View source for Missing Link Records

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Primary sources|date=February 2008}}
{{Infobox record label
 | name = Missing Link
 | image =birthdayparty1_lp_side1.jpeg
 | image_bg =
 | parent =
 | founded = 1977
 | founder = [[Keith Glass]]<br />David Pepperell
 | distributor = [[Shock Records]] (AUS)<br />Ebulliton Records (US)
 | genre = punk, new wave, post-punk
 | country = [[Australia]]
 | location = [[Melbourne, Victoria]]
 | url = {{URL|missinglinkrecords.com/}}
}}

'''Missing Link Records''' was an Australian-based [[independent record label]] established in 1977.<ref name="McFIndep"/> The Missing Link label was created by [[Keith Glass]] (singer-guitarist ex-[[Cam-Pact]]) and David Pepperell (journalist and vocalist, ex-The Union) who were the owners of a Melbourne record store of the same name.<ref name="McFIndep"/><ref name="McFKG"/> The name was taken from a 1960s Australian rock band, [[The Missing Links (band)|The Missing Links]]. The label's initial releases were two retrospective 7-inch singles, "The Ultimate Garage Band" by The Union and "Living in the 60's" by Cam-Pact, both of which band from the 1960s that the owners had respectively performed with. Following a few more releases Pepperell departed and the label took on a new contemporary release program to reflect the punk-new wave movement of the late 1970s. According to rock music historian, [[Ian McFarlane]], "[it] was a cornerstone organisation on Melbourne's independent scene of the late 1970s".<ref name="McFKG"/> The label became influential through the release of both Australian and overseas material, scoring a top 20 hit single<ref name="Billboard">{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=niQEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22missing+link%22+%22flying+lizards%22+australia&pg=PT92|title=Aussie Missing Link label retains quirky image|first=Glenn A.|last=Baker|author-link=Glenn A. Baker|work=[[Billboard magazine|Billboard]]|publisher=Neilsen Business Media Inc|date=10 October 1981|volume=93|issn=0006-2510|accessdate=6 January 2012}}</ref> with the local release of [[The Flying Lizards]] kitchen electronic version of "[[Money (That's What I Want)|Money]]" (1979), when it was passed over by [[Festival Records]].<ref name="Kimball"/>

In 1978 the label signed [[The Birthday Party (band)#History|The Boys Next Door]], a punk band featuring [[Nick Cave]], [[Mick Harvey]], [[Phill Calvert]] and [[Tracy Pew]] for whom Glass was also the manager.<ref name="McFKG"/><ref name="McFTBP"/> In 1980, the band renamed themselves as [[The Birthday Party (band)|The Birthday Party]].<ref name="McFTBP"/> They became the flagship of the label, recording three albums and being licensed all around the world, with the single "[[Release the Bats]]" reaching #1 on the UK Alternative charts.<ref name="Billboard"/> Other notable local artists released by Missing Link Records include Bleeding Hearts,<ref name="McFTBH"/> [[The Go-Betweens]],<ref name="McFTG"/> [[Whirlywirld]],<ref name="McFIOO"/> [[The Laughing Clowns]] and [[Dynamic Hepnotics]].<ref name="McFKG"/><ref name="McFTDH"/> The label continued to release 1960s retrospectives, local Australian contemporary punk and new wave, and licensed material from overseas. International licensed releases included those by [[Snakefinger]], [[The Residents]] and [[Dead Kennedys]].<ref name="Kimball"/>

In 2002 Glass reactivated the Missing Link label and one of its first releases was a nineteen-track Cam-Pact compilation, ''Psychedelic Pop 'n' Soul 1967-69'', featuring all the group's studio recordings, plus many previously unreleased tracks.<ref name="Kimball"/>

In 2006, the shop started releasing records again under the Missing Link name. The releases include local Australian acts such as Agents of Aborrence, Los Diablos, Terror Firma, The Focus, True Radical Miracle, [[Mutiny (band)|Mutiny]] and licensed releases for the Australian market by [[Minus the Bear]], Regulations, and [[Bouncing Souls]].

In October 2011 Missing Link Records ceased trading at its 405 Bourke Street Melbourne address, citing adverse trading conditions over the past few years brought about by the continued decline in hardcopy music sales, the ever present theft of music and multitude of digital options.

==See also==
* [[List of record labels]]

==References==
'''General'''
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia|last=McFarlane |first=Ian |authorlink=Ian McFarlane |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop]] |title=Whammo Homepage |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040405231007/http://www.whammo.com.au/index.asp |url=http://www.whammo.com.au/index.asp |archivedate=5 April 2004 |accessdate=5 January 2012 |year=1999 |publisher=[[Allen & Unwin]] |location=[[St Leonards, New South Wales|St Leonards, NSW]] |isbn=1-86508-072-1 |url-status=dead }} Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
{{Refend}}
'''Specific'''

{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="McFIndep">McFarlane, [https://web.archive.org/web/20040828074835/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=941 'Independent record labels'] entry. Archived from [http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=941 the original] on 28 August 2004. Retrieved 5 January 2012.</ref>

<ref name="McFKG">McFarlane, [https://web.archive.org/web/20040813101106/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=840 'Keith Glass'] entry. Archived from [http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=840 the original] on 13 August 2004. Retrieved 5 January 2012.</ref>

<ref name="Kimball">{{cite web | url = http://www.milesago.com/artists/cam-pact.htm | title = Cam-Pact | work = Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975 | last1 = Kimball | first1 = Duncan | publisher = Ice Productions | year = 2002 | accessdate = 5 January 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="McFTBP">McFarlane, [https://web.archive.org/web/20040809220532/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=99 'The Birthday Party'] entry. Archived from [http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=99 the original] on 8 August 2004. Retrieved 5 January 2012.</ref>

<ref name="McFTBH">McFarlane, [https://web.archive.org/web/20040803184122/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=109 'The Bleeding Hearts'] entry. Archived from [http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=109 the original] on 3 August 2004. Retrieved 5 January 2012.</ref>

<ref name="McFTG">McFarlane, [https://web.archive.org/web/20040829235157/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=845 'The Go-Betweens'] entry. Archived from [http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=845 the original] on 29 August 2004. Retrieved 5 January 2012.</ref>

<ref name="McFTDH">McFarlane, [https://web.archive.org/web/20040419220446/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=305 'The Dynamic Hepnotics'] entry. Archived from [http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=305 the original] on 15 June 2004. Retrieved 5 January 2012.</ref>

<ref name="McFIOO">McFarlane, [https://web.archive.org/web/20040419084449/http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=551 'Ian 'Ollie' Olsen'] entry. Archived from [http://www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=551 the original] on 19 April 2004. Retrieved 5 January 2012.</ref>

}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://missinglinkrecords.com/}}

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{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Record labels based in Melbourne]]
[[Category:Record labels established in 1977]]
[[Category:Punk record labels]]
[[Category:Alternative rock record labels]]