RECORD Store Day on Saturday is set to be the biggest yet in Manchester according to shop owners.
Over 200 independent record stores across the UK are coming together to celebrate vinyl culture and Manchester is home to many of these.
Northern Quarter’s infamous Piccadilly Records has assembled musicians, vinyl experts and label heads into a DJ line-up to play sets in the store.
Mary Ann Hobbs from BBC Radio 6 Music, independent record label Higher Authorities and professional record expert Stuart Leath will be taking part.
Customers can also have their face painted in the style of their favourite David Bowie.
Manager Patrick Ryder said: “There is a lot of stuff going on and it looks set to be the biggest and best day yet so I am really looking forward to it.
“The list of releases is also broader than other years with something for everyone.”
Special vinyl releases are made exclusively for the day which will be stocked in the shops.
Record Store Day’s official Retail Store Ambassador Rupert Morrison, from Devon’s The Drift Record Shop, helped select the releases.
Mr Morrison said: “I stick to my guns when it comes to selecting releases but it is hard to strike a balance.
“For example, I would never listen to Justin Bieber normally but he is on the list in order to embrace a new generation.
“Record Store Day is about embracing all record buyers.”
Jim Spratling, from Northern Quarter’s Eastern Bloc Records, agrees that the day works to draw new people into record buying.
He said: “It is a really good day for us as there is loads more traffic with people who have never been to a record store before coming in.”
However, Mr Spratling also emphasised: “People don’t get the real experience of buying records on the day, with all the queuing, and the focus should be on celebrating record buying on a weekly basis.
“It is record store day every day, all year.”
Mr Morrison though believes that the day encourages these new buyers to continue buying vinyl records.
He said: “People realise what they are missing, get the bug and therefore will come back to buy more records.”
Mr Ryder from Piccadilly Records agrees.
He said: “Lots of people are going back to vinyl and the day encourages this.
“People build connections with vinyl records and more and more want that connection with music now.
“Record Store Day promotes this feeling and vinyl record sales have gone up and up since it started in 2008.”
With such a range of records being released on the day we asked the shop owners we spoke to to pick their favourite from the selection.
Jim Spratling, Eastern Bloc Records – 12″ – Funkadelic – One Nation Under a Groove
Rupert Morrison, The Drift Record Shop – 3LP – Loren Auerbach with Bert Jansch – Colours Are Fading Fast
Patrick Ryder, Piccadilly Records – 12″ – David Bowie – The Man Who Sold The World
As part of our preview of Record Store Day 2016 we also asked you to tweet us your favourite records.
.@EmilyVMurray Blues Brothers Briefcase Full of Blues. Without that album I would not explore the likes of Professor Longhair, BB King et al
— Daniel J. McLaughlin (@MrDanMcLaughlin) April 13, 2016
https://twitter.com/alicewardyy/status/720232774523887616
@EmilyVMurray @amjohn94 @QuaysNews… b/c they're my parents faves & remind me of long car journeys on hols when I was little. #nostalgia
— Joanna Storer (@joanna_storer) April 13, 2016
https://twitter.com/frazer_abigail/status/720235281484509184
By Emily Murray
@EmilyVMurray
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