VINYL CELEBRATION STRIKES RIGHT NOTE
AVINYL fanatic queued outside a Welsh store all night to make the most of the 10th annual World Record Store Day yesterday.
According to Spillers in Cardiff, the fan got to the store at 11.30pm on Friday night with “paperwork and a camping chair”, just to make sure he got the first pick of what was on offer.
It came as vinyl fans up and down the UK queued outside their local shops to get their hands on rare albums as part of the 10th annual celebration.
More than 200 stores across the UK took part, including those in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea.
Ashleigh Todd, manager of Spillers, the world’s oldest record shop, said: “We have taken part in every Record Store Day and it’s evolved into a huge day where hundreds of offers are used to entice people to queue through the early hours of the morning.”
The annual celebration began in San Francisco in 2008 and is part of a dramatic reverse in decline of the industry.
Stores opened their doors early to hold parties and in-store performances, as well as selling a selection of 531 limited-edition albums and singles, released exclusively for the day, including from artists like The Ramones, David Bowie and The Smiths.
The day’s festivities included BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens holding a DJ set yesterday morning at Spillers. Ashleigh added: “We never thought vinyls were dead or a lost cause. In the last 10 years it’s been re-established to the point where you see vi- nyl in supermarkets – it seems to be everywhere. It’s an amazing celebration, but they need support every day of the year.”
Other record stores, like Newport’s Diverse, were forced to operate a “one in, one out” policy, as vinyl enthusiasts flocked to pick up the best deals.
Newport-based band Goldie Lookin Chain’s Graham the Bear works at the store and said: “It’s been crazy. There were people queuing from 5.30am. When I arrived at 8.30am there were about 40 people all the way down the he road.”
Graham added: “It’s been lovely. Everyone was havinging a good chat to each other, and everyoneeryone was getting in the spirit. It’s a good social experiment.”
Last year morere than 3.2 million LPsPs were sold, drivingg revenue up by two thirds, the highest in 25 years.
LPs are so popu- lar they now ac- count for 15% off the music industry’s income from physical album sales – a huge turnaround from 10 years ago when just 200,000 LPs were sold.
In Swansea, Derrick’s rrick’s Music store declared “vinyl is alive and kicking” as music enthusiastssts began to queue from 4am. Up to 120 people turned up outside the storere in Oxford Street, in the hope of getting ing their hands on rare editions of records ords on sale.