Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Ten Record Store Day 2017 Exclusives to Get Excited About This Year

Exactly one month from today, Record Store Day will be upon us. And yesterday, the annual event made public their official list of releases for 2017, featuring a stellar line-up of more than 300 limited edition, limited release and first release vinyl, CDs and cassettes.

Started in 2008, Record Store Day is celebrating its 10 year anniversary of bringing together artists and fans to celebrate the community created by independent record shops and music in all its forms. The annual event has been a real boon to physical musical formats, and vinyl record sales in particular. Over the last 10 years, vinyl has made a tremendous resurgence, being the only physical music format to make sales gains.

We here at Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s top music outlet, are excited to participate in this year’s Record Store Day. And while we don’t know what we will be getting yet, here are some of this year’s releases that we wouldn’t mind getting our hands on.


1.       Dennis Wilson, ‘Dennis’: Beach Boy Dennis Wilson passed away before he could finish and release his second album. ‘Bambu’ was released in 2008, but now fans will get a renewed chance to hear his masterwork.

2.       Gerard Way, ‘Into The Cave We Wander’: After My Chemical Romance ended, Gerard Way did two things: 1. Start his solo career and 2. Start writing comic books. This release combines the two into a 12” picture disc and 40-page comic book.

3.       The Flaming Lips, ‘The Flaming Lips Onboard The International Space Station Concert For Peace’: The Flaming Lips keep outdoing themselves when it comes to these fantastical art pieces. This time, the band will be releasing an EP of “live” tracks from the recently released ‘Oczy Mlody’ as if they were being performed on the International Space Station.

4.       Various Artists, ‘Recutting The Crap, Volume 1’: The Clash released ‘Cut The Crap’ in late 1985, just before the band broke up in early 1986. Since many felt the album was incomplete, some fans in bands took it upon themselves to re-imagine the album’s tracks in the way they thought it should sound. There will only be 1000 copies (300 green and 700 black), so this one might be hard to find.

5.       Various Artists, ‘Nuggets: Come To The Sunshine: Soft Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults’: ‘Nuggets’ was originally a compilation album of early psychedelic rock songs put together by Lenny Kaye as a marker of what inspired punk rock. However, Rhino Records took over the name and made a series with it in the 1980s, with two more albums released in 2004. ‘Come To The Sunshine’ is a rerelease of one of the 2004 compilations.

6.       Slick Rick, ‘The Great Adventures Of…’: Sometimes the most interesting releases are the ones that aren’t music at all. ‘The Great Adventures Of…’ is a 16-page children’s book composed of the lyrics to “Children’s Story.” The package also features a 7” of the song, as well as a CD copy of the album ‘The Great Adventures of Slick Rick.’

7.       Ken Kesey, ‘The Acid Test’: This piece caught my attention because it’s by author Ken Kesey, best known for his novel ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.’ But apparently he was also known for wild parties that he called “acid tests,” which regularly included early performances of the Grateful Dead. This is a new release of a rare 1966 in-studio recording Kesey had made “intended to recreate the live acid test shows.”

8.       Johnny Cash, ‘Children’s Album’: In 1975, Johnny Cash released a children’s album. There’s not much else to it, except that this is a guy that, while alive, sang about some really dark things releasing an album of music for children. The album has been out of print for more than 40 years.

9.       Jimmy Hendrix and Curtis Knight, “Live at George’s Club 20, 1965 & 1966’: Ever wonder what Jimi Hendrix was like before he was Jimi Hendrix? ‘Live at George’s Club’ features a young Hendrix performing covers with Curtis Knight before Hendrix was discovered. This is the first time this recording is being officially released.

10.   Various Artists, ‘Ciao! Manhattan’ Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Featuring one of the last performances by one of Andy Warhol’s most popular superstars, Edie Sedgwick (she died during the making of the film), ‘Ciao! Manhattan’ was the tragic story of a performer on a journey from New York to Santa Barbara. This soundtrack has never been released before and features music from the likes of Richie Havens, John Phillips and Skip Battin, as well as dialogue from the film.


Though we won’t know which albums we will be getting when Record Store Day 2017 rolls around on April 22, these are just some of the many, many titles being released that we think will be worth the wait. From releases that showcase artists’ humble beginnings to compilations featuring some of the more “out there” pieces of popular culture to rereleases of albums that have long been out of print, this year will see a lot of amazing works hit the shelves in celebration of music, artists, fans and the community that revolves around physical music and record stores.

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Don’t just celebrate independent record shops on Record Store Day! Come down to Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s top new independent record shop, and celebrate every day! We have thousands of titles to choose from with new ones being added to our collection all the time. Choose from a wide selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes and DVDs, as well as cultural memorabilia. Stop by our Plainview store during our newly extended business hours or shop online at vinylbay777.com to find our latest acquisitions.

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