Blur, Queen and John Lennon all feature as Record Store Day set to big a big hit with music fans

Action Records Preston will be opening up early at 8am and also operating on Sunday to meet demand created by the independent vinyl shops’ celebration day, which marks its 17th anniversary this year.

Owner Gordon Gibson expects to do as much business in a day as he would normally do in a month, while down the road in Chorley, Malcolm Allen of Malcolm’s Musicland describes business in Record Store Day as “like two Christmases rolled into one”.

Gordon says his business has participated since the event, which started in America, arrived in Britain around 2009 – and reckons the appeal of vinyl is as strong as it ever was, encouragingly appealing to a younger generation of music fans born long after the years when pop music initially started to dominate popular culture.

The day – celebrating the culture of the independently owned record store, of which there are now around 270 in the UK – is distinguished by the sale of special releases, unique to record stores.

Gordon, who has been involved in Action Records since 1981 after starting the business as a market stall in Blackpool, said: “All these very limited releases come out, which are serious objects of desire and instant collectors’ items. There is absolutely lots out this year, with definitely something for everybody.

"Some of the people queue out for hours and we have customers coming from miles away. The atmosphere is brilliant – you would think they might get fed up queuing but that isn’t the case. I can’t open until 8am and they are willing to wait, chatting away about music and making new friends, then eagerly making their way through the door.”

It’s a similar situation down the A6 at Chorley, where Malcolm has been operating Malcolm’s Musicland for 52 years, and will be opening 30 minutes earlier than a usual Saturday, with extra staff deployed and barrier placed outside the shop on Chapel Street to cope with demand.

"We get them travelling in from all over,” said Malcolm. “It’s a great occasion – and it’s brilliant to see all ages coming in.

"I saw vinyl fade as the main format years ago in favour of CDs but it’s back and it’s very popular – and certainly not just among the older music fans.

"We have streaming now but younger fans still like the feel of a record in their hands. Fans of Taylor Swift, for instance, are very good – they are very keen to obtain her material on vinyl.

"It’s great to see the long-established artists still appealing but so many new names coming through all the time too. It really is a case of there being something for everyone.”

Pre-orders aren’t allowed to be taken on Record Store Day, maintaining the event’s ethos of first come, first served, but Malcolm has been taking ‘wish lists’ and expects demand to be brisk, especially in the morning.

Among hundreds of items being issued specially for Record Store Day, this year’s releases include a range of editions of works by top names such as John Lennon, George Harrison, Blur and Queen, along with other legendary acts names such as the Rolling Stones, with Live at Racket New York City, and the Ramones’s Sire Demos – but there are a host of smaller label names too.

Among them are zoetrope items, including Blur’s Britpop era classic Parklife and George Harrison’s first two solo albums, Electronic Sounds and Wonderwall.

Zoetrope is a cylinder with vertical slits down the sides and the inside of the cylinder displays an act with a set of sequenced images. When the cylinder spins, the user can see the pictures inside as they look through the slits, which prevent the images from blurring together.

More information about Record Store Day is at www.recordstoreday.co.uk

Gordon’s Top Six Record Store Day releases

The 1975 – Live at Gorilla (2xlp white vinyl)

Black Sabbath – Paranoid (splatter vinyl)

Blur – Parklife (zoetrope vinyl)

David Bowie – Waiting In The Sky

Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (picture disc)

Olivia Rodrigo/Noah Kahan – Stick Season (coloured 7” vinyl)

Malcolm’s Top Six Record Store Day releases

The 1975 – Live at Gorilla

Blur – Parklife (zoetrope vinyl)

John Lennon – Mind Games (4 track 12” EP)

George Harrison – Electronic Sounds (zoetrope)

George Harrison – Wonderwall (zoetrope)

Queen – Cool Cat (7” pink vinyl).

Watch Vinyl Revival a short 30 minute mini doc on Shots!TV here