“Looking through stores on the days when their stock drops with listening out for hints of places further field like an op shop which happens to have good stock which hasn’t been picked through,” Shortman explains. “Know what you’re zoning in on and leave the rest. Double check you’ve got a genuine find and it’s in good condition, that it will work, and that you’ve got something that appears rare but you could get any day of the week,” discloses seasoned searcher Shortman.
Since 2007 Rathdowne Records has been tucked down the back of a DVD rental shop in Carlton but will be opening up new digs on High Street in Northcote just in time for Record Store Day. Shortman is tight lipped on what celebrations will be going down on the day but will be putting out what sounds like a digger’s paradise.
“We’ve got a very small bunch of Record Store Day exclusive records and I have at least eight crates no one has seen me bring out before!” Shortman reveals. “I have plans to have two bands and three DJs but I’m keeping it under wraps until I’ve sorted out how much of the space I can give. They’ll probably just be announced online through my social media.”
Adding to those crates is Shortman’s usual massive stock aimed at collectors of jazz, funk, hip hop and soul. However, he’s limited his order of Record Store Day special releases because of the lack of recognition in those genres.
“I have 1000 hip hop records and 1000 jazz records and there are only a couple of other stores in Melbourne with numbers like that in those genres,” Shortman boasts. “Record Store Day exclusive releases didn’t really reflect those genres.
“In the excitement for all that records manufactured particularly for the day, Record Store Day is still about promoting record stores 365 days a year. Not just one huge day and quiet for the rest of the year.”
According to Shortman, the current spike in record sales is just part of a cycle which sees collections come and go as a collector’s interest wanes. But the music on great records is timeless so the chances of record collecting becoming an extinct art form seem pretty slim.
“Well, it’s gone 60 years and the rare records will keep getting rarer whether people think they’ve collected enough and want to downsize yet again. I’m sure there will be a downward cycle but for the life of me I can’t predict when it will be. But really it will be a sad day when…people don’t want to own physical copies. I think there’ll always be a nice, strong cult group of people for whom it won’t stop.”
BY DURA MATER
Rathdowne Records is located at 230 High St, Northcote.
