Disclaimer: Every day is “record store day.” When you are hungry for new music, go out and get some - you wouldn’t wait for “supermarket day” to get dinner!
I had planned to go further afield for Record Store Day (specifically to midtown for Rough Trade and Rockefeller Center’s IndiePlaza festival) but being under the weather confined me to the neighborhood. Fortunately, the local record seller was at the Inwood Greenmarket so I was able to dig in solidarity with all who were participating.
Wait, your area doesn’t have a guy who brings crates of records to the farmer’s market once month? Believe me, I don’t take it for granted! While not every encounter with him is fruitful, I always enjoy the dig and the chat. One reason I don’t always bring anything home is because I have mostly strict criteria for what I will. I’m looking for something I can’t find elsewhere, something out of print or in an unusal pressing or package.
This time around I added something unique to my collection, a true exclusive: A 1979 German pressing of the Sex Pistols’ The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle in a defaced sleeve for Queen’s A Night At The Opera. While this bizarre collection of odds and sods, assembled as the soundtrack for the movie of the same name, is available to stream, I’ve always wanted to have it. Somewhere I have a tape I made from John Berry’s copy but was always sorry I didn’t sneak it out of his loft…which may be how I ended up with Sid Sings.
My profound dislike for Queen (aside from Another One Bites The Dust and Under Pressure) also made this a must to have. The anonymous defacer must have been a kindred spirit - and a true punk. One clue to their identity, or at least their whereabouts, is in the gatefold where they’ve scrawled “Cro-Mags/Skin Head,” suggesting they were New York-based. For $5 bucks, I got a piece of history
I also found a nearly pristine copy of the 1959 Scranton repress of Frank Sinatra’s Come Dance With Me. I love Sinatra in mono and $3 for this flawless album seemed like a no-brainer.
While I was shuffling home through Isham Park, my daughter was at IndiePlaza having the time of her life. She saw Wishy, Sunny War, Cloud Nothings, Glitterer, Snõõper, Corridor, and Armand Hammer and had excited reports about each of them. In between bands and truffle fries she stopped by the booth where you can make custom 45 sleeves and did the honors for my Get Back b/w Don’t Let Me Down single, which was given to me in a generic sleeve by the estimable Richard Aufrichtig. Now I’ll treasure it even more!
Feel free to share your RSD exclusives, or anything else you picked up, in the comments - but they won’t get more exclusive than mine!
From the archives:
Crate Digging: The Brooklyn Flea & WFMU Record Fairs
RSD 2019: Bushwick Bound
#RSD2018: Iris Blooms In Jersey City
Vinyl And Grit: RSD 16
Everybody, Get In Line: RSD 15
RSD 2014
A Bronx Cheer For RSD
Nice finds! Wish we had a "record guy" at our farmer's market.