Jon Ordon recalls the first music album he ever purchased.
In nineteen eighty, Jon was twelve, and David Bowie’s Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) had topped the charts in Oz.
That’s the moment when Jon’s passion for music really started to take off.
Jon said he would put on some records and let himself be taken away.
“It’s the warmth of the sound of a record spinning that’s got me hooked,” he said.
If you flop down and tune into a record on a top-notch sound system, you can just let yourself go … it’s like you’re right there, listening to a real live gig.
There’s something special about that vinyl sound that keeps drawing you back to the record.
Point to prove
After finishing school, Jon became a qualified chartered accountant, but music remained a big thing to him.
He began checking out markets in the hope of picking up some albums to purchase.
I’d often buy records without knowing if I’d like ’em … if I did like ’em I’d keep ’em, if not I’d flog ’em.
It started off as a pastime but eventually in ’91, I threw in the towel on accountancy and got involved in the music Industry.
He was about to make it big in the music industry.
My dad reckons I’ve lost the plot!
Fair dinkum, people were saying I was wasting me time dealin’ in antiques like records and scraps like that, every bleedin’ chick and bloke was chucking ’em in the bin and movin’ to CDs.
I told all the locals there were other people just like me with a strong interest in records, and it helped my chances of being successful.
Record business
Jon started his own record shop in West Ryde, New South Wales, back in 1991, and began hosting record fairs.
I loved bein’ out on the road in Oz, travelin’ around the country, catchin’ up with other collectors, tradin’ records, and pickin’ up some new ones.
It felt like I was part of some old-school stamp collecting mob!
After running two record shops in Hornsby, Jon sold up and in 2014 purchased Revolve Records in Erskineville, which was a long-standing institution.
He eventually decided to close down his physical store, cleared out his inventory and relocated to the Blue Mountains with the intention of exploring the country on a recording adventure.
Vinyl addict
Jon’s passion for records has made him more than just someone with a collection – he’s a self-dubbed addict.
In his private collection, which he’s got no plans to sell, is just under 3,000 albums.
I’ve got a memory box, records I bought back when I was a teenager that I don’t crank out often but I hold onto ’em for the nostalgia factor.
Jon has been organised nicely by listing his personal collection in alphabetical order and grouping things that belong together in categories.
In me earlier days, I loved rock bands like Husker Du, Sonic Youth and Big Black; mate, I’ve got heaps of memories of chuckin’ those records on and playin’ ’em over and over again.
Fair dinkum, I’ve had a fair go at playin’ more of the old-school bangers, like the Rolling Stones and Queen lately.
In addition to his personal collection, Jon stores approximately 200,000 records in a storage shed on his property.
“They’ve got a real mixed bag, with some genuine rip-offs and bargain bin specials all the way through to some records that are actually really keenly sought after now,” Jon said.
Travelling Australia
While music’s shifted from CDs to streaming, Jon said demand for vinyl records remained solid, with buyers spending anywhere from 20 cents to $100 for in-demand albums.
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Jon still travels around the country in his white ute selling his records at markets and said, since the COVID-19 pandemic, prices for records have really blown out.
Fair dinkum, the younger mob are diggin’ through their nanna’s and pop’s vinyl collection and wanna keep ’em.
I reckon there’s a new mob of young people getting into records – they bring back memories of when I was their age.
