The Pop Corporation

Kate Bush is great. What a treasure she is to have around. This was probably meant as an advert for Record Store Day (which is the Valentine’s Day for vinyl lovers, for better or worse), and the reissue of a Kate Bush track, which of course, we’ll talk about – but we’re more interested in what she said about the whole thing at the core of her message.

And the fact remains – Kate Bush is just cool, isn’t she?

So, for starters, she has been announced as the official ambassador for this year’s Record Store Day, and there, we all get to celebrate record shops, and people also get to enjoy being little stinkers about the whole thing and saying everyday is record store day, and honestly, it wouldn’t be such a fun tradition without people sniping at it, and we mean that. Life’s rich tapestry isn’t it? More importantly, some small record shops might see enough footfall that’ll keep them open for the rest of the year, and that is terrifically important.

If you’re joining in, then this year’s RSD will be on Saturday April 20th. Be nice to the shop staff as they’ll be a bit frazzled on the day and don’t show up making unreasonable demands as they’ll have been up since daft o’clock getting their store ready. Okay? Good.

More fun, is what Kate Bush has said about records and record buyers. She’s said: “What a huge honour to have been asked to be ambassador for this year’s Record Store Day. It really is a great privilege. Isn’t it great to see how the resurgence in vinyl has taken the music industry by surprise? It had decided to leave vinyl far behind, but it would seem that not everyone agrees! I love that!”

“I know there are many, many artists who are just as excited to see the audience turning the tide.”

She continued: “In the same way that some people like to read a book on Kindle but also want to have a book as a physical object, a lot of people like vinyl and streaming. Both have different appeals. The added bonus of vinyl is that it encourages people to listen to albums. An art form that I’ve always thought can be treasured in a unique way.”

“An album on vinyl is a beautiful thing, given a strong identity by its large-scale artwork. There’s a much more personal connection with the artist and their work. Each year Record Store Day gathers more attention, more momentum, and attracts more people who cram into indie record stores all over the world to see what’s up. What’s new?”

Isn’t that a lovely love letter to buying records and having LPs in your hands and all that good stuff? With that, it’s only fair that we give some promo to what she’s putting out herself on the day. You’ll be able to get a picture disc of ‘Eat The Music’ and, thanks to the miracle of technology and whatnot, picture discs no longer suck.

Bush says: “It’s been fun putting designs together for some of the previous RSDs. This year’s design echoes the cancelled release of ‘Eat The Music’ as the first single from the album, ‘The Red Shoes’.”

“The image was intended to be on the cover of the single bag and is now on the disc as a UV print. The title, ‘Eat The Music’, is meant to be a playful nod to ‘If music be the food of love, play on’, from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. This year, I hope you have a fantastic time at this very important event, and that you get to celebrate music that’s been specially released for you.

If you want to find anything more about this year’s Record Store Day, and you can’t be bothered opening a new tab on your phone, here is a link where you can ferret around and see what’s what. If you’re curious, then just go to your local record shop on the day and see what they’ve got in. Doesn’t matter if you just buy some existing stock they’ve got – RSD isn’t necessarily about limited run LPs and merch – it’s about sticking a couple of quid in an independent shop’s till, and that can only be a good thing.

More importantly, it’s the independent shops who are taking a punt on the bands that are about to become your new favourite and they aren’t falling foul of only getting copies of big hitters in. Support your local record shop if you can.