2023's Record Store Day festivities continue with RSD Black Friday, offering a range of exclusive titles available in participating RSD shops, including Townsend Records. RSD Black Friday 2023 releases will be available in-store at Townsend Records on Friday 24th November and will be online on Townsend Music Store at 8 AM on Saturday 25th November. We've put together a list of our favourite releases from the drop and added links directly to the Product Pages, ready for you to bookmark for the big moment.
Ultravox
Quartet was Ultravox’s third album with Midge Ure on vocals, following two hugely successful albums, Vienna and Rage In Eden. The previous albums were produced by German producer, Conny Plank, whereas on Quartet, the band took the bold decision to use George Martin to produce, with his frequent co-collaborator Geoff Emerick as engineer. Quartet features four UK Top 40 singles: 'Reap The Wild Wind', 'We Came To Dance', 'Visions In Blue' and the silver-awarded 'Hymn'.
This RSD-exclusive Steven Wilson mix (Porcupine Tree) of Quartet was featured in the recent deluxe edition box set.
George Martin came out of retirement to produce Quartet at the insistence of his daughter Lucy, who was a big fan of Ultravox.
This mix of the record makes its vinyl debut here on Clear 2LP, along with a previously unreleased instrumental version of the album (not featured in the box set).
U2
Consisting of live recordings from three shows on the band’s War tour, Under A Blood Red Sky helped to cement U2’s reputation globally as one of the greatest live acts of all time. Featuring legendary live versions of ‘Gloria’, ‘I Will Follow’ and ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’, the album remains faithful to the original track list, but is newly remastered at the renowned studio Bernie Grundman Mastering.
Under A Blood Red Sky consists of live recordings from three shows on the band's War Tour, from Colorado and Boston in the US and from Germany.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of U2’s Under A Blood Red Sky, the 2023 RSD Black Friday vinyl campaign sees a newly remastered release of the iconic live album on limited edition red vinyl.
Prince
Released for RSD Black Friday 2023 on one-sided 12” vinyl, 'Gett Off (Damn Near 10 Minutes)' faithfully re-creates the original one-sided promo 12” that Prince serviced directly to club and radio DJs on Prince’s 33rd birthday (June 7, 1991). Only 1,500 copies of the original promo were created. The abridged 'Gett Off' single went on to reach #4 in the UK, and #21 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Not originally planned to be included on the Diamonds and Pearls album, the response to the track was so strong that an edited version was added to the album.
Prince & The New Power Generation’s 'Gett Off (Damn Near 10 Minutes)' will be released on one-sided 12” vinyl, a precise replica of the notorious collector's edition.
The Colourfield
After stints with The Specials and Fun Boy Three, Terry Hall formed The Colourfield in 1984, joining up with Karl Shale and ex-Swinging Cats member Toby Lyons. Taking a more formal classic pop route was less successful than his previous efforts but still holds well today. The discography of The Colourfield consists of two studio albums, one mini-album, two compilation albums and eleven singles.
Despite the fact that all three members were from Coventry, The Colourfield was based in Manchester.
The Very Best Of features the songs 'Thinking of You' and 'Castles In The Air' along with covers of 'Windmills of Your Mind' and The Monkees' 'She'. This exclusive RSD Black Friday release will be followed by a CD Box set featuring all their recordings and new vinyl versions of both their albums.
The Waterboys
The Waterboys' breakthrough album This Is The Sea and the single 'The Whole of The Moon', both from 1985, took the band to a global audience. Taken from the forthcoming 6CD box set of the making of the This Is The Sea album, this previously unreleased, faster-paced version of the album's title track includes Television's Tom Verlaine on lead guitar.
Mike Scott, the album's principal songwriter and leader of the Waterboys, describes This Is the Sea as "the record on which I achieved all my youthful musical ambitions".
The 10" spined Black Vinyl with inner is backed with a cover of another US rock legend, Iggy Pop, and his track 'The Passenger', which is also previously unreleased and exclusive to this RSD 10" single.
Sparks
Live at Record Plant 74' - Clear Vinyl
After several years of struggle, Sparks finally made a commercial breakthrough in the UK in 1974. That September the Mael Brothers took their quirky brand of art-rock back to their native California to perform a set at the Record Plant, for broadcast on KMET-FM’s Saturday Night At The Concert Hour series, a superb snapshot of the band at that point.
Live at Record Plant 74' features the band's Propaganda line-up of Ron & Russ Mael, Ian Hampton on bass, Dinky Diamond on drums and Trevor White on guitar.
This eight-song studio in-concert by Sparks in L.A, from September 1974, has never before been released on vinyl. This RSD Black Friday-exclusive version of the record is pressed on Clear Vinyl.
Many more RSD Black Friday 2023 titles are set to be available from Townsend Music Store including The Beat - I Just Can't Stop It (Expanded) 2-LP Crystal Clear Vinyl and Turnstile & BADBADNOTGOOD New Heart Designs Remix EP Black Vinyl.
RSD Black Friday 2023 releases will be available in-store at Townsend Records on Friday 24th November and will be online on Townsend Music Store at 8 AM on Saturday 25th November.