The Sam the Record Man neon sign – A Yonge Street beacon for over 40 years
September 19th, 2013
Photo by Jamie Bradburn. Used with permission.
Guest author: Nicholas Jennings
Yonge Street, during the 1950s and ’60s, was a hotbed of entertainment. Between Queen and Gerrard ran one long string of stores, theatres, restaurants and dozens of live music clubs featuring the top jazz, blues, country, soul and rock and roll acts from Toronto and around the world. And the entire stretch was aglow in bright, multicoloured neon signs.
The neon sign at Yonge near Gould was the biggest and brightest of them all. A giant disc standing over eight metres high and filled with red and white tubes and a centrepiece that read “That’s Entertainment,” it drew millions to the flagship store of Sam the Record Man, Canada’s largest music retailer, and came to symbolize the richness of Yonge Street’s musical past. The man for whom the store and sign was named was Sam Sniderman, one of the most influential and colorful characters in Canadian music.
Designed by the Markle Brothers, the original Sam’s neon sign used mechanical flashing units to create the illusion of a spinning record. As the store grew, a second disc, designed by Claude Neon, was added and placed alongside the original.
An instantly identifiable landmark, the sign beckoned Torontonians and tourists to Yonge Street and to three floors filled with recordings—over 400,000 in total—of every type of music imaginable. Visiting artists, from Liberace and Tony Bennett to Elton John and Alice Cooper, frequented the store, while the diversity of Sam’s selections became a vital source of influence for many Canadian musicians.
Then the digital revolution struck, wreaked havoc on the recording industry and retail outlets and chains like Sam the Record Man—which at its peak included 137 retail locations across Canada and accounted for as much as 25 per cent of the country’s recorded music sales—suffered.
Ryerson University purchased the Sam’s property to build its new Student Learning Centre on the site, after the flagship store closed in 2007. With the future of the beloved neon sign in danger, Toronto City Council attempted to have it preserved under a heritage designation. Instead, an agreement was reached with the university in which it committed to finding a home for the sign on its new building at the corner of Yonge and Gould. Meanwhile, the university stored the sign in a warehouse north of Toronto.
Ryerson forged ahead with a plan for a 10-storey, 160,000 square feet glass building, designed by Toronto’s Zeidler and Oslo’s Snohetta architectural firms. Sam Sniderman, an inductee into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, recipient of the Governor General’s Award and a Member of the Order of Canada for his “constant support of Canadian talent,” died in September 2012. One year later, the news broke that Ryerson was seeking an amendment to its agreement with the City, releasing it from any obligation to reinstall the sign on its Yonge-Gould location.
Public reaction has been swift and passionate, with several online petitions and a Facebook group calling for Ryerson to honor its agreement and remount the sign prominently on Yonge Street. Many believe that Ryerson has a moral obligation to resurrect the sign and should be held to that.
A growing number of legendary Canadian musicians are also speaking up. “The giant neon spinning discs,” wrote Gordon Lightfoot, “are a reminder of the huge role that Sam Sniderman and his store played in the cultural life of Toronto.” Added Sylvia Tyson: “We have lost too many iconic Toronto symbols already. Let’s not lose another.” And Bruce Cockburn stated simply: “The sign should be up for all to see.”
Music lovers, concerned citizens and anyone who cares about preserving this important piece of Toronto’s cultural heritage should write to Mayor Rob Ford (mayor_ford@toronto.ca), Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, whose ward comprises Ryerson (councillor_wongtam@toronto.ca), and their own councilor to express their views. Use the links on this site to find your councilor by typing in your home address. As Sylvia Tyson says, we’ve lost too many iconic Toronto symbols. Let’s not lose another.
