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Sam (Sniderman) The Record Man Dies

dt_toronto_geek

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Maybe the short section of Gould from Yonge St to Victoria St. could be closed to local traffic, then have the 'Sam the Record Man Sign' embedded in the road bead then covered in glass strong enough to handle pedestrian traffic.
 
78 RPM

45 RPM

33 1/3 RPM

8-track

cassette

CD

downloading killed the store.

RIP, Sam.

Don't forget a large part of the store was dedicated to VHS sales & rentals (in the early 90's they bragged largest rental selection in Canada), CED discs, laserdiscs & DVD's. Plus reel-to-reels!
 
I will never forget being a youngster in the 1990s - impromptu day long trips to sam the record man and the world's biggest bookstore. It's funny because as a child, I really hated it. My generation's collective attention span is the reason the 15 minute tv show became popular. Anyways, in my teen years i developed my own musical tastes - as most do. Walking into Sams as a young teenager was the equivalent to a paid trip to amsterdam for someone in their late teens/early 20's. No matter how obscure your taste was - Sam's had it. No HMV or indie music store will EVER be Sam's. When the store closed a few years back, I honestly stopped legally purchasing music. No store or concert venue or even band will ever be as significant to our city's music scene and culture as Sam the Record Man was. Something to think about.
 
R.I.P Sam!! someMidTowner sums my experience with Sam's the best "No matter how obscure your taste was - Sam's had it" So true. I got all kinds of imports and special editions from Sam's, with stores like HMV and Music World you would always have to put in a special order, and there was no guarantee they would get it. Sam's always had it!

According to the CBC News Ryerson still has the iconic sign and it is sitting in over 100 pieces and will cost a lot to restore it. As of now they are unsure if they will use it, Hopefully the city can do something with it, maybe as a memorial? Sadly it will probably end up in the dump.
 
Totally agree someMidTowner.

When I was a young kid I saw a film on TV that I loved (and still do) called "To Sir With Love" and after seeing it, I had to have the song from the film. I looked through every record bin in Scarborough to find this song but with no luck. On a trip downtown we went into Sam's and I began to check the bins there. I not only found the 45 rpm but the original soundtrack album plus Lulu albums (who sang the title song) so I was in hog heaven! As my taste in music matured most Torontonians around my age would probably tell a similar story of walking Yonge Street from Bloor to Dundas looking for the best price on the latest albums in the dozen or so record stores that dotted the strip when they were released or when you were looking for something obscure (and unused), Sam's was the place to go in the 70's, 80's & 90's.

Sam's 347 Yonge St. store also had hundreds of signed photographs of musicians hastily framed and posted around the store along with autographs signed on the walls themselves in magic marker which made it something of a music museum in it's own right. I always thought those walls had more history than the spinning signs out front. Then there were the signs inside his downtown store that I loved too, among one of my favorates (I'm paraphrasing here) "We have it all, if you can't find it ask Sam's staff, if you can find Sam's staff!".
 
Fate of Sam the Record Man sign uncertain in Toronto: Ryerson University
TORONTO - Toronto's Ryerson University says the flashy sign which once drew people to the iconic Sam the Record Man music store won't hang outside the building being constructed on the site of the former landmark.

The university acquired the sign when it purchased the site for $23 million in 2008, a year after the store had closed.

As part of its contract with the city to honour the store, the university was to restore and permanently remount the sign on the future Student Learning Centre — a building on which construction began in the spring of 2012.

But Bruce Piercey, director of communications at Ryerson University, says the sign is not part of the official design for the university building.

Speculation about the fate of the sign comes after the death of the store's founder, Sam Sniderman, on Sunday

The neon sign, composed of two enormous spinning discs on a red background, once lit up the corner of Yonge and Gould Streets in the city's downtown.

"It's not the kind of thing you could just attach to the side of the building. It's very different from the nature of the building," Piercey said of the sign on Monday.

The city gave the record store heritage status in 2007 to preserve the cultural value of the sign.

Piercey says the university and the city are still discussing the future of the sign.

"We're looking at alternate tributes that we think are fitting to Sam and the sign," said Piercey.

"We will provide some alternatives to restoring and reinstalling the sign."

However, Piercey said there had been no formal word from the city on the matter.

Guilio Cescato, a City of Toronto planner, said Ryerson has a legal obligation to put the sign up, and that the city definitely wants to see it lit again.

The sign was dismantled in 2008 and remains in storage.

On Monday, Ryerson University highlighted its connection with the historic store, which opened its doors in 1959.

University president Sheldon Levy expressed his condolences to those who knew Sniderman, and emphasized how proud the university was to be developing the new Student Learning Centre on the former store's property.

A big promoter of Canadian music, Sniderman was a Member of the Order of Canada, an inductee of the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.

He also received a Governor General award and Honorary doctorates from Ryerson University and the University of Prince Edward Island.

Known as Sam the Record Man, Sniderman and his brother Sid opened a small store in Toronto in 1937 and together they built a chain of Sam the Record Man stores that spanned the country.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/fate-sam-r...tml?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
 
FWIW I've already encountered a suggestion that Yonge-Dundas Square should be called "Sniderman Square"....
 
I'm not sure I like "Sniderman Square". Many people didn't know his last name. It's his first name that was famous. SAM THE RECORD MAN Square would be more appropriate. I'm sure people would abbreviate it to Sam's Square or just Sam's.

Perhaps Ryerson could donate the funds to restore the sign at the square itself. We could use a proper stage. A granite monolith with the signs mounted and functional rising at the back of the square would be a fitting tribute and a perfect location.
 
Well, "Sam Sniderman" square might do. Just like Roy Thomson Hall (does anyone just call it "Thomson Hall"?)
 
Well, "Sam Sniderman" square might do. Just like Roy Thomson Hall (does anyone just call it "Thomson Hall"?)

Nope, but i have heard David Pecaut Square referred to as "Pecaut Square".
 
Forget 'Sniderman Square'...how about 'Schneiderman Square' in tribute to our city's great street hot dogs?
 

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