For those vinyl enthusiasts the wait was finally over on Saturday as it was drop one of Record Store Day throughout Brighton, Sussex and the UK.
Vinyl junkies have had the dates Saturday 12th June and Saturday 17th July etched on their brains for several months now, as it’s two days of the year when hundreds of independent record shops all across the UK come together to celebrate their unique culture. Special vinyl releases are made exclusively for the annual event, which this year is in two drops. Thousands more shops celebrate the day around the globe in what’s become one of the biggest annual events on the music calendar.
Vinyl record fans in Brighton and throughout the rest of Sussex were queueing from the early hours on Saturday in order to endeavour to secure their chosen limited edition treasures, which will in most cases be instantly highly collectible. Fans had been checking the various record shops websites over the past few weeks in order to ascertain whether or not their selected independent record store will be taking delivery of the chosen limited edition releases. There’s no point in waiting hours only to discover at the counter that the particular shop hasn’t stocked it.
Last Saturday there were 100’s of wonderful limited edition records to choose from by established artists including Buzzcocks, The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Fatboy Slim, Genesis, Jonathan Richman, Madness, Motorhead, OMD, The Police, Rolling Stones, Status Quo, Suicide, Tears For Fears, U2, Ultravox, The Who and also from emerging talents such as Fontaines D.C., Japanese Television, Nouvelle Vague, Pins, Wolf Alice.
The records are available in every colour imaginable, including picture discs, whether it be 7”, 12” or other formats such as 10”.
Missed out? Then you can still catch the second drop releases on Saturday 17th July, where you might be lucky enough to snap up limited edition releases from the likes of Aretha Franklin, Bee Gees, Chic, The Clash, Crass, Dreadzone, Elvis Presley, Ennio Morricone, Freddie Mercury, Georgia, Keane, Lou Reed, Ramones, and Squid.
So what was and will be on offer this year?
The list of Record Store Day UK 2021 releases for the 12th June can be found HERE and the second drop list for Saturday 17th July can be found HERE.
The Sussex Record Shops taking part in Record Store Day UK 2021 are as follows:
BRIGHTON:
Bella Union Vinyl Shop
13 Ship Street Gardens, Brighton, BN1 1AJ
Tel: 01273 245287 | View Website
Cult Hero
16 Brighton Place, Brighton, BN11HJ
Tel: 01273 771 959
Rarekind Records
104 Trafalgar Street, Brighton, BN1 4ER
Tel: 01273 818170 | View Website
Resident Music
27-28 Kensington Gardens, Brighton, BN1 4AL
Tel: 01273 606312 | View Website
BEXHILL:
Music’s Not Dead
The De La Warr Pavilion, Marina, Bexhill, East Sussex, TN40 1DP
Tel: 01424 552435 | View Website
CHICHESTER:
Analogue October Records
19a South Street, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1EJ
Tel: 01243 697160 | View Website
EASTBOURNE:
The Vinyl Frontier
35 Grove Road, Little Chelsea, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 4TT
Tel: 01323 410313
LEWES:
Union Music Store
1 Lansdown Place, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1ST
Tel: 01273 474053 | View Website
ST. LEONARDS-ON-SEA:
Cloth + Wax
48 Marina (Goodmans Building), St. Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN38 0BE
View Website
Find out more about the official Record Store Day HERE.
If you vinyl junkies also purchase records from major retailers and still need a further fix, then maybe head along to your local HMV store(s) on Saturday 24th July.
It will be a whole century since the first HMV store opened its doors at 363 Oxford Street in London, and they’ll be celebrating their 100th birthday by stocking brand new and exclusive range of limited edition vinyl, which they have had specially pressed on beautiful coloured vinyl – all of which will be available exclusively in HMV stores on Saturday 24th July..
Each week will be revealing more of the new and exclusive ‘1921 Centenary Editions’. So far they have announced the following:
Queens of the Stone Age:’ …Like Clockwork’
The xx: ‘xx’
Stone Roses: ‘Stone Roses’
Alanis Morissette: ‘Jagged Little Pill’
Various Artists: ‘The Fly OST’
Gary Numan: ‘Exile’
Queens of the Stone Age: ‘Villains’
Idles: ‘Joy As an Act of Resistance’
Uriah Heep: ‘Look At Yourself’
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