We are delighted that Classic Album Sundays will be the official events partner of the first ever National Album Day on Saturday 13th October. The event, which also marks the 70th anniversary of the album in 2018, will be the highlight of week-long activity around the country that will celebrate the UK’s love of the album and enable a national conversation around the format.
We will be hosting a week long run of events to celebrate! Full details can be found on the links below:
Sunday October 7th 2018 Classic Album Sundays presents KT Tunstall on ‘Eye to the Telescope’
Monday October 8th 2018 Classic Album Sundays with Paloma Faith: Album Inspirations
Wednesday October 10th 2018 Classic Album Sundays presents Orbital on ‘In Sides’
Thursday October 11th 2018 – Bobby Gillespie on Primal Scream ‘Give Out But Don’t Give Up’
Saturday October 13th 2018 – Ray Davies on ‘The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society’ on Bowers & Wilkins
Sunday October 14th 2018 – Thurston Moore on Sonic Youth ‘Daydream Nation’ on Bowers & Wilkins
Sunday October 14th 2018 – Classic Album Sundays Portsmouth present Sonic Youth ‘Daydream Nation’ with Audio T
Keep your eyes peeled for more announcements coming soon.
National Album Day is being organised by ERA and the BPI, and has the backing of artists and the wider music community.
The aim is to establish National Album Day as an anticipated annual event in the music calendar that is inclusive and non-prescriptive and will grow over time, in a similar way to Record Store Day.
National Album Day is delighted to announce Paloma Faith – Sony Music/RCA recording artist, as one of its first artist ambassadors, who says: “I vividly remember being excited by so many classic albums as I was growing up, like Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’, Dylan’s ‘Freewheelin’’, and Erykah Badu’s ‘Mama’s Gun’, although, if I had to pick one, the album that most inspired me was Tracy Chapman’s self-titled debut. It featured the incredibly powerful ‘Why?’ – a song that has become a real anthem for me not least as it was the first to bring home the emotional power of lyrics. The way we engage with music may be changing, but for me the album remains the ultimate expression of the songwriter’s craft.”
The event’s official broadcast partner is BBC Music, which is supporting the initiative through programming and editorial support on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, and BBC Radio 6 Music stations plus on BBC iPlayer and BBC Four – which will be re-screening some of its celebrated music documentaries.
Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI & BRIT Awards, adds: “It is fitting that, in this 70th anniversary year, we should look to create a special moment that celebrates the UK’s love of the album and the huge role it plays at the heart of our popular culture. The album has underpinned the phenomenal success of recorded music the world over, providing artists with a compelling medium through which to express their creativity and fans the freedom to engage with all shades of music through the stories that it tells.
“Streaming may be broadening our ability to access and discover music, but the concept of the album as a body of work that expresses a narrative or an artist’s creative vision at a given moment, remains as relevant and inspiring as ever.”
Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy founder of Classic Album Sundays added:
