Record Store Day's Stanley Kubrick connection in Canberra

Monday April 17, 2017

by Stephen Jeffrey

When A Clockwork Orange hit cinema screens in 1971, it sent shockwaves through the community.

While the cult following heaped praise and acclaim on director Stanley Kubrick and lead actor Malcolm McDowell, it also elevated a futuristic-looking record player into a rare collectors item.

Tony Magee at Duratone Hifi celebrating Record Store Day with a rare record player that featured in
A Clockwork Orange. Photo: Rohan Thomson

In celebration of Record Store Day, Phillip's Duratone Hi-Fi shop dusted off one of the few working J A Michell Transcriptor Hydraulic Reference turntables in Australia for display on Saturday.

The store's music specialist, Tony Magee said the record player was almost as popular as the rare albums on offer among enthusiasts who swarmed the shop for the celebration of all things vinyl.

The record player became a cult hit due to its appearance in A Clockwork Orange and its modern style, with some fetching up to $10,000 at sales.

"When people see the movie, they often think it was made specially for it, but it is actually a real product," he said.

"We've had some customers have their photo taken with it simply because of that connection, so for fans of that film, it was quite special and they were actually unable to believe we had it here.”

The store, which specialises in classical and jazz acoustic records, also received a shipment of classic rock and pop in time for Record Store Day.

Mr Magee said the store had been busiest in the morning and had improved on crowds at Duratone's first participation in Record Store Day last year.

Further north, Landspeed Records in the city was packed with music fans, who lined both the inside and outside of the store in their search for rare vinyls.

Enthusiasts were lined up for hours waiting for the store to open in the hope they could get their hands on limited Record Store Day releases from scores of artists.

At Weston Creek, Songland Records donated the proceeds from the sale of used records, CDs or DVDs to the RSPCA.

The 2017 celebration of indie record stores marked 10 years since the idea was conceived in the United States.

Shadow Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism spokesman Anthony Albanese is this year's official Record Store Day sponsor in Australia.

First published in The Canberra Times, April 22, 2017