Record Store Day | Apr 13

A dozen years ago, when we had seen about the last of the big record store chains pack up in, it occurred to independent record store owners that they weren’t done yet. It must be a passion thing.

Here at KUVO, we have several vinyl aficionados: Monday Night Beat host Mike Wulfsohn plays a side weekly on “Wulfie’s Wax Museum.” On Tuesday nights, Geoff Anderson has been playing sides from his “Vinyl Vault” for years. Weekday afternoons, Rodney Franks enjoys dropping the occasional track from LP. Saturday afternoon host Djamila Ricciardi would play ALL vinyl if she could get away with it. Most KUVO hosts keep some vinyl nearby in case of a music “emergency.”

Most of us on this side of the microphone can testify that records are deeply satisfying media. You get artwork on a piece of cardboard that you can hold in two hands. There are poetic, profound, deep thoughts scribbled on the back or (bonus!) on the inside of the record package opens up like a book. The sleeve might even have the song lyrics! Amazing!

This legion of music fans, affectionately known as “crate divers,” are no longer just old-timers living in the past. Vinyl records are enjoying a resurgence. Forbes magazine reports a bustling marketplace for used records.

But there is nothing like the record store, in my opinion, to see, share, browse, linger and listen. At least 29 record stores in Colorado are listed as at least partial participants at the official website, including longtime KUVO supporters Twist & Shout, Black & Read and Wax Trax Records where you get a discount when you present your KUVO member card. Record stores in Colorado.

Here’s how the official website describes the day:

This is a day for the people who make up the world of the record store—the staff, the customers, and the artists—to come together and celebrate the unique culture of a record store and the special role these independently owned stores play in their communities. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day. 

Among the 400 special LP releases are a few welcome jazz titles for 2019, including: Louis Armstrong’s Disney Songs the Satchmo Way, Art Ensemble of Chicago – The Spiritual, Steve Gadd Band, Herbie Hancock, Charlie Parker with Strings – The Alternative Takes, Cecil Taylor – The Paris Concert, and Bob Dorough’s Multiplication Rock.  Wynton Marsalis issued a Record Store Day EP of his brand-new soundtrack to the film Bolden, about the legendary cornetist Buddy Bolden.

There are more than a few soul, folk and rock titles too. Aretha Franklin has a 7” box set.  Newer artists like Jose James and Erykah Badu have LP re-issues. If I see a copy of Fela Kuti and Roy Ayers’ Music of Many Colours, it’s mine.