Hellooo! I'm a bit of a collector when it comes to CDs and I've acquired a fair amount of limited edition items over the years so I thought I'd start a new series called 'Limited Edition' where I talk about some of the bits and bobs I have! I've been listening to a lot of one of my favourite bands, 5 Seconds of Summer, lately so I thought I'd start with a limited edition cassette they released a few years ago!
Every year, independent record stores across the UK participate in an event called Record Store Day, where artists release or re-release albums or singles onto limited edition vinyls. These may be coloured vinyls, picture discs or other limited edition releases which is all very exciting to collectors! Now I'm a sucker for a limited edition and especially when there's a a limited number of the item being released! On Record Store Day in April 2014, 5 Seconds of Summer decided to celebrate the day with something a bit different in collaboration with Record Store Day. They released a cassette tape version of their debut single which had been released a month earlier on the 21st February. Rather than this cassette being released into independent record stores to sell to customers, they were hidden in these stores across the UK and given away for free to customers who said the password to staff members! Not only was it a one day offer, the number of tapes being released was also limited to 2000!
That day in 2014 was my first experience of Record Store Day and I didn't realise just how big of a deal it was as I was new to it all! I turned up to my local record store mid-morning and of course, they didn't have any left and after seeing other people with them on social media, the hunt began to find one! They kept popping up on eBay for VERY high prices but a couple of weeks after Record Store Day, I managed to find one on eBay for around £20 and I couldn't resist buying it! Although I have a tape player from when I was younger, I haven't actually played the She Looks So Perfect cassette yet, I'm glad to have it in my collection and I'm sure I'll play it one day. There are three tracks on the tape which are as follows:
She Looks So Perfect (Acoustic)
Wherever You Are
What I Like About You
There is also a hidden fourth track named 'Pizza' which wasn't listed on the tracklist and, at the time, was only available on this cassette tape. The song was later released on the B-Sides and Stuff EP in Australia and as a hidden track on the physical version of the LiveSOS album. I loved that the tape featured a song available nowhere else (at the time) as it made it feel even more exclusive! I also really liked the song choices to be included on the tape as they showed a range of 5 Seconds of Summer's music. I also loved the colour scheme and design of the cassette and the printing on the actual tape and it's easy to see that even though it was produced to distribute as a free item, a lot of effort has been put into the tape! It also fits in well with the physical CD versions of She Looks So Perfect.
5 Seconds of Summer also released their debut self-titled album on an picture disc vinyl as part of Record Store Day's 12 Days of Christmas promotion in 2014. Sadly, I missed out on this one again and haven't been able to find it since! The record was available in stores for one day only and the one I went to had one in stock but it was reserved for another customer. All in all, I love the idea of Record Store Day and how it celebrates independent Record Stores. It's also great for people like myself who LOVE a good limited edition release! If you're after something that's a Record Store Day exclusive, learn from my mistakes and contact your local record store beforehand to make sure they order one in and if you ask nicely they might keep it aside and reserve it for you! This year's Record Store Day is on Saturday 13th April and I'm looking forward to seeing what's going to be part of this year's celebration!
Thanks for reading!
Sophie
