Generations of music-lovers who once frequented Toronto's iconic Sam the Record Man store regarded the owner's retirement 12 years ago as the day the music died.
Now, after a career that spanned seven decades, people everywhere are paying tribute to Sam Sniderman, who died Sunday at 92.
Sam the Record Man, who had stores across the country, "was the last of the great Canadian showmen that were able to establish themselves as household names purely through the force of their personality," close friend Brian Robertson, chairman emeritus of the Canadian Recording Industry Association, said Monday.
"He was a mentor to literally hundreds of Canadian artists and musicians and the Yonge St. record store and Sam's presence there was the centre of the Canadian music industry's universe for over three decades."
With new-release, foreign, classical, folk, ethnic and short-run platters everywhere, "you could spend a lifetime going through records that Sam forgot," former Toronto mayor David Crombie said.
"Sam kept his eye on the street and wasn't shy about making sure the city was doing the right thing," said Crombie, who was mayor from 1972-78.
"He also loved talking about the business." My colleague Ian Robertson has more of this touching story here.
