RECORD fans have a nervous wait ahead of them – they won’t know until the day if they will be able to buy a copy of a limited edition single from rock ‘n’ roll legend Keith Richards.
To mark this year’s Record Store Day, a limited edition 7in red vinyl release is to be released, featuring two songs from Rolling Stone’s guitarist. It will include his famous tracks Hate It When You Leave and Key To The Highway.
The first song comes from his second solo album, Main Offender, which was released in 1992. The second is rare as it only featured on the Japanese version.
Keith’s single will be wrapped up in special packaging has been created exclusively for Record Store Day, which takes place on Saturday, April 18.
He is a big fan of stores such as Wokingham’s Beyond The Download, which is taking part in the annual event.
“Thank goodness record stores still exist,” the rocker said. “They should be cherished.”
Ian Biles, who owns Beyond The Download, said that the single is so limited he doesn’t know yet if there will be any stock.
“We will try and get it in store,” he said. “But we can’t take any preorders for it, or reserve any copies. People will have to queue up if they want a copy.”
Mr Biles added that his team have been taking requests for it and others being released for Record Store Day, which is a celebration of all things vinyl.
And those hoping to get some satisfaction from this vinyl purchase will need to get there early.
“At last year’s Record Store Day, the queue at 6am was 80-strong,” Mr Biles said. “By the end of the day, we’d served around 200 people. It was a very busy day.
“We can’t open until 8am and on the day, to cope with demand we’ll let in two or three people at a time.
“And we only let people buy one copy of something to prevent dealers from swooping.”
To see the planned releases for Record Store Day 2020, log on to https://beyondthedownload.uk/pages/rsd20