Record Store Day is upon us.  It is April 21st, 2018 and I can’t believe I stood in line to get vinyl in 40ºF temperature.  It could be worse, it could be freezing & raining.  Thankfully, it was absolutely beautiful and sunny…just cold.

My daughter and I were tackling it again this year.  This time my daughter had something in mind she wanted.  I called the Record Store on Friday and asked if they had the album she wanted and he said he didn’t see it.  So, we made a plan to divide and conquer.  I asked my daughter to call a friend to see if they were stupid enough to stand outside with her at Lunchbox Records while I stood in line at Repo Records 5 minutes down the road.

We arrived at 7am (which means we left the house at 6:15am since it is a 45 minute drive to the record stores – we live in the boonies).  We decided on 7am since last year we arrived at 8am and the store lines were awful (except at Repo).  I get my daughter and her friend over to Lunchbox right at 7am and the line is not that long.  They jump out and get in line and I head over to the other store.

Repo Records line was shorter than Lunchbox and so I jumped in line.  Now the 2 hour wait since the stores didn’t open until 9am.  After chatting with everyone around me and everyone discussing what they were there for and what bands they liked and concerts they had seen, the doors opened.  The time flew by.  That was an enjoyable 2 hours…wait…it hadn’t been 2 hours.  The store opened a little early at 8:40am.  There is a God!! (yes, there truly is but that is another discussion).

They only let a few people in at a time and I strolled in at about 8:50 and I was done pretty quick.  I was out by 9am and my daughter hadn’t even started going in yet.  So, I grabbed what I wanted and as I was glancing at the singles, I saw this pink case and it turned out they had one left for the single my daughter wanted. So, I grabbed it and immediately texted my daughter that I had it.  She was so excited.  Now, that meant she actually didn’t need to stand in line all that time at Lunchbox…oh well.  We wanted to be safe rather than miss out.

Now, you are probably wondering what I purchased.  If not, then why are you still reading!!!

Here is a breakdown…note…I didn’t get a whole lot.  I only wanted 2 things.  I got those 2 things and then 4 other things…ka-ching!!!

First up (review will come later)…Def Leppard EP Live at Abbey Road Studios…

Next Up…David Bowie.  David had a lot of LPs available, but I only wanted one.  I took the Live album…Welcome to the Blackout (Live in London ’78)…it is 3LPs…I bought ‘Cracked Actor’ last year so why not get another live album.  You can never have too many.

Then I added a couple more items…Soundgarden A-Sides…their greatest hits album released for the first time on vinyl.  I figured what the hell.  It is cool with 2LPs and both on green vinyl…

Lastly at Repo I bought another single.  Led Zeppelin “Rock And Roll” / “Friends” on Yellow vinyl.  Really cool and I couldn’t pass it up…

The goodie bag at Repo had a lot of goodies.  Some cool and some WTF?  Here is a list of what was in the bag…

• Record Store Day Poster
• Repo Records Fly Swatter (Got one last year too)
• Vinyl turntable mat…really groovy psychedelic colors (last year’s was boring)
• Blu Ray video of Children of the Corn Runaway (interesting and random)
• Record Store Day Sampler CD (20 songs with an interesting variety of artists)
• The New Whole Burbank Catalog CD Sampler (8 songs including Linkin Park and Mastodon)
• Audio-technica catalog and phone case holder
• Random stickers and a drink holder

Not a bad haul.

After I was done, I drove back to Lunchbox and got in line with my daughter and her friend.  We went in to the store a few minutes later and they bought some stuff (not record store stuff though).  As I was browsing, I noticed that Lunchbox had better prices.  As I was going through their selection, I saw The Who ‘The Kids Are Alright” and I decided to grab that as well. It was a little cheaper and I had a weak moment.  It is cool with the 2LPs and one Red and one Blue.

And then to end it all, I was going through the used LPs while I was waiting for the girls to decide I found this gem from Jude Cole ‘A View From 3rd Street”.  It is one of my favorite albums of all time and I found it on vinyl…score!!  And 15% off…double score!!

And that was our adventure.  Now it is time for a NAP!!!!  Until next year….