The scratch on this year’s Record Store Day was the chilly weather, but the group of four who showed up at 5 a.m. outside of Culture Clash Records with their own propane heater came prepared to deal with the cold.
Todd Green, 61, Nathan Ables, 48, Trevor Ables, 22 and Grayson James, 12, all from the Adrian area, trekked down to Toledo before the early morning light, prepared to be first in line ahead of the 200 other patrons who would queue behind them for the limited releases associated with the event.
“The first time we didn't show up so early,” Nathan Ables, the originator of the tradition back in 2010, said. “We were way back in line, and I missed some things that I wanted.
“So that's why we started making a point to get here early.”
Coast to coast, the first Record Store Day began in 2008 as a reaction to the advent of online shopping. Independent record stores became guardians of the vinyl way of life, offering discounts, deals and exclusive releases from patrons’ favorite artists.
And, for the past three years, Culture Clash Records has pioneered a celebration with food trucks, performances and artists in order to make much of music held in the hand and in the heart.
Experienced participants are willing to wait in line for hours before any kind of event gets started. Specific releases like the re-release of Robert Plant’s Fate of Nations back in 2019 ushered Mr. Ables outside of Culture Clash so early, so he could be sure to secure the rare vinyl find.
Others like Ellie Karakas, 13, of West Toledo, ended up towards the back of the line while doors to the store opened. Newly a teenager, young Karakas was attending her first Record Store Day with hopes of getting an Eat by Poppy vinyl.
“I'm really excited to get it!” she said. An hour and a half later she was still in line, still hoping, but enjoying the bands and the community outside. “He [her father] said he saw one of them,” she said referring to the specific album, and continued in faith.
Young James, who had been trained in the ways of special edition vinyl collection by his grandfather, waited five hours before the store opened to easily able to grab the re-release of Remorse? No! by Motorhead.
“I raised him right,” Mr. Green, young James’ grandfather, said when the boy mentioned his anticipation of the Motorhead album. “Last time he got Black Sabbath,” he said.
But both of the young teens with their blossoming record collections spoke of the connection they had to the music through the physical rather than the digital experience.
When listening to a record young Karakas said she, “...feels like more connected to it in a way ... it feels more exciting. You have it like physically, and it feels like closer to you.”
Others like Natalie Frost of South Toledo were delighted to see a secret unannounced track on the album they purchased.
“It is pretty rare,” Ms. Frost said of The Good Witch deluxe album by Maisie Peters. “There's a surprise song. She said it was six tracks and there’s seven.”
Limited, exclusive finds, secret songs and random grab bags on records make the day all sorts of fun. And as Lucas Frost, Ms. Frost’s brother, said, “There is definitely a dopamine rush from getting so many records.”
About a month of record store sales are piled into one Record Store Day according to the owners of Culture Clash Records, but more than just the items or the music, the community is really what makes Record Store Day special.
“Every day of the year it's a privilege to be a community hub,” Lizzie Friedman, a co-owner, said. “To be a place that people can come and gather, feel comfortable.”
“Record Store Day is just a way to do that on a larger scale,” she said.
First Published April 20, 2024, 10:15 p.m.
