Forget streaming. Forget CDs. For many of us, there is simply no substitute for the vinyl album. Editor Stuart Laundy was among kindred spirits as he headed to Barnard Castle’s first record fair.
PARALLEL Lines, by Blondie. That was my first album. Released in September 1978, I reckon I bought it the following summer having saved up money from my paper round.
Does everybody remember the first record they bought?
Parallel Lines may have been the first album to grace my collection but my first record was a single, Rockin’ All Over The World, by Status Quo which was released in 1977.
I picked that up on the cheap from a box of 45s that were on sale in a newsagent’s shop in Neasham Road, Darlington.
While I liked Rockin’, it was the B-side that got me hooked on Quo. Ring of a Change, a track from the Blue for You album.
In the last 45 years or so I’ve spent far too much money on the Quo – not just the records but the gigs and the merchandise, although I did officially “retire” from following the band after the original four members got back together for the inevitable reunion in 2013.
Back in the day, vinyl was very much still king.
Singles were 70-odd pence in WH Smith or Woolies and albums were either £4.99 or £5.99. This was important to a young lad working on a milk round where the weekly wage was a fiver.
Sounds was my weekly music paper of choice, scanning the pages of new releases for something good to add to the collection.
Then came CDs, laser discs (remember them?) and everything changed.
Of course these days, it’s all about streaming.
But while vinyl may have all but disappeared before its current resurgence, there has always been a healthy second hand market, with fairs springing up here and there, including earlier this month, for the first time at the Methodist Church Hall, in Barnard Castle.
These days you’ll be lucky to find new albums released on vinyl for less than £20, but rummage around and there are gems to be unearthed.
About half a dozen or so traders took part in the Barnard Castle fair, which was organised by the same folk who hold regular events in Saltburn.
Encouraged by the response, the plan is to return to Barney up to four times next year.
Among those taking part was John Copeland, who runs Cheeky Monkey Records. He’s been collecting records for 40 years and selling them for the past 25.
He says: “There has always been a healthy market for second hand vinyl, although at one point it did get a bit ‘geeky’ and underground and the buyers were your stereotypical middle aged men.
“Now vinyl is back in vogue, although buyers are still predominantly male we are seeing a lot more ladies and there is also a huge interest among young people, especially university age.
“They are interested in a broad spectrum of music – people will listen to anything, which means I am selling a mixture – everything from rock and roll to heavy metal, punk to 80s. I cover every genre.”
You can spend as little or as much you want on second hand vinyl.
“I sell for as little as £2.50 or as much as £500,” says John.
Inevitably, I went home with empty pockets and another five albums to add to the collection. There was the classic 1972 release by Mott the Hoople, Rock and Roll Queen, and what in my opinion is the best album ever released by the Rolling Stones, Goat’s Head Soup. Quite how this wasn’t already part of my collection remains a mystery.
Then there was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ often overlooked album Hard Promises, from 1981, a live cut from Dan Baird and Homemade Sin (he’s the singer and guitarist from the Georgia Satellites) and finally Down in the Bunker from Brummie rock and roller Steve Gibbons.
I could have spent much more time and money perusing the hundreds of albums on offer and I undoubtedly will the next time their fair rolls into town.
