Tag: abba

The history of Record Store Day goes back to 2008, at a time when the vinyl medium for recorded music was reserved for indie snobs and audiophiles who could tell the difference between digital and analogue, preferring the alleged warmth of sound, and flaws that come with the material used to create the discs.

Every April since, Record Store Day has celebrated and, particularly at the time of its inception, provided a lifeline to the vinyl record. 2008 saw sales of mp3s increase exponentially while, the hard copies of records were left to supermarket shoppers and those willing to travel further afield to the last remaining record shops. 11 years later, not only have sales of CDs and downloads collapsed, with Amazon gobbling up every HMV shopper in its midst, the one medium that has skyrocketed in revenues is the vinyl record! So, it’s probably unsurprising that there are more cash-ins from major record labels releasing special editions of massively popular artists’ discography, than at the event’s conception.

I can’t say I’ve been averse to buying the aforementioned cash-in releases, after all I am a pop kid and, as a former radio colleague of mine once said, us pop kids of the 90s/00s golden era of manufactured artists, have been “brainwashed” into what music we like. But, generalising aside (this topic is for a blog posting of its own some day), the records that have piqued my interest/I’ve bought over the last couple of years have included:

Little Mix Glory Days (pink vinyl album)

The Beatles Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever (50th anniversary remix)

Frankie Goes To Hollywood Welcome to the Pleasuredome (singles box set)

ABBA Summer Night City (40th anniversary edition)

Madonna You Can Dance (Japan edition replica)

Madonna Madonna (Japan edition replica)

Although most of the 500 special releases on Saturday 13 April will pass me by here are the ones I’ll be hoping to nab in the 2019 event (subject to price):

Queen Productions Ltd have never been shy to rerelease material featuring the sorely missed Freddie Mercury. Now, a 7″ single of “Bohemian Rhapsody”/”I’m In Love With My Car” is being reissued. The twice-million-seller was recently announced as the most streamed song of the 20th century. The new disc is dual-coloured, featuring the pink and yellow shades used for the promotional fliers and home media covers of the movie. The soundtrack also gets a double picture disc release for Record Store Day as well. I can’t imagine this will be a limited edition though…this is Queen after all.

Steve Bronski and I almost collaborated when he was recording material in the early 2010s. Sadly nothing came of it. If you still want an angelic voice, Steve, drop me a line 😉

The Scottish face of mainstream gay pop in the 80s, along with his once-bandmate Jimmy Somerville, releases a new collection of remixes of Bronski Beat’s pension pot song “Smalltown Boy”.

Sweden has provided most of my favourite artists and/or writers: ABBA, Max Martin, Bloodshy and Avant to name but a few. 2 of my Scandinavian faves have a place on the shelves of the mostly-independently-owned shops eligible to take part in Record Store Day 2019. Robyn releases a 2-LP edition of her 2010 album/3-EP collection “Body Talk”, home of the classic “Dancing On My Own” as well as fan favourites “Call Your Girlfriend”, “Hang With Me” and “Time Machine”(co-written by Martin). Also, Max Martin’s dearly departed colleague from the 90s Denniz Pop’s production “The Sign”, a number 1 in the US for Ace of Base also gets the rerelease treatment.

2019’s replicas of Japanese Madonna EPs are for “True Blue” and “La Isla Bonita”.

Also getting the RSD exposure will be Greatest Hits collections long out of print for the Rolling Stones (Big Hits volumes 1 and 2). Supergrass’ 1999 smash hit “Pumping On Your Stereo” gets a picture disc release and, finally, Status Quo’s 2010 album, once a Tesco exclusive release “Quid Pro Quo”, is out on vinyl as well.

I’d be a hyprocrite if I didn’t say I now bought most of the music I still get hard copies of, from Amazon. However, I still love the bricks and mortar record shop and can spend hours in them, leaving with a nice big bag of goodies. I can’t wait to see what now happens to HMV following its change in fortunes over in Canada, where vinyl is pushed big time. I also love buying from smaller, independent record shops. I will therefore be supporting Record Store Day once more on 13 April 2019. Visit http://www.recordstoreday.com to find out where your nearest participating store is and, to find out what special performances will be going on at each store in celebration.

I give it another 12 months before we get Cassette Day….

No?