Missing Link 1971-2011: ‘A Wild, Wonderful Ride’

With the closure of Melbourne’s famed record institution Missing Link today (October 7), NICK ARGYRIOU converses with owners past and present to reminisce on a wonderful 40-year ride. Photos by LEAH ROBERTSON.

[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.] After four decades in the game with four key owners – from Keith Glass and David Pepperell in the 1970s to current proprietors Nigel Rennard and his sister Diane – Missing Link, an icon of Melbourne’s independent music scene, closes today. More than just a store that sold CDs, rare vinyl, 7”s and associated merchandise, it was an eternal meeting point for likeminded music fans, and was one of the last independent record stores in the CBD following the closure of Gaslight, Au Go Go and Dragonfly Discs over the years.

In a statement issued to media last month, Nigel Rennard – who’s been in charge of Missing Link for the past three decades – blamed adverse trading conditions, the continued decline in hardcopy music sales and piracy for the closure. “[We] wish to thank all those that have supported us over a very long journey,” Rennard said, “and hope that in return our support for Australian and overseas independent music will be remembered.”

But sadly the writing was on the wall since last year when continuing effects from the GFC and illegal downloading led to Missing Link’s entry into the online space. Their digital download service was born in June 2010 in the hope of stimulating sales, but it couldn’t compete with the “worldwide behemoth monster” iTunes and was scaled back earlier this year.

Matters weren’t aided by the imminent redevelopment of 405 Bourke Street, their home since 2002. Then came the merger with Collectors Corner in August last year, which aimed to keep Missing Link afloat by broadening their range and sharing the costs of rising CBD rents. “They came to join us because their economic circumstances in renting in the city were similar to ours,” Rennard told M+N at the time. “It made a lot of sense to try and combine and share costs rather than go on paying the very high rentals in the city.”

[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.] Keen to pass the business on, Rennard put Missing Link on the market in March of this year, but his search for a likeminded music fanatic did not prove successful. “There were a few interested parties many months ago,” he says, “but they were not experienced enough in a store like ours. After in-depth discussions about what would be required they declined.” In July, Missing Link entered into an arrangement with Collectors Corner to sell off all remaining stock, which they’ll continue to do from a new CBD location as of tomorrow.

Rennard, however, remains resolute that the decision to close was based on a collective of issues, not in the least a desire to pursue other interests as he entered his mid-50s. He will continue operating his DVD licensing business Siren Visual, which releases mainly anime titles from Japan, and plans a move to the country. “My wife and I are also looking at establishing a Thai restaurant-farm that grows herbs and ingredients for Asian food. I am aware that just as the music business is in steep decline the DVD business is likely to follow the same path although at present sales remain strong. Future growth industries are food, retirement homes and funeral parlours for the coming demise of the baby boomers,” he says, laughing.

Missing Link was opened as Archie and Jughead’s on Collins Street in 1971 by Keith Glass and David Pepperell, before its shift to Flinders Lane on the corner of Port Phillip Arcade. It later moved 100 metres down the road into a huge street front store. The name was changed to Dr Peppers in 1977 when Pepperell left the partnership, and then to Missing Link in 1978. The new title was inspired by ’60s Australian surf, garage and pop group, The Missing Links, whose sound Glass believed embodied the spirit of the shop.

“We were big on distribution and having our own record labels,” recalls Glass from Mobile, Alabama, where he now resides. “I guess getting the Missing Link label to mythic status was the main achievement. [We had] various artists going on to big careers and others fondly remembered.”

The signing of the legendary Boys Next Door (which later became The Birthday Party) in 1978 still stands as Missing Link’s crowning achievement. Glass became the band’s manager before signing them to his Missing Link Records label, which put out all their early albums.

Missing Link fought back against retailers being dictated to by major labels. They stocked what they wanted, when they wanted, and gained a strong independence while giving Melbourne music fans a sense of identity in the piquant days of the punk revolution. “We sorta changed the rules, so we stocked what we wanted – the youth-oriented stuff – and many others in all states followed. The shop became a magnet in the ’70s and I guess we sort of stayed that way.”

A burnt-out Glass sold the store to Nigel and Diane Rennard in 1982. Since handing over the reigns, Glass says he’s involved himself in a number of music-related projects. “[I’ve] run a collectors store, worked for another record company, wrote a lot of articles, toured some folks and kept playing music. [I’m] still doing it.” And whatever became of David Pepperell? “DNP continues to relive the old days. We don't talk much and I haven’t seen him for at least 20 years.”

[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.]

Melbourne music identity Bruce Milne had a brief stint at the store from 1978 to 1982. As a distributor of independent punk singles – from the Victims to the Leftovers – he’d often be found sniffing around the shop, and later relished the opportunity to become directly involved. On and off the dole in the late-’70s, Milne was earning a social welfare benefit less than $50 a week, so when Glass proposed to match that amount if he’d work out of the back room of the store he jumped at the chance. He helped set up a mail order and distribution system for independent bands. “I’d like to claim some credit for bringing in the new, young bands to Missing Link,” Milne says. “Before long we were working with the Boys Next Door, Go-Betweens, Laughing Clowns, Whirlywirld and so many other great bands. It was incredibly exciting.”

Milne, who left in 1982 to continue running his record label Au Go Go (he later established In-Fidelity Recordings and purchased The Tote), still considers it his “ultimate” dream job. “I got to hang out in a record store all day. I got to deal with all the bands, labels, stores and music nuts around the country. Keith was my mentor and taught me so much. It was a wild, wonderful ride.”

“The days of having an indie stand-alone music store and having to employ others is no longer viable.”

Reflecting on Missing Link’s legacy, Rennard cites the long-term relationships forged with labels such as Milne’s Au Go Go, as well as Aberrant, Citadel, Rough Trade, Beggars Banquet, 4AD, Sub Pop, Mute and Cherry Red. “They’ve all benefited from sales at Missing Link. From indie pop to punk, hardcore, stoner, doom and metal … we have sought to make a difference.”

Then there’s the releases by No Nonsense, Corpse Grinders, I Spit on Your Gravy, Sacred Cowboys and Go-Betweens under the Missing Link label, not to mention tours by Dead Kennedys, The Cramps, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Morbid Angel and D.R.I. (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles). “Historically, we have operated the store since 1981, so its been 30 years and our legacy is our support during that entire period for Australian independent artists as well as overseas artists.”

Rennard says that for record stores to survive in 2011, it’s a case of diversify or die. “The only models that may succeed are those that combine a cafe and a music store to gain income from the higher margins in food or a pure owner operator model. However, both of these models needs to offer what the chains do not. They cannot compete on price but they can compete on diversity, vinyl and especially second-hand and rarities. My friends describe them as being like ‘antique bookstores’. The days of having an indie stand-alone music store and having to employ others is no longer viable.”