I should begin this article by admitting – with some embarrassment- to have visited Lark Lane, one of Liverpool’s best known bohemian haunts, far less than I should have.

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I would have used a better picture from the Echo, but I’m too poor and easily startled to risk a lawsuit.

Lark Lane is an interesting part of Liverpool, that’s for damn sure. To the untrained eye, the vaguely rustic aesthetic of some of the buildings, and the bourgeois façade of the local cafe’s make Lark Lane appear, albeit superficially, like a Wilmslow for hipsters. Lark Lane’s distinctive Liverpudlian identity shines through; it is an eccentric place, full of upscale cafe’s like the Moon and Pea, and a cavalcade of arts shops and yoga studio advertisements. All this being so, Lark Lane would be the perfect location for a Record Fair.

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It’s an inter-generational free for all! Yay!

Taking place on various Sundays between 10am – 4pm, the ‘Record, CD and Film Fair’ is held five times a year at Lark Lane’s community centre, the Old Police Station. The fair itself covers a wide range of media; not just records, but CD’s and VHS/DVD’s too- but knowing my audience, vinyl will be the focus (self awareness is a beautiful thing). From albums to 7-inch singles, there’s a plethora of vinyl at various stalls, run by local collectors and professional dealers from around the North-West. The music definitely has a rock n’roll, 1950’s flavour, but to dismiss the fairs’ selection so quickly would do it a disservice. In among the Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry, there was plenty of 70’s soul, classic rock, as well as smaller sections for folk and metal.

I picked up Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’, ZZ Top’s ‘Eliminator‘, Al Stewart’s ‘Year of the Cat‘, a Best of Jimi Hendrix (Purple Haze is bae) and a compilation of humorous speeches made by J.F.K. …….you think I’m weird? There were recordings of train sounds on sale. Freakin’ train sounds. I’ll have you know I’m very content here, listening to President Kennedy joke about his rich dad bribing election officials, but… my god, that is weird.

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For the sceptics among us. This is real…..oh so real.

Well, anyhoo, all this only cost me £24, largely due to collectors running discounts – or even buy one, get one free – if you bought more than one record. I had told myself I would spend no more than £15 on vinyl. How wrong I was.

Whilst at the fair, I also scored an interview with the main organiser of the event. Paddy is his name, and luckily for me, he is an amiable sort – he directed me to the nearest cashpoint and everything! Paddy isn’t actually a local, but is originally from Preston, and has lived in Liverpool for over 15 years. During the past four, Paddy has taken over organisation of the fair, and apparently, is the latest in a line of overseers, which stretches back at least until the mid 1980’s (alas, no one seemed entirely sure when the event started). Interestingly, the fair appears to have begun as a meet up for collectors of old school Hip Hop, which explained the stall that sold so much Sugar Hill Gang and Sir-Mix-Alot, i.e. not just to appeal to pretentious millennials like me (and probably you reading this). Since then, the event has exploded in popularity, and attracts an eclectic throng of young and old music enthusiasts. Paddy proudly declared that he had personally helped cultivate the selection of jazz, soul and reggae, and we can all thank him for it.

Overall, a great event, and something I would absolutely recommend. That being said, I hold up my hands and plead guilty to only really covering the records part of the ‘Records, CD and Film’ fair, but I’m sure I’ll have time to cover that during the next fair in June.

I ain’t complaining, mind – it’ll be nice to have another excuse to head down Lark Lane!

For information about the ‘Lark Lane Record, CD and Film Fair’, including opening times, contact info and establishing a stall, as well as when the next fairs are scheduled, follow this link here.