The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Record Store Day 2026

Shorty Wave · April 18, 2026 8:19 am

Today, April 18th, is Record Store Day and there are several vinyl releases specifically to celebrate this, from reissues to new material, mainstream to indie and there are quite a few articles online listing releases available.

Although vinyl will cost you, I think it’s worth it for the aural satisfaction and I’m pretty happy that it is available again! If you live in the GTA, there are a few branches of Sunrise Records and they have a fairly decent vinyl selection. Happy shopping!

mace · April 18, 2026 9:30 am

One of my most prized LP finds was in a Record on Wheels delete bin. I found a mint unwrapped copy of the Yardbirds 1966 album Over Under Sideways Down. I know it had to be an original release because in the top corner there was an extra note. "Record Retailers: File Under Top Teen Hits"

Chrisphen · April 18, 2026 12:10 pm

Prices for records these days are entirely unreasonable. You're hard-pressed to find anything new for under $30, and some of the gouging on used stuff is ludicrous. I was at a record show recently and one of the vendors was asking $350 for an early print of Death's 'Leprosy'. C'mon, man. We both know 80's-era records were made poor quality lightweight vinyl.

Jody Thornton · April 18, 2026 12:44 pm

Chrisphen wrote:
Prices for records these days are entirely unreasonable. You're hard-pressed to find anything new for under $30, and some of the gouging on used stuff is ludicrous. I was at a record show recently and one of the vendors was asking $350 for an early print of Death's 'Leprosy'. C'mon, man. We both know 80's-era records were made poor quality lightweight vinyl.

I stopped purchasing LPs in 2023. Prices are ridiculous, and I stuck to this narrative that LPs were superior to CDs and digital. All it did was help put me into terrible debt, by continuing to seek out expensive LPs. Now I have 5,000 records and moving them has become a major pain. I hope my lady friend and I stay put where we are now for a LONG time.

Yes, many LPs sound superior to their CD counterparts, but that's not down to format. Those are just mastering differences. If a Gen Zer or Millennial today came to me for advice on starting a vintage hi-fi journey with physical media, I'd say collect CDs. They are cheap, plentiful and can sound great (putting aside all of the loudness wars issues). LPs are too expensive, and no one will repair cassette decks, so CDs seem to be the best bet.

Chrisphen · April 18, 2026 1:55 pm

Jody Thornton wrote:
Yes, many LPs sound superior to their CD counterparts, but that's not down to format. Those are just mastering differences. If a Gen Zer or Millennial today came to me for advice on starting a vintage hi-fi journey with physical media, I'd say collect CDs. They are cheap, plentiful and can sound great (putting aside all of the loudness wars issues). LPs are too expensive, and no one will repair cassette decks, so CDs seem to be the best bet.

Even the era of cheap CDs is starting to fade. New shops are still carrying cheap discs, though less of them (I say cheap when compared to the CD price-fixing of the 80's-90's). Used places are starting to raise the prices on rarer titles.

Edit - It's also noteworthy that while Record Store Day does present an intersting selection of exclusive releases, most are scooped up by speculators who immediately turn them around on Ebay.

Last edited by Chrisphen (April 18, 2026 2:01 pm)

mace · April 19, 2026 4:29 am

Jody Thornton wrote:
Chrisphen wrote:
Prices for records these days are entirely unreasonable. You're hard-pressed to find anything new for under $30, and some of the gouging on used stuff is ludicrous. I was at a record show recently and one of the vendors was asking $350 for an early print of Death's 'Leprosy'. C'mon, man. We both know 80's-era records were made poor quality lightweight vinyl.
I stopped purchasing LPs in 2023. Prices are ridiculous, and I stuck to this narrative that LPs were superior to CDs and digital. All it did was help put me into terrible debt, by continuing to seek out expensive LPs. Now I have 5,000 records and moving them has become a major pain. I hope my lady friend and I stay put where we are now for a LO
Yes, many LPs sound superior to their CD counterparts, but that's not down to format. Those are just mastering differences. If a Gen Zer or Millennial today came to me for advice on starting a vintage hi-fi journey with physical media, I'd say collect CDs. They are cheap, plentiful and can sound great (putting aside all of the loudness wars issues). LPs are too expensive, and no one will repair cassette decks, so CDs seem to be the best bet.

Did you at one time store your albums in milk crates? I did.

Paul Jeffries · April 19, 2026 5:44 am

Chrisphen wrote:
Prices for records these days are entirely unreasonable. I was at a record show recently and one of the vendors was asking $350 for an early print of Death's 'Leprosy'.

Never heard of that one.

PJ

Jody Thornton · April 19, 2026 8:55 am

mace wrote:
Did you at one time store your albums in milk crates? I did.

No I never did. Lots of shelving though. :D

Fitz · April 19, 2026 10:26 am

mace wrote:
One of my most prized LP finds was in a Record on Wheels delete bin. I found a mint unwrapped copy of the Yardbirds 1966 album Over Under Sideways Down. I know it had to be an original release because in the top corner there was an extra note. "Record Retailers: File Under Top Teen Hits"

I have a Yardbirds album with a Teen Group notation. Am pretty sure I bought it around 1972 after I heard a few tracks by the group on CJRT's prog show. I also have the Over Under Sideways Down album but under a different name, two extra tracks and the ""Roger The Engineer" cover. See pics below:

g121 · April 19, 2026 10:29 am

mace wrote:
Did you at one time store your albums in milk crates? I did.

Of course .. never understood why they were called 'milk crates' when their dimensions/sturdiness were absolute perfect for storage & carting around LPs : )) ..

RadioActive · April 19, 2026 11:23 am

And then there was this...

pinto · April 19, 2026 1:10 pm

g121 wrote:
mace wrote:
Did you at one time store your albums in milk crates? I did.
Of course .. never understood why they were called 'milk crates' when their dimensions/sturdiness were absolute perfect for storage & carting around LPs : )) ..

Until they went metric.

Dparker · April 19, 2026 4:08 pm

the lineups yesterday were insane - really took away from the day

Chrisphen · April 19, 2026 4:49 pm

Paul Jeffries wrote:
Never heard of that one.

PJ

I can't fault you for it. They were (or perhaps still are) a Florida metal band popular amongst the weird and wayward youth of the day, The relevant radio connection (vital to this forum) probably would be the fact that Howard Stern staffer (and all-around amusing japester) Richard Christy was their drummer for a while.

You take the point - vendors who think smelly 80's-era records are worth big bucks are fooling both themselves and their marks.

Unless they had incorporated the ashes of deceased band members into the product. Then maybe.

Chrisphen · April 19, 2026 4:58 pm

Dparker wrote:
the lineups yesterday were insane - really took away from the day

Yeah. While it is heartening that some are appreciating the value of physical media, there are enough dum-dums to spoil the event. We do not need record shoppes turning into Costco when they receive a new shipment of Pokemon cards.

Shorty Wave · April 20, 2026 8:14 am

Dparker wrote:
the lineups yesterday were insane - really took away from the day

I saw this, although that’s a fairly good indication of vinyl’s resurrected popularity! There was some fairly decent special releases, like The Cure’s acoustic versions of their hits album, and some reissued albums, thus the line ups.