Missing Link Records was an Australian-based

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

established in 1977. The Missing Link label was created by Keith Glass (singer-guitarist ex- Cam-Pact) and David Pepperell (journalist and vocalist, ex-The Union) who were the owners of a Melbourne record store of the same name. The name was taken from a 1960s Australian rock band, The Missing Links. The label's initial releases were two retrospective 7-inch singles, "The Ultimate Garage Band" by The Union and "Living in the 60's" by Cam-Pact, both of which band from the 1960s that the owners had respectively performed with. Following a few more releases Pepperell departed and the label took on a new contemporary release program to reflect the punk-new wave movement of the late 1970s. According to rock music historian,

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the ''Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist h ...

, " twas a cornerstone organisation on Melbourne's independent scene of the late 1970s". The label became influential through the release of both Australian and overseas material, scoring a top 20 hit single with the local release of The Flying Lizards kitchen electronic version of "

Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money ar ...

" (1979), when it was passed over by

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. In 1978 the label signed The Boys Next Door, a punk band featuring

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, Phill Calvert and Tracy Pew for whom Glass was also the manager. In 1980, the band renamed themselves as The Birthday Party. They became the flagship of the label, recording three albums and being licensed all around the world, with the single " Release the Bats" reaching #1 on the UK Alternative charts. Other notable local artists released by Missing Link Records include Bleeding Hearts,

The Go-Betweens The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only constant members throughout ...

, Whirlywirld, The Laughing Clowns and

Dynamic Hepnotics The Dynamic Hepnotics were an Australian soul, blues and funk band which formed in 1979 and disbanded in 1986. Mainstay, lead vocalist and front man, "Continental" Robert Susz formed the group in Sydney. They had chart success on the Australian K ...

. The label continued to release 1960s retrospectives, local Australian contemporary punk and new wave, and licensed material from overseas. International licensed releases included those by Snakefinger,

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and

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. In 2002 Glass reactivated the Missing Link label and one of its first releases was a nineteen-track Cam-Pact compilation, ''Psychedelic Pop 'n' Soul 1967-69'', featuring all the group's studio recordings, plus many previously unreleased tracks. In 2006, the shop started releasing records again under the Missing Link name. The releases include local Australian acts such as Agents of Aborrence, Los Diablos, Terror Firma, The Focus, True Radical Miracle, Mutiny and licensed releases for the Australian market by

Minus the Bear Minus the Bear was an American indie rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2001, and comprising members of Botch, Kill Sadie, and Sharks Keep Moving. Their sound was described as " Pele-esque guitar-taps and electronics with sophistic ...

, Regulations, and

Bouncing Souls The Bouncing Souls are an American punk band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 1989. By the time of their acknowledgment by the national punk rock scene, they had reignited a "pogo" element to New Jersey punk rock by playing fast light-h ...

. In October 2011 Missing Link Records ceased trading at its 405 Bourke Street Melbourne address, citing adverse trading conditions over the past few years brought about by the continued decline in hardcopy music sales, the ever present theft of music and multitude of digital options.

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* {{Authority control Record labels based in Melbourne Record labels established in 1977 Punk record labels Alternative rock record labels

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