Record Store Day (RSD) enters its 16th year of celebrating the independent record store on April 22nd and as part of this year’s celebration, Todd Rundgren’s classic album A Wizard, a True Star will get a special 50th Anniversary release. The exclusive edition is pressed on 140-gram vinyl that explodes with color and is packaged with the original  dye-cut psychedelic album cover, complete with a Patti Smith poem written on a Band-Aid.

RSD’s annual event continues to support some of the most impactful charities and social initiatives on radar. This year, US organizers have pledged to donate $1 per copy sold of the beautiful reissue at US record stores this weekend to Rundgren’s Spirit of Harmony Foundation which supports music education. The funds will be combined with a generous donation from Marshall Headphones & Speakers. The donation will be presented to Rundgren later this summer by Record Store Day co-founder Michael Kurtz.

About Record Store Day

Record Store Day began in April 2008 as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1,400 independently owned record stores in the US, and thousands of similar stores internationally. Today there are Record Store Day participating stores on every continent except Antarctica. 

The annual event brings together independent record stores from around the world featuring a range of celebratory activities that offer special promotions, artist appearances, performances, give-a-ways and more. This year Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires serve as the ambassadors to Record Store Day (RSD). On the first RSD, Metallica played a live performance at Rasputin Music in San Francisco. Make sure to check with the local stores in your area to see what special festivities are happening to celebrate today. Check here for a list of participating stores: https://recordstoreday.com/Stores. For a list of releases visit: https://recordstoreday.com/SpecialReleases

About The Spirit of Harmony Foundation

Todd Rundgren’s Spirit of Harmony Foundation (SOHF) is a national grassroots organization that advocates for music education and music performance for children, particularly in public schools. Their mission is to work with individual music programs to assist them in building a sustainable network of local support, based on the measurable data that makes the case for the importance of music education in the neurological, social, academic, economic, and of course artistic, development of youth. SOHF was established by Todd and his fans in 2013.

Music has Socially Sparked® our lives in countless ways. It brings us joy, soothes our soul, energizes our brains and comforts us. This has never been more true than over these past few years as we all sheltered in place, experienced lockdown and social distancing. Our nation’s youth We encourage you to take advantage of this year’s impressive and exciting list of music releases, support your local record store and simply enjoy! The bonus – when you purchase the exclusive limited-edition release of Todd Rundgren’s A Wizard, A True Star – our children will benefit with music education thanks to the Spirit of Harmony Foundation -– Abbe is Socially Sparked! Tweet us @sosparkednews & @asparks01