Saturday 22nd April 2023 - A date that had been on my calendar for a few months and one that I was really looking forward to, Record Store Day UK!
After a late night hosting my radio show on a local FM station, I retired to bed for a few hours sleep ahead of my alarm shouting at me at 6:30am to get my groggy self out of bed and hot foot it to Newton Abbot to see what was happening at Phoenix Sound, the finest independent record shop in the South West by a country mile.
As I approached Queen Street, I could see people congregating outside of the shop, loads of them, the faces at the front of the queue looked familiar, a few more grey hairs but all in all, recognisable. The first in line had arrive just before 1am in the morning, call it dedication or sheer lunacy but he was guaranteed first dibs on anything on offer in the store ahead of anyone else getting their grubby mitts on them.
With a great spread of items from tons of bands covering just about every genre known to man, this year’s ‘drop’ looked exciting, as I perused the racks, photographing the stock, I stumbled over some wonderful exclusives from the likes of The Orb, The 1975, Taylor Swift, Pixies, John Lennon, Sam Smith, Alison Goldfrapp, David Bowie (obvs), Altered Images and MANY more.
Tea, coffee and hot bacon/vegan bacon rolls (provided by No Limits Community Cafe & Hub) were dispatched to the entire queue just before opening time which lifted spirits and warmed the hearts of many people that had been stood out in the cold for up to 7 hours waiting to spend their hard earned cash.
Simon Lee Prince (whose first solo EP, The Sounds of: Simon Lee Prince is available on all digital platforms NOW) arrived just before opening time and took up his position in the window to perform for people as they clambered through the racks, hoping to get their hands on everything on their wish-lists ahead others getting there first. He played some incredible acoustic versions of classics by OASIS, Radiohead, The Verve and other indie/Britpop classics which saw the punters (and staff) singing along as the morning progressed.
As the till started ringing, I thought to myself if anyone would break the £1000 barrier, the shop came close last year with a couple of very high 3 figure sums but to my knowledge, nobody had smashed the 4 figure barrier yet. This was about to change…..
A gentleman was being assisted by a personal shopper going by the name of Roger (the store owner) and it soon became apparent that this could be THE new record! He had a copy of the John Lennon box set in his basket which carried a hefty £410 price tag as well as a plethora of other spoils which after adding up in my head, came to just over the £1000 mark. Jackie was on till duty and after turning the till display around for us to see, shouted out the grand total which was just over £1100, a new record had been set and the customer couldn’t have looked happier!
The queue remained constant for the first hour, at one stage, someone counted over 120 people in it which provoked a lot of attention from early morning shoppers, asking what the commotion was about, we did our best to explain the concept of RSD but this fell on deaf ears with some folk asking if they even made records anymore…..
Even Will (the previous owner) made an appearance and helped out behind the counter and chatted to some old faces as they neared the till, it was great to see him and he looks great since retiring from the shop last year, I am desperately trying to think of a joke involving an ex-record shop owner but can’t think of any that would be acceptable in these times!
After a couple of hours, I decided it was time for me to retire and head home to process some photos and get some words together for this feature and maybe to grab a couple more hours sleep ahead of my body clock assuming that 4 hours was the new ‘norm’ when it comes to a good night’s sleep!
I was informed that there was to be a DJ set from Glyn aka Ska Au Go Go taking place later in the day but even this couldn’t entice me to stay as the thought of a comfy couch, Marmite on toast and mindless Saturday morning telly beckoned….
Roger, Marsha, Jackie, Charlie and the rest of the team at Phoenix Sound were well on their way to completing a very successful RSD23 and hopefully, this is the first of many to come. RSD wouldn’t be RSD without the mad, crazy and colourful customers that queue every year and help to make it what it is, long may it continue.
