Traditions! We had that whole talk earlier while discussing this year's crop of Snowflakes Singles (by the way, did you order yours yet?).
Well, Black Friday--that day after Thanksgiving when people think nothing of trampling their fellow man (or woman) to save a few bucks on a widescreen TV only to find the same model on sale for less a couple weeks later--has almost come and gone as a tradition. Stores, desperate for holiday traffic, keep moving their Black Friday sales up to the point where....I think we already missed it. But Black Friday Record Store Day...that's vinyl of a different color.
I love the idea of Black Friday Record Store Day. The local independent record stores should be supported all year long, but a lot of folks aren't even aware they exist. So, with its tempting buffet of limited edition collectors items only available at the local record store, people seek out the participating shops in their vicinity. It gets them through the door and now they know, right? Go watch the opening scene of "Jingle Bell Rocks" and tell me that isn't more fun than punching keys for an online purchase.
Sadly, in my area, we have no participating record shops. The one I used to go to closed down while the other only participates in the Record Store Day earlier in the year--never the Black Friday one. You can check to find the participating shop nearest to you here. Either way, we do like looking in the virtual store window, here, to see what goodies the Christmas Vinyl Santa has brought down the chimney.
Well, Black Friday--that day after Thanksgiving when people think nothing of trampling their fellow man (or woman) to save a few bucks on a widescreen TV only to find the same model on sale for less a couple weeks later--has almost come and gone as a tradition. Stores, desperate for holiday traffic, keep moving their Black Friday sales up to the point where....I think we already missed it. But Black Friday Record Store Day...that's vinyl of a different color.
I love the idea of Black Friday Record Store Day. The local independent record stores should be supported all year long, but a lot of folks aren't even aware they exist. So, with its tempting buffet of limited edition collectors items only available at the local record store, people seek out the participating shops in their vicinity. It gets them through the door and now they know, right? Go watch the opening scene of "Jingle Bell Rocks" and tell me that isn't more fun than punching keys for an online purchase.
Sadly, in my area, we have no participating record shops. The one I used to go to closed down while the other only participates in the Record Store Day earlier in the year--never the Black Friday one. You can check to find the participating shop nearest to you here. Either way, we do like looking in the virtual store window, here, to see what goodies the Christmas Vinyl Santa has brought down the chimney.
Let's see. We already told you about the RUN DMC 12" picture disc of "Christmas In Hollis" and the Brown Vinyl "scented" release of South Park's "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" from SONY. Both are limited to just 3000 copies. What else we got?
The one that I'd be most interested in is the Fantasy collection, "Jazz Dispensary: Holiday Treats". Look at that beautiful Candy Red vinyl. Yum! Ain't She Sweet? Nothing new on here, though a few of these tracks may be elusive to newcomers. Side One brings the Funk and Soul with Booker T., Rufus Thomas, and the Jive Turkeys. Side Two rolls out the Jazz from Don Patterson, Kenny Burrell and others. Actually, the Jive Turkeys track is kind of recent and we'll have more to say about them in a bit. "Jazz Dispensary: Holiday Treats" is limited to just 1500 copies and is a Record Store Day Exclusive.
Recognize the picture sleeve for this one? No you don't. It was a trick question. Jethro Tull released a 4-somg Christmas 7" back around 1976. "A Christmas Song" had first appeared as a 1969 B-side in the UK, then on "Living In The Past" in 1972. And the obvious "must have" tune from the '76 EP was "Ring Out ,Solstice Bells" (which would show up on the '77 LP "Songs From The Wood"). The original EP also included "March The Mad Scientist" and "Pan Dance".
This limited edition (to 2000) Jethro Tull Record Store Day exclusive contains "A Christmas Song" and "Another Christmas Song" (originally released in 1989). But the other two tracks are new. Well, new-ish, as they are both remixed versions of "Ring Out, Solstice Bells". The second of those, "Magic Bells", was produced by Mike Batt and intended for a Christmas single but was never released. If you can't make Record Store Day, the two remixes will also appear on a re-mixed "Songs From The Wood" in 2017.
This limited edition (to 2000) Jethro Tull Record Store Day exclusive contains "A Christmas Song" and "Another Christmas Song" (originally released in 1989). But the other two tracks are new. Well, new-ish, as they are both remixed versions of "Ring Out, Solstice Bells". The second of those, "Magic Bells", was produced by Mike Batt and intended for a Christmas single but was never released. If you can't make Record Store Day, the two remixes will also appear on a re-mixed "Songs From The Wood" in 2017.
Another Record Store Day exclusive is the RED Vinyl 7" of Bob & Doug McKenzie's "12 Days Of Christmas". Bob & Doug, of course, were characters developed by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas for SCTV. A couple of hosers, eh? Same B-side as the original--"Take Off" featuring Geddy Lee. This one is limited to 3000.
The Chairman of The Board, Frank Sinatra puts in an appearance with a colored vinyl 7" of "White Christmas" and "The Christmas Waltz". The write-up says "7" white colored 'Italian' vinyl single in picture sleeve." I'm just not understanding the "Italian" reference. Frank's record is also limited to 3000.
The Chairman of The Board, Frank Sinatra puts in an appearance with a colored vinyl 7" of "White Christmas" and "The Christmas Waltz". The write-up says "7" white colored 'Italian' vinyl single in picture sleeve." I'm just not understanding the "Italian" reference. Frank's record is also limited to 3000.
The last of the Record Store Day exclusives is a vinyl re-pressing of Rudy Ray Moore's classic album "This Ain't No White Christmas". If you're not familiar, let's say up front--PARENTAL GUIDANCE strongly SUGGESTED. Rudy Ray Moore was one of many who made what were called "Party Records"--a term that was given to albums that were too racy (in content and cover art) to be displayed with the rest of the store's inventory. They were "under the counter" records. They were largely sold on "word of mouth". The tradition of "Party Records" dated back to, oh, I'd say the 30s and featured acts built in Night Clubs and Vaudeville (and usually recorded live), but the trend really took off with the introduction of the LP record. There were plenty of Jewish and Italian comics specializing in "Party Records" and the African-American community had artists like Redd Foxx, Richard Pryor and Rudy Ray Moore. The records could be comedy or cute double-entendre songs or a combination of both. In the case of "This Ain't No White Christmas", Rudy Ray Moore had songs, stories, poetry...usually liberally loaded with expletives. This pressing of "This Ain't No White Christmas" is limited to 1200.
The next Record Store Day category is "Limited Run / Regional Focus". This category focuses on independent artists and labels and may or may not be at your local record store if the artist in question isn't from your region. We've got one Christmas release in this category, but it's top notch. The Connection are mostly known in the New England region, but Stubby's regulars should recall that we covered their 2014 holiday release, "A Christmas Gift For...". For Record Store Day, The Connection has pressed 300 copies of "A Christmas Gift For...", randomly on opaque RED or GREEN vinyl.
And, finally, there are those Record Store Day releases which will turn up at online retailers at some point, but they get rolled out at the record shops on Black Friday first. We have two holiday releases in this group (though there's also a Big Star release containing a demo of "Jesus Christ"). The first is the Christmas Tree shaped color vinyl 12" single from Wynton Marsalis, featuring two previously unreleased songs from the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra--"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Little Drummer Boy". This collector's item single is limited to 1000 copies. We did show that one on our list with a November 18 release, but the listing has since been pulled by Amazon. Amazon could possibly still get some version of the single, but Black Friday Record Store Day gets it first.
I believe we've saved the best for last. But first, I said up top we'd get back to the Jive Turkeys. Their single (which I believe was originally issued in 2010) is being released on Black Friday, though it may not have anything to do with Record Store Day. This release features "Get Down Santa" and the "Funky Jesus" flip pressed to GREEN vinyl and is limited to 300 copies. Order here while they last.
And, finally, there's a new Christmas single coming from the fantastic California Alt Rock/Punk group The Regrettes. I love this group. It's raw Rock, for sure, but The Regrettes also know how to write a good hook. Check out a few of the group's songs on Soundcloud (my fave there is "Seashore"; what a wonderful track). I'd drop in a track for you, here, but they can at times be prone to profanity. For Black Friday Record Store Day, the group has recorded their cover of "Marshmallow World" pressed to white vinyl and tucked into a marshmallow scented picture sleeve. How cool is that? And I'm betting their take on "Marshmallow World" is going to be amazing. A nice healthy run of 3000 on this one.
That's the list, as well as we know it, of Christmas releases getting the Black Friday Record Store Day roll out. That's November 25, if you were wondering. On your mark, get set........
And, finally, there's a new Christmas single coming from the fantastic California Alt Rock/Punk group The Regrettes. I love this group. It's raw Rock, for sure, but The Regrettes also know how to write a good hook. Check out a few of the group's songs on Soundcloud (my fave there is "Seashore"; what a wonderful track). I'd drop in a track for you, here, but they can at times be prone to profanity. For Black Friday Record Store Day, the group has recorded their cover of "Marshmallow World" pressed to white vinyl and tucked into a marshmallow scented picture sleeve. How cool is that? And I'm betting their take on "Marshmallow World" is going to be amazing. A nice healthy run of 3000 on this one.
That's the list, as well as we know it, of Christmas releases getting the Black Friday Record Store Day roll out. That's November 25, if you were wondering. On your mark, get set........
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