I fully support Record Store Day which was held this past Saturday on April 19th. I love this event not only because I collect vinyl but it also helps independent music stores.
According to the website www.recordstoreday.com, the event has been annual since 2007 and got started by record store owners and employees. The event is to celebrate the unique culture surrounding independent record stores throughout the U.S. as well as internationally.
What I like about the event is seeing the support of other vinyl fans uniting. I felt great walking into a record store and seeing it packed with people. It was like the good old days before iTunes and downloading music took over.
The part that I don’t like is having to miss out on the limited stock of the exclusive Record Store Day releases and then finding the prices inflated online.
This year had some decent special releases from artists like Ice T, Otis Redding and Bruce Springsteen. The full listing is available on the Record Store Day website but the release that I was hoping on buying was: R.E.M Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions, a 4-LP box set consisting of the band’s 1991 and 2001 unplugged sessions.
I knew my chances were slim to none to get a copy especially since Detroit has very few independent stores left and only two locations participated in the Record Store Day event. Sure enough neither location that I checked had the record.
As a huge R.E.M fan, I still want to get my hands on the limited edition vinyl release so my next step was to check online. The listings on eBay and Amazon were ridiculous with prices ranging from $900 being the highest and $289 being the lowest!
The dam retail price for it is $90! I get so frustrated with online sellers who do this and as much as I love R.E.M I’m not spending over $200 on limited edition vinyl.
The cd/digital release for R.E.M Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions will be available on May 20th as stated on the band’s website http://remhq.com. The website also stated that R.E.M is the only band to have performed the MTV Unplugged series twice.
I remember bits and pieces of watching the unplugged in 1991. I loved the cover they performed of One by U2. I also remember liking the acoustic version of It’s The End Of The World As We Know It. The 2001 performance mainly focused on the songs from their 1998 album Up and their 2001 album Reveal but the acoustic version of The One I love is awesome from that session.
Below is a link from Miserkocho You Tube channel showing a clip of R.E.M performing End Of The World As We Know It from their 1991 MTV Unplugged session.
Music Reportage 