Monday 22 April 2013

Record Store Day

The 2013 version of this event seems to have been as popular as previous years.
Long queues at many shops, some starting at around 5am.  The special releases shipped to the shops and devoured by those who wanted them.  In short, a veritable success for all those independent record shops who participated.  And if the availability of stuff on e-bay is anything to go by, it seems a roaring trade was done by all.

So what did I get?
Nothing ... and perversely I'm quite pleased I didn't go.
In my inimitable, curmudgeonly way I decided not to go to any of my local shops, at least not on the day anyway.
No, bugger it.  If this is a day for the celebration of all that is unique and welcoming about the local record shop, then I want to go and spend the day doing what you should do in a record shop - idly browsing throught the racks looking for something I might want, and also stumbling across something that I didn't know I wanted.

I watched 'Last Shop Standing' on SkyArts on Friday night and was all keen and geared up to fly out of my front door on Saturday morning and join the throng.
But I think I may have had a dodgy bacon sandwich sometime on Friday, because waking up on Saturday morning wasn't an easy task, and my head felt like two woodpeckers had taken up residence.
So I did the "watching it on Ceefax" thing - logged on to t'internet and read about the goings on, the numbers of people attending, the special releases and the live performances at many of the shops.

I did get the 'guilt pangs' that I should be out there supporting my local shop, but this was offset by my in-built cynicism towards anything seemingly "coporatised".
The intent of Record Store Day is valid - to get as many people to visit their local store as possible, and thereby ensuring it's survival.  But is one day enough?  To ensure that little treausre-trove remains in the high street/side street/wherever it is, people need to go there a bit more regularly than an annual visit.
So this explains my one-man protest aginst Record Store Day, and I'll go visiting next Saturday, when the queues outside the shop will be non-existent, and the majority of visitors the previous week will be strangely absent.
And further to the "roaring trade was done by all" statement above, I can't help feeling there is also a roaring re-sale going on, and that to me is the problem with RSD - most of the special releases have been bought up with the sole intention of being flogged on at a profit.

I did purchase something on Saturday, albeit from the comfort of my own chair.
Hopefully, the new Frank Turner album ('Tape Deck Heart') will be falling through my letterbox any day now.

Frank Turner - Recovery





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