Record Store Day comes to town
RECORD Store Day, a special day around the world for record collectors, is being celebrated here in Dundalk in Classified Records on Saturday May 21st.
The shop, located in McMahon Building, The Demesne, will open early at 9am on April 21st to facilitate those keen collectors who will be on the hunt earlier than usual.
The day will be soundtracked with great tunes on their instore turntables and with a panoramic vinyl collectors’ community in the area as the shop’s owner Neil Waters is keen to continue with this new tradition in local retail.
‘For one day only every year, on the third Saturday of every April, the record collecting community gets a huge ‘Christmassy’ kind of treat,’ he explains. ‘For this one day, hundreds of records are made especially by the industry & made available in limited numbers through the various record labels. These are generally records of a mega-rarity variety and of special personal value; this gift being a thrill for even the most moderate record hunter.’
Among the exclusive records up for grabs this year are special releases by; David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Bruce Springsteen, Rory Gallagher, PIL, The Cure, Miles Davis, U2, The Who, The Cure, Lalo Schiffrin, Prince, The Notorious B.I.G., Arcade Fire, The Streets, Gloria Gaynor and all kinds of compilations and soundtracks.
The advent of CDs, MP3s, streaming and downloading led to pronouncements that vinyl was dead, and while for a time, this seemed to be the case, but the format is now enjoying a revival in popularity.
‘ The modern, populist revival of ‘vinyl’ has been triggered by new generations being bamboozled by the wonder of a record spinning on a turntable. It’s been cool since Edison got involved in the early patents of the Phonograph in 1877. It was cool in the 1st half of the 20th century, even when radio was introduced in 1920. It survived a Great Depression, a Wall Street crash and two World Wars, and finally the internet but people have always grouped together listening to music,’ says Neil, whose passion for the format is indisputable.
‘Yes, there are various ways to listen to music; none more so than today but records will always bewitch people. That’s why after a twenty-year dark age, a supposedly obsolete format rose from its coma and charged out of the hospital all guns blazing,’ he says.
The music loving public has lots of options when it comes to listening to music and many will check out albums on Spotify before deciding to splash out and buy a hard copy for their collection.
The role played by Classified Records in meeting the needs of the record collecting community and in hosting Record Store Day in previous years has led to the shop being invited to host a record stall at the independent record fair at the BBC6 Big Weekender at the Titanic Slipways in Belfast on weekend of May 25th/26t,’ says Neil.
For all kinds of record collector, Record Store Day is a great opportunity for anyone looking to continue specialising their vinyl collection. “
‘Since we opened our doors nearly three years ago, we’ve noticed subtle differences to the industry,’ explains Neil. ‘ There’s no real ‘singles market’ anymore – it’s albums people want. It’s the artwork, the packaging, the sheer physical size of it. We’ve seen people revive their once-dormant collections, we’ve got newcomers to the market, we’ve even had kids in as young as 10 or 11 buying records, influenced by their parents love of the medium. Aided by the digital age, propped up by a weight of history, the collecting records business is in very good health.’
Classified Records will be celebrating Record Store Day on Saturday April 21st, 2018, with doors opening at 9am. All records are embargoed and are subject to the rules of World Record Day release and cannot be revealed or reserved before April 21st.