If you didn't hear enough of Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives at their Walker Theatre concert last month ... Or it's been a while - 25 years even - since you've sung along to the cuts on REM's "Automatic for the People" ... Or you're looking for music the kids will like ...
Record Store Day can check off all the boxes on that list. And that's just for starters.
Since the first Record Store Day in 2008, independent record store owners have set aside a Saturday in April to celebrate the brick-and-mortar music business by releasing new and limited-edition titles from top artists.
Participating stores
› McKay Used Books & CDs, 7734 Lee Highway (opens at 9 a.m.)› For the Record, 412 Northgate Mall Drive (opens at 8 a.m.)Source: http://recordstoreday.comParty people› Mayfield’s All Killer No Filler will host an RSD party at the Palace Picture House, 818 Georgia Ave., starting around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. DJs will spin favorite records. Cover is $7, and door proceeds will be donated to the Chattanooga Public Library’s 4th Floor.What’s coming?A full list of titles and their accompanying artwork can be found at www.recordstoreday.com/SpecialReleases.
This year's celebration, on April 21, features music from a diverse lineup. From Elvis Presley to Elvis Costello. From Jerry Garcia to Thelonious Monk. From Taylor Swift to Ella Fitzgerald. Literally hundreds of artists in multiple genres.
Gwen Bell, co-owner of For the Record at Northgate Mall, says she orders "at least one of everything," though earlier this week she was still awaiting three shipments to know what inventory she'll ultimately have in stock Saturday.
"We order what we want, and [distributors] send us what they want," she laughs.
The reason, she explains, is that much of the merch is in limited release, so there's only so many to go around to the participating stores. The RSD website puts the number of independently owned record stores at 1,400 in the U.S. and thousands more internationally. But as the popularity of Record Store Day grows, so do the choices.
There are definitely treasures - even oddities - to be found in the troves. Selections vary by store, but it's possible to snag a red translucent vinyl EP of Madonna's "You Can Dance," a 7-inch yellow vinyl single with a large hole (and adaptor) of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll," even a cassette tape of AC/DC's "Back in Black." Yes, they still make those.
Bell says her most popular requests this year have been for Phish's "Billy Breathes," Pink Floyd's "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" (mono) and David Bowie's self-titled debut album.
"The very most popular releases, sometimes we only get one copy," she says. "Sometimes we won't get a copy at all. But for our very most popular releases, I order several copies, and that ups our chances of getting more than one."
For the Record is one of three Chattanooga locations pledged to participate at www.recordstoreday.com, along with McKay Used Books & CDs on Lee Highway. Mayfield's All Killer No Filler won't have a storefront open, but will host a party Saturday evening at Palace Picture House on Georgia Avenue.
Local DJs will be "knocking the dust off their record collections and spinning all analog all night," says a Facebook post.
Bell says For the Record will open early, at 8 a.m., on Record Store Day, and releases will be placed throughout the store so that customers "won't be all on top of each other."
Besides music, there's comedy in the mix. Actor/comedian Patton Oswalt has even earned favored status with RSD organizers for his participation. He's releasing his 2017 Netflix comedy special, "Annihilation," on vinyl and, at the risk of hyperbole, has made a bold prediction about how Record Store Day may ultimately sustain humanity.
"Nothing will ever - EVER - replace the power of walking into a record store and having another living, breathing human being - whether it's a fellow shopper or friendly clerk or complete stranger - point you toward something and say, 'You HAVE to listen to this, trust me.' I have no problem with texts or DMs [direct messages] or the internet as a whole, but believe me when I say: The best music, books, movies, comics or any other type of art will be created by someone passing along, eyeball to eyeball, secret and cherished knowledge. That's why Record Store Day will save the future."
Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.