Not long to go now, and it will be 12th April

RECORD STORE DAY UK

Record Store Day is the one day of the year when almost 300 independent record shops all across the UK come together to celebrate our unique culture.

Some of the artistes in this year's World Record Store Day

Now, where is that Record Token that 

Auntie Mabel bought me for my birthday last year?

 

The Vinyl Revival 

strides onwards 

Vinyl record sales are accounting for increasing sales of music, and its not all back catalog items either, but ‘new’ music by contemporary artists.   

The UK record industry trade body, the BPI, publishes statistics about album sales and its findings for 2022 show that albums (or LPs as some of us still call them), are increasingly important in the music world. 

Of the ten biggest selling vinyl albums in the UK last year, eight were new releases. Last year only half of the top ten vinyl albums were new releases – and a few years ago it was only three. That is a definite trend.

 “Vinyl’s revival has been one of the most welcome success stories of recent times,” says BPI boss Geoff Taylor. “ While initially this renaissance was built largely on older music fans reconnecting with treasured past albums and on younger generations newly discovering classic releases, increasingly the ongoing rise in LP sales has been driven by brand new releases”.

“A diverse and growing number of contemporary artists have recognised the enduring magic of this most beloved format”, he adds, “from global superstars such as Taylor Swift and Harry Styles to breakthrough UK talent including Wet Leg and Yard Act. As the LP marks its 75th anniversary in 2023, it’s as relevant as ever, highlighting that, in an age of streaming, physical music purchases remain an essential and healthy part of the music market”.

In case you wondered, the eight new releases that feature in the top ten vinyl albums of 2022 were: –

              Taylor Swift               ‘Midnights’

              Harry Styles               ‘Harry’s House’

              Arctic Monkeys         ‘The Car’ 

              Liam Gallagher          ‘C’mon You Know’

              Wet Leg                      'Wet Leg’

              The 1975s                   ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’

              Fontaines DC             ‘Skinty Fia’ 

              Muse                           ‘Will Of The People’

The Arctic Monkeys also have one of the older albums that made it into the vinyl top ten this year, with the 2013 release ‘AM’ at number nine, while Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ – from 1977 – was at number six.

Record Store Day is an annual event that began in 2007. Its usually held  on a Saturday in April as well as on Black Friday in November. Its designed to  "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fans, artists, and thousands of independent record stores around the world. 

Many artistes release special 'limited edition' records on that day which are only available in independent record shops, such as Darren Crowther's  Disc Discovery on Spring Bank in Hull, or in Eric White's shop in Norwich.  Both they and many other independents deserve at least a visit from you - you're bound to enjoy browsing the thousands of new and used vinyl on sale.  You're bound to say , quite a few times, "Oooh, Ive not heard that for years and years, I must give it a home!" 

Happy disc hunting!

World Record Store Day in the UK and on the radio

       World Record Store Day

vinyl collectors will be in heaven!

Originally an American initiative, World Record Store Day has since been taken up by the UK record retailing industry, or what's left of it. The event gets more successful every year and the 16th April looks to be bigger and better than ever. Many record labels make very limited edition pressings available for this one day only and 2016 is no exception. A full listing of the special releases can be found on the RSD16 page. 

These invariably become collectors' items and change hands for extraordinary amounts. This year many of the prime cuts have been made available some days early by some sharks on EBay, even before their official release! 

Many radio stations are taking part this year, BBC Radio 6 nationally on DAB, and Bauer 's MW network in the north,  from 4 to 6pm will be 

• Viking2 
• TFM2
• Hallam2
• Aire2
• Key2
• City2 

The show will be hosted by avid vinyl collector Stephanie Hirst, who can also be heard on several BBC local stations (e.g. BBC York and BBC Manchester) regularly with more 'all vinyl' programmes. 

The music on Stephanie's vinyl shows are always played in from original vinyl discs, drawn from her own record library at home. She has been an avid collector for many years spending thousands of pounds on old singles. 

The BBC has entered into the spirit of World Record Store Day in quite a big way this year, with items in many of the corporations other programmes. Even Women's Hour on BBC Radio 4 did a feature,  with vinyl addict Mary Anne Hobbs telling Jenni Murray all about how she got rid of her huge vinyl collection by having a party and inviting her guests to simply help themselves to whatever they wanted!  A very kind hearted girl is Mary Anne!

Mary Anne kept only 200 items, real solid favourites that she just could not bear to be parted with.  I know how she feels,  I could not even whittle my own favourite list down to 200! My own 'favourites' list is around 400 (you can see a print out of the Paul Rusling Favourites by clicking the words).

Following Mary Anne's programme (she does breakfasts on Saturdays, from 7 to 10)  Radio 6 had scheduled a Lauren Levine  with a special 'RSD Party' broadcast which has some very special guests who she is keeping close to her chest. 

Your Local Record Shop

Many record shop[s have their own events - in Hull the SoundSystems shop in Bowlalley Lane had the FRONTEERS playing their tunes and signing their 45s in the afternoon.  Steve Mathie's Spin-it in the Trinity Market and Darran Crowther's Disc Discovery on Spring Bank are ALWAYS worth a visit.  Check out  YOUR own nearest independent store with a handy little checker available on THIS WEB PAGE .

The SL1200 turntable reborn

After almost going into extinction ten years ago, record shops are really making a comeback this year, as is vinyl generally.  Turntables too are making an appearance once again as the focal point of many HiFi installations and this week a new turntable, a remodelling of the legendary SL1200, as sold out, despite a $4,000 price tag.  

The orginal SL1200s stopped production about five years ago and have been commanding hefty price tags; I've been itching to take mine to bits for years but it has just never faltered! The new SL1200 GAE models have their own BlueTooth transmitter on board so you can hook up wireless speakers or any other kit around the home. This eradicates the one item that does add some crackle in any turntable installation - those old phono plugs, which are not really conducive to great audio fidelity!

Other Turntables 

The Daily Mirror too has jumped on the vinyl bandwagon for RSD 2016 and has several special HiFi offers available. One is a Zennox music scentre, reduced from £500 down to £299.99, with a 6 in 1 music system reduced to £140.99, and a recordable music centre  allowing connection to a laptop compter for recoding for just £129.99.  Details are on this special RSD16 page.

Other manufacturers have been putting new turntables onto the market too. SONY have a much cheaper option in their PS-HX500 HRA turntable, which is due out any week and will cost around £400.  This model  not only allows users to digitize their records, but offers output as DSD (DSF) files, which SONY claim matches audio CDs. 

It has a  “Hi-Res Audio Recorder” app for PC or Mac so you can edit the raw files, deleting unwanted parts of the recording, such as the pop as the needle drops, or the ubiquitous 'cue burn' that many DJs collections are afflicted by. It seems odd that SONY, who worked so hard to launch the CD, which put paid to vinyl as the major format, should be trying to get back into the vinyl market. They even sold their huge European record pressing plant Record Industry in Harlem, Holland a few years ago, a move they are now regretting.

That Record Industry record factory is now the largest vinyl pressing plant in the world, and is struggling to keep up with demand for its records from all over the world and ships out around 30,000 albums a day, giving it an annual turnover of $5.4 million, and growing. Demand is so heavy that the minimum time they can get releases out is currently 3 months! 

Audio Technics have also jumped on the 'wireless' bandwagon with their  LP60-BT which  has a pre-amp built in and a wired output for the traditionalists. Its now available for approx £135.

Record Store Day New Releases

For fuller details of the many new releases available on RSD (and perhaps for a short time afterwards) see THIS PAGE which lists the special releases, including Alannis, Albert King and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band (always very collectable!), Allen Toussaint, The Animals, Ashford & Simpson, the Associates and of course, that doyen of DJs, Alan Partridge! That was just a few from those beginning with A - check out the pages and pages of rare recordings on the Record Store Day page.