Record Store Daze

John Semley writes for Defector about the drawbacks of Record Store Day. He hones in on the problem of quantity over quality that has grown in the last few years.

Take this year’s slate. From a modest collection of 10 specially pressed singles, Record Store Day’s annual catalog of releases has bloated to hundreds of titles. Among them: a single from the children’s television program Bluey, and an “unreleased collection” of tunes performed by Rock-afire Explosion, which was the in-house animatronic band for ShowBiz Pizza Place, longtime rival to the Charles Entertainment Cheese empire of pizza, arcade games, and all-around family fun. There’s also Sword of Rage, an album by Anthrax frontman Scott Ian that was originally composed for a pinball machine. What’s next? A limited-edition-of-400 Nokia ringtone single? A “Neighbour’s Dog Barking (Woof-Woof-Woof Remix)” 12-inch?

Although many of the titles that show up as Record Store Day offerings now seem like novelties, I can see them having meaning for some folks. I have fond memories of the Rock-A-Fire Explosion animatronic band from Pistol Pete’s Pizza in Albuquerque, who included Metallica covers in their setlist. I’m also pretty sure that there are some Bluey devotees out there that may also be into 7" singles.

Gone are the days when my oldest son and I would brave the crowds of Record Store Day to score some interesting (and maybe rare) vinyl, then head off to HotBox Pizza.¹ They are remembered fondly. Semley is probably right, though, about some problems inherent in the tradition and commodity fetishism.