OFF THE RECORD

M&G NSW talk to the collector behind the exhibition.

The sale of vinyl records in Australian has more than doubled in recent times, and in 2014 increased by 127 percent. As music sales have moved into downloads and streaming, some listeners have bucked this trend and opted for the analogue sound of vinyl, and the tactile and valued-added nature of their sleeves.

So it should come as no surprise that Manning Regional Art Gallery has developed an exhibition dedicated to the record cover and its infinite subjects. Titled Off the Record, the exhibition has been drawing record attendances.

Curator and collector Mark O'Brien spent 18 months sorting through his 20,000 records preparing the exhibition and Museums & Galleries of NSW (M&G NSW) asked him to go on the record to find out more.

Can you tell us about the background 

to the exhibition, how it came about and your relationship with the Manning Regional Art Gallery?

Photo: Julie Slavin Photography

I have collected records for many, many years … since the age of 8 and I'm now 56. Usually the records were bought because I wanted to hear the music, but over time I would come across some very quirky and odd sleeves that I just had to have regardless of what the music was like. My purpose in collecting was primarily for my own satisfaction, although I do have a circle of friends that share a similar interest in records, and it is always fun to show each other new and interesting items.

About two years ago, I visited the Manning Regional Gallery to view an exhibition there, and I noticed that also on display was a striking exhibition of South and Central American tapestries, which had all come from the private collection of one person. I hadn’t been aware until that time that regional galleries were interested in displaying items like this from local collectors. I made a light-hearted comment to a friend —the artist Peter Schouten— that the gallery wouldn’t know what hit them if I ever decided to display my record collection, and I left it at that. However, Peter knew Jane Hosking and Rachel Piercy from the gallery, and passed my remark on to them. They were immediately interested in it and, along with gallery director Sue Mitchell, asked me to think about exhibiting them. And, well, what collector of anything wouldn’t leap at the opportunity to display their collection?

It was a great leap of faith on the gallery’s behalf – I have no artistic credentials, nor anything to prove that I was capable of curating such an exhibition. I only had a few vague ideas about what it was I wanted to do, however they placed great trust in me and left me to get on with it.

What are some of themes you chose?

Photo: Julie Slavin Photography 

I had about 18 months to think about how I was to display the records, and I wanted to do it in a manner which, to my knowledge, had not been done before. I have seen people display records before, and usually it is either done via genre—Heavy Metal, Hip Hop, Classical etc—or by opinion—the all-time classics, biggest selling , and so on.The disappointing thing about exhibiting this way is that people will usually only go and look at the genres they are interested in, and not look at anything else. I wanted the ability to mix everything up – to have a Charles Manson LP next to a Beethoven next to a Scraping Foetus LP, for example. In this way, each sleeve becomes unique and it is possible to demonstrate that every good sleeve has its own individual story to tell. Thus, I started thinking that I would prefer to display themes rather than genres. 

As I was combing through my collection of around 20,000 LPs, I had specific themes in mind, but in the course of my search the records themselves started to make suggestions to me. I started forming little piles of records all around the house, and I found I had far more themes than I could ever possibly show. It was then a matter of picking which themes were visually strongest, and thus I ended up with categories like "Flesh", “Drag”, “What the ???” (a collection of disturbing, odd or excruciatingly dull sleeves), ”Let's Scare The Kiddies”—children’s records from another age which look really, really creepy today. I also like to collect weird religious records from the 1950s and also Instructional records —How To Strip For Your Husband, Learn How To Touch Type etc.— and these are also on display. I also curated great graphic designs —3D, optical illusions etc.— as well as displaying sleeves according to type—die-cut sleeves, foil embossed sleeves and so on. I opted to display the sleeves on 18 panels, and arranged them on each panel according to colour and style. In addition, I pinned a number of sleeves into two walls. 

I also wanted to make a feature wall, and I wasn't quite sure of what to do until the records themselves told me what to do! I pulled out Kraftwerk’s Man-Machine which is a striking sleeve in red, black and white ,a tribute by them to Russian Constructivism, and then suddenly realised just how many record sleeves had been produced using only these three colours. I found hundreds of them, selected the best 180 and decided to arrange them in colour bands on the wall. I must admit that I was very apprehensive about how they would look until they were hung, but ultimately was very pleased with the result.

There is considerable nostalgia for records at moment, why do you think this is?

Photo: Julie Slavin Photography

There is a worldwide resurgence of interest in vinyl today. In an ironic twist, the format which was designed to kill off vinyl – the compact disc— has instead itself become obsolete. This has happened for a combination of reasons – currently there's a division between music lovers. On the one hand there are those who just want to hear the music, and are not particularly fussy about whether they listen to it on an iPod, tablet, phone whatever. These people previously had been forced to buy their music on the CD format, but are now far more likely to download. The second group of music lovers are those, like me, who prefer to own the physical format. Some preferred the CD as their physical format, I always preferred vinyl. To me, there is something very alluring in not only the vinyl album sleeve but in the tactility of record sleeve. It is a very hands-on format which physically connects you to the music in a way that a download never can. And of course, there is the debate that digital will never equal analogue in sound production. With dwindling CD production, that segment that preferred the CD as their physical format are now migrating back to vinyl in droves, rather than accept the somewhat ethereal download. Such is the demand for vinyl that I understand if you are an artist seeking to release your music on record, there is at least a 12 month waiting list. The record pressing plants that have managed to survive the 80s and 90s, thanks primarily to club DJs who insisted on vinyl, today cannot keep up with the demand, despite operating 24 hours a day.

And vinyl is now hip, very hip. From the mid 80s until now, artists looking for street cred have always ensured vinyl versions of their albums or singles were available – a fact which people have only cottoned on to in the last five years or so. Savvy young, emerging bands may press only 500 or so copies of their record, which usually sell to hipsters —and sometimes old men like me—who are in the know. When this limited run is sold out, it creates an interest in the band which results in increased sales in the band’s next release, whether it is good or not. Whilst this is a shrewd marketing ploy, it has had the effect of making a generation much younger than me connect to and understand the joys of vinyl.

In the 90s and 2000s, there was a widespread belief that vinyl was 'dead, buried and cremated.’ People would often express astonishment that I had bought the latest Bowie, Radiohead, Spiritualized, whatever, on vinyl. I was looked at as an anachronism – why on earth would you buy that storage space hogging record when the CD was available? It turns out that these were very sound financial investments on my part…which leads me to another reason for the popularity of vinyl today— the ‘speculator’. If you buy correctly, serious profits can be made. For example, if you purchased Bowie’s Earthling on CD in 1997, you would be sitting on something worth around $3.00. If you had purchased the vinyl, you could probably multiply that figure a hundredfold. With the rise in popularity of Record Store Day— a day in April each year devoted to supporting independent record stores around the world, where artists both major and minor issue extremely limited releases on vinyl— there is now a scramble by opportunists to grab these items and on-sell them on auction sites several days later for much, much more.

How has the public reacted to the exhibition?

Photo: Julie Slavin Photography

Given the opportunity to display my collection, I had expected people around my age to be the main demographic, but I have been surprised. A decade or so ago, record collecting was very much something that appealed to my age and older, and almost universally a male pursuit. I have noticed a significant increase in the number of younger women shopping in record stores since then, and was very pleased to note their attendance at the exhibition, and their level of interest in it. It has attracted people who despite only living a street or two away from the gallery had never set foot in it before. There has been a lot of nostalgia from people my generation and older, but also a keen interest from a much younger audience. And, completely unexpectedly, it has drawn young families, capturing the interest of youngsters the age I was when I first started buying records. One of the main achievements of the exhibition, I believe, is that it has provided a conduit whereby older and younger viewers are engaging with each other, swapping information about music histories and experiences.

The public reaction has been rather surprising— there has been a significant amount of media interest— TV, radio, newspapers and magazines—and attendance figures at the gallery are, I understand, significantly above the average.

I have been very grateful for the opportunity to exhibit my collection, and am glad that it seems to have touched a nerve. I have been into the gallery frequently to eavesdrop upon people's reactions, and have been immensely pleased by the level of interaction between the public and the displays, and also by the way it seems to have connected different generations of the public itself. It has also served to remind people how enjoyable vinyl was— I was half expecting people to say to me "I have an old box of records out in the shed…would you like them?" Instead, I am frequently having people say to me “I have an old box of records out in the shed…How do I clean them, how do I get them valued, how do I restore them? Where can I buy a stylus or record player etc.?” It is so rewarding to see these people once again embrace a format I have always loved. Long live vinyl.

Your reaction to the sudden passing of David Bowie was to create a tribute wall. How did it feel to make the exhibition so up to date?

Photo: Julie Slavin Photography

His passing was a major loss to music lovers of my generation, but there has been a good deal of curiosity from those too young to fully understand his significance. I have a personal collection of around 200 Bowie albums, and in selecting the items for display I chose not to display the rarest or most valuable, but rather the ones that distinctly illustrate the chameleon elements of Bowie's ever evolving career.

Of all the records in your collection, which is your favourite cover?

Photo: Julie Slavin Photography

I have often been asked which album sleeve in the collection is my personal favourite, but it is a question I just can't answer. There are too many favourites, and all for different reasons. Some I adore for the memories they evoke, such as the photograph taken by Ringo Starr of Marc Bolan on T. Rex’s The Slider,others because of their outright weirdness such as Paint As A Fragrance,the curious instructional Music To Sell Valves By, or design elements such as Sonic Boom’s 1989 eye catching wonder Spectrum —complete with a rotating fly wheel. Then there is the handmade cover by Rapoon…the list goes on and on!

Off the Record is showing at Manning Regional Art Gallery from 21 January until 28 February 2016.

Final words

If you would like to know more about this publication or what we do, see: mgnsw.org.au

Photography: Julie Slavin Photography
facebook.com/Julie-Slavin-Photography-165228026851150/

Interview: Jason Gee
Communications Manager, M&G NSW

Editor: Carole Best
Social Media and Online Content Coordinator, M&G NSW

Design: Emily Priddel
Communications Officer, M&G NSW

Acknowledgements

Museums & Galleries of NSW support and promote volunteer, artist-run and professionally-staffed public museums and galleries, and Aboriginal cultural centres, throughout NSW.

Museums & Galleries of NSW is supported by the NSW Government through Arts NSW.

Museums & Galleries of NSW is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.