IT’S A RECORD
Last Updated - Thursday 8th April 2010, 16:38
Record Store Day celebrates a Belfast original
“There’s nothing as glamorous to me as a record store. I hope that these kinds of stores will be there for us all for many years to come.”
Paul McCartney
Buying music used to be fun. Before there was music downloading music fans used to explore record stores to get the latest release from their favourite band and, if they were lucky, discover something new, different and independent.
Record stores are not like any other shops. They are more like meeting places were music fans swap stories, pass judgement on new releases and music news. For generations of young people, the trip to their local record store was an essential weekly ritual. The people who run real music stores are also a special breed, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of music and usually enough opinions to go round. In contrast, buying CDs online is a rather soulless experience.
American singer Tom Waits says of music stores: “Folks who work here are professors.” They were also celebrated in Nick Hornby’s book ‘High Fidelity’ and the subsequent film of the same name.
Sadly, faced by the corporate giants of the internet, music stores and the “professors” who work in them are becoming increasingly scarce. To correct this, Record Store Day has been established to celebrate and promote this much loved institution.
THE GREAT VIBRATOR
Record Store Day is Saturday 17th April and this year there will be a special celebration of one of the most famous record stores of all, Good Vibrations in Belfast.
Originally sited on Great Victoria Street, this independent record store became world famous during the late 1970’s as the rallying point for the Belfast punk movement. It was listed in ‘The Independent’ newspaper as one of the fifteen most famous rock ‘n’ roll sites in the UK.
Over the years Good Vibrations has changed location a number of times and the store is now situated in Belfast’s Winetavern Street, in the Smithfield Market area of the city. Run by local legend Terri Hooley it still stocks an eclectic collection of music on CD and vinyl.
Coincidently, 17th April also marks a low point in the Good Vibrations story, as it is the 6th anniversary of the fire that destroyed the store in its previous location in Belfast’s historic North Street Arcade; a calamity that nearly put Good Vibrations out of business.
Terri Hooley says: “Although things have been tough over the last 6 years, we will do our best to keep the shop open especially for the many people who come to visit us from all over the world.
“Good Vibrations is not just a shop. It has been a way of life and had a very positive effect on many lives: we were a beacon of hope for thousands of kids here in the bad times of ‘the troubles’. If we can stay open until the Good Vibrations - The Movie comes out, then we will have a wonderful opportunity to capitalise on the publicity.”
Good Vibrations will celebrated at a special concert to mark Record Store Day at the Oh Yeah centre in Belfast. The line up will include The Moondogs, The Lee Headley Band, Jim Reily (ex SLF), The Angery Inch, John D’arcy and others to be announced.
SEVEN INCHES OF PLEASURE
The Beatles are the latest act to join the line up of exclusive record releases for Record Store Day, joining The Rolling Stones, The Pet Shop Boys and The Flaming Lips.
The Beatles’ label Parlophone is releasing a series of limited seven-inch vinyl records to support this Record Store Day on April 17. They include The Beatles’ Paperback Writer b/w Rain, Tinie Tempah’s number one single Pass Out and Pet Shop Boys’ Love Life b/w A Powerful Friend.
Each release is limited to 1,000 and exclusive to the independent record shops taking part in the event. In many cases this is the first time the music has been available in a physical format
ends
Or you could visit Good Vibrations in Winetavern Street Belfast (old Smithfield) and talk to Terri Hooley, chat to some of the customers, and who knows, maybe even buy a record.