Vinyl Rocks! Saturday Is Record Store Day 2012

Forget what you've heard. Vinyl is alive and well and on Saturday, April 21, musicians, fans and independent retailers across the country will celebrate Record Store Day 2012.

Originally founded in 2007, Record Store Day was conceived "as a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally."

Each year, a number of artists from a variety of genres release limited edition records for Record Store Day. A full list of the 2012 releases, including Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and The Clash,  can be seen here.

Traditionally held on the third Saturday of April, record stores often plan parties to coincide with the day.

Locally, several stores will be observing Record Store Day 2012 including Jack's Music Shoppe and Funk & Standard Variety Store in Red Bank, The Record Store in Howell and Groovy Graveyard and Holdfast Records in Asbury Park.

A full list of participating New Jersey stores can be found here.

Vinyl fell out of fashion with the advent of cassettes and compact discs and record sales saw a sharp decline in the early 1990s.

While major record labels moved away from the format, it remained popular with indie rock bands, DJs and audio geeks who preferred vinyl's warm, full sound.

In the last several years vinyl has seen a massive resurgence. Record sales practically doubled in 2008 over 2007 with 1.88 million albums sold. In 2010, that figure increased to 2.8 million and it continues to rise.

Do you still listen to records? Will you celebrate Record Store Day 2012? Let us know in the comment section below!