Best Record Store Day Black Friday Vinyl 2024: 10 Must-Buy Releases

9: Echo And The Bunnymen: The Killing Moon (12”, black vinyl)

Echo And The Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch has described The Killing Moon as “the greatest song ever written” – and with some degree of justification. Indeed, the band’s signature hit still shimmers with a timeless majesty. As part of the 40th-anniversary celebrations of its legendary parent album, Ocean Rain, this Black Friday 2024 reissue makes the song available on 12” for the first time since its original release, and it also includes the alternative All Night Version of the track.

Quantity: 3,000

Must hear: The Killing Moon

8: Grateful Dead: ‘Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, New Haven CT, 5/5/77’ (4LP, black vinyl)

Grateful Dead’s show at New Haven’s Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum on 5 May 1977 was one of four complete live concerts taped over consecutive nights in May of that year which collectively made up the group’s May 1977: Get Shown The Light CD box set in 2017. Since then, three of the other shows in the box – Barton Hall, Ithaca, New York; Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York; and Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts – have been issued individually, so this new vinyl edition of the New Haven show is one that committed Deadheads will want to snap up. However, even fans of a more casual persuasion will find much of value here, as the show also contains fantastic versions of the likes of Sugaree, Tennessee Jed and Scarlet Begonias, along with a take on Peggy-O that many believe to be the Dead’s definitive live rendering.

Quantity: 4,500

Must hear: Peggy-O

7: The Beat: ‘Special Beat Service’ (2LP, red and blue vinyl)

Released in the wake of their first two albums, I Just Can’t Stop It and Wh’appen?, The Beat’s third and final album, 1982’s Special Beat Service, is no slouch. Dialling down the manic energy of its illustrious predecessors, the record features some of the Birmingham band’s best – and most mature – material. Many of its tracks remain infused with reggae and ska, but the likes of Sole Salvation, Jeanette and the sublime Save It For Later seamlessly incorporate the sounds of soul and classic pop music.

Quantity: 3,000

Must hear: Save It For Later

6: Phil Collins: ‘Live From The Board… The Official Bootleg’ (10” EP, black vinyl)

Despite the intimate nature of the material (much of which concerned the breakdown of his second marriage), Phil Collins’ fifth solo album, 1993’s Both Sides, topped the UK charts and racked up multi-platinum sales. It was supported by the mammoth Both Sides Of The World tour, during which Collins performed 165 shows across 13 months – highlights of which were released on the now hard-to-find EP Live From The Board… The Official Bootleg, which now returns as a special limited-edition 10” for RSD Black Friday 2024.

Quantity: 3,000

Must hear: Easy Lover (Live)

5: John Lee Hooker: ‘Don’t Turn Me From Your Door’ (LP, yellow vinyl)

Originally released through the Atco imprint in 1963, Don’t Turn Me From Your Door was put together from recordings made by John Lee Hooker in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1953, and Miami, Florida, in 1961. Largely featuring no-frills solo performances by the legendary Mississippi-born musician, this gritty, down-home collection has long been a must-have for all serious blues fans, and its new, limited-edition pressing for RSD Black Friday 2024 adds four additional tunes to the original tracklist.

Quantity: 2,000

Must hear: You Lost A Good Man

4: Ramones: ‘Greatest Hits’ (LP, red vinyl)

A perfectly compiled career anthology is often the best point of entry for new fans, and Ramones’ Greatest Hits is just that. Pulling together so many essentials from the iconic NYC punks – from Blitzkrieg Bop and Beat On The Brat through to Wart Hog and Pet Sematary – the collection charts the arc of the group’s remarkable career from 1976 through to the 90s, and it remains entirely filler free. Though not a new collection, Greatest Hits is only now making its vinyl debut, which certainly earns it a spot among the best RSD Black Friday 2024 vinyl releases.

Quantity: 5,000

Must hear: Blitzkrieg Bop

3: Van Halen: ‘Live In Dallas, 1991’ (2LP, black vinyl)

In 1988, the Sammy Hagar-fronted iteration of Van Halen had the day from hell when their show at the Cotton Bowl, in Dallas, Texas, was cancelled due to Hagar losing his voice. Keen to make amends, the band vowed to play a free show for their Lone Star State faithful – a promise they kept when they returned to Dallas in 1991 and blocked off the main street of the West End Marketplace in order to stage an outdoors gig. Drawing heavily from their then current album, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, the set – which also includes exuberant versions of such Van Halen classics as Poundcake and Panama – now gets a wide release for RSD Black Friday 2024.

Quantity: 6,000

Must hear: Top Of The World

2: Joni Mitchell: ‘Hejira Demos’ (LP, black vinyl)

The latest instalment in Joni Mitchell’s ongoing series of archival releases, the hefty, 98-track Archives Vol.4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980) features demos, alternate versions and live recordings from the era that saw the influential songwriter release the albums Hejira, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, Mingus and Shadows And Light. For RSD Black Friday 2024, the Hejira demos are receiving a standalone release on 180g black vinyl, and its numerous intimate highlights include early takes of Furry Sings The Blues and Black Crow, the latter of which features Chaka Khan on backing vocals.

Quantity: 5,000

Must hear: Furry Sings The Blues (Demo)

1: The Doors: ‘Live In Detroit’ (4LP, black vinyl)

Controversy frequently hovered in the wings when The Doors played live, and their show at Detroit’s Cobo Arena, in May 1970, was no exception. In fairness, there was nothing as scandalous as what took place during the group’s infamous Miami show in March 1969, but by simply enjoying themselves to such a degree that their set overran the agreed curfew by an hour, the group were banned from making any future appearances at the venue.

Nonetheless, those who attended on the night were treated to a tremendous show which included a number of blues covers (I’m A King Bee, Mystery Train, Robert Johnson’s Crossroads) in addition to epic versions of Doors staples The End, Light My Fire and When The Music’s Over. The whole thing is now spread across four slabs of vinyl for RSD Black Friday 2024.

Quantity: 5,000

Must hear: Been Down So Long

Looking for more? Check out the best reissues of 2024.