Wrexham vinyl fans are eagerly anticipating Record Store Day 2018 which will take place on Saturday April 21.

More than 200 independent record shops across the UK will come together to celebrate their unique culture with two stores in Wrexham officially taking part.

Moonlight Records in Bridge Street and Alun Hughes Film Music and Nostalgia in Bank Street will be joined by Teenage Wildlife in Ty Pawb – a shop so new they missed the January deadline to be an official participant.

Record Store Day sees over 500 special vinyl releases, with queues expected to start forming for the co-ordinated door openings at 8am.

Alun Hughes said that last years event was the single busiest day he’d ever had in retail – which is no mean feat for a man who’s been selling records since 1977.

He said: “Record day is a major piece of therapy for shops, it’s one of those things that is a massive alternative to the internet.”

He says the vinyl renaissance in recent years is down to the collectible element of the records and the fact that people wanted more than just a CD and the pure functionality of downloads.

He added: “Most of them don’t even open the LP, they just keep them in the same way I once collected postage stamps and tea cards, but they’re beautiful things and works of art.”

Of the 500+ releases, Alun says that the likes of Bruce Springsteen’s Greatest Hits will prove to be popular because of the shortness of supply in terms of the demand.

He said: “There’s a few of the titles that we’re not going to be able to meet the demand for, one of the obvious ones is a group called the Waterfront, they’re ex Stone Roses members, so it’s that sort of band people will be queuing up waiting for.

“But Wrexham also has its own thing, so I get asked for groups like the Lemonheads and Carter USM, that were really popular here in the 1990’s.”

Over at Moonlight Records, Bryan Davies said he expects another busy day as the shop takes part in the annual event once again.

He said: “Although vinyl has become a lot more mainstream over the last 6 or 7 years, we specialise more in rock music, so people know what they want when they come here.”

Moonlight has visitors from all over the region, including from Merseyside and Cheshire who come to the shop to find the music they like and want to listen to, but it’s also a place bands from Wrexham can sell and promote their own music.

Although missing the deadline to officially take part this year, Mike Jones from Teenage Wildlife is keen to still be involved as much as he can.

He said: “Hopefully we’ll be doing some food in the morning and there will be a link up with a coffee shop called Blank Canvas throughout the day.”

Bank Street Coffee will also be involved, with events planned throughout the day.