Mark’s Record Store Day 2014

Record Store Day is everyday to me, always. When it happens on the official day though in April, I can't help but get a little extra involved with my particpation. Here's my pictural, textual and video diary of RSD 2014!

I got up a bit late this go around and as always I quickly and firmly neglected any type of morning food consumption. That's just gonna delay my arrival and push me further back in line at the first store I visit. I'd rather pass on Honey Nut Cheerios today then miss out on some cool records.

So the stores open at 9AM. I don't mention my route pattern so I can keep my methods to myself. Just don't want to give away any tips. It's all for one out there today! And so I arrive at store #1....

I wanted to mix with the music peoples and ask a few of them about why they were there and what they might be looking for in particular on this Record Store Day.

Then, 9AM hit and it hit quick and fast like a S.O.B. Time to swim or get out the hell out of the pool! I wanted to show more of the madness from the people racing around and reaching for their music items of choice, but I was one of them so I had to put down the camera and partake!

Next up... store #2.

Store 2 was in good shape. Not too crazy, just right. Still plenty of good stuff on the shelf and a decent amount of the free items like CD's, buttons, posters (snagged a killer Beatles lithograph). They're a smaller store so the area is tougher to work with, but with this smaller crowd... it was a breeze. Got me some good stuff at Store #2.

Fast fact, I was hired by the head man himself Brett Wickard back in early 1995 to work at this particular Bull Moose! It was in a different spot, but same town. Those were great days and it was an honor to work for this company. Worked with some great music people too. I found out about the Cows, Clutch, Big Black, Eric Dolphy, John Zorn and alot more whilst working at this particular store. (one of 4 record stores I've worked at in my lifetime)

What Brett (and Chris Brown) has done with these stores is amazing, especially with it being 2014. Music retail has been dying a death for well over 12,13,14 years now. Its faced mountainous battles of technology and times. I don't think I'm wrong in assuming that Maine most likely has one of the strongest music retail buying communities in all of the USA these days. Where some states have ZERO record stores we have a mess of Bull Moose stores here. We're lucky and we love music and we still buy it in stores!

Ok then, we take a little drive to store #3.

The tunes were kicking in bigtime from the easy listening mix I have on my iPOD.

While I was crushing that Al Jarreau tune, I had an absolutely insane idea that flashed by my brain quickly. Mind you, I knew at the time of this quick thought it was super friggin ludacris, but for a BRIEF moment, I actually thought... "man, if only I could get to the stores quicker. This long distance driving crap is killing my chances to find cool limited edition stuff before people buy it. What if I could find away to get like a helicopter to lift me to a few stores cutting my drivetime down considerbly. I could get someone to sponsor it, etc."

I kid you not I entertained this insane idea for a solid 6 seconds... then I sang on and drove to store 3.

Chris Brown of Bull Moose is really the starting point for all that is Record Store Day. This spectacular new tradition for music lovers and music buyers not just in the country but around the world is mostly due to this gentleman below in the picture with me. There's always one thing I have to do on RSD each year; catch up with Chris for an RSD picture. Haven't missed one yet. I see him alot, but this has to happen on this day!

Ok, next stop a different store, different brand, still music sellers though. Onto store 5!

Once you get outside of Maine (well past Portsmouth and Salem) it's all about Newbury Comics. New England outside of Maine luckily has this chain still to supply them their music and Shepard Fairey OBEY needs! Started on Newbury Street in Boston back in the late 70's by Mike Dreese, Newbury Comics was mainly a place for comic books and local music. The chain grew over the years to bigger numbers spreading all throughout New England. It's also great to see their survival let alone any music retailers survival in 2014 with all that the music industry has been through.

Sean Carroll has been the manager for the South Portland Newbury Comics for a while now. He's a solid dude, a big local music supporter and close to the scene. Sean asked if I would DJ for a little while at the store to help celebrate RSD. I thought sure. What a great way to put the wallet down and get people to hear some great music from my shelves. So I brought in some New Bomb Turks, LL Cool J, Sugar, Pointer Sisters, Dave Clark Five, The Jam, Charlie Sexton, Lees of Memory and more to spin. I tried to rock a blend of Stryper "To Hell with The Devil" right into "Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil", but it didn't seem to land. No worries! I had a blast and of course... bought more stuff.