Classic Rant #235 (April 16, 2010): Record Store Day

Tomorrow, Saturday, April 17, is the annual Record Store Day celebration, which is being held across the country.

You haven't heard about it? Let me fill you in.

Independent record stores are suffering right now. Some years back, just about every community had its local record store. Kids and adults would congregate there, buy their albums and 45s, and hear about local acts who had pressed their own records.

These stores were basically treasure troves of information about acts current and long gone, and the workers in these stores were knowledgeable, and really cared about the music.

However, during the past few years, chain stores like Best Buy have taken the steam out of these stores, and many, far too many, have closed up shop.

(I might add that I have nothing against Best Buy. I have bought many, many CDs, DVDs and hardware items there. It is a fine store with a limited selection of CDs and DVDs that they believe to be the most popular. And, very importantly, my nephew works for them, so they aren't bad at all.)

Record Store Day not only celebrates the independent record store, it also celebrates vinyl as a vital way to listen to records, even in these days of CDs and digital downloads.

So support your local record store--or if it isn't local, find one close by to where you live.

There will be free concerts, discounts, and lots of giveaways at many of these stores to celebrate the day.

We have such a store in my community, and I think I will visit--and buy some vinyl.