Building Fortitude Valley’s Legacy: 100 Years, 100 Stories Celebrates Brisbane’s Musical Heritage

Step back into the golden era of Fortitude Valley and celebrate 100 years of Brisbane’s deeply entrenched musical heritage.

This year marks the centennial for two of the Valley’s iconic structures, both built in 1925: Carroll’s Corner and the Rollinson Buildings, occupying the block of Brunswick Street between Ann and McLachlan Street.

Tucked behind these architectural gems is California Lane, where the city’s rich musical history is kept alive by a handful of audiophile faithfuls. Among them, Riley Fitzgerald, owner and proprietor of Glitter Records – a real live, brick-and-mortar record store and pop-culture repository residing in the heart of the Valley.

Riley is proudly part of the 100 Years, 100 Stories community day, which has been organised by California Lane landlord and Valley original, Arthur Apostolos. “It’s an excuse to have a good time and celebrate,” Riley says.

“My own primitive history work has revealed there’s at least been people selling records or 78 shellac discs in the Valley since 1950. The history of music in the Valley goes back as far as these buildings, it ties together in interesting ways. The lanes are about the history, but also a good time.”

100 Years, 100 Stories is a full day of celebration, featuring live music, DJ sets, photographic displays, heritage tours from local historian Robert Allen, and a curated record and CD market hosted by Riley, courtesy of Glitter Records.

The community day will activate tenancies all along California Lane, with Riley’s neighbours getting involved in the festivities to keep the party rolling into the evening. “Nok Nok have come in and said: ‘We’ll take care of the afterparty,’ so we’ll have some nighttime DJs and cocktails going on,” Riley says.

“The history tours are a nice icing on the cake. Robert Allen is a local historian who knows where to look to find interesting facts. For us, we really are serious about having a regular [record] market in the lanes, so it’s a great opportunity to tie it to a lot of things and give it some space to grow.”

Named after the ship SS Fortitude, which brought Scottish immigrants to Brisbane in 1849, Fortitude Valley has undergone significant changes over the past 179 years; from a nascent suburb, to thriving commercial and retail hub, and eventually becoming the cultural and entertainment epicentre of Brisbane.

The 100 Years, 100 Stories community day is a celebration of the character and characters of Fortitude Valley that are intrinsically woven into Brisbane’s diverse cultural tapestry, warts and all. “It’s got all these really larger than life characters, but that’s part of the Valley,” Riley says.

“It really does have these people who are, I wouldn’t say on the fringe of Brisbane, but Brisbane is presented to the rest of the world as a postcard – there’s the Channel Seven ferris wheel, QPAC, and the [Victoria] Bridge going from the city to South Bank.

“But there’s an image of Brisbane and then there’s the reality of Brisbane, and for some reason that reality surfaces as soon as you get into the Valley. There’s this gritty Brisbane; there’s a culture that the more you learn about it the more intriguing it gets.

“Then there’s the music history as well. We want to bring that milieu, or energy, together.”

100 Years, 100 Stories community day takes place at California Lane in Fortitude Valley (Brisbane) on 22 November, from 9:30am till late.