Record Store Day

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI)- For many generations, people around the world used the phonograph to listen to their favorite music. And now in the 21st Century vinyl records are making a comeback.

For many years these are what you would see when you entered a record store, 33RPM long-playing records.

But then came new technology and these vinyl analogue records were replaced by digital CD’s. But at Rock Star Records in Tupelo, you can find not only vintage LP’s from the ’60s and ’70s but also newly minted vinyl records of artists of today.

Owner Leslie Jones says vinyl is back.

“It sounds better, and a lot of folks want to go back and get it for the artwork of the album itself,” said Jones.

And why would older technology sound better than the high tech recordings of today?

“Because it’s analogue sound compared to the digitals, so the digital sound is more compressed, so the analogue sound on the vinyl sounds more crisp more full. You might hear a trumpet that you didn’t hear on a record from Elvis back in the day when you might hear a backup singer on a Beatles record that you can’t hear on the CD, but you can hear it from a record back in the day,” said Jones.

And vinyl is even popular with younger people like 19-year old Sam Bates of Tupelo who didn’t grow up with it.

“Well, it sounds a lot better really. Plus I like getting them to you know the artwork of some bands I listen to like they put theirs on specially colored vinyl like I’ve got one that’s like tye died it looks really cool and it sounds amazing, and just the collectible aspect of it is what I really like,” said Bates.

And shoppers at Rock Star Records got some special deals because it was Record Store Day conceived in 2007 as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding independently owned record stores around the world.

“Yeah Record Store Day is the second Saturday in April most of the time. There’s also a version on Black Friday, but that’s not officially record store day, April’s officially Record Store Day. They come out with vinyl that is only made for today in a special configuration. It may be numbered. They’re all limited quantity. It may have a poster. It may have a sticker, something that makes it special and unique and you can only buy it at independent record stores. You can’t buy it at the big boys, but you can only buy it from little guys like us,” said Jones.

Jones says Record Store Day is the busiest day of the year for all independent record stores.

This year marks 12 years since Record Store Day began.

Categories: Local News

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