I Found Drive-In for $1.99

On June 30, 2007, Sam the Record Man closed its flagship store in downtown Toronto. When the announcement of its closure was announced earlier in the spring, the reaction was of sorrow, yet likely not with much surprise, as the franchise truly never recovered from going bankrupt in 2001, which prompted Sam’s to close all but a handful of stores across Canada. In the years that followed, its main store on Yonge St. seldom had the customer traffic it enjoyed even in the mid to late 1990s. There’s a multitude of reasons why this landmark closed -downloads being one of the culprits- and surely you will find more appropriate pieces than this one to explain just how much Sam’s shaped our record industry, with its promotion of Canadian artists, and the great finds one would always have among its dusty shelves. (Even during my CD buying days in the 1990s, when the flagship store received competition from HMV or Sunrise Records within the one-block radius, rounding out what I called “The Unholy Three”, Sam’s still got my money 90% of the time, for price and selection.)

Slowly, over the final few weeks, their inventory dwindled, as any merchandise they couldn’t return was squeezed into the first floor of the three-storey building. And then in the last couple of weeks, suddenly, in the two big rooms on the first floor, were rows upon rows of VHS tapes! These hundreds, perhaps thousands, of titles all harkened from when Sam’s video department (Sam The Video Man) used to rent movies. I had thought they sold off these tapes years ago, yet to the delight of myself and untold amounts of collectors, here they were up for grabs at $1.99 a pop. 

It is said that VHS is dead. Yet one would be reminded of the contrary upon viewing the fervour in which these colourful eccentrics (myself included) were filling up their shopping baskets with these dusty hardshell cases. Yet, one could ask, what were they buying? What were they holding on to? In other words, are these consumers acquiring more than just old movies on a dated format? Or are these grandiose souvenirs? Speaking for myself, I was looking for rare titles not yet on DVD, or things I had long meant to see and either couldn’t find or never got around to viewing. So massive was this inventory, that if you went searching just for titles in one genre (ie- classic war films, independent works), you’d still leave with an armload.

This city becomes even more gentrified like any other metropolis, with its unique landmarks being replaced by brand names. It doesn’t matter if it’s Haight-Ashbury, 42nd Street, or even Yorkville… seeing distinctive cornerstones of pop culture being ploughed over in favour of The Gap or condos for Yuppie scum is to also witness a part of our personal history and identity disappearing. Do you think people will lament when a Walmart closes? Sure, you may say that Sam’s was a corporation too, but it spoke to people. It tapped into our collective pop culture… it was about sharing, and discovery. 

Thus, it is somewhat fitting that in the twilight days of Sam’s, I got that feeling of discovery one last time… and how. While no doubt a lot of bargain hunters or record connoisseurs went looking for obscure albums for bargain basement prices, my time spent was at these VHS racks. Sam’s used to be open until midnight, but in its liquidation days, it closed at 7 PM. So, this barely afforded me an hour to run over after the office closed, and hurriedly skim through the racks before they kicked us out. As the days went on, I’d nod to faces that had become familiar in the past few nights; those of fellow scavengers who would also leave with armfuls of dusty tapes in Sam’s oversized clear plastic bags, which did nothing to hide these obsolete pieces of technology from onlookers on the subway.

After my first visit to the racks, I left with Monte Hellman’s Flight to Fury, Robert Altman’s Brewster McCloud, and… be still my heart…. Drive-In, the much worshipped 1976 cult comedy. Now officially crowning myself king of the geeks with that score, I revisited the shelves to acquire such gems as Billy the Kid Vs. Dracula (sigh), Hillbillys in a Haunted House, the biker epic J.C., the early 60s independent film Strangers in the City, the hippie-dippie epic Thumb Tripping (which I’ve been seeking for 20 years), (a lot of these titles released to Charter Entertainment) scads of indie titles from Facets, and many more that still haven’t been transferred over to DVD. Who can say if some of these ever will? With the way companies merge and no one can tell who owns what anymore, and how DVD releases always get halted due to music rights, it’s no wonder VHS has become collectible just the way vinyl was when it became clear that not everything was out on CD. 

Coming away with all of these discoveries was a joyous event that any collector could understand, yet it was also a bittersweet moment, for the reason why one has acquired all of this stuff is because it’s the end of an era. Still, I couldn’t bear to see Sam’s right to the bitter end. Our office was closed on Friday June 29, so I went to Sam’s that morning for my final haul, and took my time going through the racks, planning not to return the next day, which would be its final day of operation, and likely a madhouse. Yet, should the milestone of Sam’s end any other way? Foraging through all of this stuff is to be reminded of what it meant to shop at Sam the Record Man all along: “Hey, look what I found!”

Thanks for the memories, Sam.

Postscript

Okay, okay. Here is a scorecard of what I picked up from Sam’s in its final week of operation. (Note: anytime you see two titles separated with / signifies one videotape with two titles on it (usually one of the double feature cassettes put out by Columbia or RKO.) At the time in which these were purchased, 71.5% of these titles did not yet make the jump to DVD. I’m sure a significant number of them still haven’t.

Friday June 22:
15 Titles

The Affairs of Annabel / Pop Always Pays; Against All Odds (1968); Brewster McCloud (1970); Cold Pizza (1972); Charlie Chan and the Curse Of the Dragon Queen (1981); The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1956); Dance of the Damned (1988); Drive-In (1976); Flight to Fury (1965); Hell Riders (1984); Living Theatre: Emergency; Marching On (1943); The Strawberry Statement (1970); The Mask (1961); The Wizard of Mars (1964)

Monday June 25:
47 Titles

The Atomic Kid (1954); Attica (1980); Catlow (1971); Confessions of a Blue Movie Star (1970); Bittersweet Love (1976); Daddy’s Gone A Hunting (1969); Dying Room Only (1973); Eat or Be Eaten (1986); The Empty Canvas (1964); Flood (1976); Frameup (1993); The Glass House (1972); Go Down Death (1944); The Great Sadness of Zohara (1983); Hail Hero (1969); Hard Boiled Mahoney (1947); The Hard Ride (1971); Harper Valley PTA (1978); The Hostage (1967); Hot Shorts (1983); The Jericho Mile (1979); Jock Peterson (1974); Medium Cool (1969); The Milpitas Monster (1975); Night of Evil (1962); Paradise Now; The People (1972); Red Nightmare (1962); Sakura Killers (1986); The Secret Of The Incas Empire (1985); Skinheads (1990); Smile (1975); S*P*Y*S (1974); Star Slammer (1988); Sugar Hill (1974); Super Fuzz (1977); Superfly TNT (1973); Thumb Tripping (1972); The Ticket of Leave Men (1937); Timestalkers (1987); Tomboy And The Champ (1961); Treasure Of Jamaica Reef (1976); UFOria (1980); Up the Academy (1980); Up to a Certain Point (1984); Walk into Hell (1956); Where Angels Go Trouble Follows (1968)

Tuesday June 26:
38 Titles

The Arousers (1970); Autobiography of a Princess (1975); Billy the Kid Vs. Dracula (1966); Caligari’s Cure (1982); The Caper of the Golden Bulls (1966); Crazy Mama (1975); Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970); End of the Road (1970); The Escape Artist (1982); The Executioner (1970); Fever Pitch (1985); Francis Covers the Big Town (1952); Francis Joins the WACs (1954); The Game Is Over (1966); Gator Bait (1973); The Gene Krupa Story (1959); Girls Town (1959); The Grasshopper (1970); Hunt the Man Down / Smashing the Rackets; In Between (1980); Interval (1973); J.C. (1972); Jive Junction (1945); Kansas City Massacre (1975); Middle Age Crazy (1980); Odds and Evens (1978); Paratroop Command / Jet Attack; The Prince of Central Park (1981); Rancho Deluxe (1975); Ransom (1977); The Return of Captain Invincible (1983); Roadie (1980); Spend It All (1971); Suburban Roulette (1967); The 2000 Year Old Man (1967); Who’s Minding the Mint (1967); Zombies on Broadway (1945)

Wednesday June 27:
26 Titles

Beverly Hills Vamp (1989); Broken Angel (1988); By Design (1981); Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979); Coming Up Roses (1986); Double Deal (1939); Eyewitness (1981); Goodbye Cruel World (1981); Hard Choices (1983); Hollywood Blvd (1976); The Incredible Melting Man (1978); Lassiter (1984); The Last Word (1980); The Leather Boys (1963); The Leech Woman (1960); Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989); Let It Rock (1984); Long Shot (1981); Mad Youth (1939); Miami Supercops (1981); Northern Lights (1979); The Rainbow Gang (1973); Slumber Party 57 (1977); Strangers in the City (1962); Survival Quest (1989); The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973)

Thursday June 28:
36 Titles

The Babymaker (1970); Black and White (1968); The Brain from Planet Arous (1958); Buster and Billie (1974); Crooks and Coronets (1969); Dangerous Obsession (1986); The D.I. (1957); Escape from El Diablo (1983); Fire Monsters Against The Son Of Hercules (1962); Future Hunters (1986); Giant from the Unknown (1958); Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967); Invasion of the Zombies (1962); The Mackintosh Man (1973); Mad Bull (1977); The Man Who Had Power over Women (1970); Maniac Cop 3 (1990); Megaforce (1982); Mothra (1961); My Sweet Charlie (1970); Namu the Killer Whale (1966); A Nice Girl Like Me (1969); Night Flight from Moscow (1973); No Way to Treat a Lady (1968); Nothing But a Man (1964); Nothing Personal (1980); One Step to Hell (1967); The Pedestrian (1974); The People Vs. Paul Crump (1962); Shivers (1975); Spaceship (1981); Street Fight (1975); Success is the Best Revenge (1979); Timerider (1983); Whatever Happened to Susan Jane (1982); The Witches Curse (1963)

Friday June 29:
54 Titles

The Attic (1980); Bear Island (1980); Brain Donors (1992); Brides of Dracula (1960); Can She Bake a Cherry Pie (1983); Chamber of Horrors (1940); The Cosmic Monsters (1958); The Cracker Factory (1979); The Creature Walks Among Us (1956); Crocodile (1981); The Deadly Trackers (1973); Dr. Who And The Daleks (1965); Don’t Mess with My Sister (1985); Dragstrip Girl (1957); Final Mission (1984); First Family (1980); First Man into Space (1958); General Spanky (1936); The Gig (1985); Git! (1965); The Green Slime (1969); Hennessey (1975); High Ice (1979); Home Remedy (1988); Hornet’s Nest (1970); A Hungarian Fairy Tale (1988); Ice House (1990); I’m Almost Not Crazy (1984); Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980); The Jungle (1952); Just Another Girl on the IRT (1993); The Last Winter (1984); Latino (1985); Lost! (1973); Lust for Aa Vampire (1970); Maniac Cop 2 (1989); Marvin and Tige (1983); The Next One (1984); The Plumber (1980); Quarterback Princess (1983); Radio Bikini (1988); She-Demons (1958); Skyline (1985); Smoke (1993); Sting of the West (1972); Suicide Batallion / Hell Squad; Sunset Limousine (1983); The Survivor (1981); Touched (1981); Tough Enough (1983); War Requiem (1988); When the Screaming Stops (1974); Whiffs (1976); White Light (1990)