Music lovers’ favorite day returns tomorrow. This Saturday, April 16 marks the ninth Record Store Day, an annual holiday celebrating the community and culture of independent record stores around the world. As the event has grown to festival-like proportions with each passing year, and lines for exclusives stretch for blocks hours before stores even open, the truth is that RSD still puts out an insane output of really enticing wax. Here are seven 7”s to snag this #RSD16.
1. Bee Gees/Faith No More, “I Started A Joke”
Limited to: 5,500
Another single in RSD’s successful Side by Side series, this edition pairs two wildly divergent artists—the pop-disco Bee Gees and the rock, basically metal Faith No More. The original Bee Gees track appeared on the Staying Alive soundtrack in 1968 and Faith No More covered the song on its 1995 album King For a Day…Fool for a Lifetime. The single will be pressed on mint green vinyl.
2. David Bowie, “TVC15”
Limited to: 5,000
Show the Duke some love with this picture disc. Bowie’s orange-haired mug graces the cover of this single celebrating the 40th anniversary release of Station to Station. Side A has the original radio edit of the “TVC15” single and Side B features the Harry Maslen mix of “Wild Is The Wind.”
3. Jason Molina, The Townes Van Zandt Covers
Limited to: 3,500
These two artists share the dark parallel of alcoholism leading to early deaths, but Jason Molina and Townes Van Zandt share similarities in their music, as well. Both were masters in the art of the sad song, conveying so much darkness with so little instrumentation. Molina recorded these two TVZ covers—“I’ll Be Here In The Morning” and “Tower Song”—in his Chicago home in the early 2000s. And this release features cover art by William Schaff, who also designed Songs: Ohia’s Magnolia Electric Co. in 2003.
4. The Doors, “Roadhouse Blues (Live)”/”A Feast of Friends”
Limited to: 4,000
In France, Record Store Day is called Disquaire Day. As part of an annual series honoring that trans-Atlantic collaboration, RSD offers this double A Side record of The Doors. While a live version of “Roadhouse Blues” and a studio version of “A Feast of Friends” grace the white wax, the sleeve boasts the color scheme of the French flag (which, of course, also happens to be the same as the good ol’ U.S.A.).
5. The Kinks, Mister Pleasant
Limited to: 3,000
Originally released in 1967, this EP has been out of print for decades. At the time, every song on Mister Pleasant was an exclusive, previously unreleased track. Now, “Mister Pleasant” is known as a European hit and the A Side opener “Two Sisters” appeared on Something Else later in ‘67. Side B of the EP includes “Village Green,” “And I Will Love You,” and This Is Where I Belong.”
6. The Syndicats, “On the Horizon”/”Crawdaddy Simone”
Limited to: 1,300
Not everyone knows The Syndicats, but pretty much everyone who cares about classic rock knows Yes. The Syndicats, a British group that only released three singles, was guitarist Steve Howe’s first band before he joined Yes. This original single, released in 1965, gets the reissue treatment with a new picture sleeve and liner notes by Ugly Things’ Mike Stax.
7. The Runaways, “Right Now/Black Leather”
Limited to: 1,000
Record Store Day has three tiers of releases—those that should be at all participating stores, the RSD Limited Run/Regional Focus Release that are even rarer and localized to specific areas, and those that will see a wide release after the holiday. This reissue of a rare Runaways single from 1979 falls into the second category, and will be released on cherry red wax.