your Little Mind” on the b-side. I wonder how my old copy is different than what they are selling today? Forgive my vinyl ignorance.

    1. The RSD Rage Hard has the ‘compacted’ CD single mix which is about 17 minutes if my memory serves. That’s new to vinyl. And it’s purple, isn’t it?

  114. I don’t bother with RSD at all. As has been pointed out it is artificially created records and whipped up demand, all for the benefit of Ebay sellers. If the demand is there to sell 5000 copies of a David Bowie picture disc why not make (and sell) 5000? The purpose is to sell records isn’t it? Instead it will be a limited edition of 500 or 1000 and the Ebay sellers have a field day.

    It also amazes me the prices on Ebay for what I would consider to be of limited interest issues. Issued as run of 1000 which if sold any other time of the year through an artist’s website would retail for a few pounds. It’s now a RSD release and it fetches £40/£50! Madness.

  115. Oh, and there were even several copies of The Man Who Sold The World picture disc that were sold on eBay yesterday – the day before RSD itself. What chance do real fans have?

  116. I was very lucky / stupid / gullible … Bowie TVC15, Bowie Man Who…, Manics, Noel Gallagher, Ian Brown, Wedding Present, Lush, 808 State, Primal Scream, Charlatans, Ocean Colour Scene, Clint Mansell, Flaming Lips (for a friend). Arriving at 6.20 paid off and I was only about 10 from the front of the queue to get into Coda in Edinburgh and in the first group of people to be allowed into the shop.

    A shame Paul about FGTH and A-Ha as I could have got them for you … might pop in later and if they have I will buy copies and you can have them at cost if I get them.

    2. Codas a good shop.Still has vinyl singles from previous RSD releases and new Deep Purple vinyl albums are a few bob cheaper than HMV on Princes street.Got Bohemian Rhapsody 12″ there last year.

  117. The fact that most copies of the more popular items seem to be bought by non-fans is the reason that I gave up on RSD a few years ago. Taking the Rage Hard 12″ as an example, it looks as if there have been more than 20 copies listed on eBay so far (of which half have already been sold for around £35 each). Despite being a big fan of both Bowie and FGTH I knew I had no chance of getting these in store, so didn’t bother trying. Oh well.

    1. I managed to get FGTH, aha and Madonna and a few others, but that was after queuing from 5:45. I only queued this year as I got scalped on eBay for the last FGTH release, Maximum Joy.

      I was second in the queue, so could have got all of the stuff selling on eBay for silly money, but that just turns me into a scalper.

  118. Queued at Tower in Dublin from 5.30 and was still only 9th in the queue. In fairness though, they always seem to have good stock levels.
    Still a few Bowie, Air and Manics on the shelf an hour later. It is flawed but I will say that the 2 hours beforehand in the queue is great craic. Tend to meet the same hardcore people every year geeking out.

  119. 1300 items on the UK eBay already listed under RSD2016. And that, my friends, is why Record Store Day can do one as far as I am concerned.

    Records for fans? Doesn’t seem likely. Would true fans immediately go home and list their prized purchases on eBay?

    My local, Southsea’s Pie and Vinyl, can expect to see me plenty of times in 2016. (Just like last year, and the before and the year before ad infinitum). Just not today.

    My RSD treat was finding the first and third Hanoi Rocks albums in a charity shop on Wednesday for a fiver. Bargain!

  120. Just want to add my two pence worth to the RSD debate. I was going to go up to my local shop mid morning in the hope that I might get something. But then I saw on Twitter that they’d sold out of the three things I was interested in so haven’t bothered. One of those items was the James lp, which I’ve just seen a copy of on eBay for a whopping £100. I really hope no one buys from these jokers. I’ve also seen two copies on starting at £0.99 from the same seller – my local shop only had one copy to start with, so somewhat annoying that someone managed to get two when they’re not even bothered about the music and are just out for a quick and easy profit! I know there’s nothing we can do about it, it just saddens me that a day which should be about celebrating music has degenerated into an opportunity for grubby exploitation!

    1. 101 Records in Farnham is raffling the James lp for a charity. They had lots of RSD stock at 2:00pm. got the Alan Partridge pic disc and a 7″ pic disc by Public Service Broadcasting. Plenty of other stuff I wold like to have but can’ afford. The Mod 7″ box was nice, but cost £70.

  121. One of the lucky ones here I guess, local store opened at 0800, got 4 of the 6 I wanted and home for 0845. No rain and was queuing from 0600, twelfth in the queue. Got the Bowie pic disc LP but lucked out on the dr.who and the daleks :(

      1. £28 for the Daleks album. Managed to get one! Sadly they did not have Genesis Of The Daleks which was top of my wants list but one out of two ain’t bad.

  122. I just find this manufactured RSD collectible fad a bit off and lacking any depth.

    I understand seeking out rare and collectible original vinyl from vinyl’s heyday, I do it myself, but all these RSD items people are queuing up for or paying silly money for secondhand are purposefully being created to sell to you people. They have no heritage or prestige.

    The only people benefiting are eBay/Amazon/ Discogs etc. sellers who buy all the stock then up the prices.

    RSD seems like an easier and cheaper imitation of collecting rare vinyl, manipulating consumers by pressing new vinyl in limited quantities and thereby creating a manufactured demand.

    I would be interested in any interviews with shop owners that clarify whether RSD has actually helped their business and their opinions on the legitimacy of this yearly stunt. Are consumers buying other items while getting these new collectibles and regularly coming back throughout the year? Are people buying purely with an eye to future value and to sell on?

    I’m interested in others opinions.

  123. E-Bay has literally 100s of items posted this morning, many Bowie, buy it now up around £200 for some. Looks to me that some of these are from dealers.

    I am a fan of e-Bay I have many SDEs that I would have little or no chance of owning without it, but the whole idea of RSD just creates a market for profiteering.

    Must admit some items, I cannot understand the values being put on them!!

    Prices Might settle down in a week or so

  124. sorry it ended like that Paul. hoped you’d get the manics at least. this is my problem with RSD. they need more copies of fewer items. there is just way too much. shops get just a few of each. or just don’t get them at all. i.e. t.twins for me. madonna/frankie for you.

    1. Probably don’t need too much sympathy (although appreciated!) because I get sent some bits from labels… but ironically the stuff I needed/wanted to buy I couldn’t get hold of. Oh well.

  125. Sounds like a terrible morning for some! Last week I researched ten local stores to find out stock availability and pricing. I opted for Rough Trade.

    5:00 am : alarm goes to get up.
    6:00 am : got to Rough Trade – number 80 in the queue – stood outside.
    6:10 am : now in the Rough Trade cafe holding area – heating way too high – sweltering!
    8:30 am : got into store – picked up A-ha, FGTH and Thompson Twins.
    8:45 am : in queue to pay.
    9:55 am : paid and left shop : hundreds of people still in the queue outside the store.

    As a large store they had high numbers of copies of each item I bought.

    Cheers.
    :-)

    1. Interesting… it seems like being number 80 in the queue for Rough Trade is better than being number 6 in Flashback. Apart from your very early start, you queued for at least 30 minutes LESS than me and although it might have been too warm, I’m was bloody freezing outside for nearly 2 hours. Flashback didn’t have ANY a-ha, FGTH or Thompson Twins on their list!

  126. Oh Paul, Assai in Broughty Ferry oened at 8, I got all I wanted and I think they had at least one copy of most of what you were after! worth keeping an eye out for if they do an online sale.

  127. Personally I believe Record Store Day is so far removed from its original intent that this year I decided not to bother – this will be the first one I have missed.

    I appreciate there will be many true vinyl lovers who will queue to add a gem to their collections. But last year I visited 4 of my regular stores throughout the day and the general conversation was much more about people working out what profits they would get from reselling on eBay.

    In 2 of the stores the staff bemoaned the fact that most of the real rare gems had been snapped up by faces that they had never seen in the store before. Maybe time to rethink – maybe issues vouchers throughout the year or something – I dont know the answer but it feels like something needs to be done.

    1. The purpose of RSD is to promote independent record shops. It’s gives independent record shops the opportunity to turn over their best one day profit of the year and also, hopefully, attract new regular customers in the process. On that level, it succeeds.

  128. sorry you missed out Paul,gave up on record store day a few years ago,Items should be for the fans not for people who just get up early.Save all the ebay sellers-don’t you think?

    1. The fans ARE the ones who get up early. Only reason I didn’t today is because I’m traveling from San Diego to Seattle. But stopping in a little California town north of Sacramento called Anderson that has a store which I hope will have that Idle Race LP I want!

  129. Why don’t the stores say they’ll open at 10am, that way you coukd get more interest, OK they have limited stock but at least you don!t have to get up at stupid o’clock…

      1. It’s released on the 5th August and there are pictures of the box on amazon but no tracklisting yet and there is also a Blu-ray.

    2. @Andrew-

      Thanks for putting this on the radar. Something to look forward to. One of my favorites for sure and will have a nice home next to the first two SDE Simple Mind’s releases.

  131. Hi there Nigel, I went to Redhouse for the last couple of years but nothing grabbed me this year unfortunately. Lovely staff at Redhouse. Hope you enjoy your bacon Paul.

    1. Hi Martin

      I could have spent a lot more today – really good selection and lots of it – as you say lovely staff and really well organised – we were third in the line at 4.45 this morning but to be fair probably didn’t need to have bee that early.

  133. I saw plenty of Frankie today at Clarity records in Adelaide, Australia. Unfortunately postage would probably be double the cost of the record.

  134. sorry they’ve not got what you want Paul. the shop in leicester has had a list taped to their window all week listing what they were going to have. so I knew there’d be no thompson twins (which I might have stood a chance of getting) so I’m not there. anything else I’d want (manics/c86) even if they *have* doubt I’d get … when there’s only 1 shop in your town doing it, the queue is always so long and everyone wants a lot of the same things.

  135. …..just back from our local store in Swindon – Redhouse Records – got everything we wanted and unfortunately Paul, they did have 4 or 5 copies of the Frankie single still sat in the racks even after most people in the queue had their orders pre-bagged up!

Leave a Reply