Hey Fort Collins, Saturday Is National Record Store Day

Going to a record shop was my favorite thing in the world when I was in middle school and high school. Sadly, most kids now don't even know what a record store is. (Yes Best Buy, Walmart and Starbucks have albums you can buy, but they aren't record stores.)

Two Fort Collins record stores are planning events for National Record Store Day tomorrow along with one in Estes Park (and plenty more to the south of us). Rock 'n' Robin's (804 S. College Ave.) is an official Record Store Day store, and according to the Coloradoan, The Bizarre Bazaar (254 Linden Street) will be offering new vinyl for the first time and a 25% discount (But they are not listed on the Official Record Day Store website.  Sgt. Peppers Music & Video (160 East Elkhorn Ave., Estes Park) is as another official store.

Get out there and buy some records tomorrow! I don't care how many downloads you have, how full your iPod is, or how many CD's you own...there's nothing quite like a fresh vinyl record spinning on your turntable.

This is the fifth annual Record Store Day, what is it all about?

This is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists in the United States and in various countries across the globe make special appearances and performances. Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet & greets with artists, parades, djs spinning records and on and on.

Some of the cool stuff available at record stores on Record Store Day:

RECORD STORE DAY EXCLUSIVE RELEASES. Exclusively available on Record Store Day at Record Store Day participating stores. Will not be available anywhere else in the same format.

RECORD STORE DAY LIMITED RUN/REGIONAL FOCUS RELEASES. Also exclusively available on Record Store Day at Record Store Day participating stores, but the quantities of these titles are EXTREMELY limited. Under 1000, and WAY under 1000 in some cases. We felt it was only right to put them on a special sub-list, so that everyone is clear on the odds.

RECORD STORE DAY FIRST’ RELEASE. These are titles that you can find on Record Store Day at Record Store Day participating stores. So if you’re a fan of the artist, you get first listen. At some point in the future, generally four to six weeks, these titles will be available, in the same format, at other retailers.

You can follow this link to the Record Store Day page that lists the releases. There are a TON of them and from just about every genre of music you can imagine.

[National Record Store Day]

[The Bizarre Bazaar]

[Rock 'n' Robin's]

[Sgt. Peppers Music & Video]