A MUSIC obsessive will strike a note for nostalgia when he swamps Crewe's Market Hall with vinyl on Sunday, June 13.

John Beddows, who trades as Backtrax Music at Sandbach Market on Saturdays, wants to spread the message of the record revival in an age when many are getting disgruntled with the remoteness of streamed music and Spotify lists.

John has recruited some of the area's best vinyl dealers for the event in the reopened market venue in Earle Street and hopes to make it a regular bi-monthly fair.

He says his love for the vinyl medium goes back to his days working in the music industry. In his twenties John worked as a stage manager for the likes of Echo and the Bunnymen, China Crisis, the Style Council and Aswad.

He was heavily invested in the late 70s/80s scene in his native Liverpool and as well as attending the legendary new wave club Eric's he put on his own shows in the city, hosting the homegrown bands The Las and The Farm at The Picket.

While he moved on to work in education welfare, his love of talking about a good record and, potentially, inspiring others to enjoy it too burns bright. He says nothing can beat the face-to-face contact that a record fair brings.

"I love that rather than the online selling which I did during the lockdown. I love the banter of being in a market and talking to people about records," said John, 60, who lives in Sandbach.

"I've got a 1,000 plus records and I go out and buy other people's collections. I enjoy it when you get the young people and it's nice to open their eyes to all the different stuff that is out there. You can't have a conversation, I think, about Spotify or MP3s.

"As I work full-time I've only been doing Sandbach Market, but that has taken off. This will be the first one in Crewe, but I've got plans for the future and I hope to do a Northern Soul/Scooter event.

"It's nice to have a theme to go alongside the fair. We've got an internet radio station setting up for the Crewe fair which will be a bit different and it will give it a nice atmosphere."

Fair-goers will be able to browse through 22 stalls chock full of vinyl and John has attracted some notable names on the circuit, including Mike Moran from Grey and Pink record shop in Chester and Andy Halstead, while there are traders travelling in from as far as Northampton.

The Vinyl Doctor, a record cleaning service, will also be in attendance.

Social distancing and Covid guidelines will, of course, be in place, but John hopes to see as many record lovers as possible attending.

They can be guaranteed to have their eyes and ears opened by sampling and buying a format that has refused to die with sales now at their highest since the 1990s.

They could get a pointer in the right direction on musical taste too. John's is diverse and eclectic and despite his roots he is more of a punk than a devotee of The Beatles.

"One minute I could be listening to Billy Paul and the next it could be the Stranglers' first LP, Rattus Norvegicus," revealed the record dealer.

Crewe Market Hall's Record Fair is a FREE event on Sunday, June 13 and starts at 10.30pm.