CRATE diggers will be up at the crack of dawn to get their hands on precious vinyl on sale for Record Store Day.

The celebration tomorrow is the one day of the year when over 200 independent record shops all across the UK come together to celebrate their unique culture.

Special vinyl releases are made exclusively for the day and many shops and cities host artist performances and events to mark the occasion.

READ AGAIN: Vinyl revival: Truck Store record shop celebrates seventh birthday

The first Record Store Day took place in 2008 to give a boost to independent music stores struggling to cope with the recession.

Oxford Mail:

In recent years there has been a resurgence in vinyl sales, resulting in a number of store opening.

Last year vinyl sales were up 16 per cent year on year, with 60,000 albums and 30,000 singles changing hands.

READ AGAIN: Lack of footfall closes Wallingford's Music Box

Carl Smithson, manager of Truck Store, said fans would start queuing at dawn outside the Cowley Road shop to make sure they were in with a chance of getting their hands on some rare releases.

He said: “We open at 8am but there will be people queuing up for hours before then.

“Record Store Day is definitely good for independent music stores like Truck.

“At first it was part of an attempt to save some record shops from closing during tough times but now it’s more of a celebration of what we do all year round.

Oxford Mail:

“We really enjoy what we do but you have to work hard to make sure that customers keep coming back.”

READ AGAIN: Record Store Day in Oxford 2018

Mr Smithson said most music fans would start queuing from about 6am.

“People come here year after year so they have friends in the queue and they chat about what they are going to buy. There are about 500 Record Store Day releases and we should have most of them.”

The store manager said big sellers could include a test pressing of Bob Dylan’s seminal 1970s album Blood on the Tracks, a picture disc of David Bowie’s covers LP Pin-Ups, a live album by former Supergrass singer Gaz Coombes and Zaba Stripped by Oxford band Glass Animals.

Mr Smithson added: “These are limited editions so they are not cheap.

“But if people come into the store they get a chance to look at other vinyl and CDs too, which are not as expensive.

“There are some soundtrack releases I am really tempted by.”

Oxford Mail:

Truck’s sister store Rapture in Witney has an extensive vinyl section and is also participating in Record Store Day.

So too is Richard Strange, who now runs a pop-up record store at Didcot’s Cornerstone Arts Centre after a lack of footfall forced him to close Music Box in Wallingford Market Place. DJ sets will be staged at Truck and Rapture.