Courtesy of Record Store DayThe 10th anniversary edition of Record Store Day takes place this Saturday, April 22. The promotion, which has helped reignite interest in the vinyl format and inspire droves of music lovers to visit independent record shops, has expanded to the point where it’s now considered a global event.
“Now it’s celebrated in every continent except for Antarctica,” Record Store Day co-founder Michael Kurtz tells ABC Radio. “Although we did get an email…from a science team that is stationed there saying, basically, ‘Look, we’re not a record store, but we want to let you know that we have a turntable here in Antarctica, and we are gonna be spinning records in celebration of Record Store Day.'”
Another Record Store Day first in 2017 — Elton John has been named Record Store Day’s first official “Legend.” In conjunction with the honor, John filmed a video in which he discusses his passion for buying new music, particularly on vinyl. Elton also has contributed an expanded, two-LP version of his classic live album 11-17-70 to this year’s campaign.
Kurtz notes that there are so many phenomenal limited-edition releases coming out this year that it’s hard to single out any one. Having said that, he mentions that noteworthy discs include a live David Crosby EP that the Record Store Day organizers are issuing themselves and two David Bowie albums — a collection of rare demos and a previously unreleased live performance.
Michael also notes that, as usual, a number of artists will be making special appearances at various independent record stores on Saturday, one example being The Zombies, who will take part in a signing and meet-and-greet at Silver Platters in Seattle.
You can check out a full list of 2017 RSD releases and more details about the campaign at RecordStoreDay.com.
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
