Music fans queued for hours in the rain this morning to pick up exclusive vinyl released on this year’s Record Store Day. The inclement weather didn’t deter the vinyl obsessives queuing outside Action Records as they awaited the 8am opening of Preston’s oldest independent record shop. We went along to find out more.
It’s 7.45am, a queue snakes around Action Records, all the way along Derby Street and around the corner, along Percy Street. Ever since the full list of exclusive Record Store Day releases was published music fans have been excitedly planning their purchases.
Over 260 independent record shops from across the UK come together to celebrate Record Store Day annually. Special vinyl releases are made exclusively for the day. Thousands more shops celebrate the day around the globe in what has become one of the biggest annual events on the music calendar.
The event was originally conceived in 2007 at a gathering of independent record store owners, as employees wanted a way to celebrate and spread the word about nearly 1400 independently owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally. The first Record Store Day took place on April 19, 2008.
Luke, from Preston, arrived second in the queue at midnight. He has attended Record Store Day every year since 2012.
“I love the way vinyl sounds,” said Luke, “and looking at the artwork, holding the physical thing.”
Luke has his eye on a number of releases; The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet LP, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros Streetcore LP, T. Rex Rockin’ & Rollin’ LP, and The Pogues Stiff Records B Sides amongst others.
Amy and Eve, from Leyland, arrived at 3.30am. It’s the first time they’ve been to a Record Store Day. They’re huge fans of The 1975, sleeping outside Manchester’s AO Arena last year so they could get the best view of the band at the front. They’ve seen the band numerous times and are looking to pick up The 1975 exclusive RSD release as well as Bastille’s MTV Unplugged on vinyl.
Anna and her dad Steve have travelled over from Chorley and arrived outside Action at 4am. It’s the fourth time they’ve been to Record Store Day in Preston. Steve has been collecting vinyl since the ’80s and is hoping to pick up the U2 EP, Fleetwood Mac’s Albatross on 12” and Sweet’s Blockbuster/Ballroom Blitz. Anna is hoping to buy the sought-after Taylor Swift’s Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, The 1975 and Sam Fender’s 7”.
“Action Records is the closest record shop taking part,” said Paul, who has travelled over from Blackpool. The Ocean Colour Scene fan first saw the band in 1998 and will be seeing them again later this year at Solfest. He is hoping to pick up the band’s B-Sides, Seasides and Freerides.
Paul got into collecting vinyl over 30 years ago, only stopping to collect briefly with the advent of CDs, and then picking vinyl back up again for the quality of the sound. This is Paul’s fifth time visiting Action for Record Store Day.
“You get chatting to some really interesting folk in the queue,” said Paul. Last year he met Marcus in the queue and the pair stayed in touch, with Paul giving Marcus, from Preston, a lift to this year’s event.
Marcus has been collecting vinyl since high school over two decades ago. He has a huge collection, including some rarities inherited from his father.
“I just love having the physical item, rather than an mp3,” he said. “With vinyl, you just have a different sound quality and with older vinyl, you have the crackle. It just sounds better.”
Marcus is hoping to pick up a special remix version of The Prodigy’s Invaders Must Die album. An avid fan, Marcus has been to see the band over 20 times live, sometimes two or three times on the same tour, once taking a ride on Keith Flint’s back from the crowd to the stage.
Darren, from Leyland, arrived at 5am. He is shopping for himself and his brother, who is still in bed! He is enjoying building up his vinyl collection and is hoping to pick up Beach House’s Become, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s Live at Levitaiton and The 1975, amongst others.
Hannah and Javan have also travelled over from Blackpool and both enjoy collecting vinyl. It’s the second time they have visited Action Records for Record Store Day.
“We’re from the streaming generation,” said Hannah. “But it’s nice to have the physical release, to listen to an album from start to finish and to turn it over.”
They’re hoping to pick up the Record Store Day releases from The 1975 and Taylor Swift.
Nicky and James, from Tarleton and Leyland, arrived in the queue at 6.10am. It’s James fourth year coming along to Record Store Day, he loves listening to vinyl and a full album as a body of work. Nicky has vinyl from the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s and is hoping to pick up Blur’s Special Collectors Edition, a collection of Blur B-sides originally released in Japan in 1994.
“With streaming you lose looking at the album artwork,” said James. “It’s an expensive hobby, but I love it.”
Nigel walked the dog and then came along to queue up for Record Store Day. He’s previously visited Record Store Days at the Vinyl Café in Carlisle and this is the biggest queue he’s seen for the event.
He streams music but has been buying vinyl for a number of years, “I love the look and feel of vinyl, the sound, and the artwork. I built up a large CD collection, stopped collecting, and then got back into it.”
Nigel is hoping to pick up releases by Gong, Sun O))), and Snapped Ankles’s Blurtations EP.
Record Store Day is taking place at Action Records until 6pm today and from 10am – 4pm tomorrow. Also available is a limited edition Action Records pink print t-shirt, with a portion of the proceeds going to a breast cancer charity.
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