Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Historic vinyl fair has record fans in a spin

Here's what's going happening on the other side of the pond:


RARE Smiths offerings and gold-vinyl Oasis cuts were among the treasures on offer as Manchester enjoyed a vinyl revival.

Hundreds of collectors from across the country rifled through a collection of weird and wonderful LPs, singles and promo releases at the Vinyl Revival record fair in Sacha's hotel.

And among the dusty offerings were rarities from the Manchester music scene, including a signed Smiths LP worth £200, a £150 signed, gold-plated Oasis record and a limited New Order promo for £100.

Vinyl fans say record fairs are booming, despite competition from online trading and downloads.

Trader Cliff Pemberton, 58, from Glossop said: “If I get any Oasis, Stone Roses and 'Madchester' scene vinyl in it always sells very quickly. They are the modern collectibles.”

“We are coming out of a decline in vinyl fairs. The problem was e-Bay hit us badly about five years ago. People were buying vinyl online and attendances at fairs went down.

“But we battled on, and as time has gone on, things have started to go the other way.”

Co-organiser Adrian Melling said: “If you look at the artwork on some of these albums you can see why people come to the fairs. It's incredible. It's great to actually look through the records and search for things, rather than just look at it online.”

Trader Tommy Shennan, 55, from Blackley has 30,000 records in his collection.

Tommy said: “Northern Soul is always popular in the north west. I've also seen Oasis vinyl go up in value over the last few years. Personally I'm a soul man.”

Tommy's holy grail is a first issue of Frank Wilson's Do I Love You (Indeed I do).

“There are only four or five known of them left in the world,” he said.

Fellow trader Mick Johnson, 59, who travelled down especially for the fair from Bishop Auckland, in County Durham, said: “Manchester is one of the few fairs we get a lot of young people and students interested in the records.”

SOURCE: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/

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