I recently attended the Utrecht Record Fair, reputed to be the worlds largest.  Truly a massive event, I was pretty much overwhelmed by the scale.  The first booth I stopped at  was a run by a dealer from Mexico City, I saw loads of music I had never dreamed I'd get a chance to see in their original format.  Los Yaki, Los Sinners, Javier Batiz, Spiders and more.  I had to show  some restraint and told myself I'd look around some more and return later, bad idea! When I finally tried to find the booth again I ended up walking around for an hour before I could locate it again. 

With an unlimited budget I could have really gone crazy, all the legendary German bands like Ash Ra Tempel, Faust, Amon Duul, the original pressings, were all for sale at around 100 euros.  Too rich for my wallet, but not outrageous.   It was just nice to see all those great albums, maybe another day I'd feel prepared to spend in that range. 

I ended up with some nice pieces, the 4th album by Os Mutantes (currently my fave of their catalog), the 1st lp by Les Lutins, a great band from Quebec circa 1966.  Most of what I did was buy nice things at reasonable prices and tried to keep my spending within a reasonable range.  There were plenty of mid priced quality records to be had, not so many real bargains, but if you were willing to spend 10 or 12 euros you could find lots of great stuff.   One dealer from France was selling 45's all at 3 euros and I went a little crazy picking up all the yeh-yeh and beat group singles he had.  The best prize from that stack though was a Dutch picture sleeve of the Easybeats "Friday on My Mind", a totally cool crowd shot from a live performance complete with fainting girls and security hauling off overzealous fans who jumped on stage. 

The Jaarbuers exhibition hall in Utrecht is enormous, and the record fair only filled half of it, the other half was an antique fair with some dealers who were also selling vinyl.  This is where I found the most satisfying buy of the trip: the two albums by The Pop Group.  Mint condition, including the insert poster that came with the "How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder" lp.  Great!  Good price, 55 euros for both records, I could have held out for cheaper copies, but hey I've been doing that for 20 years without any luck. 

Anyway, great fun had by all, if you're ever in the Netherlands around the time of this twice yearly event take the time to check it out.  Don't forget your cash, and don't try to rush through.  You'll find plenty of prizes to make your trip worthwhile. 

Until next time, happy hunting!