On Saturday, November 16 and Sunday, November 17, 2019, the Mega Record & CD Fair will take place in Jaarbeurs Utrecht. At this fair, which is being held for the 52nd time, music lovers from all over the world come together to buy records, attend book presentations, see live performances and visit exhibitions. This fall, the fair will show an exhibition with photos by jazz/pop photographer Frits van Swoll. There are Meet & Greets with Vengeance, George Baker and Robert Jan Stips. In addition, the Austrian top collector Hans Pokora presents and signs his latest book with rare record covers. Music appears to be a good investment: pop culture expert Ian Shirley (UK) is present at the Rare Record Price Guide 2020 booth stall for valuations of rare records and CDs.
The career as a photographer/designer began for Frits van Swoll in the early 1960s. Because of his passion for jazz music, he often photographed American musicians at the concerts they gave in the Netherlands. Think of Nina Simone, Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Various photos of them were also used as a design for record covers. In the following years, van Swoll photographed and worked with many Dutch artists. For example, he designed record covers for Boudewijn de Groot, Golden Earring and Alquin. In the 1990s, Van Swoll focused on directing video clips. The first striking clips from Di-rect and Anouk came from his hand. This versatile photographer exhibits some of his most beautiful photos during the fair and presents two books My Jazz Moments & Vinyl in Stills. Frits van Swoll himself is present the entire weekend for text and explanation.
photos ©Frits van Swoll
Dutch heavy metal band Vengeance launches a deluxe 9CD box with the complete Dutch legacy of Holland’s leading rock metal band with a meet and greet on Saturday.
After their release of the successful career spanning Helloïse 6CD box Anthology, Pseudonym Records are currently working on a deluxe 9CD box with the complete Dutch legacy of Holland’s leading rock metal band VENGEANCE. The box contains all their albums from the 80s and 90s: Vengeance (1st album), We Have Ways To Make You Rock, Take It Or Leave It, Arabia, The Last Of The Fallen Heroes and Back From Flight 19. Supplemented with no less than 59 bonus tracks including non-album-, live-, demo- and unreleased tracks/versions, this is what you may call The Ultimate Vengeance! Which happens to be the title of the 2CD compilation that will see the light of day at the end of this year...
HQ remastered from the original masters and featuring band members John Snels, Oscar Holleman (producer of Within Temptation, After Forever, Krezip, Kovacs and co-producer of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest winner Duncan Lawrence), Jan Bijlsma (The Last Element), Jan Somers, Ian Parry (Hammerhead, Elegy), Peer Verschuren (Lana Lane), Arjen Lucassen (Bodine, Ayreon) and power vocalist extraordinaire Leon Goewie, the release presentation is scheduled for November 2019.
George Baker is present on Sunday for a meet and greet. It is exactly fifty years ago that Little Green Bag climbed the charts for the first time. In the early nineties the song was used as opening’s tune in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. There are plans to re-release a special LGB limited single, more news later.
On Sunday a presentation will take place of the legendary Nederbeat band Supersister: the first five albums of this band will be reissued in a limited five-part colored vinyl LP box. Frontman Robert Jan Stips will be present for a performance and signing session.
While the next recession is still to come, the prices of unique and sought after records have skyrocketed. Collectors are willing to pay large amounts for rare releases in perfect condition. A good help in this is the Rare Record Price Guide 2020. A catalog with valuations of rare records: from Pink Floyd’s debut LP, via the most sought after records from the psychedelic period to records by The Beatles. Author Ian Shirley, journalist with the leading British music magazine Record Collector, will be present on Saturday to assess visitors’ records and cd’s, answer questions and sign his catalogue.
During the Mega Records & CD Fair, the Austrian top collector Hans Pokora presents his latest book from a special series entitled 8001 Record Collector Dreams. In it, Pokora gives an overview of rare and unique folk, beat, garage and psychedelic records from the sixties and seventies. Pokora has been collecting rare records from this period for more than forty years. This book is the eighth and last in a series of reference works for vinyl music collectors. Hans Pokora will be present at the Record Fair to sign his book and perform appraisals.
On 5 December, Record Collector - which in September 2019 celebrated its 40th birthday - publishes its 500th edition. To celebrate this significant achievement, they have put together a bumper issue, full of unique content and many of the biggest stars in the RC pantheon. The stellar likes of The Kinks, Johnny Marr, Queen, Mick Hucknall, Flaming Lips, Swans, Joan Armatrading and many more - big names in RC’s world and beyond - talking rapturously and in detail about their ’Favourite Record Of All Time’. You won’t believe some of the choices. In addition, throughout the issue, in our ”5 For 500” interviews, five of the most recognisable artists on the planet - including one flaxen-haired rock god who shall remain nameless - discuss in-depth what they’ve been doing since RC began publishing 500 editions ago. There is also a special feature on ”the 50 Best Records Worth £500” by our resident collectables’ expert, Ian Shirley, compiler and editor of the highly regarded Rare Record Price Guide. Record Collector believes this is the perfect time for print and other media outlets to discuss the magazine, as it publishes its milestone issue. This is, after all, its 40th anniversary year (making it Britain’s Oldest Music Monthly, older than Q, MOJO, Uncut, Classic Rock et al), and it has bucked the rock-mag trend, in a difficult, crowded market, by registering a 7% increase in sales over the last year. Beyond opportunities to feature RC in print, they can offer radio (and local TV) stations an exclusive chance to invite listeners, at the end of their segment on the magazine, to call in and get from Ian Shirley (who will be available to come into the studio or for an ISDN link-up) valuations on their own rare records - for a kind of vinyl Antiques Roadshow.
Saturday November 16
Sunday November 17
Frits van Swoll
Nina Simone © Frits van Swoll
Alquin © Frits van Swoll
Vengeance promo
George Baker’s Little Green Bag UK
George Baker Mega Record & CD Fair 2011
 JW Bullee.jpg)
© JW Bullee - Robert Jan Stips
Hans Pokora - 8001 Record Collector Dreams
Ian Shirley - Record Collector
Ian Shirley - Price Guide Record Collector
Blue Mask © Johan G Hahn
MusicTrails - Mark Stakenburg
DJ Brown Acid