Regina's record man: Frank Theofan's 38-year musical journey

You don't survive the onslaught of the big box stores without having something special to offer your clientele.

For more than three decades, Frank Theofan has seen — and more importantly, heard — the evolution of music unfold inside his very own Regina businesses.

• Good morning Saskatchewan! Meet the characters in Canterbury Park

Now the owner of Bach and Beyond, Theofan recently relived his amazing musical journey with the CBC's Sheila Coles.

It all started in 1978:

"We opened Sam the Record Man in the Scarth Street mall," Theofan said.

What was the vibe back then music-wise?

"It was a lot of good rock 'n' roll, but it started into the new age, the new wave era, and then the disco era."

What were people really listening to?

"I don't know what they were wanting us to (play), but we were playing George Thorogood in the store. The radio wasn't playing it at that time, so it was something new to them at that point, and I sold a ton of that."

And why George?

"Because it rocked," he said, laughing.

What else was big?

"A lot of the New Wave groups — Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, New Order, that sort of thing. A lot of disco stuff. At that time, we were supplying all the dance clubs with their disco music, so there were some Saturday afternoons where that old store was really rockin'."

What was that relationship with the dance clubs like?

"They were doing a lot of 12-inch singles, which were extended versions of a lot of the hit songs done to a disco beat. They were just clamouring for that stuff all the time."

Were you providing a bit of education in your store back then?

"All that sort of stuff that the radio wasn't playing. I used to look at the Billboard charts, and the charts in England, and that sort of stuff, and see what was big there. And then when it got over to here, I'd bring it in and sometimes I was right with it, and sometimes I wasn't."

What was one of your big hits?

"The big one we did was New Order, the song called Blue Monday. We gave it to the Luther Invitational basketball tournament and they used it as their theme song for years, and years, and years."

How long were you Sam the Record Man?

"That was 13 years ... Sam just eventually pulled the franchise on us — decided he didn't need a store in Regina anymore, so that was the end of that."

"I didn't want to get out of the business, but I couldn't compete against, at that time it probably would have been Mr. Sound and A&A. So we decided we'd go after a market that nobody else cared about, which was classical and adult music."

What would people come in and ask you for then?

"It would have been like Frank Mills, Zamfir, that sort of thing. More easy listening, as well as some of the new classical albums that were released. I just introduced people to stuff that I liked and once you get to know a person's tastes, you can kind of guess what they like."

What happened to classical?

"They're not hearing it anymore. Ever since CBC (Radio) 2 decided not to play as much classical, people aren't hearing anything new. They're not hearing as much of the new stuff that's coming out. There used to be a show on Sundays, where a guy played some of the new CDs and people would come looking for it. We don't have that anymore, so it's kind of out of sight, out of mind."

How do you feel about that?

"I think we're missing educating a lot of people in classical music because they have no place to hear it. Schools don't have it anymore either. So how are you going to get to appreciate it?"

What's the big seller now?

"For us, it's '50s and '60s rock 'n' roll. The Ventures are a big seller for us. Everybody loves the Ventures. Walk Don't Run is their big hit and everybody loves that song."

How have you survived after all these years?

"I think it all boils down to product knowledge and customer service. If you can give people those two things, they don't need to go anywhere else. Sometimes it's not about the money. It's about getting service and going to some places that you know will look after you properly."

Bach and Beyond is now in a new location at 1724 Badham Blvd.