Shopping for vinyl records in Toronto & a Rush landmark 

Thanks for taking us along on your walking tour of Toronto. I really enjoyed seeing the city. It’s good to see thriving record stores.

That Moving Pictures album cover...it's the holy grail. Many thanks for the report, Frank

its nice to see you out and about in the wild

RUSH 🤘🤘🤘

I amassed most of my record collection in the late 1990s to early 2000s. Back then records were an odd niche and didn’t sell for much. I remember rarely paying over 5 dollars for a record. Most vintage records could be had for 1-2 dollars. My mind is kinda stuck in that era and I really have a hard time adjusting to the modern prices.

Huge Rush fan here! You were correct to say “shoot”. Rush did record video at the Ontario Provincial Legislature. It was used as a video backdrop on a bunch of tours. Great tour around Toronto!

Thank you Frank for the tour of record Shops in Toronto. And a special thank you for the visit to the location of Moving Pictures album cover location. That is the album that made me a life long fan of Rush. 👍👍👍👍👍

The kind of record shopping you are doing is what I was up to in the 1980's. I remember working for the phone company when I had to fly all over the place and stopping at stores in every town I worked in. Buying Mofi releases cut out for $5 and any used records I could imagine I wanted for $3 or $5 . Your channel is very appealing to me I think because I am on the other side of a journey you and your viewers are 'beginning'. My dad owned a record store in the 1950's and 60's and I spent a lot of time there especially 65-74 and the first record I took home was "Best of the Beach Boys' in 1967. Second one was Steppenwolf Live etc....up to the last was 'Surfs Up' before my dad went bust. One day in Jan 1981 I was really stoned on coke and Jack (listening to Alice Cooper's new LP Flush the Fashion) and blew the power supply out of my Scott 299-C. I couldn't afford to fix it and so I signed up for Junior College and got an associates in electronics so I could fix all the hi-fi gear I incinerated. Enter my world of the sound of the machine. My first table in 1974 in High school was a Dual 1225, and later a 1229 the M91ED and M95ED. My relation to 'Kiss' was the excitement of Pretzel Logic and Deja' Vu and Tres Ombres and Marshall Tucker's first. Metaphorically speaking of course we beat guys up who listened to KISS! (please forgive me) Later on came the BSEE in Electrical Engineering and my soul was lost to the mechanism of music (sorry). Owned literally tons of Scott, Eico, Fisher Heathkit, McIntosh, Sherwood tube gear and now it is the other end of the journey. Most of the records I wanted were acquired at least by 1999 and the last Lp's I bought were Gogo Penguin and ReStoned. Got about $5k into my turntable now and...yes I can hear the difference in $2000 cables (sum total of mine is about $15k) Love your passion please keep on to the soul of the Lp and this hobby.

Man, it would be so awesome to be there. Some have all the FUN. So enjoyed this thx. I must agree old school & small shops are GREAT! DVD & CDs are fun to.

Great video once again Frank Glad to hear that the younger generation is digging vinyl still. Keeps the presses going.

Very cool to see the location for Moving Pictures cover!! It’s legend time!

Thanks for bringing us along to Toronto with you, Frank.

I was in Toronto only once... for Noel Gallagher/Smashing Pumpkins at the Budweiser Sound Stage (what a great venue). Wish I had had more time to explore the city, it looks like such an amazing place. The traffic, though! As crazy as it is here in Boston!

Hi Frank, I was in Walmart today here in west Central Florida. The Coltrain album you showed a video or two ago was $26.95, and Dark side of the moon 50 was selling for $36.95.

Frank, Nothing about records but man, your country is so amazing. Even the big city is clean and tidy! I hate cities but I could cope with Toronto I think 🙂

I always hit record stores when I travel. I'm fortunate that my wife is from Brussels, so we go to visit her family every year. New European records are crazy expensive so I only go for stuff I can't get in the States, and especially look for used LP's...the prices are better and you can find all kinds of crazy stuff. I always look for Golden Earring, Can, Les Rita Mitsouko and Gruppo Sportivo rarities.

Thanks for the tour. I ALWAYS hit Record Stores, Comic Book Stores and Thrift Stores when I travel. Right there with ya, Brother!

Frank that was great, especially showing off the building that became the ironic record cover of Rush's " Moving Pictures " !! Keep On Spinning!

WOW! Loved this episode!! Thank you for the tour! I will have to visit Canada sometime soon!

If you had timed your visit a bit later in the day, you wouldn't have felt so old. I visited Sonic Boom that same day shortly after 7 p.m. and I'm 61 years old. 😁

Really enjoyed watching this. Thanks for taking the vinyl community along for the visit!

Great video Frank! Welcome to Trawna (Toronto)! I'm a displaced Torontonian. I cruised the Queen St. area a few years ago and found the same thing as you did.....nice stores but a little bit pricey. I bought the majority of my vinyl years and years ago at my favourite store Sam The Record Man. 😢 Miss those times! I prefer the smaller stores like yourself. Keep on spinning Frank 👍

That was cool but a tad disappointing as to most of their stock being new. Yes, I would usually hit record stores when traveling. It was mandatory when visiting Montreal to look for Canadian pressings and stuff I couldn’t find here in the states. Also NYC in the 80’s had a lot of record stores I’d visit. In Florida for a Disney World vacation, one day I took the rental car to nearby towns one day, looking for record stores. That was the days when I had only the yellow pages as a guide! I’ve shopped in the Boston area on a visit too.

Toronto is one of my favorite cities. I miss Sam the Record Man. A sizeable portion of my collection came from there in the 90s and early 00s. I do try to hit record store when I travel. Zia in Las Vegas is a must see. Hungry Ear in Honolulu was cool. If you're ever in my neck of South Central Pennsylvania or Baltimore hit me up. I'll show you some cool stores.

I met a young boy buying Glen Miller records at the Austin Record Convention! And I met a young lady looking for Marty Robbins records at the Canton Texas Flea Market! Let me know how the wicked Lester sounds. My record store has a few of them.

Like the hood and shades, you look like an AVENGER!

Frank, I watch a young lady out of Africa, here on RU-vid, She does reaction videos to everything, right? Her newest one is Rush, Spirit of Radio. She’s always blown away. I wish I could have feeling again.

Nice, I loved MuchMusic. I was able to watch it here in the states back in the 1980's on a 6ft C-Band satellite system. I love seeing all these record stores, especially the independent ones!

Great video! Thanks for taking us along! I remember Much Music even though I’m from Illinois. My parents had a satellite dish for a time and I remember watching many hours of Canada’s “MTV”. Also love the Moving Pictures stop! Just went to our local mall last week and was shocked to see a FYE had opened up. Of course it didn’t have much to choose from (seemed to be mainly collectible toys) but what they did have was overpriced. Will be interesting to see how long ours can keep their doors open!

Ok, so now I couldn't resist going out myself. I am spending Easter here in Warsaw with the lady. Very sunny weather today, so we went downtown. Could have made a similar video haha. Found a super little gem record shop. You have to ring the bell at the gate to get in and there it was, cellar like small shop. Big smile on my face since I took home a few Hendrix and a Morricone. The shop is called Winyl Market Records & Goodies. The guy there was a friend of the owner and he was playing classical music, so I asked, where are the classical records? He answers, we do not sell any 😂. Cheers

There's always a Max Bygraves in the free rack or 10c/10p rack, poor old Max, his revival is yet to come! 😄

Hey Frank....yeah I do the same thing and always book my flights for biz trips to account for a few extra hrs to hit record stores. Oh yeah...and also gotta hit local food joint too. Just got back from Philly last week and was able to hit 4 stores AND get s cheesesteak at Pat's.....all within a few blocks. Way cool 😎 got my regular haunts pretty much everywhere I go 😝

Toronto is a great city to visit.

RUSH IS GREAT BUT I'M MORE OF A LED ZEPPELIN INSTEAD BUT WHAT A GREAT FIND THANKS FOR SHOWING US AROUND THANK YOU FRANK ✌🏼OUT

I remember ordering a ton of 45’s from Kops Kollectables…One of my favorite record stores to find those Canadian artists/bands and pressings…Back in the day, I remember visiting Toronto and seeing the CN Tower, Yonge Street, Casa Loma and the Toronto Zoo, as well as heading north to Canada’s Wonderland…Good times, good memories!

Hi Frank, thanks for showing me taranta. Great vid as always.

One shop you missed is Play De Record, not too far from SB at 411 Spadina!

I have ordered from Sonic Boom and had stuff delivered to me in Newfoundland. One order, they could not find the album despite it saying it was in stock, and after seeing your pictures, now I know why! That place is huge!

Kops probably has best prices on new stuff. But the Queen West location doesn't really do them justice. The Danforth location is where it's at.

In America, they tried reviving the idea of 80s MTV - for a few years circa 2010, we had a channel called " cool tv" 24 hours of new music videos mixed with classic 80s and 90s videos - they had DVD concerts often on weeknights. To be honest, it was BETTER than MTV ever was, but it didn't catch on, because media is so readily available everywhere, I guess it was redundant to kids who grew up in the internet era, though I loved it. Discovered so much new music, and seeing Deep Purple or Whitesnake concerts nightly was awesome

Great video! Brings back a few memories. The last time I was in Toronto was 1969, just before my last year in High School. I went with some friends who were also band mates. On our way home to Cleveland Ohio we thought about going to Woodstock NY for that little festival that was happening there. :) I now wish we would have done it but we went on to Cleveland. Your Rush segment also brings back a great memory. In 1974 or 75 we opened for Rush at an outdoor show that was headlined by Rare Earth. I can remember coming up on stage to do a sound check and passing Geddy Lee coming off the stage. Back then not many people, including us, knew anything about them. When they hit the stage we were blown away! We played originals and covers so the following week we picked up their US debut album "Rush" and learned a few of their songs. If you look at the back of that album they credit Donna Harper at WMMS in Cleveland for "getting the ball rolling". Im holding in my hand an original pressing of that album in near mint condition I picked up at Goodwill a couple years ago! Thanks for a great channel. My first time commenting but Ive been with you for a while.

Fun video Frank. Only been to Toronto once in 2004, coincidentally to see Rush. So I definitely had to see the Legislative Building, it's the Rush fan's version of Abbey Road! Not one used record store could be open or found when we were there oddly enough. The only I bought was Rush's Feedback on vinyl, at the iconic Sam's store.

I like the Unabomber look

pretty sure Kops is the place i went to when i was there, picked up a bunch of stuff. thats one thing i miss about tour...hittin all the record shops

Living in a fisheye lens...... All hail the free records. You shoulda grabbed one and reviewed it. FYE just, JUST closed here. Sucks. They had a ton of $1 stuff.

Enjoyed the walk around,,have a great weekend Frank

Thanks for showing the moving pictures location :).

I remember Sam The Man and HMV when I visited years ago. I was blown away by Sam The Man. I also think they had Tower Records too.

Been to Toronto many times for shopping and concerts living on the other side of the lake. I believe I was at sonic boom after the Toronto rocks concert at downsview in 2003. There used to be a lot of stores in the Younge and Bloor area as well. Great video !

Great video Frank. I had fun hanging out with you today!

Toronto, my home town

Looking pretty menacing in that hoodie and shades Frank !! Wow what a shop sonic boom is ...looks bigger than Amoeba Music ?? The Exorcist horror movie is (in my book) the finest movie ever made and absolutely blew me away when I watched it at home with the folks, aged 15 !! Thanks for the walk around and have a great weekend

Great show Frank. I also went traveling. Went to London hit 4 record stores while there grab albums of bands that Are hard to get here. Love the show keep up the great work you do. Keep on spinning 🤘 😎

Thanks I’m just now getting into vinyl record collecting so this definitely helps

That Wicked Lester session has been bootlegged so many times but this one looks cool. And yes that picture is not Wicked Lester but KISS before they had the make up designs.

Great video! You will love The Exorcist!

Ohhh man!! Very cool!!! The RUSH thing especially!!! I’ll have to watch this later. My son and I are out hunting for Legos;)

I was in Toronto about 4 years ago, found some great record stores and I had to visit the Legislature building

Great show, Frank.😁👍

I have a trip next month to NYC and planned accordingly so I would have time to do some record shopping in the afternoon and have a way to get it to my car before the event that evening I'm traveling for. Always fun to explore a new store!

Walked Toronto years ago, also for work, flying over from Amsterdam. In the sun that city looks stunning. It became ridiculously expensive as I heard from colleagues, in the meantime. Impossible housing prices. Assuming the same for records. However, you found some from sightseeing and hunting. Nice video Frank.

Interesting and super fun episode to watch! Thanks for sharing. Great work! :)

I am there in November so thanks 🙏

I often get sent to Toronto for work and have a route that let's me hit almost twenty something record stores in an afternoon using a one-day TTC pass for @13$. Neurotica and Rotate This are usually the most fruitful, but it's always hit and miss. Prices are rising, but Vancouver is usually the worse. I could hook you up in Montreal if you come this way, we have great stores and the best prices!

Hi Frank! Enjoyed the video. I like shopping for vinyl when Im away travelling. I recently visited couple of record shops in Dublin, Ireland. The Sentinel Records is a great shop with lots of metal albums, bought couple of Mötley Crüe vinyls, some Iron Maiden, W.A.S.P. and Pantera's early work Projects In The Jungle. I really enjoy discovering record shops in different cities. Hope you enjoyed your stay in Toronto! Much love

Very cool Rush information. Younger generation collecting records. My sons are 26 and 22, they both collect, mostly because I got my oldest son started in about 2012 by giving him a turntable, amp, and a few throwback albums I replaced with better copies. My youngest son doesn’t even have the equipment to play anything on, but started buying collectible albums, or at least ones he thinks will be collectible, and stashing them away. Great stuff as usual Frank! Keep on Spinnin my friend!

Great to see - thanks. Off to Berlin in a few months and will be doing the same :)

I plan on going to Toronto later this month to see a concert with newer shoe gaze/ dream pop artists. Winter and Tankuichan. The venue is "The Garrison" I will also visit some record shops and unique restaurants.

That is a picture of KISS with Ace and Peter. They may not have had the permission to use Wicked Lester photos or likeness.

Hey Frank good seeing you and thanks for sharing the sights of Toronto ! Nice to see the Moving Pictures album cover location along with that very nice score Wicked Lester Sessions album ! Take care and enjoy that album and movies! ~ Jeff

Great Toronto content

Of course I look for the record stores when I travel. Though I don't travel so often. mr. Finglish (Bäd English Recs)

I loved Muchmusic.

I sand with Isreal !! great video frank

Hope you enjoyed your time in TO Frank. We are out in the burbs-Mississauga-and there are some good used records stores out here for next time you are in town. That Wicked Lester will be a fun listen-and that photo was definitely the 4 KISS originals without makeup-pre cranky old men days.

Hey Frank I was at Kops today, but the Oshawa branch east of Toronto, that’s where all the old dudes hang out lol, I like the dudes at Kops 50/50 new and used, I go for the used stuff nowadays, you are right about Toronto prices though the are as high as the condos downtown lol

Awesome video 👍☺️

There are lots of smaller stores that have a different mix of new and used. I hadn’t been to Sonic Boom in a while until I finally got back there today to spend a gift card. I hit up several other of those smaller shops-especially the ones they’re clustered together. Haven’t been to Kops in a while either.

Frank!!! Killer video, man! You should Totally do more record store visit videos! And Dear God I hope you got a picture of yourself taken at the iconic Rush location! I’m a serious vinyl AND movie collector and I Have to point out at The Exorcist is being released in 4k this year! Likely round October. One of my all time favorite horror movies and I Usually watch that and The Shining once a year. So I’m saving this years viewing for the 4k. Anyway…. Love seein you out and about lookin in record stores. Awesome 🤘😎🤘

Great video Frank, thank you! In the past I always tried to hit a few record stores when I was on the road. Now, it's alot less. There are a couple of small proprietor-owned record stores I usually try to visit when I am in the Monterey, CA area. When I am in Sacramento, CA, they have a few record stores but the only one I get around to visit is in 'Old Sacramento' on Firehouse Alley because I've known the owner for years. I have been a bit disappointed seeing many record stores putting prices on records which are like the top prices of Near Mint records you see in record price guides, but many of the records are in the good-very good condition. I don't blame them for trying to get top dollar because they have alot of overhead, but they are pricing the records like Cadillacs when they are Volkswagens. Maybe it's mainly because I already have 1,000's of records and already have pretty much every record I've ever wanted. The new re-issues catch my interest, especially jazz and blues. Buying mostly online, I usually have most new releases before the stores get them and I have found that I paid less for them than the stores paid from thier 'one-stops'. Funny thing is often the records I buy online are direct-shipped from the same 'one-stops' they buy from. Then there are the record companies who have online stores, like Universal, and they are often having huge discount coupons or closeout records for a fraction of the retail price. PopMarket used to be like that when they were a clearance house for Sony and had the latest releases too. NOW, one thing I like to do is to peruse Thrift and 2nd hand stores. I enjoy looking around to see stuff I may have never seen before or maybe find something I have been looking a long time for. I always look at their records, if they have any. Stores like these tend to put records, CD's and movies in a dark back corner. The good thing is they price them like used records used to be priced. I have been known to come out with an armful, hard to carry, records.

hey frank..i love toronto..nice seeing it again..not so nice seing that wicked lester cover..they ripped that off from the laughing dogs first album..they were a great band from back in my cbgb days...check it out...glad you had a cool trip..love hitting record stores when i travel.. peace to you and yours always..rocky

Great video. I want to go to Toronto some day, heard it's nice. Won't be a long trip for me coming from New York. I definitely do hit record stores when I travel. I would go up to the Portland area in Maine. They have great record stores there. Bought a lot over the years there. Great finds. Frank, how do you pack your vinyl for an air flight? In your luggage? If so how do you keep it safe? Thanks!

Call me an American (I live in New York State)< but I really enjoy being in Toronto. Of course seeing a moving picture made at The Ontario Legislature building was welcome> To answer the thumbnail question, Yes I visit record stores while I'm traveling. And Oh, Yes, I have made a few CD purchases at Sam The Record Man on Younge Street in Toronto back in the nineties.

Awesome video brother

I used to love going to Sonic Boom when it was at their old location. It was bigger and better. The new location is still good but doesn’t have as much CDs as they used to. Dead Dog Records is a good store as well. They have 2 or 3 locations throughout the city. I used to love going to Yonge and Dundas. The HMV was huge (3 floors) and they had the Sunrise Records across the street (former employees of Sunrise started and own Dead Dog Records).

did you check out the basement at Kops? Lots of records priced at $1.99

FYI, it was FYE you visited, not FYI. Looks like a real nice city, thanks for giving us a glimpse.

The best thing about Sonic Boom are newly arrived used vinyl bins as soon as you walk through the door. If you get there at the right time, you will get a glut of records in VG+ or better shape for reasonable prices. They even write the grading on the price stickers, and I have found they are usually accurate, which takes a lot of the guess work out of it.

Frank if your ever in the city again I would like to take you to some other awesome stores in the city I think you would like great episodes keep on spinning

I live in Toronto. While I like to go to Sonic Boom occasionally, I am far more a habitue of Kops. The downstairs offers used psych albums from 10 - 25 bucks. They also offer Canadiana sections, which Sonci Boom does not. As someone who tries to collect homegrown product, that is a real plus for me.

there are many smaller record stores in toronto (with the owner behind the counter), that sell mostly/only used records. you just went to the two stores with popular names. You'd probably enjoy Rotate This, located in the west end.

I feel your pain, Frank - we had MuchMusic US for awhile on our cable system, and I loved them - discovered so many Canadian artists through it. Then it became Fuse, and it just crashed....I miss the old one....:: sniff:: The record stores are super cool though - love the look and vibe at Sonic Boom, wish there was one that cool in Boston...we don't even have FYE anymore (and BTW, I worked for Transworld for most of the 1990s before they sold the company to Sunrise Music a few years ago).

Too bad you missed Play de Record. Those guys are solid. You have to check them out the next time your out here!

I’m so sad I was in Toronto on the second and almost went to SB and kops! I could’ve meet one of my favourite record guys :(

Did you check the collectables section in Sonic Boom, Frank (they were at the back of the Record department); I was there 18 months ago, and bought some amazing stuff - but came away with a huge hole in my wallet. By the way, I don’t know if you collect Japanese pressings, but as I remember Kops had a large section full of those. Glad you enjoyed your trip, anyway. If you ever get to Vancouver, let me know and I’ll give you a record store tour!

If you take off the sunnies and let the light in it will change your life ⚡

Hey Frank when you get a chance look up the news on Motley Crue and Mick Mars. You did a video about this when you were showcasing one of the crues records. You were right on good call. Sorry for posting this here but you don't have an email address. Keep up the great work and videos.

Toronto just ain't the same as without the iconic Sam The Record Man, with the spinning records neon sign I considered it the greatest record store in the world in my teens and 20's

hey...you passed queen street? DIO has a song called, "evil on queen street", named after a deli in toronto. perhaps the same street?

Sunrise Records is closing? Pity -- that was the last chain store record shop that I worked in which still exists -- until now.