A LONG line of music fans appeared in Newport's Charles Street this morning, eagerly awaiting the start of Record Store Day.
The annual celebration of independent music shops has been disrupted by the pandemic but returned in full on Saturday, and judging by the queue outside Diverse Vinyl, the event has been sorely missed.
The Newport shop is one of 260 around the UK that gets its hands on special releases and limited edition albums each Record Store Day, although thousands of other music shops nationwide also take part in the festivities.
And a free live music and entertainment event will be held in pubs along Newport's High Street this afternoon, from 4.30pm.
READ MORE: Newport pubs to host live music event to mark Record Store Day
This morning, many of the most hotly-anticipated releases for this year's event had sold out within the first 30 minutes at Diverse Vinyl - and judging by those sales, it was a dose of pop nostalgia that many people craved this year.
Goldie Lookin Chain member Graham the Bear was manning the door at Diverse Vinyl, welcoming customers and making sure the shop wasn't getting overcrowded.
He told the Argus the hottest sellers had taken him by surprise.
"You think it would be David Bowie, but it's Mariah Carey - they've gone," he said. "Mariah's number ones - done; Madonna's 12"s - gone.
"It's nostalgia for great pop music [of the] 80s and 90s - that's where it's at.
"It's because of our age group - the group that loved that music and are now buying nostalgically."
Another record to sell out early was a reissue of Rick Astley's debut album which, like the Madonna record, celebrates its 35th anniversary this year.
On the importance of the annual event, Graham said: "It's important to realise that records shops aren't just for Christmas or Record Store Day, but it's great to so many people turn out - fans of music come out for the favourite artists, and we've got quite a big community of people who come to Diverse.
"It's great for the shop - and if some good releases come out, you get a lot of buzz.
"With the pandemic, it's been a bit different over the last couple of years, but this is nice to have people back in the shop.
"We've done [Record Store Days during the pandemic] but we could only have two people in at a time, so this is a bit more of a buzz.
"It's been really good."
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