The ninth annual Record Store Day (RSD) takes place on Saturday 16 April in celebration of independent record stores around the world.
Amazingly, the Oldest shop selling records is Spillers Records in Cardiff, UK which has been in business since 1894. It was originally founded to sell phonographs, wax cylinders and shellac discs and it has been running as a music and record store non-stop ever since.
This year’s RSD we will see exclusive releases from massive music artists including Metallica, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Madonna and Johnny Cash – all of whom have a variety of Guinness World Records titles as well as an array of chart-topping records to their names.
To celebrate Record Store Day and special album releases from these stars, Guinness World Records shares their records we love most…
Metallica
This year Metallica is the official ambassador of RSD and the American rock band is releasing a boxset containing remastered editions of their first two albums, Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning.
In December 2013 they truly developed into worldwide superstars when they became the First musical act to play a concert on all seven of Earth’s continents.
Metallica actually performed on all seven continents in a calendar year, following tour dates in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia.
They finished by entertaining 120 scientists and competition winners in a transparent dome at Carlini Station in Antartica in a show appropriately dubbed “Freeze ‘Em All”.
David Bowie
Record Store Day will also feature three releases from British music icon David Bowie, who sadly passed away on 10 January, including a disc of six songs he recorded back in 1966.
The day after his shocking death, Bowie, his recordings attracted a staggering 51 million views on the video-hosting platform VEVO, earning the music legend a record for the Most views for an act on VEVO in 24 hours.
Receiving an incredible 11.1 million views, the achievement was led by “Lazarus” – the second single from his 26th studio album Blackstar (2016) which was released just days before his passing.
Bob Dylan
“Melancholy Mood” was released as a limited edition 7” vinyl EP for Bob Dylan's recent Japanese tour, and a restricted quantity of the track is going to be available to buy on Record Store Day.
The American pop singer-songwriter (b. Robert Zimmerman, 24 May 1941) was 73 years 266 days old when he debuted at No.1 on the UK's Official Albums Chart with his 36th studio set, Shadows in the Night, on 14 February 2015 and became the Oldest UK charts topper (male).
Madonna
Madonna (USA, b. Madonna Ciccone) is the Best-selling female recording artist, having sold more than 300 million albums in her career since debuting with her self-titled release in 1983.
As of October 2013, Madonna had sold an estimated 305,600,000 albums. Her best-sellers are The Immaculate Collection (1990, 30 million copies sold) and True Blue (1986, 25 million copies sold).
Although precise sales figures are difficult to obtain and are often disputed, it is acknowledged that only The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson have conclusively sold more albums worldwide than Madonna.
In honour of Record Store Day she is releasing Like A Virgin & Other Big Hits! as a 12" Coloured Vinyl.
She is such a renowned popstar that she has even inspired a Guinness World Records attempt for the Largest gathering of people dressed as Madonna. The 2014 Fool's Paradise Drag Party (USA) set the record with an incredible 440 people in Fire Island Pines, New York, USA, in August 2014.
Johnny Cash
Man In Black: Live In Denmark 1971 is now available for the first time on LP as a special release fo RSD.
Purchasing music has moved a long way from vinyls record stores, and now most people get their music on digital streaming services. The Most popular music download site is iTunes as on 6 March 2010 “Guess Things Happen That Way” by Johnny Cash (USA) became the 10 billionth track to be downloaded from the iTunes music store since its launch in April 2003.