Record Store Day Hits the Mile Square

If you see a long line forming on Washington Street, it's usually for "Cake Boss" fans hoping to taste some of Buddy Valastro and family's sweet treats. But music lovers had their own queue going on in front of Tunes on Saturday morning for a chance to get their hands on some rare vinyl and celebrate Record Store Day.

"It was great," said Tunes owner in Hoboken, Chip Heuisler. "We had 25 to 30 people lined up before the store opened this morning. And with limited releases, you can get a lot of fans who are really excited."

If you're not sure what's so special about Record Store Day, it's a worldwide event that celebrates the idea of the independent record store, no FYE or Best Buy here. Aside from listeners, musicians also get in on the festivities by releasing limited edition records or CDs that are sold on that particular Saturday in April to show their support of the day. And because of the exclusivity of these albums and singles, vinyl connoisseurs and devoted fans lined up at the crack of dawn to get a copy.

Catherine McGowan, guitarist and singer in Bern & the Lights, perused the merchandise hoping for some great finds before playing at Tunes later that afternoon. With Raphael Saadiq's "Radio b/w Can't Jig Anymore" and "Dig A Little Deeper b/w What I Could Do If I Wanted" by Peter Bjorn and John in her hand, she enjoyed Record Store Day because of what it stands for and, of course, the music released on this particular day. "It's awesome because it gets artists to put out something special that the fans can appreciate," McGowan said. "So it's a win-win. It's like support local, indie people and here's a free present, a pretty gift for you to take home."

With the Foo Fighters' "Medium Rare" and the Beach Boys "Good Vibrations/Heroes and Villains" records selling out instantly, it begged the question whether there was any tension over the purchasing of vinyl that day. But Heuisler said customers played fair game. "I have to say everyone was great," he said. "We have had two instances when somebody had something, overheard someone else was really looking for it, and gave up their copy to that customer. So that was nice to see."

Although it was good to know people were willing to share the goods, Heuisler wished Tunes was able to get more of those scarce releases to make everyone happy. "They understood the limited nature of releases," he said. "We might get five of something, or we may get zero. There were things we ordered 25 of and we got zero. So that's one of the downsides—the supply of Record Store Day produces, the exclusives, the limited, is so much lower than the actual demand."

Rob Cassaday came to the Mile Square from New Brunswick in hopes of acquiring "Live at Bull Moose" by the Decemberists but unfortunately got to the shop around 1 p.m. and missed out. "I got here late," Cassaday, 39, said. "The key is to get to the store early, and I just didn't."

In a time when you can download albums and listen to them on your iPhone, some might wonder why even bother buying a record or CD. But Paul Cavalconte, host of "The Vinyl Experience" on Rock 101.9 RXP, thinks that people today have been turning music into "an accessory" as opposed to an experience and those who have embraced vinyl and CDs are really making a "commitment" to listening to the songs.

"What people are discovering about vinyl is it's about focus and commitment," he said. "You really have to make a decision that you're going to spend time with a recording and live in the space of this recording and all the recording offers including the packaging, the information that an album cover gives you and in the case of playing records, the act one and two aspect of the hi-fi listening experience as if you're having a performance."