Record Store Day

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I usually don't get excited for Record Store Day. About the only thing that has ever tempted me was the Live Tracks Dave Matthews Albums but they always sold for so much I never went in for one. This year though there were two records I just could not pass on. The Elvis Presley My Happiness/Thats When Your Heartache Begins 78 limited to 500 copies is only available at 3rd Man Records in Nashville. Jack White bought this few months ago for $300k and had a limited press done for tomorrow right down to the label & paper sleeve. Thank god for ebay!




Ironically the other thing I got was also from Jack White. Get Behind Me Satan's first vinyl release ever in red & white vinyl. Now I've all the WHite Stripes on vinyl. It only took 10 years for this to get pressed!

[nvmbrsdoom5]

Aw man I didn't realize they were doing a vinyl release for "Get Behind Me Satan", that's my favorite album of theirs!

[Mr.Marion]

Yeah I read about that Elvis record. Cool piece. I like the White Stripes but I always felt The Hives, Strokes, and BRMC made better albums.if you're into that style of music.

[Blue Meanie]

I'm a big vinyl person and have gone to one record store day back a few years ago. They had a Wings 12 inch single of Maybe I'm Amazed and a Ringo Starr box set of 45's. Was able to get both. Here's my thing with RSD..it's become a hype machine and more about flipping than it has about an appreciation for music. The time I went a few years back you could see that of the crowd, and I mean CROWD, that was there maybe 10 - 20% was there as true collectors and people that appreciate music. The rest were there with their giant lists of stuff they needed to find so they could flip them on Ebay. That's not what it's supposed to be about. I'm not begrudging anyone trying to make some money. It's at the heart of capitalism...but it definitely soured me on RSD. I can say the only benefit that I've seen from RSD is that the stuff that doesn't sell goes really cheap within the year after it's release. This year I wanted to get the RSD re-issue of Paul McCartney's 'The Family Way' soundtrack but I really didn't want to be hassled having to get up extra early on a Saturday just to have to go and wait on line to pay 2 to 3 times what I paid for an original of the soundtrack almost 30+ years ago when I first started collecting McCartney's solo stuff. BTW, I still haven't heard a re-issue that sounds better or even close to an original 1st pressing. It's not just about the weight of the vinyl that is going to make it sound better. It does have a lot to do with Mastering and there aren't any GREAT mastering plants out there or master engineers. IMHO a clean 1st pressing of a record will beat a re-issue any day of the week. Haven't heard one yet that has changed my mind.

[The Bat]

The Elvis record makes my so jealous! My Happiness, the first song he ever recorded at Sun Records.

[Brazoo]

There are a million reasons why I agree with Blue Meanie about RSD. In some ways it really is just eBay flipping day, but I don't take it too seriously. I like the novelty of a few of the releases, I go to a few record stores I like to support and if I can't get them at regular price then I don't bother.

I was able to get a copy of White Stripes "Get Behind Me Satan" for a friend. The original Canadian price is $65!!!, so I didn't get one for myself. This was way after the mad rush, and I had already been to 3 other stores that were all sold out, and this one tiny shop had a small pile of them. I ended up talking about music with the owner and he gave me a small discount just because we both hated that Bono used Joey Ramone's name in the new U2 album.

And this is why on some level - under all the marketing and collector speculating - if RSD still helps the record stores a bit I'm for it. I just love record stores.

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I was also able to nab a couple of the fun split singles (where the original artist does side A, and a cool band covers the song on side B:

Grandmaster Flash/Stiff Little Fingers - The Message



Ramones/Hüsker Dü - Sheena Is a Punk Rocker
(this was the "Mystery Release" this year. The outer package obscures the record label so you don't know what you're getting.)

[Brazoo]

Aw man I didn't realize they were doing a vinyl release for "Get Behind Me Satan", that's my favorite album of theirs!

I haven't really checked, but if it's going for mad money and you don't care about the special packaging then I'd say hold off for now. I believe it's scheduled to get a regular vinyl release at some point later this year.

[HardyGirl]

Woo-Hoo! Records! Now we're talking! I have LOADS of records. In fact recently, I came into a box full of 45s for free! You see, our school van was stolen about a month ago. When they recovered it, it was full of junk (like someone had ripped off a storage facility), and among that junk was a box of records! They really looked like they were in sad shape, but actually play pretty well. I got some jems like "Peppermint Twist" "Santa and the Sattelite", "Jesus Christ Superstar Medley" and "Sherry" (Four Seasons). I still have to go through more of them, (there were a LOT), but it's been a lot of fun!

BTW...I have 2 colored records, a copy of Joan Jett's 12" single "Cherry Bomb" in red, and a test pressing of Shaun Cassidy's Unreleased Live album in yellow.

[Brazoo]

HardyGirl - rewarded by the record gods! Such a great story!

[supes]

I was so bummed I couldn't get the Elvis record. Can't afford ebay right now. My son said he was going to release it again later in the year remastered, so I will have to wait til then. Glad you were able to get it!