St. Louis DJs selling 10,000 items to benefit local charity on Saturday, April 26

If this Saturday's Record Store Day festivities prove insufficient to slake your thirst for vinyl and other music collectables, here's something else to anticipate:  St. Louis radio DJs past and present have donated an estimated 10,000 records, CDs and items of music-related memorabilia to be sold for the benefit of a local charity in a one-day "pop-up sale" on Saturday, April 26.

"The Gigantic St. Louis DJ Album Sale for Charity" will be open to the public from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on April 26 at 3137 Locust St. (east of Compton, one block west of The Fountain on Locust). Avid collectors who'd like first crack at the goodies on offer can pay a $10 fee for early access at 9:30 a.m.

“Many of my old radio friends talked about selling off their album collections for years, so making it a group effort with current on-air personalities to raise money for the hungry here in St. Louis was enthusiastically received by all,” said the event's organizer Ron Stevens in a news release. Stevens, who was on KSHE during the station's early days as "Real Rock Radio," now is associated with the website OnStl.com, which is presenting the event.

All proceeds will benefit the not-for-profit organization Caritas Connections, which "collects donated items and distributes them to worthy organizations in the St. Louis metropolitan area, who use them to clothe, feed and assist the needy in our community."

To date, DJs known for their time on-air at stations including KSHE, WIL, KDHX and KTRS have donated items, with more being added daily until the date of the sale. You can find out about new donations on the event's Facebook page.

Said to be one the most collectable items at the sale: a test pressing of the Eagles album Hotel California signed by the band (pictured). But the news release also promises "rare albums valued from $100-200" as well as "one-of-a-kind KSHE promotional items from the ‘70s, many never before made available to the public." To help fatten the take a bit - it is for charity, after all - some of the choicer collectables, such as the Eagles album, will be offered by silent auction or raffle.

A number of DJs familiar to longtime local radio listeners also will be on hand to work the event, including Stevens, Joy Grdnic, Mark Klose, Joe "Mama" Mason, John Ulett, Ted Habeck, Drew Johnson, Jim Singer, Rik Anthony, Chuck Lavazzi, and Tim Rakel, along with "several other local personalities and musicians." Sales of pizza by the slice and bottled water, donated by (respectively) Imo's and Dierberg's, also will benefit Caritas Connection.