Normally, I turn into a 13 year old girl at a One Direction concert on Record Store Day. My body tingles, my heart pounds, and my bank account evaporates. Not so this time as I didn’t absolutely need any of the fancy limited edition special releases that are a hallmark of RSD. Don’t get me wrong, there were tons of interesting releases this year that I was primed to purchase, but it was not a life or death situation if I did not score any … or so I thought.
A few days before, my New York RSD buddy and I laid out our plan of attack. We would meet up no later then 6:30 AM at Bleeker Street Records, the most reliable shop in the city. It was thought, we could hit that great spot and get to another three record stores before most of the best LP’s went bye-bye.
I woke up at 4:50 AM. As you can tell, on RSD I don’t play around. I threw on my clothes, jumped on the subway, and got to the record store by 6:10 AM. Third in line; not bad for a Vagabond Apprentice! Taped on the window of the yet-to-open record store, was a long list of RSD vinyl they would have available. While waiting in the ever growing line, I casually made my decisions of what I wanted to buy. Luckily, the weather was nice, and fellow vinyl addicts were friendly. Entenmann’s cookies and donut boxes were being passed around making for a pleasant and relaxing morning. I had a vinyl smile from ear to ear. A paid record company lady came around giving out bags of mystery goodies. (More on that later.)
Next thing I knew, it was 10 AM, and the store started letting a single-file line through the door. We were whisked in, navigating through the aisles towards the RSD area, as if we were candy in a Willie Wonka machine.
Since we were scrunched together, I could hear what the two guys before me were buying. All of a sudden, I noticed they were both purchasing the exact same records I was looking to get. Even being third on line for RSD can become a problem. The record companies distribute the limited edition vinyl to record stores randomly and stores can get ten, two, or even ZERO copies of LP’s no matter how many the store orders. I began to get scared. It felt like a bucket of ice was poured on my head, my blood started to boil, and murder was on my mind. What stared as a fancy free morning turned ugly real fast. I saw these two guys as enemy combatants now. I MUST HAVE THOSE RECORDS! If I don’t get what I want, they better leave Manhattan real fast! In the blink of an eye, it was my turn. I meekly asked the clerk if they had any more of the LP's I most desired. Thankfully they had one more of each. RECORD STORE DAY IS NO JOKE! I noticed that many of the best LP’s were gone after about fifteen people. With over 100 people behind me, I thought there was going to be a vinyl riot. As we left Bleeker Street Records, my buddy told me he still wanted a bunch more records from his list, so we journeyed to the next store, Rebel Rebel, which is a dank, hoarder-mess of a store, but in a charming NYC way. No large line had started there yet, mainly because everyone was still waiting in line at Bleeker Street Records. In a jiffy, my friend was able to swoop up the other LPs he was looking for.
Feelings of invincibility quickly faded when we realized we both forgot about the Citizen Dick 7” that we both wanted. I know what you are thinking: Who is Citizen Dick? Citizen Dick is the fictitious band in the 90's Cameron Crowe film Singles. The bogus band starred Matt Dillon on vocals and the members of Pearl Jam as his bandmates. The RSD 7" consisted of one ridiculous song they created, "Touch Me I'm Dick," and the reverse side was an etched quote from Matt Dillon's character in the movie. Sounds like a must have, doesn't it? So we trekked to the snooty, stuck-up punk rock store, Generation Records, next, only to find a line of around 50 people. After about a half hour, there was just one guy in line in front of me. Guess what happened? I heard him ask for the Citizen Dick 7” I wanted. The store clerk told him “You got the last copy bro.” I was floored. Record Store Day agony was in full force. My buddy and I estimated our luck in finding that 7” was fading fast. We decided to go to one more store, the too-cool-for-school indie hub called Other Music. As we walked across town, we noticed so many people had vinyl sized record store bags in their hands. I’m happy to say, it looked like a vinyl parade had spread out all over New York City. We got to Other Music as quickly as we could, but the 7” was long gone. It had been just two hours, but we knew the RSD vinyl gold rush was over. At the end of things we both spent way too many dollar bills. My friend was now flat broke, and in deep trouble at home, for spending all that money. I took pity on him and bought him a burger and cheese fries. An exciting, frothing-at-the-mouth Record Store Day it turned out to be.
Curious about that bag full of promotional RSD stuff? Was it cool goodies or garbage? You decide.
- Flaming Lips, Johnny Marr, Erasure, Royal Blood, Neil Young, Rush, Robert Plant, J. Mascis, Dr. Dog mini posters
- Van Halen, Pink Floyd, Charli XCX, Death from Above 1979, Grateful Dead Stickers
- Prince, Alt-J buttons
- Jenny Lewis patch
Heart shaped box ... of mints? - Muse turntable slipmat
- Three Gary Clark Jr. guitar picks
- Arctic Monkeys, Head or Heart temporary tattoos
- The Raa bottle opener keychain
- The Whigs refrigerator magnet
- The Thermals, Justine Skye No. 2 pencils
- A Plague Vendor coaster
- A Trevor Jackson bookmark
- A Lee Brice beer cozy
- A Goo Goo Dolls coffee clutch
- A Sarah Silverman comedy album reverse window sticky
- And lastly, Kylie Minogue breath mints in a red heart shaped plastic pack (I guess Kylie knew a lot of people were going to forget to brush their teeth on Record Store Day morning, thanks Kylie!)
