SDEtv

SDEtv: The BIG Record Store Day unboxing video preview

Music fans will not have failed to notice that tomorrow is Record Store Day, the day when lots of releases (almost entirely vinyl) are available exclusively from independent record shops around the world. Keeping with SDE tradition, we now present a special video preview of some of the best releases. This is our biggest ever, as the 2019 unboxing covers 30 different releases through five different decades! Watch the video below and have fun tomorrow.

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187 thoughts on “SDEtv: The BIG Record Store Day unboxing video preview”

  1. Has anyone else purchased the 808 State box and found they’ve got two copies of record #2 with record #3 missing?

    A couple of people have commented this on Discogs. @Paul, given these are limited, how likely is it that this could be sorted by the label in your opinion?

  4. Really! Now there is confirmation.
    Part of the Pink Floyd release was made with an error.
    All Side 1 – completely!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=72&v=_CB7HZpEGqA

    The offender is revealed. Although he hid his face under other turns.
    https://www.discogs.com/Moi-04/release/9399585

    Also a question. Will Pink Floyd pay the copyright to the criminal?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9ESdnOVpek&feature=youtu.be

    Most likely some vinyl in North America.

  5. Prices do vary wildly. Bought the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 7″ (just two tracks) for € 28, and the Elvis Presley ‘August 1969’ (a double LP with 15+ trax) for “just” € 27. I don’t really get it.

  6. I only visited two recordshops (in Paris) last saturday. I hadn’t really prepared for the day (not a big fan of RSD so I didn’t bother to check all RSD releases) so I had a few surprises. For example, I didn’t know Fire released two Television Personalities compilations, I was really excited to find that out and immediatly grabbed them. I stumbled on Morrissey 7″, Bowie LPs and 7″, Bronski Beat, Madonna, etc. but didn’t really care. I even had the Japan 10″ in my hands but I didn’t buy it (even though I’m a big fan of David Sylvian and Japan) because the price was like €12 and I thought it was too expensive for a simple 10″ single and didn’t want to spend too much. In the end, I bought both TVPs compilations, David Sylvian’s LP There is no love (with Rhodri Davies and Mark Wastell), a very limited edition (200) of Sunn O))’s latest LP, the Charlatans 7″ box set (€75) and David Byrne’s Brazil Classic box set for €45 (all three volumes in colored shape). I even found an older RSD release (Lush’s 4AD box set Origami from 2016), it was only €85. The only item I really wanted bad was the Flaming Lips LP in gold vinyl (with Mick Jones). I bought that on the US Rough Trade store. European stores can start selling RSD item online next saturday but for US stores, it was the day after RSD so if if you’re ready to pay shipping costs from US to Europe, you can buy from US Rough Trade if they still have the items you want.

  7. To be honest, there wasn’t much that grabbed me again this year, and I was away on Saturday so didn’t get to any record shops on the day. I strolled into the local shop at lunch time today and grabbed the Lost In Translation soundtrack, which I did want, so was chuffed with that. Also picked up Beth Hart’s live album for a decent price considering it’s a double. There’s a couple of other things I’ll keep an eye out for over thenext week when the online sales start, but happy enough so far.

  9. Any comments about Roxy Music Remixed? I’m so tempted but not enough to drop over $50 Canadian on something that looks interesting but is potentially terrible (not a huge fan of DJ remixes, to be honest). One of my local shops has many copies left so I’m not feeling too rushed to take the impulsive plunge.

  10. First time I’ve done RSD as my Dad life does not lend itself to that kind of commitment. I’ve previously bought the stuff I really wanted afterwards and not really had to pay too much. Other expensive desirables I’ve just lived without. This year I was visiting a mate so stopped of in Shrewsbury late morning and visited 3 shops there. My last stop was Tubeway Records, absolutely brilliant and very helpful – hence I massively overspent! I missed out on Japan, A-Ha and Blancmange but maybe will pick those up on the clearout in a week. I’m not feeding the flippers though, no way.

  11. Ah yes, RSD, the only day of the year when I wouldn’t go into a record shop.

    It started off in the right spirit but over the last few years has just been a let-down; multiple Bowie releases (how much more can they release!) and OTT prices for pretty standard stuff. I noticed the Associates 12″ was £20! What?!

    What makes it worse is the ‘flippers’ who just buy to make vast profits on eBay.

  13. I did not got what i really want , no bronski beat,bananarama remix 12 inch and no blancmange
    i got yazoo,Duran Duran,u2,m,japan,morrissey and the Bowie 7 inch

    i simply skipped the police 2×7 ” because of the price

    i did not see any Chic 12″

    i talked to 2-3 owners of the shops ,they all told me the order for rsd releases this year was heavenly cut.

    the most wanted release in Denmark was Sigur ros,they are big name in Denmark

    if Bronski beat 12″,bananarama 12″ or blancmange 12″ had been available i had skipped Duran Duran and japan 10″

    1. Lucky you for getting the Japan 10″ Carsten. That was the one I really wanted but I was unable to get a copy in three different shops.

  14. I queued at Piccadilly Records in Manchester on Sat – great organisation by the shop as usual and good-natured people in the queue too, which helped fend off the bitterly cold weather.

    Missed out on Japan (the last copy went to someone about 20 in front of me) and decided to give Bowie Pin Ups a miss (seems like there will be loads of those around for some time, and not my favourite album although I do love the cover). Managed to get my hands on Peter Gabriel, Bananarama Remixed, LFO, Bowie/Dietrich single, Smalltown Boy and M Pop Muzik. With the exception of the last item I’ve not yet played anything.

    After one initial play, the Pop Muzik single is novel: I love the bright pink slightly splattered vinyl, and it’s good to get a copy of this with the baby photo (the original 12″ I’ve got is the double-grooved version with the M logo on it). As for the remixes, well…..

    The Live Latin Performance mix has nothing in it to indicate it’s actually a live recording (no crowd noise, very polished performance) and has for me dumbed down the quirky things I like about the original song. You can hear a snippet of it on the MOV Youtube post (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9vOrz4fLSA).

    The R&B 1978 Demo is very simplistic, as you might expect from a demo. It definitely sounds more R&B but again has none of the quirkiness.

    And finally the Second Sun Remix (coming in at over 11 minutes) is less of a remix and more of a reconstruction. Reliance upon only a few lines from the original song (e.g. “You’re living in a disco” repeating over a thick bass) put over a backing track that bears little resemblance to the original.

    Am I glad I purchased it? Yes, it’s a new take on one of my cheesy pop favourites. Will I be playing it a lot? I suspect not.

  15. I went lazily after the shops had opened but got basically the two I wanted most anyway, the CSNY 4-Way street and the Pink Floyd’s A saucerful of secrets mono. The Simple Minds and The Alarm I had no chance on. I have ordered them from one of Sweden’s biggest shops but I guess it will be a minimal chance they turn up… There seems to be somewhat of a tombola which records the small shops in the outskirts of Stockholm get, and the pickings were slim. The biggest shop got one Simple Minds 2LP, sold out quickly. They didn’t order the Alarm live ’85 at all. I saw them live in January 1985 or 1986 in Gothenburg with my kid sister… Yes, I remember the month but not the year! I would have loved to find The crow soundtrack also… but no.

  16. Got half of what I wanted but my oh my, at what cost! Because I spent £30-£35 more than I’d specced on due to overstocking/overpricing in my shop of choice it meant that I just left other stuff that was for sale. What is the point of having plenty copies of stuff that has flown out of other shops because you’re overcharging?
    Incidentally, I have asked SDE about this, as my understanding was that everyone had to charge the same. Their response was interesting: “all stores who sign up to RSD  agree to a code of conduct which prohibits unfair pricing.  However pricing can vary between stores by up to 30% due to VAT, discounts and overheads within particular stores.”
    Now I can understand this, to a point, between say, the North and London but I would have thought there was little “wriggleroom” across a few miles in the North West!
    And so bizarrely and due to their greed, that’s one independent shop that has lost my year-round custom – the very opposite of what RSD is supposed to be about!

  17. Are the Bananarama Viva & Drama LP’s RSD exclusives? I could not get copies but I was able to pre-order them on Amazon US, which shows a release date of April 19th?

      1. My Vienna RSD experience: I queued at one store for less than 2 hrs and found all I wanted and more: Blancmange, Yazoo (3 copies in town), Heaven 17, John Grant, Japan, AIR, Bronski Beat, Queen, Bowie/Dietrich, 2xMadonna, Police, M and Bowie LP (which was available everywhere) as a surprise gift for my honey. I went to some stores again yesterday (Monday) and still saw M somewhere. AIR was only available at one store out of eight I went to and they had five copies of it. One shop had three copies of the Propaganda set, but I was not interested. When I went back to the store on Monday to pick it up for a friend from the US they were all gone because he sold them on eBay at 5PM on Saturday for 80 Euro each.

      2. We had half a dozen copies of ‘M’ (we spend SO much with LAF we get pretty much everything we want on RSD) and all the ones people have mentioned (tos of Japan/Blacmange/Queen) in this thread in very good quantities. Still had them by midday too, some of them, seems I’m the best kept secret in the Midlands….sigh. I get the best allocation in the Midlands and still people say ‘didn’t know you were there’

  19. Personally I have absolutely no issue with people who queue to buy records on RSD and then sell them on for profit. If you have queued since 3am to get something I don’t have access to or can’t be arsed to get out of bed for why shouldn’t I pay you a £20 bounty for your valuable time and effort. That is just how business works in any walk of life where a middle man (or shop) is involved.
    What I do not like are record shops who have “mates” who they “sell” records to and split the profits and have it all carved up before punters (who have queued hours) get to choose from what’s left. I am sure it’s only a very small proportion who do not play by the rules but reserving records is the low tide mark for me, not the selling on eBay as that is a service and many people wouldn’t be able to get what they want if it were not for those secondary sellers, so I don’t begrudge them a couple of hundred quid profit if they have stood in line like everyone else.

    Just like every other walk of life (Police, Teachers, Doctors etc.) record shop owners are made up of a cohort of human beings and there will be brilliant, good, indifferent and bad ones and it is the bad ones who distort RSD who I want rid of, so for the awful term “Scalper” I would just think of them as suppliers or middle men to those who have no other means.

    I gave RSD a miss this year as I have basically run out of spare money and knew that, like an addict, I couldn’t buy *just* one or two things that I wanted and any trip to a store would probably leave me £500 to £700 lighter like every other year. I have a list in my head that my wife would not forgive if I weakened. Really sad, but hey-ho, life goes on. Kids grow up and cost a lot of money…. (it never ends).

  20. As much as everyone criticises RSD because a large proportion of those that queue have little interest in the music and just buy up whatever they can to then sell them straight away on ebay (the same as every concert, limited edition print, hand bag…or whatever else people can make money selling on) the whole global event is still massively impressive and does a huge amount for the the industry and vinyl in particular. Physical music was dying not so long ago, and RSD has done loads in getting a wider audience to appreciate the formats as well as getting rare and exciting music released for all our benefit.
    No one has to buy anything- but I confess to having been one of those ‘idiots’ that did buy a couple of records on ebay over the weekend- and paid about a tenner above the real price- but as much as I’d have loved to spend the morning outside my local record shop and chatting to like-minded people about the music I love, there was no way I could have spared the time.

    I popped into a couple of record shops in Soho last week – they were busy and prices for secondhand were a load higher than they used to be (cassettes £4 each!).

    RSD has done a load in getting a new audience get into physical music which is a good thing.

  23. A little warning if you bought Bingo Hand Job(aka R.E.M.). It’s a double album, but mine had the first record twice(and none of the second…).

    Did get a nice dutch RSD 10 year anniversary bag though….

  24. Here in Amsterdam I got Bowie pic disc, 2x Prince, CSNY , 2x Madonna, Luther Vandross, Robyn on saturday. I got Billy Joel, Stax Boy Meets Girl, Bowie Gigolo, Roxy Music and another Bowie pic disc on sunday.

  25. Does anyone know if the prices charged by stores are “set” (is you just charge £40 for this picture disc) or can record stores set their own prices? Was wanting the Wendy Carlos 7” single but saw it was £14 at my local store?? Did getctge excellent Booshradio series however so I was happy, and that was browsing the shenves at lunchtime!

  26. Was out of own on the day and was going to skip it seeing as I spent obscene $ last year, I did start getting withdrawals on sunday, drove straight into the city to one (always overpriced) store and still plenty of stuff left, got Townes and REM. Went on monday to shops close to work, even more stock to choose from and better prices, might even revisit next weekend, but nearly over it.

  27. I had a most prosperous day with going to a great little place owned by a former university radio colleague and his wife. Being in a metro area, a lot of places in my neck of the woods participate in RSD , but I wanted to avoid the bigger place(s) in favor of patronizing one that I feel deserves it. The best thing about it is it’s small enough so that it isn’t inundated with a massive line hours before opening. A close second is the fact that it opens at 7:00am, 1-3 hours earlier than most other places around. So, if you luck out and find everything you were hoping for after being about tenth in line like me, you can make it back home in time for an hour or so of snoozing, which is what I did. Getting what I was looking for wasn’t that tough, though. I did peek over the shoulder of the guy in front of me, who was thumbing through the Bs – and my face nearly fell when it seemed as though there weren’t any Bingo Hand Jobs left, but when I got there, there was one left. So I breathed a sigh of relief and picked that up along with the two ABKCO Stones hits reissues on colored vinyl.

  28. The curious to and fro your mind does when you find the (Propaganda 12″) boxset you want, but simply can’t justify the (NZ$85) for yet another remix from a now bottom-of-the-well scraping archive. Sense prevailed as I popped it back on the shelf and said a rueful farewell. Sometimes seeing it, holding it and knowing you could have owned it is enough when it comes to vinyl. #noregrets #nolongeracompletist

  29. I couldn’t be at Piccadilly Records yesterday morning due to other commitments, so was convinced I wouldn’t get what I wanted (Duran Duran), which I was especially miffed after seeing it on the SDE video. So I kept my eye on their Twitter feed and by 4pm, when I was free, they hadn’t announced it was sold out as they had with other stuff, so took a quick trip into town. Managed to walk in, go straight up to the counter and get a copy, along with the Jeff Tweedy LP for my brother who was stuck at work. I couldn’t believe my luck!

  30. For anyone that’s after the ZTT AoT and Propaganda releases, it seems this will be generally available in the USA Friday 17th. I’m not sure if they are identical as the RSD Uk releases as the street price for the Propaganda set is $12.99 ! AoT is $47.99. So don’t spend crazy amounts from EBay or Discogs. The prices are insane right now.

        1. There’s a release on amazon.com called “Eight Testaments of Propaganda” with a release date of 19th April, and a price of $15.99. Worth a look ?

          1. Thanks Steve! I’m guessing at that price (and based on the album artwork) that the US release is the 8 tracks pressed on 1 LP.

  31. RSD is now mostly done for the profit maximation of the majors. Expensive rereleases of backcatalogues. And for greedy people you never see in a record shop, buying records to put them for ridiculous prices on eBay. Every year it‘s getting more boring for me. Last years FGTH ‚box‘ for example, really not worth the price. Only produced for the record shelf. Also more and more rereleases of 12inches for the price of an LP. I am out. It’s better and more exciting to invest in new bands and smaller labels.

  32. Missed it completely this year as was “out of town”. Have just got home so of course there they all are on eBay. Sickening. Does anyone know (before I pay a single penny more than I need to ) the actual prices of things. What I was after was Yazoo, Toyah, poss Bananarama, Fleetwood Mac. Or maybe I’ll just sack the whole thing off this year and order that lovely new Blancmange box set. I think RSD is a bit of a joke now, and am actually a bit disappointed that the artists don’t decide to sell these special editions through their websites, inaction to the RSD shop “event” which I suppose for some can still be fun to meet likeminded folk, and help the small independents, which I do support.

  33. Mixed results for Me. I queued early at one, then visited another store an hour’s drive away to “pick over the bones”.
    I ended up with Prince, Dexy’s, Queen, Jeff Wayne & The Associates.

    I listened to the Dexy’s album, which sounds great. But the Jeff Wayne disc is pressed way off centre, which makes the piano-based tracks sound very whoozy! A real shame, always loved War Of The Worlds, but these “new versions” won’t be getting played again
    : (

  34. I should also mention, (as in past years) I picked up some non-RSD titles as I browsed through the stores, as follows:

    Bazan “Alone at the Microphone” DVD (Recycled Books)
    Iron & Wine “Our Endless Numbered Days” 15th Anniversary CD (Mad World)
    Pet Shop Boys “Minimal” 2 CD set, “Somewhere” CD1, “I Get Along” DVD, “Miracles” 2 CD set (Josey Records)
    The Stranglers “Live” 2 CD set (Josey Records)
    Travis “The Man Who” CD (Josey Records)
    Scritti Politti “BOOM!” promo CD single (Josey Records)

    1. @Tracey. Didn’t know about the Iron & Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days Deluxe CD. Thanks for the info. The original is one of the best albums to be released in the last couple of decades IMHO.

  35. a huge error on the prince 12″ set it labels corvette as the lp version on the label but 12″ mix on the sleeve. it plays the 12″ mix but pop life isn’t the fresh dance mix version but the far superior uk 12″ mix at 9+ minutes

  36. First in the queue at Drift Records in Totnes { 20 miles from Plymouth} Got there at 0155 hours.
    Got X-ray Spex, Prince Pop Life/Purple Mix, Charlatans Us and us only and John Lennon Imagine Raw. In and out within 5 mins..very happy.. tired..very

      1. lol..Not at all.., x-ray spex had pressed 500 or 1000 depending on which list you read..well worth it..I would do it again… “if are not in race you cant win it/snooze you loose”

  37. Can I just say what an awful recording the Bingo Hand Job album is. The bootlegs that have been kicking around for 20 odd years are vastly superior. This is what really puts me off RSD. Shoddy quality at extortionate prices. The Flaming Lips LP on the other hand is simply superb.

      1. I bought the PIL live album last year and it is excellent. I seriously doubt that there are bootlegs out there of superior sound quality. However, I do tend to agree about pricing. A demand is created and people get overexcited and pay too much without questioning why. The same with eBay really. Better to stick with Discogs, where if you are patient, bargains can be had.

      2. Releases like that underscore the underlying issue many have with RSD, where a collective screwing is disguised as fun. Basically, by putting something out at a premium one day price and for it to be a sub-standard recording, shows a lot of disrespect to the people supporting the whole event, last year I bought what turned out to be the fake “acetate” recordings of “Fungo Bat” by The Nazz, and now this year…. do R.E.M. Really need the money so bad that they needed to release this? Why put something like that out in the first place? I bought “Bingo Has Job” it is really dishonest to sell garbage and dress it up as something else. Keep this up and eventually no one will be buyers. I will definitely cross R.E.M. off my list after this. It really is a lot easier to stream and to download, perhaps that is not such a bad idea, especially when there is no quality control and they are selling trash.

        1. However, To add to the comment and not to simply jump to conclusions, and simply trust everything I read, as we all know you can’t do that I will have to open it up and give it a listen for myself. Um, listen without prejudice.

  38. Have to say that I always enjoy RSD. Queued from 3.30 outside Tower in Dublin, met all the same heads that are there every year and talked records for 4 hours.
    Managed to get all I wanted: Elton, Duran Duran, League of Gentlemen, Bingo Hand Job, Madonna, Prince and a few others.
    It’s imperfect and it’s annoying when touts flip stuff online but that’s the nature of most things on the internet.
    I’m not sure a place like Tower would survive without it tbh. Probably outside Xmas it’s their biggest seller (Maybe the biggest).

  39. I wandered down to my local shop which has relocated as a pop-up shop in the De La Warr Pavillion. Obviously, much smaller and subsequently less RSD stock at 1:30 in the afternoon than last year. Both Thin Lizzy and Billy Joel had gone which is not the end of the world as I have a bootleg of the Billy Joel radio broadcast anyway. Details on the Thin Lizzy bonus tracks are sketchy and I have an outtakes CD bootleg which may contain the same tracks anyway. I got the one LP that I really wanted, Hawkwind, so I’m happy. £31 for The Ramones seems a tad expensive so I left it in the racks. Quite a bit of Bowie left and only a handful of singles. I think that this year’s selection has been pretty uninspiring on the whole and not worth queuing up for. But that’s just my opinion.

  40. So here is a crazy idea to make RSD even more profitable for the record stores AND make it fun for the consumers: After the list of products is release, give your order to your local record store and pick it up on record store day.
    Wow that was simple.

    1. Far too sensible a post. Give shops a deadline day to submit orders and allow customers to place orders with their shop until that day and as you say you turn up on RSD and pick them up. Shops have customers in their shops, everyone who wants a copy of a particular release gets one and who knows there might be a few releases where demand was under estimated so they have to press up more copies than originally planned thus record label gets more sales (as does the shop). Shops only order what has been pre-sold and don’t get stuck with unsold stock which RSD policy is not to allow to be returned to them. Win, win surely.

    2. Exactly ! Make sure everyone gets what they want. It would sell more records and supply and demand will be balanced out and it would avoid disappointed customers and inflated prices on eBay and discogs. It indeed IS that simple !!!

  41. due to my local shop closing this year i did not bother with the hour + journey to the next nearest RSD shop and whilst i feared some serious withdrawal i actually feel ok. I have been to every single RSD even since it began and last years spent just under £3k. I noticed that there have been around 400 copies sold on ebay or available on ebay of the Queen picture disc album of the 1500 available and whilst i have no problem with “flippers” i wonder if they will get to grips with ebay and maybe prevent anything being listed for 7 days from the release date. This would give collectors a chance to get their hands on the item at retail price (rip off price more like) but similarly sales would drop due to dealers not getting involved as much. It clearly no longer does what it was intended to do and is certainly not bringing people back to record shops, if anything it is alienating people who want to go to their local shop on a Saturday without queuing. As I said my local shop has now closed down and i would venture of the 100 people who were in the queue 90% of them would only visit again the following year, I wonder how many turned up on Saturday morning at 4am only to find the shop is no more??

  42. Went to local excellent assai records in brought ferry today as couldn’t go yesterday. Delighted to get Bob Dylan and Elton. Stones single sold out. Still had Duran Duran and Bohemian rhapsody which was tempting but the Queen disc was extortionate

    2. Yes, Assai are very good at RSD. They always get plenty stock and it’s a nice wee shop (the Ferry one, still haven’t visited the Edinburgh branch).

      This year was the first year I didn’t queue outside for opening – went later for the Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert performance and still got what I was after, including the Saint Etienne 7”!

  43. I wasn’t going to do it this year, but after driving past Casbah Records in Greenwich and seeing no queue I couldn’t resist. I walked in, bought both Madonna’s, Robyn, Suede, The Crow soundtrack with no issues, how on earth did that happen? 2 years ago I queued outside the same store from early morning for everything to sell out by the time I got there.

  44. I live nowhere near a record store that takes part in RSD sadly and only wanted the Elvis Costello Purse EP and the Morrissey single. Having looked on eBay I can see copies being flogged already, some reaching the dizzying heights of near £50. Makes me so sad that RSD is used by people to make a tonne of cash. I hope the Costello EP is made available at least digitally so I can hear it and own it (legally).

  45. Well i couldn’t get the Santigold one. Wasn’t prepared to pay that much for the Prince lp and couldn’t see the point of the cassette.

    One guy i was chatting to picked up a copy of Air for me from the shop around the corner. As i walked in he passed it to me saying as I’d mentioned it he thought he’d grab it. See rsd really is mostly fellow music lovers and nice people. At least in my experience. The chats in the queues, whilst browsing and afterwards talking about what we’ve bought and so on. Of course a sunny day helps :)

    Anyway i spent a bit. Bought eighteen records in the end but only one rsd release (Olafur Arnalds). Everything from Joni (1st pressing of Clouds) to Iron Maiden, Satriani to Sinatra. Cheapest was 50p, most expensive i won’t say ;)

    Al

  46. I queued for a couple of hours at Rough Trade East.
    Picked up Durutti Column, Iggy 7″ but alas no Japan. Do confess to having splurged on that via eBay straight after. It was really the only item I was truly after!
    All in all there was decent stock at RTE, I restrained myself.

  47. Popped to vinyl fiction a tiny new indie on Chorlton and got flaming lips and elastica. Tiny selection but got a lovely free rsd tote bag. Then into Manchester after queues had subsided. Vinyl exchange and Piccadilly. Got disco not disco LP (triple for 23.99 so great value) 12″ by teddy Pendergrass and Madonna (la Isla) and bark psychosis LP. Missed out on ghost world soundtrack, and dream syndicate debut never got to the shops apparently

  48. Thankfully i was working so didn’t get chance to jump on the RSD Rollercoaster. Due to it being out of my hands i saved a fortune that will be used to soften the blow when the Beatles/Macca/Wings/Floyd SDE’s start calling my name in the autumn and winter months.

    Good to see most people got what they wanted.

  49. Didn’t bother with RSD instead went to my local charity that had a spring fair on. CDs and DVDs at £1 a bag. Got 100+ CDs for a couple of quid including nearly all The Cure and Chili Pepper albums, bits of Hendrix, Zeppelin and The Who . DVDs included Live Aid, Primal Scream and Whistle Test. All in £4 was spent and a piece of cake was eaten as well. Just seen the price of Live Aid on Amazon is stupid amount of £’s as well.

  50. To Sean Hewitt. Yes there seems to be a problem with the Peter Gabriel download code. It takes you to the PG website but gives an error message. I’ve sent an email to the site pointing this out. If I get a reply I’ll post here again in a day or two. Might just be the site isn’t ready yet or it’s a glitch they can hopefully fix.

  52. Heres’s the answer – give each record a unique bar code, easy to do. Then eBay should insist that any rad record sold posts a a picture of said bar code. Then rad produce a bar code reader app. Then you can check where the record comes from either on the site or when you get it. There should be an embargo of six months before anybody can sell anything on eBay then any shop found to be selling before the day or for expensive prices banned from the event next year.

    I love hearing about everybody’s haul, but I had a bad experience at rsd a few years ago when a records shops mates were given there choices whilst in a queue before the shop opened. It nearly caused a fight, I wasn’t involved but it was very unfortunate.

    After that I was out – only get stuff after if I see it

  53. Well…just got home…I find RSD, the April one, to be great fun, even if you have to do an all-nighter to get a good spot on line…me and my friend Bruce were picked up by our friend Paul at, like, 11pm, so we could possibly be front of the line…nope, #8, 9 & 10…we were set cuz the manager of Rough Trade in Brooklyn saw us and knows Paul, and it was raining a lot, so we just hung out and slept in Paul’s car…we did take a walk 4:30am to get something to eat and kill time…anyhoo, first ones to get in, first 10, went over everything, great selection, many from the UK list, fair prices…I’m on a tight budget this week, so I only bought 4 titles…the rest usually sticks around, no prob getting anything else over time…what I got?? The a-ha, Duran Duran, Flaming Lips and Prince cassette, ran me $99…even cooler?? There were 2 events, 3 if you count the free ticket inside the WaxTrax soundtrack vinyl…either Ministry concert or movie screening…T Bone Burnett was signing his book, but the real surprise was Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips signing and he has his King’s Mouth balloon & light “sculpture” on display and with 3D glasses, you could crawl inside and watch the light show…woah man, surreal…but Wayne is one of THE coolest people I ever met…what a day!!

  54. Don’t be confused the only “format” that is really growing and dominating the market right now is Streaming period. Vinyl “fever” will remain as a niche market and apparently the CD will have the same end. Both niche formats. I’m a CD guy so if they are planning to release only on vinyl from now on i’m gonna save tons of bucks… time to update my PC hardware. A new U2 viny EP? no thx a friend of mine already pass me the flacs (sound horrible BTW), sothere’s no way i’m supporting this old format don’t like going backwards…

  55. This year’s RSD may have been my least enjoyable, so far. The record store I’ve gone to the last several years (Good Records) recently moved to a new (and smaller) location. Even though the store is now almost 2X the distance from my house (40 minutes), I decided to (drive past Josey Records that’s only 10 minutes from my house and) go there again.

    I queued up at Good Records around 3:45 a.m. and was the 7th person in-line. The rain started falling around 5:30 a.m. and we spent most of the next hour and a half standing under our umbrellas waiting for the store to open at 7:00. Note of Irony: Josey Records is in a building that has a sizeable covered walkway around half of it that I’m sure was much appreciated when the sky opened up.

    My first sight of Good Records’ new location brought about a tinge of sadness, as the new store is only 25% of the size of the old location . It seems fairly certain the next likely step is that the store closes for good once the current lease is up.

    The store had quite a bit of RSD inventory (about the same as 2018, but not nearly as much as 2017 and prior). I managed to find most of what I was interested in:

    R.E.M. LP
    Courtney Barnett 12″
    Elvis Costello 12″
    Ben Gibbard 7″
    Editors LP
    Wax Trax LP
    Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds 12″

    However, the item I wanted the most, Morrissey’s 7″, was nowhere to be seen. The store apparently didn’t receive any of that title and the clerk behind the counter said that the allocation of releases this year was “strange,” whatever that means.

    Later in the morning, I went by three other stores that participated in RSD (Josey Records, Recycled Books and Mad World), but by the time I made it to each of them, their stock had been picked through. I did manage to find copies of Cults 12″ and The Alarm’s LP at Mad World, which were somewhat impulse buys.

    I hope others who got out (stayed dry and) found what they were looking for.

  57. Went to lostinvinyl in Cambridge and queued for over an hour. Bit of a chilly wait but got all I was after. The Madness shaped pic disc is gorgeous. Blancmange 12″ is nice coloured vinyl. U2 12″ is a nice item with actually decent remixes. The Tindersticks single was a great listen and the Police single, while a nice item, way overpriced. Had a couple of items in mind but I stuck on those, which was still a hefty price :s

  58. I’m fine with RSD, I take it casually and rock up when the queues have died down and usually get the bits I’m after (tend not to be the big hitter releases that are on lots of tick lists)
    It has definitely helped raise the profile of record shops, it helps several stay in business and its definitely encouraged a new generation to show an interest in records which helps the industry and that’s good news for everyone who likes collecting records and CDs even if you’re disdainful of RSD and Vinyl.
    As for a CD day…well since only Indie shops can participate in RSD maybe HMV should try that maybe offer some exclusive CDs and Box Sets…there do seem to be a fair few calling for this so why not?
    As for the flippers, well it happens , although anyone after anything they didn’t today get I strongly advise checking record shops in the week and from midnight next Friday, no need to pay eBay touts just yet. Oh and Discogs had the cheek to actively encourage flipping (as they get a good commission out of it) ..check this out https://blog.discogs.com/en/record-store-day-tips/

    1. One might wonder how much longer HMV can be legitimately excluded from RSD in the UK. The industry was desperate for it to be saved following the latest administration and, more prosaically, for many of us it’s the only ‘record’ shop anywhere near where we live.

      1. Good point. Trouble is HMV already has favourable terms with suppliers including getting everything on sale or return, whereas for RSD the indies have to pay for everything upfront so take the risk of losing out if they don’t sell enough. There wouldn’t be enough allocation to go round all HMVs so maybe they would have to restrict it to branches where there is no Indie shop within a certain distance . I know the RSD organisers did ask retailers to vote on whether HMV should be allowed in a while ago so it’s been considered at least once….

  59. Just home from RSD in Seattle. Stood in rain for one hour to get into shop. Lines are getting longer each year.
    Found all but two of the items I was looking for. Duran Duran and Morrissey vinyl both gone… Picked up Police, Bananarama, GenX, Specials, R.E.M., U2, The Alarm and Prince.
    My one gripe would be on the pricing for The Police 2×7″. Was $27!
    Great to get much of what I was hoping for and great selection of items this year.

  60. I think RSD is good fun and people can take it too seriously. I headed to Rough Trade West and was in the queue from 7 with a coffee and a bacon sandwich. There was a good queue and I like the fact there are similar minded people/mad people who clearly care enough to be involved. RSD is a good thing to be part of and I had some great banter with nice people while waiting. The guys in Rough Trade were chatty, friendly and helpful as ever even though it was clearly a busy and stressful day for them. After I shot over to Berwick Street and took in Phoentica, Sounds of the U, Reckless and Sister Rays who were all just as friendly and helpful and again met some more really nice people. Got all I wanted and had a great day.
    I go into these stores all year and still like the RSD Events. In terms of stuff on eBay..ok stuff goes up but it’s still only a small percentage compared to the numbers pressed and if you turn up and buy in person and queue up and want to charge a ‘buyers premium’ and people are prepared to pay up that’s everyone’s choice…’we are all individuals’, if you don’t want to buy it on Ebay then don’t…you have a choice and just say no rather than complain.
    I got what I wanted, had a great day, a good experience, met some really nice people like last year and will look forward to next year. Enjoy.

    1. I went to Brill Cafe in Exmouth Market which is small but always has good bits, then Flashback in Islington. Went home and then later in the afternoon met a mate in Soho and did some more shopping. Sounds of the Universe was a revelation. The best shop by FAR today for RSD. No queuing, LOADS of stock, all out in the open to see (none of this looking at a list and asking a bloke behind the counter). I managed to get Art of Noise from this shop (Flashback literally sold the last one to the bloke in front of me at 10.30am), along with The Police and Lou Reed. Sister Ray was disappointing and still had queues at 3pm. Reckless Records was good not for RSD but for buying some old 90s CD singles! Bought every single from Garbage’s Version 2 on CD for 50p each! Nice.

      1. Hi Paul , thanks for this great video. I got just a few items here in Greenville, South Carolina. JETHRO TULL, FLOYD, ELP,and the Rush pic disc. I see some chatter on youtube tonight about some stores possibly having gouged on prices, far above suggested retail. Was there ever an official suggested retail price list for these records? Do you think individual shops are allowed to set their own prices within reason? Just curious how that all works. Thanks again

        1. I can’t help thinking a person’s attitude/ response to RSD is affected by whether they live in a large city with a good selection of participating stores e.g. London, Leeds, Manchester, etc. At the provincial stores the queues are longer, (possibly because) the stock per title is far lower, and the prices are higher due to the lack of competition and increased demand. And if Store 1 doesn’t have the record you can walk to Store 2 or Store 3 which might. If you live where I do Store 1 is 45 minutes drive away – Store 2 is another 45 minute drive, then Store 3 is over an hour down the motorway!

          (And according to some in London, Leeds, Manchester, etc. we should all get bikes! Store 3 – just a two day bike ride away…. Or try the public transport – that doesn’t exist – that daily bus service! Yay – a return to the era of the coaching inn for Record Store Day!)

  61. Just got back from Rough Trade in Bristol. Was going to go in in the morning but the queue was round the block so I left it till mid afternoon.

    Plenty of Dylan, Gabriel, Police, Def Leppard, Stones, Paddy Sprout, KT Tunstall (£17 for a 7″? – good luck selling them!) still available, as well as a smattering of Madonna, Duran, and Yazoo.

    And Bowie. Lots of Bowie.

    And LOTS of Dexys Midnight Runners,funnily enough (boy, somebody badly misjudged the desirability of THAT album on the Bristol scene).

    No Prince to be found, however. Or Japan. Or Elton John. Or Billy Joel (which was the main album I was after – grrrr….)

    Don’t know if this was due to these albums being particularly desirable to vinyl collectors of a certain demographic (50+, remembers vinyl from the first tine, still has all their collection ie ME), or if they just under-ordered on those particular titles.

    No worries. Confident I’ll pick them up at some point.

  62. Not a big fan of RSD. It’s become a cash cow for most buyers. Not bothered about buying right now, I’ll wait till it all blows over and then buy what I want later.

    Just take a look at last year’s RSD eBay listings – stuff is as cheap as on the day

  64. After remaining indecisive up until yesterday evening, this morning I got up at 5AM. I was queuing outside Sister Ray in London by 6AM (number 102 in the queue).
    Got talking to a fellow OMD fan which whiled away the two-hour wait. Participated in some kind of Madness related fez-wearing stunt (there will probably be photos somewhere online).

    Picked up:
    – Heaven 17 album (so pleased about this – never thought I would see it on vinyl)
    – Rhodri Davies/David Sylvian album (not as good as I was hoping)
    – Prefab Sprout Steve McQueen : Acoustic (I have the CD version but nice to have it to play on vinyl)
    – Durutti Column Obey The time (Vini plus beats, loops and samples – what’s not to love)

    Also picked up the Peter Gabriel album for my best friend in Australia. There RSD was ending as ours was starting so he let me know what he needed.

    The Japan 10″ sold out pretty much instantly and of course true to form there were copies on eBay even as I was queuing.

    All in all though I had a pretty nice (although bitterly cold) morning.

      1. I did whizz through the preview to see if you had the Heaven 17 as I thought you might but I was pretty determined to get it anyway.
        However, seeing the Prefab Sprout on the preview is what alerted me to, it so many many thanks for that!

        Also thanks for the tip on Sounds of the Universe – I always automatically head towards Sister Ray and ignore Sounds… I just assume that their stock won’t be as extensive.

    2. I arrived in the queue at Sister Ray at approx. 6.25 a.m. and was No.116.
      I always go to Sister Ray and I have always found it the best organised and to have the most stock and widest selection of RSD titles of all the central London indie record shops.
      I also got all I wanted inc U2, Noel Gallagher, John Lennon, both of the Queen releases (BR 7″ single and BR 2xLP picture discs, Bingo Hand Job, Generation X, The Police and Keane).
      I have find Phonica nearby to have a smaller selection and less stock and Sounds Of The Universe has the smallest selection and usually a little more specialist and eclectic range of RSD titles compared to Sister Ray. Plus quite chaotic in store before 10.30 a.m…!
      I also agree it was bitterly cold and couldn’t wait to get into Sister Ray for the warmth as well as getting RSD releases..!

  65. Great video – Disappointed to see Blancmange 12″ doesn’t have paper inner bearing in mind thick spine sleeve (have ordered online at ok price all in). My local shop didn’t order in the 2 items I really wanted (Heaven 17 and M) so didn’t join the 7am queue – only 1 shop in Southampton these days!
    Made me chuckle when Paul rather optimistically said the GenX 7″ might be under a tenner – tho in fairness Rough Trade show stock list at 10.99 which isn’t too bad for exclusive mixes on coloured ( no download).

      1. Seems like the label downgraded the sleeve then as on RSD UK site it states comes in 3mm spined sleeve. But at least it won’t need an inner if just standard sleeve!

  67. I happened to be examining at 10am today in Raynes Park, West London. Great – I’ll get up at 5.30, get in the queue at banquet records, be done in time for breakfast before I start work. More fool me – I gave up at 9.30, having been there for 3 hours and moved 15 yards in the time between opening and me losing the will to live – I was only 60 yards from the shop when I started!!!!

    Stuff that (as my nan would say) for a game of soldiers. I love record shops, I want them to have my money, but that was insanity.

    1. Update : I returned at 4.30pm, waiting time 48 minutes – bought pretty much everything I wanted (Zappa, Beefheart, Doctor Who, League of Gentlemen, Tangerine Dream Poland, Woodstock PA, Tull, Black Mirror, ELP, Dexy’s) – only thing I missed out on was the Groundhogs, I’ll live with that!

      Next year I’ll go at a more sociable hour.

  68. There’s a lot of strong feeling against RSD but I must say I love it. I’m just back after queuing up from 6 this morning – great banter in the queue as usual and I managed to get my main wish list items – Bingo Hand Job, Fleetwood Mac, Robert Plant, KT Tunstall, Hawkwind, Elton John and Peter Gabriel. The last two I’m really pleased with – great tracks/packaging, nice clear vinyl on EJ and both with a bonus download code. I didn’t think I would get so much today and reluctantly had to put some tempting things back as it is very pricey but it helps if you manage to put away about 20 quid a month (not easy I know). Anyway, a good experience for me and I hope anyone else who enjoys the day had fun and got what they were looking for.

  70. I’ll pop along to my local later today, but I’m not sure if anything on my shortlist will be there!

    I think RSD did its job for me five years ago in allowing me to discover my local record stores and getting me back into a shop. Nowadays there is a drip feed of indies only exclusives throughout the year, so the “One Big Day” idea is no longer needed to keep me interested.

  71. So somebody called rsdauctions2019 is already listing large amounts of product on the web. How is this possible? I thought it was for physical independent local shops to sell not online “retailers? They can’t be Joe public as they (supposedly) can’t by multiple copies when they visit a store. Just another thing wrong with RSD!!

  73. RSD to me is when record shops sell their stuff 1 day before RSD on ebay for ridiculously high prices (take a look!) and little places, countrys or shops have nothing. Not everyone lives in New York oder London.

    1. This was the first year I found EVERYTHING I wanted in my region in the Netherlands. All previous years I went out driving around the whole state in vain….. The Prince 2lp, both Madonna 12`, the Culture club shaped disc and the colored Queen single…. got ´m all !

    2. I think it’s wrong to say all record stores participate in the pre-day flipping, or even post day. I would even go so far as to say it’s just a few bad apples. And yes they do what they do knowing there are those who don’t have a local brick and mortar. I wonder how closely the RSD folks enforce “the pledge” they make the stores take? Even if they do I don’t know if there’s any more punishment than not letting them participate next year.

      I’m fortunate to have several stores near me. I queue at 3 of them. One starts handing out wrist bands at midnight, another 3a and the last at 5a. Each opens at a different time as well, 7a, 9a and 10a. I got numbers 24, 37 & 73 this year and went home with 90% of what I wanted. These 3 stores are in neighboring towns and it amazes me each year how what they get is so different from one another. As several have mentioned, the highlight each year is talking with the others in queue. My favorite this year was a father with his 7 year old daughter for her 1st RSD. She was so excited checking and rechecking the short list clutched in her little hand.

      Now’s the part I dread, and where I empathize with you Marc. What I wanted most this year were UK only releases like Suede and Mansun. There’s also always one or two releases no one was really aware of that were exclusive to Australia, the Netherlands or some other country. So for the next few weeks or even months I’ll be checking eBay and Discogs daily to find these at reasonable prices. I know my chances of getting them at list price is slim. They’re post release so now considered collectible and with that comes the after market price. Trick is to sort the flippers and find the legit or reasonable price. Until next year…

  74. Judging by the number of listings appearing on Ebay there seems to be an awful lot of people suffering from a case of immediate buyer’s remorse this year. Oh wait, no – most have added £50 to the retail price. Hopefully their greed will mean they can’t shift everything they’ve bought to sell on and will end up making a loss.

  75. Although I like what they are trying to do with RSD to increase the profile of the independent retailers etc, what I don’t get is why these albums and singles are significantly more expensive. It puts me off, sure there are some i’d love to own (CSN&Y) but at those inflated prices and all the queuing for hours – not for me.

  76. Well record store day done and dusted and didn’t leave the house! ordered Alice Clark for £11.45 on German 1990 (Mainstream) LP – RSD making silly claims about the release and charging £39.00. Great album
    Pretty Purdie on Flying Dutchman 1972 £25.00 RSD £32.00 and nobody local to me had ordered it and didn’t have it when i checked with them. Again Great Album, thanks RSD!
    Only one(s) i missed Shirley Finney again no-one local had it. RSD price £20.00 going for £50.00 plus already on Discogs
    Delines proving me right already £50.00 plus when the recently released 1st time on vinyl 800 only release of Scenic Sessions still selling for £19.99. Everything that is wrong about RSD summed up in one band.
    More than compenstated on ebay with The Sandie Shaw Supplement £1.50 and Creation Records International Guardians of Rock N Roll 3 X lp for £3.21 (Bargin of the year for me!)

    I like RSD in princple but all these people who rush out and spend £500 + are killing the record industry by only going once a year and buying in the majority of cases over inflated sub-standard product or stuff they will never play. Call in once a month or something…..
    Each to thier own , Happy RSD eveyone

    1. I got the saucerful of secrets mono vinyl for 24.99€ (there was at least 10 of them available) and the Dylan for 29.99€ (that was the only one) from my big culture shop in France. I co spider this a good RSD. I got everything I had picked I the list

    2. Well after much gnashing of teeth decided to head into Newcastle on Saturday to see what was left of the RSD stock. Arrived in Town just after 15:00 and parked up.
      Start by calling into RPM and picking up Joe Strummer, looked at Prince and put it down. Initial thoughts confirmed as must of the items I “wanted” were gone. Although they still had Queen Pic Disc and other “bigger” releases, I didn’t fall into the trap of buying for buying sake. RPM was busy and people browsing standard stock as well as RSD.
      First rule broken don’t buy anything I don’t really want but anything by the Clash or Clash related is a compulsory purchase. So, only a minor breaking of the rules! Plus, record was put in a TOTE bag and easy to loop over the shoulder. There was a live gig going on just up the alley. As now in “shop” mode didn’t stop to listen. Sorry Fella.
      Headed to Reflex, very busy and nearly didn’t go into the shop as space at the counter, where the RSD stock was seemed at a premium. Never mind the crush into the shop and grabbed the last Sol Seppy (only copy I saw all day), plus the Delines and Charlatans Us and Only US. They still had all the ZZT box sets and they had 2 more Delines albums. Plastic carrier but hey ho, Vinyl purchased and only one random purchase. Looked at the Woodstock album but at 50 quid thanks but no thanks. 808 State and Charlatans box sets were calling, but back to first principles and a 100 quid plus remained in my bank account!
      Next stop Vinyl Guru and confused wasn’t the word! Shop was busy with people browsing, windows full of RSD adverts but no RSD stock. After initial confusion there was a list on the counter. Checked the list and Shirley Finney was on the list. Quick question to the staff and last copy of Shirley Finney purchased. Not sure if it was the only copy. Checked the list and lots of the major releases still on the list. They were updating the list every 15 minutes or so. Back to first principles and no more purchases.
      Instead of heading home, mission accomplished I wandered around the corner to Beatdown Records. Shop busy and RSD all available on display. Quick search and plenty of the Queen Pic disc, Police, lots and lots of the Stones and Bowie.
      Durutti Column one copy left, you really can’t leave Vini on the shelf, lots of the Gorillaz so found space for the Fall. Another lonely copy of Prince’s Pop Life, rude not too really! Then checked the back wall and 2 copies of Lost in Translation left and another purchase. Who said principles and not buying random stuff? Plus got a discount, thanks guys.
      I didn’t see any Alice Clark, REM, Dylan, Japan or Morrisey in any of the shops although I wasn’t really looking for them. There seemed to be lots of Pink Floyd, U2, Madonna, Police, Stones, Roxy, Eric Clapton, Gorillaz and Charlatans and Queen Pic discs available. In general, given it was after 15:00 majority of stuff was available, and the shops were still busy.
      So, after a 45-minute blitz of bank account reducing activity headed back to car.
      On the way back called into JG Windows. Even more confusing as they had RSD stock displayed behind the counter and people were just starring at the records? Quick check couldn’t see anything I wanted and now definitely back to first principles and no more unnecessary purchases. Windows really put the stock out on display or give people some idea of prices. Atmosphere was terrible I felt like you didn’t want to sell the items and couldn’t work out what you had for sale or how to get served, so left.

      Did see the Prefab acoustic LP a couple of times but as I have the original CD decided not to purchase and pretend I was still operating on first principles.

      All told spent an hour in town and purchased 9 records add that to the 2 RSD related releases (not RSD versions) purchased on line on Friday, 11 RSD driven purchases.
      One thing I did realise is that for RSD you can get all you want but you need to go to a town with more than one store that takes part in RSD.
      Plus, you don’t need to get out in the middle of the night.
      Probably got a bit lucky as three of the records I picked up were “last copies” and two were on my wanted list.

  77. Lots of past years RSD records still for sale on eBay well over 8,000 lps.
    Not all of this stuff sells.
    Just wait a few weeks and pick the items,you want at a more reasonable price.
    Today is just a scalpers get lucky day.
    Have to agree with one poster here some of the stuff released today is very dismal.
    Not to everyone’s taste but the Bob Dylan release must be the most eagerly awaited.
    Happy Hunting!

  78. I managed my expectations, made a conservative list and was delighted to get everything I wanted:

    Duran Duran
    Thin Lizzy
    X-Ray Spex
    Brian May 12″
    Japan 10″
    Queen, Morrissey & Bowie 7″

    All well within budget and will be listened to over the weekend. Great banter in the queue (arrived at 6am), very helpful shop staff and a very enjoyable shopping experience. Prices were actually a couple of ££ less than the published lists by Reflex and others.
    I could’ve got more but I felt better having been very disciplined!! RSD very much gets the thumbs up from me

    (PS Totally agree about the price of the Bohemian Rhapsody picture disc, just seemed to stretch things a bit far)

  79. My first Record Store Day has come to an end.
    I never went because I have arthritis and standing in any way or form is hell for me. Also being active in the morning is a big no. But I really had my mind set on Prince (pop life), the Editors and maybe the South Park OST.
    I came half an hour after opening in one of the biggest record stores in the Netherlands (Sounds in Venlo, The Netherland). I asked the woman in the store where they kept the RSD record and I had to climb the stairs to the first floor (another thing my broken body isn’t fan of). She assured me they never had such a huge amount or records gotten as this year. After looking around I found out they had non of the records I wanted (I’m not sure if they ever got them).
    Disappointed, and in a lot of pain, I went back home. I don’t understand RSD. This is to help out record stores but if the amount of records pressed are so limited this is great for re-sellers but not for the stores or their customers. This was the first and last time I done Record Store Day or buy anything at my local store.

  80. Perhaps I am unique, but what usually happens is that I end up buying what I want online. Local shops that participate are small and generally only have one or possibly two copies, if any. Not wanting to queue up for hours on the off chance, or end up buying something I don’t want or need, I don’t go. It obviously works for and is enjoyed by many people, but seems to me to preach to the converted.

  81. ‘The things we do for love’!

    After a quick 400 mile trip from Newcastle to Leicester and back yesterday (home at 2.30am this morning) to take my boys to watch the Toon beat Leicester (they had tickets, I didn’t – until a chance encounter ten minutes before kickoff got me a ticket). Then up at 4.30am to get to J. G. Windows to get Prefab Sprout and a few other records. My son’s long forgotten offer of ‘take me to Leicester and I’ll queue for your records whilst you sleep’.

    Today is a bit of fun. I’m sure I could get most of what I want this afternoon, but but old habits die hard.

    The one item (price) I can’t get my head around – £58 for the Queen picture disc soundtrack. I bought the regular vinyl of this for €17 on the recent Amazon France offer.

    It’ll soon be time for a good sleep.

    1. Yes, the price of the Queen soundtrack picture disc set was definitely one of the topics in the wee small hours banter in the queue at Rough Trade West, where I was very lucky to get all 11 items on my wants list. Good fun for sure, and good luck to other SDE readers braving it today!

  83. It looks like this could be the year RSD finally addresses the roller coaster ride music fans go thru from anticipation to disappointment and finally anger and frustration with respect to very limited quantities of popular titles that are out of proportion with demand. Resulting often in having to pay extortion type prices online. Big name releases this year are available in larger quantities than I recall seeing in past years. That being said there are a few that are quite limited; however, those hopefully should be proportionately lower in demand. My strategy this year is not to grab everything on my list tomorrow and look for those larger pressings online at “overstock” reduced prices. Happy hunting to all!!

  84. Thanks, Paul! My love of RSD hasn’t waned and I’m en route to camp out from midnight at Rough Trade East. So many artists I love this year: Madonna, Prince, Bananarama, B-52’s, Bronski Beat, Yazoo, Sheena Easton and some great disco. Bring it on!

  85. I go to a great little store. They have tea, muffins and biscuits and then a little later savoury bites and a live band.

    I tend to walk out with more second hand lps than new as the RSD stuff is over-inflated old material. I’m a big Prince fan but a cassette release? Really? Get a grip.

    So support your local indie store tomorrow but, much like sex and beer, it’s better to do it more than just once a year.

    1. Your ‘great little store’ will benefit quite a lot from Record Store Day. The fact is, you do need to entice people to get up and visit/discover/frequent their local record shop (if they have one). Just telling people to do it, like you are, doesn’t work so they came up with RSD.

      1. Maybe Paul. However a lot of the shops i visit often seem to be more a labour of love than anything else. But then they’re selling old vinyl with little space for new. I live in the sticks a bit and Hereford itself doesn’t even have a record shop at all now that HMV has closed. So i rely on the pop-up stalls in the market, a shop up north that has an online presence for new and the outlying villages that have some truly great little shops (Ross, Hay, Cinderford, Monmouth and so on).

        Shame about hmv though as i used to spend about £50/60 each month in there on new albums. Being able to browse often got me impulse buying. Then again i often wondered why I’d bought them once i gave them a listen! Lol :) There’s a lot of very average bands out there nowadays.

        Anyway hope you all have a great day. Looks like the sun is gonna shine.

  87. I think the big picture is the largrst buying demographic: people 18-35 buy vinyl and may not have a cd player, save perhaps one is included on their old laptop or car stereo. Even most DJ’s I know are digital only, abandoning physical formats, finding the cd collection does “not bring them joy”. Records were concocted as the savior of physical media because they are expensive and it cannot be replicated like a CD. So there. So like it or not, it is record store day, perhaps with a digital download. My guess is that the majority of these records will never be played, perhaps appreciated as works of art, and traded online, audio streamed on some service, spotify, youtube etc. CD buyers ever the wise ones would not put up with this standing in like crap anyway, and thus will buy their stuff online on SDE deal alerts. CD is quickly becoming the boutique format, be grateful you can still buy with a click and not a queue.

  88. Want that League of Gentlemen set!!! Would look lovely next to the Vinyl Cuts boxset….love the pop up sleeve too, Mickey Love!!! Papa Lazarou coloured vinyl is the future.

  89. Peter Gabriel on Shaun Keaveny’s BBC 6 Music show yesterday (11. April) talking about vinyl and making records plus hints of what is to come for him. Also mentions his RSD release (very) briefly. Scrub thru to 1 hour 46 mins for it.

  90. Every year RSD is mainly an online party. My local shop had ordered a bunch of the Madonna 12″ and only got 1 set. When I checked Discogs I was able to already score both for the retail price + postage (less than driving to- and parking at all the shops in the region to try and find them).

  91. I wasn’t going to bother but Warners have done an excellent job with the packaging of a-ha’s alternative Hunting high and low, Love that they have replicated the inner sleeve with an alternative pic, which I don’t think I’ve seen before. The only change I would have made would’ve been to put the original Tony Mansfield version of Take on me on instead.

    Out of all the eighties bands who have had reissues on vinyl why have Kajagoogoo continually been ignored by Warners/Parlophone? Sadly I only hear about them in jokes when mentioning ‘bad hair eighties’, but ‘White feathers’ is one of most consistant albums made during that period and should really be mentioned along with ‘Rio’, ‘Lexicon of Love’ and ‘Colour by Numbers’ but sadly it isn’t.

    It is still one of my favorite albums and a picture disc using the cover artwork is on my wish list for future RSDs

  92. Aside from a work issue this year, I’m not running out on Saturday to hunt down this stuff – some of it with inflated prices.

    There are a few I wouldn’t mind but I’m more into CDs than vinyl.

  93. Love this site- and honestly, cannot emphasise that first statement enough; this is one of the only reasons I use the internet – and Paul, your commmitment to and fervour for physical formats is absolutely beguiling – but I think it goes to show just what a dire and cynical shame RSD is that you’ve got a haul here to show us all BEFORE THE DAY. That’s hardly the point is it? And it’s the same for the Discogs sellers already selling this stuff at a huge margin; and the flippers and eBayers who will rematerialise tomorrow to annoy everyone. THIS is not the spirit of being in a record shop; it’s an excuse for labels to bloodlet and drip-feed desired material for way way over the odds. I LOVE vinyl but I abhor RSD. Same arguments apply as ever – if you don’t like it don’t take part, yadda yadda yadda. But if you love music, this festival of major label scheming is a TOTAL affront I think.

    1. I agree with what you are saying. I don’t have the time to sit outside my local store through the wee small hours and my family would certainly get a bit peed off if I did! I would also be in the dog house if I actually got what I wanted on my wish list, spending around £200! Then you have the profiteers on the websites afterwards. I think an official list price should be issued which would at least let people know by how much they are being fleeced by! Granted some stuff isn’t snapped up immediately and can had months later, but there’s a reason for that.. it’s crap! It needs reviewing and revising for future years.

    2. Whilst I agree with your points on discogs & eBay, I’m confused over your incandescence over SDE having pre-release copies for promotional purposes. It’s how record promotion has worked for decades irrespective of the media used, whether radio, Smash Hits, NME or the inter web. The nature of RSD as it stands means that we don’t get a good look at the product before buying it, just going in with a list and hoping for the best. I’m grateful to SDE for showing us what’s available in a little more detail. I fancied the DD vinyl, but now I really really want it. The Prince one wouldn’t have piqued my interest on paper, but now I wouldn’t mind a copy. I dislike certain aspects of RSD too, I won’t be queuing up over night or early in the morning like I have done before, as here in Manchester RSD is very popular and I’m unlikely to get there early enough to get what I want. But I do believe its intentions are good, would we have had that DD concert on vinyl without it? Hopefully, when the fuss of the day has died down I’ll be able to get hold of what I want, after all, I recently got a copy of last year’s FGTH box at its original price.

        1. And I’m not getting your point Eustace. The fact of the matter is – now listen carefully…

          Promos have existed from the year dot. Not just for Record Store Day. They exist for radio stations, DJ’s, competitions, stores AND reviewers – to you and me that includes SDE. You too could have promos thrown at you if you wanted to venture into the record industry as a reviewer.

          Where have you been? It’s always been the case.

  94. I do wish there was a way to find out ahead of time if a release consisting of “new” material comes with a download code. Anyone know if the Bingo Hand Job one does?

  95. Really informative video, thank you! It would be great if record companies would include CD’s in these releases. I don’t know why they are excluding the largest portion of physical music buyers. some really nice releases!!

  96. It was great fun to watch this video. Looking forward to tomorrow. As usually there will be disappointments and surprises. But eventually a great day. Planning to visit no less than five stores, hoping to find some nice items and some non-RSD stuff as well. Will also enjoy the live performances and the celebration of record shopping rather than be greedy about getting everything on my wish list.

  97. This is easily the best RSD in years, if not ever, especially for the 1960’s/1970’s artists. My shortlist stands at 25 items and most of it is previously unreleased music, so plenty to like here!

  98. Normally I’m not a buyer of RSD stuff (I think in the past I got only the two volumes of Tom Petty’s Kiss My Amps and Springsteen’s EP American Beauty), since I’m not a fetish collector so I only look for unreleased music. And I have to say that this year these is finally some great offerings other than beautifully packaged items. For the first time, I bought (I should say pre-ordered) four releases: Elton John Live From Moscow, Bingo Hand Job (R.E.M.) Live in 1991, Grateful Dead Warfield 1980 (in double CD!!!) and Dylan’s BOTT Test Pressing (which has unreleased mixes).

  101. I really, REALLY wish I could get excited about RSD. It’s exactly the kind of thing I love to get excited about. But Paul correctly notes that the RSD content is “almost entirely vinyl”, and that’s why I can’t. I so wish the event was more focused on brick-and-mortar stores that sell recorded music, rather than brick-and-mortar stores that emphasize specifically vinyl.

    1. I agree with Chris – aren’t CDs an endangered species as well now? Shouldn’t it be changed to ‘Format Store Day’? The vinyl looks sumptuous but other than Manson or the Generation X 45 there’s no actual music there I want to hear. The two Japanese Madona titles look beautiful as art objects but I’m not a Madona fan, so no sale.

    2. I agree Chris. While I grew up with vinyl, I no longer embrace it, having sold my turntable 20+ years ago. I’ll bet the record companies love the resurgence of vinyl as it gives them a chance to re-issue entire catalogs of music yet again. ($$$)

      1. Exactly, it’s all done purely for the money. Don’t get me wrong there are many nice releases but it is ridiculous the way CDs are now almost being demonised and ignored as a format completely on RSD. I for one would definitely buy specially released CDs on RSD. There is so much marketing hype being written about vinyl these days.

        1. Totally agree, there is a kind of snobbery re CDs. I sometimes get the impression there’s a view that if you’re a ‘real’ music fan then you must be into vinyl. It’s propagated widely via many record shops and for example 6 Music.
          I can take it though:)

          1. I have bought vinyl since 1981 and CDs since 1986. Unlike most people, I love both formats and frequently double-dip.

            Yes, the anti-CD snobbery is there and mostly perpetrated by BAVJs. Born Again Vinyl Junkies – who were getting stuck into CDs or cassettes in the lean times of the early / mid 90s when only a handful of us were buying new albums on vinyl.

            Many of them have beards and use the word “problematic” a lot.

    3. Couldn’t agree more. I would be all over these releases if they were on CD. Isn’t the point to support the record stores so that we go in and buy stuff? Now only a very small portion goes in to buy vinyl stuff as, to my knowledge, most physical music sales is still -by far- on CD.
      I would buy half of that stuff if it was on CD. I definitely don’t buy vinyl.

  102. Not sure how everyone else is feeling but I don’t really see much that tickles my fancy this year. There seems to be a lot of 80’s pop stuff and apart from Mansun not much 90’s stuff or classic stuff. I’d have preferred a color vinyl Dog Man Star over Head Music. I’m not complaining, I appreciate we all have different tastes before people start laying into me, i’m just curious about everyone else’s thoughts.

    1. Sadly this is probably the first year that I’m not really drawn to anything. Shame but good luck to all those heading off tomorrow in getting what they want

  103. Glad I’m not the only one to fail to shove those “rice paper” semi-plastic inners back in the sleeve successfully. Never did like them.

  105. Very nice presentation Paul .Any idea if there are less /more copies around this year.I only ask
    as there were still certain 2018 titles from RSD still available on Amazon a few weeks ago.
    Piper mono in particular hung around for ever!

    1. Thanks. Not sure to be honest. There’s always one or two that are close to impossible to get hold of with everything else being not that difficult to pick up if you keep an eye out. 6,000 copies of a-ha for example, sounds like loads to me.

  106. Got the Peter Gabriel PG Rated and The Police double pack, price increases year after year, a copy of Bohemian Rhapsody 2lp picture disc cost 65 euros in my store !

  107. There`s only one item I`m interested in and I doubt any of the shops within driving distance of where I live will get more than 2-3 copies and you can bet no matter what time I turned up to queue there`d be 2-3 dudes in front of me wanting the same thing.
    So I`ve paid a bloody flipper over twice the price for the item I want, waiting 7 days to see if there were any copies left would do my head in.
    The item? Dylan`s NY Pressing.

    1. I second that hope! And one tactic I did this year is go to my local store a few days before RSD and spend about $65 US on some nice used CD’s that ‘suddenly’ appeared in their new arrivals (probably stashed in the back in anticipation of RSD) along with a couple of new release CD’s and new issues of Q and Mojo magazines. Thankfully an employee also dropped a couple hints on what their store was & wasn’t expecting to have for RSD and helped seal my decision to sit this year out. I still hit my local store at least once a month anyway so I feel I’m doing my part for physical media. Paul thanks for doing these videos, it makes for interesting viewing even on things I wouldn’t normally be interested in. Here’s hoping the CD format will become ‘hip’ or ‘obscure’ enough someday to be properly featured on this retail holiday!!

  109. Great video Paul, very entertaining! But I think you missed to show at least two more important records, Elton John live from Moscow and the “secret” R.E.M. concert under the name of Bingo Hand Job. If I’m not mistaken, both were officially ureleased performances.

  110. I know you can’t list anything for at least 7 days after RSD but are you hoping to have some titles in the SDE shop like last time?

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