so long sam the record man (yet again)
From Toronto Guidebook , published by Toronto Life in 1974: Toronto's two best record shops are practically next-door neighbors. Together they offer the widest selection of records in the city, and maybe the world; Sam the Record Man, 347 Yonge St. and A&A Records, 351 Yonge St. Both stores are open until around midnight every day, including Sunday. (156) A&A, owned in its later years by an American conglomerate, is long gone. After a dance with death several years ago, Sam's is about to join it in the history books. During childhood visits to my grandparents, it was rare that Dad and I didn't stop at either of the record stores on Yonge. I barely remember any details about A&A, but the handwritten artist dividers, the tossed-together atmosphere and the signatures on the walls of Sam's linger. Dad usually spent an hour or two browsing the classical record section in the back - it was one of the few places I recall him looking through the regular-pr...