Rant #1,890: Spin Me Around (Like a Record)

And Saturday came, and it was Record Store Day ...

Yes, as I had mentioned in an earlier Rant, Record Store Day was this past Saturday, the 10th such observance, where we celebrate both these stores and the creativity of the artists whose work can be found in these main street venues.

And if what I saw was any indication, the day was a complete success.

The store I went to was opening at 9 a.m., so I left to go there around 8:30 a.m. When I got there, there were probably about 20 people ahead of me waiting on line, and during the next half hour, at least 20 more people joined the line after me.

It was drizzling, but it did not dampen the enthusiasm we all had about the day, and artists' records--yes, vinyl--that we wanted to get into our collections.

Early admission to this particular store was possible for a $5 donation, which the store would give to charity--so we all held our $5 bills in our hand and waited for 9 a.m. to come.

There was a mix of people on the line, hipsters and oldsters like me, but today we joined together for one reason--to add music to our collections by shopping our local record store, a part of our local main streets that had all but faded away, but have seen a bit of a resurgence tied into the newfound popularity of vinyl records.

Nine a.m. finally came, and the store allowed one or two people to go in at a time, so as to not crowd the venue up too much and give people time to browse.

Finally, at about 9:30 a.m., I got in, and while I wasn't really looking for anything specific this year, I had a few things in mind.

I saw the list on the Internet of Record Store Day releases, and my appetite was whetted by releases from the Zombies and Cheap Trick, so I immediately went for those, found what I wanted, looked around a little bit more, and within about 15 minutes or so, I was in and out of the store with my purchases, which I have since digitized and listened to.

My one knock against the day is that prices of these items have skyrocketed, and the three items I purchased cost me plenty of money. I have no problem spending my hard-earned cash on this stuff, but frankly, I paid way too much for what I bought. A wad of cash should not be a prerequisite to participation, but that is what it has come down to at this point in time.

Whatever the case, I bought some really nice stuff that I am happy with, and I look forward to Record Store Days in the future, as well as the next big record store day, Black Friday in November, where there will be other special releases to whet record collectors' appetites.

And in between, don't forget to shop your own local record stores, and your own main store downtowns. These stores offer things you just cannot get in the big box stores, and they make our communities unique.

See you at the record store sometime down the line!