ARC, Artarmon

Vinyl and cassette manufacturing plant of the Australian Record Company Limited. Operating from 1953 until 1977. Then changed the name to CBS Records, Artarmon. Services included recording, lacquer cutting, plating/ galvanisation, pressing of vinyl, as well as tape duplication and the printing of labels and covers. Lacquer cuts can be identified by the typical MX matrix numbers in the runouts, e.g. MX155115 (side A) and MX155116 (side B). As these numbers were strictly sequential, they can be added as LCCN numbers for both sides (and all sides for multiple LPs, respectively): Lacquer Cut At - ARC, Artarmon + LCCN number MX155297 Lacquer Cut At - ARC, Artarmon + LCCN number MX155298 See example. Known lacquer cutting engineers: Don Bartley (1971 - 1975), identifyiable by a DB, etched into the runouts. Tony Taurins (~1960s - 1977), identifyiable by a Δ preceding the MX numbers. Please note: The lacquer cuts made by ARC were not always pressed by ARC. Please check for the distinctive 70mm pressing rings (see examples here or here). When the rings are not featured, do not add Pressed By. Lacquer cutting engineer Tony Taurins worked there since the mid 1960s. His cuts can be identified by a Δ (delta) before the MX (see example here). History: 1954: all vinyl manufacturing was centralized in Artarmon after closure of the original Harrington Street plant. 1960: all recording facilities were transferred from Bligh Street to the Artarmon site. Mid 1967: automatic pressing machines were installed. All the 12" and 7" pressing equipment was originally designed and manufactured by Columbia USA, although many components were made in Australia (where possible). The first LP pressed on the "auto" line was "Camelot (Original Motion Picture Sound Track)". 1970: printing facilities were installed in Artarmon. 1970's: ARC's central record warehouse relocated from Hargrave Street to Artarmon. 1973: Cassette manufacturing commenced in Artarmon. 17 October 1977: ARC became CBS Records Australia Limited and, subsequently, the plant became CBS Records, Artarmon.