Titles from Pearl Jam, Noah Kahan, The 1975 and Olivia Rodrigo are in demand on Record Store Day.
First held in 2008 and this year held on April 20, Record Store Day “celebrates the unique culture of the record store,” according to the Record Store Day website. Artists release exclusive albums, CDs and other promotional items just for the day.
Mike Paeth, owner of Mile Long Records in Wheaton, has participated in Record Store Day for the last nine of 10 years the store has been open.
“I might not exist if it wasn’t for Record Store Day,” he said. “It really brought a lot of awareness to independent stores. I don’t want to say it single-handedly revived the format, but it definitely played a big part.”
This year’s Record Store Day has a “massive amount of titles,” he said.
“Noah Kahan has been the guy that’s blown up this year. He’s definitely been the one people are going to be lining up for,” he said. “There’s a Noah Kahan-Olivia Rodrigo seven-inch that was added late in the game and that one is high on people’s lists.”
Record Store Day, the entity, has started releasing a title called a Record Store Day First, he said.
“What that means basically is that they’re going to release it in an exclusive color vinyl just for Record Store Day but there might be a black vinyl version that gets released later on,” he said. “And I say ‘might’ because there have been several times where they’ve never released it beyond Record Store Day.”
Other artists include one of Paeth’s favorite bands, The Replacements, coming out with a live album that’s “high on people’s lists,” he said.
“There’s weird niche stuff – there’s a band called GBI which has Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters in it – they have a seven-inch people are interested in. There’s a Collective Soul that hasn’t been in print for a while. There’s a live Death Cab for Cutie,” he said.
“And one of the oddball things that appears that people are interested in, there’s a Beatles branded three-inch turntable that people are requesting. Three-inch format isn’t something we carry a lot of, but this was marketed in such a way that we had a ton of requests for it.”
The entire list is close to 400 titles long, he said, with genres well-represented across the board.
“Usually, you’ll have an event where someone who likes metal is disappointed or someone who likes punk is disappointed but this time it seems like the genres are all well-represented,” he said. “Jazz, blues, rock, metal, rap, hip-hop, soundtracks – it feels like there’s something for everybody this time around.”
Pearl Jam is releasing “Dark Matter” as well as 12 limited-edition variants, including a Chicagoland variant, on April 19.
Taylor Swift is releasing her new album, “The Tortured Poet’s Society” April 19, but doesn’t have a title dropping on Record Store Day, which Paeth said surprised him.
“Noah Kahan and Olivia Rodrigo are kind of filling that void but I was kind of expecting to see a last-minute Taylor Swift release added,” he said.
Other bands releasing albums include Garbage, Fleetwood Mac, Grateful Dead, David Bowie, Meat Puppets, Motley Crue, Noel Gallagher, Queen, The Ramones and Sonic Youth.
“There’s a lot of great artists and titles across the board,” Paeth said. “The 1975, that’s another big one. They’ve got a live album. My store’s got a lot of fans of them.”
He hands out numbered wristbands the night before Record Store Day and opens at 9 a.m. the following day. People are allowed in based on the numbers. He sees the drawback – you’re waiting in line to wait in line – but he feels if they didn’t hand out wristbands, people would be in line all night.
Stores are not allowed to hold or pre-sell titles, he said. Occasionally, the title quantities are small – like 500 copies for the entire nation, he said.
“You think about all the independent stores and that might mean you only get a couple. That’s what drives people to come out early, get a wristband and try to get in early.”
Paeth absolutely loves Record Store Day.
“It’s a lot of fun, it’s a lot of unknown. I personally kind of thrive on that,” he said. “It’s definitely stressful. There are so many things that are out of my control and so many things that are luck. We depend on our distributors, we depend on FedEx and UPS, we depend on the luck of the draw with getting a good number of certain titles.”
New store for the big day
Phil and Tiffany Johnson, owners of Audiophil’s Records in Joliet since 2018, are celebrating Record Store Day with a move to a new location, she said. The new location on Chicago Street gives them double the square footage.
“That’s our big plans, for this year,” she said. “Our grand opening will be unlocking the doors and letting everyone see the new space and come out for Record Store Day.”
As a participating store for the official Record Store Day, they are able to purchase whatever they like from the list.
“People have been sending us requests since the list came out in February,” she said. “People get right on that. Usually, we find the list is out because a customer sends us a request.”
People have been searching for new titles from artists across the board, she said.
“Olivia Rodrigo has something coming out with Noah Kahan – that’s going to be a big one. Everyone keeps calling about that one,” she said. “The Weeknd – artists like that people are always looking for. Sabrina Carpenter, she’s got one coming out that day.”
Phil Johnson loves the vibe of the event.
“Record Store Day brings a lot of really cool people out,” he said.
“They have this established, international website. When you look up record stores near you, boom, there we are on their website, top of the list. The amount of people that find us on Record Store Day is unbeatable. It’s such a value to be part of the team. We’re small potatoes … and they’ve got us right with everyone else,” Tiffany Johnson said.
Audiophil’s gets a “late start” on Record Store Day, opening at the usual 12 p.m. If people don’t find what they want somewhere else, they can check there, she said.
“It should be a great day,” she said.
Get a beer with your vinyl
Joe Lottino owns Crooked Arm Vinyl and Tap, a hybrid record store and craft beer bar in Lisle that opened in January.
“We’re going to get a ton of the special-release records in. We’re also going to have live music here at Crooked Arm; we have a couple performers scheduled for the day,” he said. “We’re also collaborating on a beer for Record Store Day that you can only get here. We collaborated with Will County Brewing out of Shorewood. It’s pretty exciting. We made enough to get one keg so it will only be here as long as it lasts.”
The musicians coming out are Dan Dougherty and Jack the Acquaintance, he said.
He will also have the Pearl Jam Midwest variant and the new Taylor Swift album in stock, he said.
“We’re expecting a fun, crazy weekend,” he said.
In addition, people are excited for releases from The 1975, David Bowie and Olivia Rodrigo.
“There’s a ton of stuff from not just current artists. I’m really excited about a couple of records that have just been impossible to find that you can find now by Parliament Funkadelic and (artists) like that,” he said. “The list is super long and there’s something for everybody – there’s jazz, ‘80s rock, blues.”
He’s opening earlier at 9 a.m. April 20 for Record Store Day and plans to close at the normal 10 p.m.
Extra inventory on order
Tom and Megan Waddell own Crown Point Records in Crown Point, Indiana. He ordered extra inventory in anticipation of Record Store Day.
He agreed that titles from Noah Kahan and Oliva Rodrigo were going to be the big sellers.
“There are a few others, like The Cure, Pearl Jam and Paramore that are going to be bigger ones,” he said. “I ordered probably 85 percent of what was available but certain things are more in demand than others and other things are more limited than others.”
He ordered multiple copies of each, too. While the official list of releases is online, he has a hard copy of the list in the store as well. “But if they’re in line, they know what they’re looking for,” he said.
It’s an exciting day and the biggest revenue day of the year, he said. “It brings out people you don’t normally see,” he said.
Suburban Chicago record stores
The stores have been listed alphabetically by town. Northwest Indiana towns are below this list.
Reef Records: 775 Main St., Antioch. 224-788-5066; reefrecordsllc.com.
Superjumbo Records and Collectibles: 102 E. Galena Ave., Aurora. 630-312-0559; facebook.com/superjumbo.aurora.
Scratched Vinyl (formerly Rainbow Records): 119 Barrington Commons Court, Barrington. 847-304-0721; scratchedvinylbarrington.com.
Aurora resident Steve Warrenfeltz, owner of Kiss the Sky record store in Batavia, shows off the Taylor Swift vinyl album that was produced exclusively for 2023 Record Store Day. (David Sharos/The Beacon-News)
Kiss the Sky Records: 180 W. First St., Batavia. 630-406-0086; kissthesky.net.
Vines and Vinyl: 3730 Prairie Ave., Brookfield. 773-633-9517; facebook.com/vinesandvinyl.
Windy City Records: 5224 Main St., Downers Grove. 630-534-2794; windycityrecords.org.
Rediscover Records: 9 S. Spring St., Elgin. 847-961-8445; rediscoverrecords.com.
Conservatory Vintage and Vinyl: 1042 Sterling Ave., Flossmoor. 708-960-0231; conservatoryvintageandvinyl.com.
Loud Pizza Records: 716 Central Ave., Highland Park. 847-926-7380; loudpizza.com.
Audiophil’s Records: 76 N. Chicago St., Joliet. 815-319-2143; audiophilsrecords.com. (Opens April 20 in this location)
Crooked Arm Vinyl and Tap: 6450 College Road, Lisle. 630-487-0986; crookedarmlisle.com.
Purple Dog Records: 231 S. Washington St. #105, Naperville. 773-682-7725; purpledogrecordsonline.com.
Wicked Wax Vinyl Shop: 32 Foxcroft Road #114, Naperville. 630-504-8885; facebook.com/wickedwaxvinyl.
Oak Park Records: 179 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park. 708-524-2880; facebook.com/179Rockshop/.
Val’s Halla Records: 239 Harrison St., Oak Park. 708-524-1004; valshallarecords.com.
Black Dog Vinyl Café: 16108 S. Illinois 59, Plainfield. 815-733-6032; blackdogvinylcafe.com.
Left ‘Round Records: 24041 W. Lockport St., Plainfield. 815-556-8109; leftroundrecords.com.
Paul Rose Records and Boutique: 16030 S. Lincoln Highway, Suite 105, Plainfield. 708-710-7852; paul-rose.com/collections/vinyl-records.
Disc Replay: 15014 S. LaGrange Road, Orland Park. 708-873-1132; facebook.com/discreplay.orlandpark.
Cheap Kiss Records: 22 S. Villa Ave., Villa Park. 847-414-9765; cheapkissrecords.com.
Blue Village Vinyl: 29 W. Chicago Ave. B, Westmont. 630-963-1957; bluevillagevinyl.com.
Mile Long Records: 350 W. Front St., Wheaton. 630-474-4954; milelongrecords.com.
Hip Cat Records: 3540 Lake Ave., Wilmette. 847-920-0066; facebook.com and search for Hip Cat Records & Music Videos.
Northwest Indiana
Trusty Spot Records and Tees: 206 S. Calumet Road, Chesterton. 219-728-3155; trustyspot.com.
Antique Vault and Records: 14 Courthouse Square, Crown Point. 773-988-0170; antiquevaultandrecords.com.
Crown Point Records: 112 N. Main St., Crown Point. 219-213-2363. facebook.com and search for Crown Point Records.
S&J Stereo: 128 N. Broad St., Griffith. 219-923-1944; facebook.com/officialpagesjstereo.
Tom Lounges’ Record Bin: 218 Main St., Hobart. 219-945-9511; tomloungesrecordbin.com.
Static Age: 621 Franklin St., Michigan City. 219-214-1598; staticagemc.square.site.
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.
