The Toronto record shop “Play de Record” has been in business for 30+years, surviving a shift from vinyl to digital, a change of location and the pandemic. Eugene Tam talks about the uniqueness of the business and what makes it so special, having been a major hub for the hip-hop and electronic music community in Toronto during the 1990s.
In August 1990, Eugene Tam opened a small family-run record store on Yonge Street. Through word of mouth, Play De Record quickly became a magnet for college radio and club DJs who spun new sounds far from the mainstream.
Through Tam’s contagious work ethic and steady guidance, the store became more than the sum of its parts: an essential hub for up-and-coming dance, hip-hop and electronic artists and a vital part of Toronto’s underground music ecosystem. Today its impact on the music scene in Toronto—and, by extension, Canada—is without question. This is the story of Play De Record.
Join director Robert Freeman and co-producer/co-writer Neil Acharya for a live Q&A at the October 22 screening, moderated by Hot Docs programmer Mariam Zaidi.
Tickets: $15 (Members from $10)
