Vinyl drives Aussies including DZ Deathrays and Magic Dirt into top 10

No longer a novelty, vinyl is here to stay and is now having a big influence on the top of the Australian album charts.

Kathy McCabe

@McCabeRadar

4 min read

July 16, 2021 - 5:33PM

News Corp Australia Network

Music

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The vinyl revival is shaking up the pop charts, with sales of the black shiny stuff propelling new releases and reissues from superstars and indie aspirants into top 10 debuts.

And Australian artists are the big winners in the burgeoning demand from the streaming generation for collectable and tangible LPs.

Fulling the promise of its name, Positive Rising: Part 2 from Brisbane rockers DZ Deathrays debuted at No. 4 on the ARIA chart this week off the back of it nailing No.1 on the vinyl chart.

There’s clearly still a lot of love for indie altrockers Magic Dirt, who reissued their acclaimed 1996 debut record Friends In Danger on vinyl to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

It entered the ARIA charts at No.10 this week, far surpassing its peak of No.25 when it is was originally released in September 1996.

Magic Dirt back in 1996 when the Geelong band released Friends In Danger. Picture: Supplied.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are the kings of the vinyl charts, with Butterfly 3000, their 18th record in nine years, debuting at No.2 on the ARIA album charts last month.

They have topped the ARIA vinyl chart six times since it was launched in 2019 in recognition of the rise in vinyl sales.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are Australia’s vinyl lords. Picture: Supplied

One of that collective’s side projects The Murlocs debuted at No.6 last week with their fifth album Bittersweet Demons.

The Avalanches celebrated the highest ever chart result for their 2000 debut record Since I Left You with the 20th anniversary reissue landing at No.5 last month.

Other recent top 10 debuts propelled by the release of vinyl versions was Powderfinger’s reunion concert One Night Lonely (No.4) and the Nick Cave and Warren Ellis collaboration Carnage, which hit No.2, far surpassing its No.40 debut in March from digital and streaming sales.

Australian band the Avalanches hit their highest chart position for debut album with its vinyl reissue. Picture: Supplied/Grant Spanier

ARIA reported the 7.3 per cent growth of the Australian recorded music market in 2020 was partly driven by a massive 32 per cent boost in vinyl sales, worth almost $30 million.

CEO Annabelle Herd said the boom in portable record players, which started in the US about a decade ago, plus pop superstars including Harry Styles and Taylor Swift insistent on offering their fans an LP option, was fostering a love of vinyl among younger music fans.

Herd believes the vinyl market will continue to grow rather than fizzle out as a novelty blip.

Harry Styles fans were keen to get his Fine Line record on vinyl. Picture: Supplied

“I think it did start off as a novelty in the background, having a little record player in the corner of your bedroom,” Ms Herd said.

“But now there is a deeper level of engagement with the sound, the artwork, being able to physically own a piece of music.

“And it’s about the whole album, not the track-based listening we do on streaming.

“From my teenage daughter’s point of view, it’s about holding a piece of Harry Styles in her arms, to put on the wall, to listen to.

If you don’t have AC/DC’s Back In Black, do you even have a vinyl collection? Picture: Redferns.

“For the slightly older Triple J audience, they almost automatically buy vinyl of their favourite artists, they invest with them over years.

“And then for us older demo, it’s about going back to your favourite artists; I couldn’t wait to get the Avalanches album on vinyl and re-engage with such a beloved album.”

RPM Records in Marrickville, a favourite haunt of Opposition Leader Anthony “DJ Albo” Albanese, has ridden the vinyl wave since opening six years ago.

Labor Leader Anthony Albanese picking up some Bowie at RPM Records in Marrickville, NSW. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dylan Coker

Vinylphiles and owners Steve Wernick and Lizzie French-Wernick said sales of both second-hand and new releases have grown across all demographics.

The fastest moving titles are Fleetwood Mac’s classic Rumours and anything by AC/DC or King Gizzard.

Led Zeppelin 1, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and David Bowie albums are also sought after by both young and old music fans.

Australia loves Rumours on LP. Picture: Supplied

“Buying vinyl has become a family thing too. Parents turning their kids onto the old records they love and the kids sharing their favourite new Australian artists; they come in together and browse the crates,” Mr Wernick said.

“Lockdown has also had an impact; people are spending more time together at home, there’s one record player and music gives them a common ground.

“Going to a record store is such a communal thing to do. I’m watching strangers becoming friends every day as they go through the records.”

You Am I’s Hi Fi Way is a perennial vinyl seller.

Co-founder of Brisbane’s Sonic Sherpa record store Steve Bell said part of the revival was due to fans replenishing their collections.

Many had regretted turfing their prized LPs during house moves.

But some were only able to buy their favourite 80s, 90s and 2000s albums on vinyl in the past few years due to anniversary reissues because the major labels stop producing big quantities in the mid 1980s to force consumers to fork out for expensive CDs.

This demand is reflected in the ARIA vinyl chart by the regular appearance of rites-of-passage records including Nirvana’s Nevermind and Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Almost 30 years after its release, Nevermind is in demand by vinyl collectors. Picture: AP.

Bell also confirmed that homegrown artists were the most popular purchases.

“All of the early records by You Am I, anything by Cold Chisel or the Alberts artists including The Angels and the Easybeats sell quickly,” Mr Bell said.

“At our store, it seems to be pretty evenly split between new and classic album sales.”

Melbourne’s Rocksteady Records owner Pat Monaghan, who has been selling music for 30 years, said his customers are specific and tribal in their taste and committed to supporting local Victorian artists particularly those released on independent labels including Milk (Courtney Barnett, Liz Stringer, Jen Cloher) or Flightless (King Gizzard, The Murlocs).

Courtney Barnett’s records and those of her Milk labelmates are big sellers. Picture: Supplied.

But all vinyl lovers are having to learn patience as the pandemic hits supply lines from Europe where most of our vinyl is pressed.

Jimmy Barnes scrambled to have the heavyweight, bright red vinyl copies of latest record Flesh and Blood pressed in time for its July 2 release day by fledgling Melbourne plant Program Records, one of only two in the country.

His vinyl sales are unsurpassed in Mushroom Records history and his new releases sell out instantly.

Barnes created history with the most No. 1 albums in ARIA history this week when Flesh and Blood debuted at the top spot, his 13th solo album to reach the summit.