The 6 strangest Record Store Day releases

18 April 2018

It’s Christmas for vinyl junkies and most record shops' busiest day of the year… that’s right Record Store Day returns for 2018 on Saturday (21 April).

We will be getting in the spirit of things here on 6 Music, firstly by sending Lauren Laverne off to Spillers Records in Cardiff – the world’s oldest record shop – on Record Store Day Eve (AKA Friday, 20 April).

Not only will her show be coming live from the shop, but there will be a 'Vinyl only' Desert Island Disco featuring Gwenno and Gruff Rhys Back 2 Back, Haley is live in session, experimental classical composer Shiva Feshareki provides a turntable masterclass and Lauren will be previewing a host of this year’s RSD exclusive releases on air.

Then on Record Store Day itself our DJs will playing music taken from their own personal record collections all day.

To whet your appetite for all the incoming rare bits of vinyl you'll see and hear this weekend, here are 6 of the strangest releases concocted especially for Record Store Day since its inception in 2007.

Third Man Records' enthusiasm for strange vinyl is well noted, as they've created everything from limited edition pressings of exclusive sessions to special gold and platinum vinyl for the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, so naturally head honcho Jack White’s RSD releases are a bit special too.

Leading the way is his effort for 2012, a 12-inch pressing of the track Sixteen Saltines from his solo debut which was filled with a bright blue liquid that swilled around as the record is played.

According to Third Man, a fully playable, liquid-filled record had been attempted before – prototypes for the soundtrack for the 1978 film The Black Hole had been pressed though were abandoned – but this was the first one that didn’t leak!

As if recruiting the likes of Nick Cave, Chris Martin, Ke$ha, Yoko Ono, Bon Iver and more for a special collaborative album wasn’t enough of a Record Store Day treat, The Flaming Lips laced 2012’s The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends with something extra: their blood.

Ten randomly distributed copies of the 10,000 pressed boasted a bonus disc filled with the fluids of the band, plus many of the acts who appeared on the album too.

Having kept all the blood collected fresh in frontman Wayne Coyne’s own fridge at home, there was enough spare for a further ten ‘enhanced’ LPs that went on sale for $2500 each after Record Store Day to raise money for charity.

Having made use of coloured string to create the artwork for their 2014 album Mess themselves, the idea for Liars 2014 Record Store Day release seemed obvious: embed those threads within a record… But was it possible?

“We talked about the idea for days but weren't at all sure it could physically be done. After all, pressing bits of coloured string into the actual vinyl was nothing we'd ever heard of before,” explained the band’s Angus Andrew when they confirmed their track Mess On A Mission for a special RSD release.

Well it was possible, and 1000 string laden 12-inch singles duly came in to being.

“To us it seemed like such a unique and interesting way to extend the visual language of Mess right inside the music,” added Andrew.

This 2017 Record Store Day release writes itself… well almost.

Reissuing The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick last year, the packing took its cue from narrative driven track Children’s Story, which was duly recreated visually as a 16-page children’s book and even printed on authentic resilient, puffy pages.

So settle in for the ultimate bedtime story, the little boy who misled the police chase…

Africa certainly put ToTo on the map, the song is the Los Angeles’ band’s biggest hit, so for Record Store Day 2017 they returned the favour putting the track on an actual map… of Africa, naturally.

The dye-cut 12-inch picture disc features the continent of Africa on side one, while with the B-side featured a photo of actress Rosanna Arquette who inspired their other noted single, Rosanna.

Their entire career, er, mapped out in one release.

The “public assistance ID card” that featured on the cover of Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s solo debut Return To The 36 Chambers is one of the most iconic record sleeves of all time.

Hence there was no messing about for a 2016 Record Store Day reissue of the Wu-Tang Clan man's work: the record cover simply became the record.

Cut to the same shape as the ID card (the play out grooves featured within) ODB's tracks Brooklyn Zoo and Shimmy Shimmy Ya – the first singles from the 1995 album – appeared on a picture disc/ giant ID card release.

No (record) jacket required.

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