Tributes are pouring in for iconic downtown business owner Tony Anselmo, who passed away this week.
An obituary for Anselmo has not yet been published, but as word of his passing spread through Sudbury’s musical community, tributes on social media soon followed.
Opened in 1974, Records on Wheels was a downtown staple until 2014, when its final location at the corner of Durham and Elm streets closed for good.
There is no word on funeral arrangements as of yet.
Records on Wheels was born in 1974 when Anselmo decked out an old bus and transformed it into a makeshift store. Every day, he'd drive the record-mobile to a parking lot across from the old Odeon Theatre and set up shop for the day.
The “moveable feast” for the ears was a hit, selling copious amounts of the Steve Miller Band's "The Joker" and Paul McCartney's "Band on the Run".
That first summer was a good one for Anselmo, but summer only lasts so long. It soon became too cold to operate out of a van. Luckily, Anselmo had developed enough of a following to make his record shop a permanent thing. By November 1974, he had a storefront to call his own.
Tucked away on the second floor of The Mall on Elgin Street, where the present day TD Bank is, he had a place to expand the record collection. It was a step up from being on four wheels, but it wasn't quite ideal.
“You used to need a search warrant to find us,” Anselmo said with a laugh.
The run at The Mall lasted about four years, until 1978. It only took a day to turn the store over to Durham Street.
“We moved there during the first long Inco strike to get more visibility,” he said.
The shop remained there for two years, before relocating to a spot on Elm Street. Anselmo was set up there for 10 years, before moving a stone's-throw away to the other side of Elm. Fifteen years later, he moved the shop to its final location, at the corner of Elm and Durham streets where it remained until finally closing its doors in 2014.
In noting Anselmo’s passing, Up Here Festival pointed out that there is a through-line from Anselmo to the birth of the downtown music and art festival.
“Without Tony, there probably wouldn’t be an Up Here. He was a true staple of downtown and a steadfast lover of music,” the tribute reads. “He instilled in us the love of crate digging, the anxious walk home with a fresh stash of vinyl, and a deep appreciation for that indescribable feeling of discovering new and exciting sounds. That love is at the heart of everything we do and is part of Up Here’s DNA to this day. We are saddened to learn of Tony Anselmo’s passing. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family. Drop a needle on wax in his memory tonight. What’s your favourite record score from Records on Wheels?”
Mark Browning, musician and the owner of Cosmic Dave’s Vinyl Emporium, was equally effusive in his praise for Anselmo in a post on Facebook.
“He was the guy I bought all my records from as a quiet, shy, music obsessed ’80s tween. He scared the shit out of me LOL — he was just the coolest,” Browning said. “I got to know him much more after I opened my own shop. We’d have a chat and he’d ask me how business was, and I was a little intimidated cause whenever I saw him I’d feel like I was 14 again holding onto a Joan Jett record, fearing he thought it ought to be Frank Zappa or something else way cooler.
“Records have defined my life … the first one’s I bought MYSELF, with MY MONEY, came from Tony. He was the one that taught me what an independent record store was like. Every shop I’ve ever been to has always, consciously or unconsciously been compared to Records On Wheels — and the guy behind the counter to Tony … he was the Godfather. He was THE MAN.”
In a long and emotional Facebook post, musician and performer Stef Paquette wrote about the impact Anselmo had on young people like him.
“Records On Wheels was more than a business; it was a testament to Tony's unwavering belief in the transformative power of music,” Paquette wrote. “His passion infused every corner of that store, creating an environment where music was celebrated, shared, and cherished.
“Today, as I bid farewell to Tony, l remember him not with sorrow, but with gratitude for the indelible mark he left upon me. Let us honor his legacy by continuing to seek out and share the music that moves us, just as he did. To Tony, the guardian of melodies, the curator of dreams, and the keeper of our musical souls, may your spirit forever resonate in the hearts of those whose lives you touched. Rest in harmony, fine sir. Thank you for enriching our lives with the gift of music.”
-with files from Jenny Jelen
