Sounds of then: This is vinyl

ANDY JACKSON/Taranaki Daily News

WAXHEAD HEAVEN: Brian Wafer is organising New Plymouth's first vinyl record fair.

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For music aficionados there is no comparison to the hiss and crackle of old vinyl records.

"It's my preferred choice when listening to music," Brian Wafer, organiser of next month's first New Plymouth Record Fair, said.

"When I first heard the Beatles, man, that was it, and vinyl was the format.

"If you wanted to hear them again, besides turning on the radio, you went and bought a record."

Mr Wafer, who has more than 10,000 records, says the upcoming fair is a chance for Taranaki music lovers to buy, sell and exchange vinyl records of all types.

"It's all just about choices, really, you've got your CD choice, your MP3 or your downloads or whatever. This is for people who love the vinyl format."

Vinyl dealers from Auckland, Wellington and Palmerston North have already booked stalls at the fair so the choice of LPs, EPs and 45s promises to be impressive.

"They'll be bringing down stuff they want, stuff they don't want, and be looking for things that they don't have covering everything from spoken word records to metal bands, so there's going to be a nice, interesting selection of all sorts of stuff," Mr Wafer said.

Entry to the August 29 fair at the New Plymouth Senior Citizens' Hall in Liardet St is $2 at 10am, but true "waxheads" wanting first choice of what is on offer can enter at 9am if they fork out $10.

"You've been warned, get in quick or you'll miss out on the gems," Mr Wafer said.

Hadleigh Brien is a Witt journalism student

- © Fairfax NZ News