Yonge Street has been the symbolic centre of Toronto and a microcosm for Canadian musical life for decades. We’ll begin with a virtual walk through Yonge’s early theatres, piano companies, sheet music shops and record stores. The 1947 change in liquor laws transformed the Yonge Street landscape, bringing taverns like the Silver Rail, the Colonial, the Brown Derby and Le Coq D’Or. We’ll discuss the advent of rock and roll as well as rhythm and blues in Toronto, the rise of rock and roll on CHUM 1050, and the arrival of Arkansas rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins in 1958.