Sire showcased its roster on a series of CD compilations called “Just Say Yes” that now stand as time capsules of pre-Nirvana alternative rock. This meant that Sire was the American home for such major acts as the Smiths, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen, Erasure and My Bloody Valentine. from renowned British indie labels Rough Trade and 4AD. Stein would sign such emerging rockers as London-by-way-of-Akron, Ohio‘s Pretenders and Minneapolis’ Replacements while licensing records for the U.S. ![]() acquired Sire in 1978 but Stein remained the label’s president, helping shape a distinctive identity for the imprint. It was weird enough to become a novelty smash, reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Commercial success didn’t arrive until 1973, when Focus, a group of oddball Dutch art-rockers, channeled their eccentricities into “Hocus Pocus,” a bombastic blast of neo-classicism with a yodeled hook. Occasionally, they’d release a noteworthy record: a couple of early Fleetwood Mac sessions when they were led by Peter Green, plus albums by Climax Blues Band, Barclay James Harvest and Kevin Ayers. While the label stayed afloat for several years, it amounted to little more than a cult label, releasing British blues and prog rock. Initially, Sire concentrated on licensing recordings from British or European recording acts for the U.S. 1 in 1964 - Red Bird collapsed in 1966, leaving Stein to partner with Richard Gottehrer, who had his own girl-group past as co-songwriter and co-producer of the Angels’ “My Boyfriend’s Back.” The pair formed Sire Records in 1966, opening an office in the Brill Building. Specializing in girl-group pop - its first big hit was “Chapel of Love” by the Dixie Cups, which went to No. He then joined Red Bird Records, a New York-based label founded by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and record man George Goldner. Syd Nathan, the label’s founder, suggested to Seymour he shorten his last name to Stein. ![]() He interned for King Records, an R&B and country label based in Cincinnati that claimed James Brown as one of its biggest stars, before becoming a staffer in 1961. Stein joined the magazine after high school graduation.īy the early 1960s, Stein turned his attention to record labels. It took him two years to complete the project, after which the magazine brought him aboard to write reviews. In 2015, he said, “From the time I was 9 years old, I knew I wanted to be in the music business.” He made his first step into the business when he was 13, asking the music trade newspaper Billboard if he could copy old pop, country and R&B charts by hand. Popular music became the center of his life at an early age. Stein was born Seymour Steinbigle in Brooklyn, N.Y., on April 18, 1942. In his 2018 memoir “Siren Song: My Life in Music,” Stein wrote: “My business was turning great music into hit records.” As an intern at Billboard magazine in 1958, he was part of the team that developed the Hot 100, the chart that became the industry standard. ![]() He was inducted into the institution in 2005.īut before Stein was a mover and shaker, his passion for music helped change the contours of the industry. While acting as president of the label - he stayed in that position until his retirement in 2018 - he helped co-found the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1983. Stein’s influence extended outside of Sire. for an emotional two-hour show that luxuriated in a sensual gloom. Music A death-defying evening with Depeche Modeįollowing the death of co-founder Andy Fletcher, Depeche Mode returned to L.A.
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