78 Records was a music store located in the
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
of
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Western Australia. The store also sold DVDs, clothing and tickets to music and comedy events.
Due to the history of the business, the large variety of music sold, and promotion of local acts, the store has had a significant influence upon local culture and the music scene within Perth
History
78 Records first opened on 19 June 1971 on the first floor of the Padbury Building in
Forrest Place
Forrest Place is a pedestrianised square located within the CBD of Perth, Western Australia. The street was created in 1923, and has a history of being a focal point for significant political meetings and demonstrations.
Description
Forrest P ...
. Geoff "Hud" Hudson, John Hood, and John "Scruff" McGregor started the store to provide music that was unavailable from other outlets.
In its infancy, 78 Records boasted about 300 titles, all on vinyl and mainly imports, with a strong leaning towards blues but also encompassing an extensive range of other genres, though space was constrained as the store was housed in two small rooms. It was the three owners' love of the
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
that inspired the store's logo, with its photographic representation of
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Lemon Henry "Blind Lemon" Jefferson (September 24, 1893 – December 19, 1929)Some sources indicate Jefferson was born on October 26, 1894. was an American blues and gospel singer-songwriter and musician. He was one of the most popular blues sing ...
. The name 78 Records derives from the format on which his original recordings were released.
78 Records steadily expanded by providing customers with music that was hard to come by in the early 1970s, such as
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
''
Sticky Fingers
''Sticky Fingers'' is the 9th British and 11th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. The Stones released it on 23 April 1971 on their new, and own label Rolling Stones Records. They had been contracted by Decca ...
'',
Jethro Tull's ''
Aqualung'' and
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
's ''
Harvest
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
''. In 1973, rumours started regarding the proposed demolition of the Padbury Buildings, which eventuated with the construction of Forrest Chase in the re-designed Forrest Place during the late 1980s.
In May 1974, 78 Records moved into what was essentially a tin shed next door to
His Majesty's Theatre, Western Australia
His Majesty's Theatre is an Edwardian Baroque architecture, Edwardian Baroque Theatre (structure), theatre in Perth, Western Australia. Constructed from 1902 to 1904 during a period of great growth for the town, the theatre is located on the co ...
at 843
Hay Street, which has become affectionately known as "the old building". The increase in floor size enabled 78 Records to add a lounge area where customers could ''lounge'' in
beanbag
A bean bag (also beanbag) is a sealed bag containing dried beans, PVC pellets, expanded polystyrene, or expanded polypropylene. The bags are commonly used for throwing games, but they have various other applications.
Furniture
Designed by ...
s and listen to the music prior to making their purchases, the first such facility in Perth. 78 Records expanded its available music and started its tradition of an in-house band, the ''West Australian Chainsaw Orchestra'', theme days and the selection of the instrumental "A Walk in the Black Forest" by
Horst Jankowski Horst Jankowski (30 January 1936 – 29 June 1998) was a classically trained German pianist, most famous for his internationally successful easy listening music.
Biography
Born in Berlin, Jankowski studied at the Berlin Music Conservatory and p ...
at closing time.
During the 843 era, 78 Records also earned a reputation which travelled much further afield than the metropolitan area, and visiting international performers frequented the shop in search of that elusive record they couldn't find anywhere else. Of course, some of them just wanted to check out how many of their own albums were in stock.
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...
,
Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards.
As a teenager in t ...
,
Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
,
Bette Midler
Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...
,
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...
and
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
were just some of the artists that came back on their next visit.
843 Hay Street was proposed for demolition in 1987. Wanting to stay in the same area they had become associated with, 78 Records crossed Hay Street to number 884. In 1989, the Basement opened with videos, books, posters, comics T-shirts, and tickets for forthcoming events. 78 Records expanded from solely music-related items with the Basement developing a unique identity of its own with the inclusion of film, interactive media and cult writing.
78 Records moved again in March 1996 to 914 Hay Street, where it was located for 16 years. The first floor of this larger building had its own stage which was frequently used by local, national and international artists.
In 2013 the store relocated once again to upstairs premises above 255
Murray Street with entry from a laneway off the Murray Street Mall.
![78 records Perth 2017 entrance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/78_records_Perth_2017_entrance.jpg)
On 5 February 2019 the manager of 78 Records announced that the store would be closing on 3 March 2019 after nearly 48 years of operation, citing the rise of streaming services and declining retail conditions as the reason for the closure.
Awards
78 Records won the
ARIA Award
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
for Best Independent Retail Outlet in Western Australia in 2007.
References
{{reflist
Companies based in Perth, Western Australia
Music retailers of Australia
Murray Street, Perth
1971 establishments in Australia
2019 disestablishments in Australia
Retail companies established in 1971
Retail companies disestablished in 2019