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I used to buy my records at Kresges, Melody Music and A&M Records, but then a bus hit me, ran me right over — The Records on Wheels bus, that is, parked in a parking lot where the School of Architecture is now.
From that bus, Tony Anselmo moved once or twice, but I always followed.
I would visit his store to talk World Cup soccer, buy an LP, talk music, buy 2 LPs, talk food, buy 3 LPs, talk Italy, buy a Louis Prima record, talk family, buy more LPs, talk hockey about Montreal or Chicago or our Sudbury Wolves, or talk politics or our shared love for downtown.
But especially we talked about our love for the blue. And that grew into the Sudbury Blues Society, with Tony Anselmo as president and me, his buddy.
We presented approximately 80 shows, picnics, local blues appreciation nights at Christmas with local blues bands, bus trips to Chicago where we met icons like Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Luther Allison, and his Chicago Blackhawks to meet the likes of Rich Preston and Vladislav Tretiak.
It was the crazy, wild, eccentric, eclectic, electric, funny, happy, dancing, wonderful people Tony and I met at those events that cemented our friendship for so many years.
To a great friend, I salute you and in your memory I’m going to play a Duke Robillard CD with a glass of vino.
Roberto (Bob) Armiento
Greater Sudbury