A Brief Tribute to Record Stores by Doug Draper
Posted April 12th, 2025 – Record Store Day – on Niagara At Large
Once upon a time, and not really all that long ago, one of the great pleasure for a music lover was walking through the doors of a well-stocked record store.
Walk into the grand old Sam The Record Man on Yonge Street in Toronto or that amazing music palace called Record Theatre in Buffalo –both gone now – and you felt like a little kid walking into a big room full of bright, shiny toys.
And what made the experience even more rewarding is that, unlike the deal these days where people are going online and picking out music they want, you could leave that store with an album you discovered through listening to it on the store’s intercom or by finding out about it from other customers.
I still remember picking up an album because I was struck by the great cover art on it and having a couple of customers next to me say; “You would love that. The music is fantastic.”
The cover art that grabbed me on the very first Santana album, released in 1969, which I found while leafing through the racks at a record store and receiving some enthusiastic reviews on it from fellow record store customers.
That album turned out to be the very first one that Santana put out and when I took it home and put it on my turntable I was blown away with how hot the music on it was.
I can’t keep count of the number of times that has happened – that I discovered great albums I never came through the doors of a record store, but there they were. It’s the same experience so many of us have probably had going to a good bookstore and finding a great read that we were not aware of before we started exploring the shelves.
And just as rewarding in the case of both record and book stores, you are out someplace – versus being alone in a room at home – interacting with people who share the same interests you do.
Unfortunately, there are not all that many record stores left which is why, in 2007, a group of people who love music got together and launched the first Record Store Day that takes place each year at this time “to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1400 independently-owned record stores.”
So if you are fortunate enough to still have a record store near you, I urge you to give it your support. If you love discovering new music or rediscovering music that you grooved to in the past, you won’t be disappointed.
Niagara Records, a great store for used records and CDs, in downtown St. Catharines, Niagara
Two record stores that immediately come to mind for me in the north Niagara area are Niagara Records (a great one for used vinyl and CDs) on St. Paul St. in downtown St. Catharines and Mindbomb Records on James Street in downtown St. Catharines.
For our neighbours in the Buffalo New York area, there is Cool Beat Records and Books on William Street Cheektowaga and HiFi Hits, Records and More on Main Street in Williamsville, New York.
Inside Timebomb Records on James Street in downtown St. Catharines
Finally, and although it isn’t a truly independently owned store, I want to give a mention to Sunrise Records, located in the north end of the Pen Centre Shopping Centre in St. Catharines. Sadly, it may be the last retail store for records and movies of its kind in all of Niagara.
You can key in the names of most of these stores on whatever search engine you may use to find out their more about them and their locations.
I will finish my short tribute to record stores up by sharing a song with you from that Santana album I mentioned. It is called ‘Soul Sacrifice’ and you can hear and watch Santana perform a stunning version of it live at the now legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969 by clicking on the screen immediately below –
Why not make Record Store Day every day of the year!
Doug Draper, Niagara At Large
For more on Record Store Day, click on – https://recordstoreday.com/CustomPage/614
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