UK | Love Record Stores Day boosts music retail, taking over £1 million in revenue: “We had really high hopes for Love Record Stores Day, but things exceeded even our most ambitious expectations.” Love Record Stores Day has delivered a big boost to music retailers in the UK after taking over £1 million in revenue. Taking place online on Saturday (June 20), Love Record Stores Day was held to replace the rearranged Record Store Day 2020 — which has been postponed twice this year due to the coronavirus outbreak — as the latter will now be split over three dates (August 29, September 26 and October 24). Its aim was to get music-lovers to support their favourite independent record stores by shopping online, with an array of exclusive and limited edition vinyl releases being made available by a variety of artists and labels. …A survey of participating retailers discovered that the vast majority of this stock was sold out within one hour of being made available online.
Wellington, NZ | The music’s not over, don’t turn out the lights: Julian Lloyd Webber popped in and bought a Pat Boone album. An obliging Kenny Rogers was getting fish ‘n’ chips next door. One of those Oasis guys dropped by. In the decades of selling music out of Slow Boat Records on Cuba St in central Wellington, Dennis O’Brien has seen a parade of famous musicians pass through his shop. He originally started Slow Boat in a storeroom off Plimmer Steps before moving to Cuba St. Eventually, he bought the former Westpac bank on the street, which has been home base for years. “I bought the bank,” O’Brien half-laughs in the back office, stacked high with music. As he prepares to sell most of the business to current staff and take a step back, it is the old friends that pop in that he’ll miss the most. “Everybody comes in at some stage, every guy I have ever been to school with.” …The history of the shop is peppered with celebrity, such as the time in 2015 a customer bought a Tami Neilson album, only to find out the singer was in-store and signed it for her. Neil Finn played in-store one day in 2015. Robert Plant, of Led Zeppelin fame, dropped by in 2013 and bought an album by British singer Holly Golightly.
Harrogate, UK | U2 star this week in Harrogate’s Vinyl Sessions event: Harrogate’s weekly online Vinyl Sessions event returns this week with two classic albums by U2. The double bill of terrific albums from the peak of the Irish rock superstars’ success on Wednesday night will include The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree. Since vintage hi-fi expert Colin Paine set it up two years ago, Vinyl Sessions has raised more than £13,000 for Friends of Harrogate Hospital charity. Even when lockdown forced it to move from physical to digital, Starling bar and cafe in to Zoom, it has still managed to raise more money as it has continued to shine a light on some of the world’s greatest music acts. Released in October 1984, recording on The Unforgettable Fire began in May 1984 at Slane Castle, where the band lived, wrote, and recorded to find new inspiration. The album was completed in August 1984 at Windmill Lane Studios and is full of what lead singer Bono described as atmospheric sounds and “sketches”.
Asheville, NC | Mark Capon brings an analog pastime into the digital age: Mark Capon, co-owner of Harvest Records on Haywood Road in West Asheville, says his shop has been closed to the public since March 17. Despite being allowed to reopen at a limited capacity, he plans to wait to ensure the safety of his staff and the community at large. But while the storefront remains shuttered, the business has started offering curbside pickup, mail orders and the occasional local delivery as Capon tries to reimagine the usual record store experience through a virtual platform. Instead of customers leisurely thumbing through hundreds of vintage and new vinyls — which includes about 10,000 pieces of vinyl among its 15,000-item inventory — Capon says he’s using the store’s social media accounts to present glimpses of its collection and highlight noteworthy offerings. “It’s a physical store with physical media that people like to come in and comb through, so you kind of have to rewire your brain to get people to feel like they’re still combing through the records,” he says.
Daniel Johnston Box Set Confirmed For Record Store Day: Daniel Johnston’s work will be celebrated in a new box set. The special Record Store Day release comprises several out of print albums, alongside some cool merch. Only 500 copies will be available, with ‘The End Is Never Really Over’ following the much-loved songwriter’s death last year. The box set features vinyl copies of two albums – ‘1990’ and ‘Artistic Vice’ – alongside seven stickers of Daniel’s inimitable doodles, and a 16 page art-book. Alongside this, you’ll get a Jeremiah the Frog pin, and a Daniel Johnston x FOLK Clothing tee with the songwriter’s Captain America ‘End of the Show’ drawing. Pretty damn snazzy, we’re sure you’ll agree. ‘The End Is Never Really Over’ is out on August 29th.
