Record Store Day Enthusiasts Explain the Appeal of Vinyl

By Anthony Paradiso

For the last 19 years, Record Store Day has been a day where staff, artists and customers come together once-a-year to celebrate the unique culture of independent record stores.

Part of that culture is the buzz word ‘vinyl’ which refers to the plastic-like material that most records are made out of. Vinyl has made a comeback in the 21st century. According to an article written by Felix Richter on Statista, “46.8 million vinyl EPs and LPs were sold in the U.S. last year, up from less than a million in 2006, when the vinyl comeback began.”

Both casual fans and record enthusiasts flocked to the independent record stores on Bleecker and Jones streets in Greenwich Village on April 18 to experience Record Store Day. There were lines outside of Village Revival Records owned by Jamal Alnasr and Record Runner owned by John Pita starting at 9 and 10 a.m.

Pita, who has owned Record Runner since 1979, is a seasoned veteran when it comes to Record Store Day. Pita knows how to treat his customers and his customers repay him in kind. “I hate it when someone waits in line only to find out I don’t have what they’re looking for,” he said. To remedy this, Pita goes out to the line and asks each customer what they’re looking for and he knows right away if he has it or not.

Record Runner is the place to go for Madonna, among many other records, but historically he has always had all the rare and most popular records released by the British singer. This year’s special release was Madonna’s The Confessions Tour – Live from London. Recorded live at London’s Wembley Arena in 2006, 5,700 vinyl records were released on Record Store Day. It contains 13 tracks with such hits as Hung up, I’m Sorry, Lucky Star and Like a Virgin.

“It’s always fun and it’s always a lot of work. In fact, this year they sent us the list early,” Pita said. He added that the rarest records he ordered for his customers this year were two by the Japanese former member of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Masayoshi Takanaka. The records by Takanaka that were announced on recordstoreday.com were All of Me and On Guitar.

One of Pita’s customers on Record Store Day was Kevin. Taking part in his ninth Record Store Day, Kevin expressed where his passion for vinyl comes from, “I grew up with my dad having a lot of vinyl. Even back in the islands where I’m from, my dad would collect vinyl and I grew up with vinyl. When I moved out, I basically was able to take some of the vinyl that he had as a collection and I started my own collection.”

From one generation to another, vinyl has been a tradition in Kevin’s family. He added that he was searching for a St. Germain album as he is currently interested in electronic music. Kevin also said he was looking for a couple of records for a friend of his, who, at the same time, was looking for records for him at another store. Record Store Day is truly about cooperation as well as celebration.

Another customer named Brian walked out of Record Runner onto Jones Street carrying a tote bag filled with several records. Brian said he has been “coming to Record Store Day for some time now,” and that he was looking for the Madonna Confessions release, Elizabeth Taylor 7-inch Vinyl Single by Taylor Swift, and Read My Lips (25th Anniversary Edition) by Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

Brian ended up getting everything he wanted, which “doesn’t always happen” according to him and he described his overall experience with Record Store Day, “It’s a nice event. I wish it wasn’t so crowded and the vinyl so sought-after. Most of them end up with second-hand sellers, which is not the point of Record Store Day. It’s hard when you really want an album because you really like the artist, but five people are ahead of you who want to sell it. The chase is interesting, but it also can be frustrating when it’s so hard, if a release is so limited. But it’s nice to have special things being offered, that’s really cool.”

While Brian had his eyes set on three records, another Record Runner customer named Leslie had 16 records in mind. Leslie, who is a “big Record Store Day fan,” mentioned she was looking for both of The Cure releases (Acoustic Hits and Greatest Hits), as well as Mutemath by the band of the same name and Raw Power: Live at the Spectrum, Philadelphia by The Power Station.

Leslie went in and out of Record Runner twice and after her second trip inside was eager to describe what she likes about vinyl, “I don’t listen to digital music, except for CDs — I put them in the player. I’m very tactile, like I like to hold the record, I like to look at the artwork on the record, put it on the turntable. I like the hiss and the pop. I’m just old school. I like to lay down, listen to the music and look at the artwork in the jacket.”

There’s something to be said about having a record as opposed to taking the easier path and streaming. Playing a vinyl record on a turntable and absorbing the detail inside or on the back cover of the record lets you feel the music a bit more as it plays and the lyrics and liner notes included in most records help you understand the songs and the artists who made them a bit more.

Just like anything in life you get what you put into it. Vinyl is here to stay because it allows people to truly experience the music they are listening to. People who listen to vinyl truly set aside time in their day to stop what they are doing, relax and listen to the record. This way, they can hear every lyric sung and every melody.

Cesar, who didn’t know it was Record Store Day when he walked into Record Runner is a case in point, “I like the ritual of stopping everything that you’re doing and finding something that you’d like to hear that particular day, that particular hour. I try to find something old and relaxing and just be in the moment.”