Trans Pennine
A fun and nostalgic little read for a Sunday evening. Can you tell where we are, music fans?
It’s like supermarket sweep…but the stakes are way higher. Out of all those rows and rows of hidden treasures, there’s only going to be maybe one chance at bagging the big one. The one you’ve all come here for. The one you’ve all paid your train fare for, your worn trainers clambering on and off at platform edges, desperate to get here. Desperate to beat another group of kids just like you longing to get their dirty mitts on the prizes.
It’s not about the money. It doesn’t matter how many Saturday shifts burdened by Friday night hangovers have been endured to fund this trip. You could just get the one – and be as ecstatic as The Shamen. If it’s the biggie - the one you’re all looking for. Perhaps second prize isn’t so bad, though, a less expensive bronze or silver haul of different sizes, limited editions, multi colours, pictures and special inserts that only exist in one in a million copies. Or something like that…
But the competition runs within too. Your little group. You’ve all discussed it, conferred, argued your strongest case as the most dedicated fan, the longest-running fan, the one who was there before all the others, the one who rightly deserves the big one above all the rest of you. You’re all that fan.
As you pay yourselves in, you split, letting loose in all directions of the big hall. It’s some leisure centre this time. Last time it was a City Hall. Adrenaline is pumping through your veins like caffeinated space dust. Fuck. You’ll be fuming if they get to it first. What if you see a second-place contender? Do you wait? Or do you snap it up? What if the big one turns up next and you can’t afford it?
You’re flicking through the 12inches furiously, frantically. You know exactly what you’re here for. The guy on the stall wants to chat. Nice fella. Fleetwood Mac tee. But fuck’s sake, you’re trying to concentrate here! Yes, you smile, you do like Mudhoney. Ha – he thought you wouldn’t know. Kids and all that. Course you know. You’ve blown all your money on train fare to get to this serious collector’s paradise. A haven of vinyl.
Should you just ask for the one you’re looking for? Strangely, you don’t. It would be quicker – and it would put you in good stead for round two at stall two. But the buzz. It’s all part of it, isn’t it?
With no joy, you move onto the next. Excusing yourself from Fleetwood Mac tee’s chatter as politely as you can. You eye up your competition, your little group, scattered around, all equally high and tense, hovering on the edge of the potential find of the century.
Your fingers stop automatically as you recognise the pink and yellow of the sleeve. It’s not the one, but OMG it’s a significant find. You check the price. You pull out the insert. Shit! It’s the one with the lyric sheet. There’s no time to stop and think. You take out your coins. You don’t even haggle. It’s yours in a flash.
Spring in step, you busily move onto the next, and the next. Perhaps you’ve had all your luck. Perhaps that’s it? As the idea of finding the big one starts to fade, you add to your stash of favourite bands - pink vinyl, numbered editions, early presses, picture discs.
You start to feel hungry. You’re cooling down from the fear of losing out. You’re almost at the end...
Your little group catch up. Nervous with anticipation. Has one of you bagged a copy? You share your successes, there are even a couple of the same rare pressing. You’re all grinning from ear to ear. The stress is released.
You’re on the train. Eating Burger King. Silently gazing at your second hand vinyl in adoration.
Nobody did get that original pressing of Love Buzz by Nirvana. But whatever. Chips, blue pop and vinyl. Get in!
I went to a few record fairs as a 15/16/17 year old, in Hull and on trains to Sheffield or Manchester or wherever. And it always, always felt exciting. Sadly, I since sold my stash of anything of value to pay for nights out when I was 18…
But do share your memories in the comments. And tell me if you still go to them? I went to one in Newcastle just a couple of years ago. Bought a Mega City Four album that I thought I’d sold as a teenager. I hadn’t. So now I’ve got two.
And you and your mates must’ve had your own equivalent of Love Buzz by Nirvana - or were we all after the same thing?