For over nine years now Record Store Day has been having a global impact; on April 16, #RSD16 was even a worldwide trending topic on twitter. Unfortunately, many do not know of the day’s exact origins.

Originally, Record Store Day was conceived from a comment made by Chris Brown, A Bull Moose (a music, movie, book & video game store in Maine and New Hampshire) employee. Brown felt that the Record Store equivalent to Free Comic Book Day needed to be created. From there, a group of Baltimore record store owners met in 2007 to brainstorm the exact logistics of the event, including Eric Levin, Michael Kurtz, Carrie Colliton, Amy Dorfman, Don Van Cleave and Brian Poehner. The first Record Store Day did not actually take place until a year later on April 19, 2008. The “word” about the day was spread through various social media platforms and through the creation of “The Record Store Day” website. And the rest is history.

Record Store Day has become a staple in terms of featuring limited edition, special releases every year. This year’s lineup included special releases from David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Metallica, Johnny Cash, Madonna, Patti Smith, Deftones, Frank Zappa and the Doors. Previous years have featured releases from The White Stripes, The Raveonettes, Frightened Rabbit, The Deftones, The Beach Boys’ Al Rabbit, the Beastie Boys, The Foo Fighters, and more.

Record Store Day also features official “ambassadors” with each passing year, who sponsor and virtually organize the event. This year’s ambassadors were Metallica. As ambassadors, Metallica released remastered editions of their first two albums (Kill ‘Em All & Ride the Lightning) in a box set. Previous Record Store Day Ambassadors include: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, & Robert Trujilio (2008), Jesse Hughes of Eagles of Death Metal (2009), Joshua Homme (2010), Ozzy Osbourne (2011), Iggy Pop (2012), Jack White (2013), Chuck D. (2014), and Dave Grohl (2015).

Watch out for next year’s Record Store Day taking place on April 15, 2016!

After two days of concerts—Ghost on April 14 in Stroudsburg and Iggy Pop on April 15 in Philly—I was in the music mood. Thankfully, Record Store Day was on April 16 in order to continue my long, music-filled weekend.

On Saturday, I woke up at 8 a.m. in order to make it to Tunes in Marlton by 9 a.m. Even though there is another Tunes located closer in Voorhees, I find that the Marlton location has a better selection of records.

Once I arrived at Tunes, proudly wearing my VIP Ghost shirt from two days earlier, I, along with thirty other people, began perusing the boxes of records laid out along the walls. By the door, dozens of seven-inch records were displayed-most of them Record Store Day exclusive releases. Out of those I picked up a Death Cab for Cutie release with a cover of Guided by Voices’ “Tractor Rape Chain” on side A and Death Cab’s own “Black Sun,” off of its newest record, Kintsugi.

Next to the Death Cab release, I found a Side by Side release of Talking Heads’ 1983 song, “This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)” backed with a cover of that same song by Echosmith. The wax for the record is translucent blue/white swirl.

Record Store Day annually releases a mystery title Side by Side release. Although I went into Tunes without knowing what the release was (a quick search on social media proved unsuccessful to try to find out the artists featured on the release), I purchased the record anyway. When I got home, I was delighted to find out that the record was MC5’s 1969 song, “Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa),” backed with a cover of that song by Melvins on translucent red vinyl.

Upon walking further into the store, I saw Cheap Trick’s Found New Parts, but I decided that I did not need it even though it was only limited to 4000 copies.

Near the Cheap Trick record, I saw a 10 inch picture disc of Star Wars: The Force Awakens “March of the Resistance b/w Rey’s Theme” performed by John Williams. As a huge fan of Star Wars, I saw “The Force Awakens” six times in the four weeks following the movie’s release. This record will have a special place in my collection, even though picture discs tend to emit lower quality sound.

As I made my way towards the back of the store, I saw Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Twin Peaks by Xiu Xiu. As a lover of all things “Twin Peaks,” I was surprised that Tunes had a large amount of this record, since it was limited to 2000 copies. I have a love for colored vinyl, and many Record Store Day releases come in various color combinations. This record was no exception; it was a 180-gram, red and blue colored record.

As I was nearing the other side of the store, I noticed I Dig Everything: Pye Years 1966 by David Bowie. Since Bowie’s death in early January, I have been trying to compile as many Bowie releases as I can in order to help his legacy live on in my collection. Every year, Bowie releases picture discs, however the picture discs sold out before I could get my hands on them.

I finally reached the checkout line, which moved slowly due to there only being one cashier. However I was not in a rush, and I stood marveling at my records while I waited. After around five minutes, I found myself feeling upset about not picking up the Cheap Trick record, so I had my sister wait in line while I grabbed that release and looked around for any records that I may have missed.

Once I reached the cashier, I received a canvas Record Store Day bag filled with two CDs: a Record Store Day compilation by Universal Music Group and Dine Alone Record’s Record Store Day Sampler 2016. 

I also asked for a free poster by Dogfish Head’s in-house graphic designer, Tim Parrott.

I have gone to my local record stores on Record Store Day since 2013 with Jack White as the Record Store Day ambassador. This year’s ambassador was Metallica, who performed an in-house performance at Rasputin Music in Berkeley, Calif. My fourth Record Store Day was a success, although I will admit that the releases were not as strong as in previous years.

Just one day after my birthday, I indulge in the wonderful celebration of “Record Store Day.” I have been lucky enough to grow up with a loving and caring father who has shared some stories of his youth. Many of those stories derive from his days spent in record stores. He would tell me about how he first got into Steely Dan or the time he bought his first Led Zeppelin album. These stories and the music itself made me want to have my own experiences with record stores.

Over the summer I was fortunate enough to have the best record store experience of my life to date. So today, I celebrate “Record Store Day” by thinking back on this magical experience…

Where: Fisch Family vacation in California.

When: Summer of 2015.

I walked into Amoeba on Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California having heard many great things about the store from my Uncle, Larry. I was truly amped to see the store that had been hyped up so much.

“A music lover’s heaven” would be the only way to describe the humongous store. Two floors of CD’s and vinyl records stacked to the brim of the “warehouse-like” ceilings is what amazed me the most. Not only is Amoeba known for having such a giant collection of music but they are famously credited as “the world’s largest independent music store.”

Since my father and I are huge hip-hop/R&B/Rap fans we made our way over to about five rows worth of what I’d like to call “heaven.” I searched through some old 50 Cent albums but kept looking. I found myself holding Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly and A$AP Rocky’s At. Long. Last. A$AP, but I found both of those albums to be too pricy for something I could just illegally download (shhhhh, don’t tell anyone).

Eventually, I came across Wooden Leather by Nappy Roots. I recognized the name of the group and immediately the chorus of a song came to mind: “We’re gonna have/ We’re gonna have/ We’re gonna have a good day/ And all my homies gonna ride today/ And all these mommies look fly today/ And all we wanna do is get by today/ Heyyy/ We’re gonna have a good day/ And ain’t nobody gotta cry today/ Cause ain’t nobody gonna die today/ Save that drama for another day/ Heyyy we’re gonna have a good day”. This song, entitled “Good Day,” is a classic and one of my all-time favorite songs because its “happy go lucky” feel always puts me in a good mood. After the chorus of “Good Day” stopped playing in the back of my mind, I realized that Wooden Leather was a must buy for a mere $3.99, so I held on to it to go show my Dad.

As I approached him, I realized he had put in some light work and found three albums, the first being Reincarnated by the one and only, Snoop Lion. I agreed with his decision on this album because of the whole name change from Snoop Dogg to Snoop Lion which I thought to be pretty comical.

The next album he had picked out kept the Snoop Dogg/Lion theme in mind considering Snoop Dogg had a feature on the album. The album he had grabbed was John Legend’s Get Lifted. This was another great choice because you simply can’t go wrong with John Legend. He is an all-around, fantastic musician and he creates masterpiece after masterpiece by combining his soft, yet powerful voice with his beautiful touch on the piano. My Dad’s third and final album find was Nothing by N*E*R*D, a rock/funk/hip-hop group comprised of Chad Hugo, Teddy Riley, and Pharrell Williams (sorry for mentioning his name because “Happy” is probably going off in the back of your mind right now).

My brother, not being the most musically inclined in  our family (sorry Jason) was on the hunt for a few albums himself and I decided to help him out. Being a fan of Electronic Dance Music (EDM), I guided him over to his corner of Amoeba (which was probably about three rows of nothing but Deadmau5, Afrojack, and a bunch of no-name DJ’s you have never heard of and most likely, never will). For about fifteen minutes we rummaged through a countless number of CD’s produced by those no-name DJ’s until we found two solid albums. The first being: Pharmacy by Galantis which we recognized because we were hooked on “Runaway” a song you can bump to almost anywhere; at the gym, in the shower, or cruising down Sunset Boulevard with the windows down (which is exactly what we did). Pharmacy was an album we couldn’t leave without. A similar, yet extremely different album, In Return by Odesza, happened to be right next to the album we had just picked up. This album, having one of our favorite EDM songs on it, “Say My Name,” left us no other option than to buy it. Just days later we threw it in the CD player in our GMC Acadia rental car and jammed out on our way to Yosemite National Park.

I guess you can say that trip to Amoeba was quite successful and I would immediately agree. It is a
memory I will have forever and a story I will have to pass down to my kids when vinyl albums and CD’s will most likely be extinct. A sad truth behind this year’s celebration of “Record Store Day” is that the record store and the culture that surrounds it is dying. The memories from this culture are trapped in the minds of people who are only growing old. I hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that people realize we need to save the record stores or else we won’t be able to share these types of experiences with the next generation. And with that, I have no more to say, other than this: celebrate today, Record Store Day (April 16) by going to your local record store and creating memories that you can share with your kids and grandkids when the world of digital music has truly taken over…

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything”— Plato

To me, the euphoric beauty of Record Store Day is insurmountable. However, in today’s fast-paced and rapidly innovative world, many view one of my favorite celebrations as outdated and antiquated. Nonetheless, I remain firm in my opinion. Record Store Day is, and forever will be, essential, particularly in today’s modern world. Record Store Day is more than just the past; it is a transformative entity— one with the power to intertwine the present with the past, generating an even brighter future.

This record store day was particularly poignant. Being it only my second year of participation in the celebration, I knew I still had much to learn. For this reason, I chose to celebrate at a store I already knew very well: The “Tunes” Store located in Voorhees.

While at the store, I was able to come across some unforeseen deals. Not only did I walk away with a brand-new edition of Bastille’s debut vinyl record (for under 40 dollars), I also obtained several old classic rock CD’s (Led Zeppelin, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Deep Purple), for only five dollars each. A surprising feeling of accomplishment crossed me after making these purchases, one which I really did not expect to feel.

But what I really found most striking throughout my day at Tunes, were the warm faces which passed by me.

Customers and employees alike, were filled with a giddy joy and zeal all throughout the day. It was as if this magical energy filled the store, transfiguring its yellow walls into hallowed halls.

After I made my purchases, I still continued to roam the familiar CD and vinyl cases of the local “Tunes” Store— I simply could not leave. And now the emotions, which I had noted among the other visitors of the store, began to bloom inside of me. Initially, I could not concretely describe these emotions, but they eventually morphed into a singular epiphany. Though I had walked through these same exact halls, a dozen times, only today did I feel this sort of exciting, all-encompassing (infectious and therefore never-ending) energy, pent up inside of me.

At that moment, I then knew that Record Store Day was more than just a “day”; it was an experience. An experience, which was meant to change you in some way, expose you to a new view of the musical industry…and that is exactly what it did for me.

This led me to think of the extremely significant distinction between online music providers and record stores. What these record stores possess that cannot be found through online music providers? Passion. The value of a physical CD or Vinyl Album is priceless. Something tangible, something that can be felt, has a certain value, a value which will always outweigh an unfeeling and flimsy “direct download.”

But most importantly, one must always remember that Record Store Day isn’t just for Aerosmith vinyl collectors, or grunge-Blink-182 fanatics. Rather, Record Store Day is meant to be universal; it is meant to be a celebration for everyone and anyone who possess a love for one thing: Music.

Galantis – Runaway (U & I) by Galantis

Galantis – Runaway (U & I) available at http://smarturl.it/Galantis_Runaway Get Galantis Merchandise: http://galantis.merchline.com Amazon Store: http://smarturl.it/GalantisStoreAmazon PHARMACY Available Now: iTunes: http://smarturl.it/GalantisPharmacy_iT Spotify: http://smarturl.it/S_Pharmacy Google Play: http://smarturl.it/GP_Pharmacy Amazon: http://smarturl.it/A_Pharmacy Watch their video for Peanut Butter Jelly: http://smarturl.it/GalantisPBJmvideo Follow Galantis: Website: http://smarturl.it/GalantisFb Facebook: http://smarturl.it/GalantisFb Twitter: http://smarturl.it/GalantisTw Instagram: http://smarturl.it/GalantisInsta SoundCloud: http://smarturl.it/GalantisSc Spotify: http://smarturl.it/GalantisPharmacy_Sp YouTube: http://youtube.com/wearegalantis Snapchat: WeAreGalantis Galantis on tour Tour dates – http://smarturl.it/GalantisTour Think I can fly, think I can fly when I’m with U.

Falling by Xiu Xiu

Australia’s Gallery of Modern Art commissioned Xiu Xiu to reinterpret the music from Twin Peaks for their David Lynch: Between Two Worlds exhibition. Since then, the band has performed select concerts all over the globe culminating in a proper studio album of the compositions – “Plays The Music of Twin Peaks.”

Flaws by BASTILLE

Stream Flaws by BASTILLE from desktop or your mobile device

We hope you received “The Complete Experience of Record Store Day.” Come back next year for more coverage when the tenth annual Record Store Day occurs on April 15, 2017!