After graduating from high school, Stein made a brief stab at college before returning to Billboard full-time. He segued into the label side via an association with Syd Nathan, prexy of Cincinnati’s King Records; after interning with the label for two summers, he joined the company in 1961.
Sire’s first years — during which the label was distributed by London Records, the U.S. arm of British Decca — were on the thin side commercially. Via an association with England’s Blue Horizon Records, the label offered Stateside releases of some of Fleetwood Mac’s early blues material, as well as the work of Chicken Shack, another bluesy unit fronted by vocalist Christine Perfect, who soon wedded Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie and joined her husband’s group.
On his spouse’s fervent recommendation, Stein set up a show by the Ramones at a New York rehearsal in late 1975. Though he was sporting a 103-degree fever that night, he was drawn by the quartet’s energy and image, and signed the punk godfathers to a contract. The band’s self-titled 1976 debut album peaked at No. 111, but effectively introduced punk rock to American and British listeners.
Sire was distributed by Warner Bros. from 1977 and acquired by the company in 1978. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Sire presciently signed or distributed music by a variety of top-flight punk and post-punk groups from the U.S. and abroad. At one time or another, its roster included the Replacements , Echo & the Bunnymen, Madness, the Undertones, the Smiths , Everything But the Girl, Aztec Camera, Erasure, the Flamin’ Groovies, My Bloody Valentine and Ride.
As Warner Bros.’ commercial fortunes began to wane from the ’90s on, Sire’s impact as a hitmaking imprint diminished, though Stein continued to ink developing talent; the label’s latter-day acts included Delta Rae and Residual Kid.
RIPSeymourStein
🙏🏽🙏🏽
Sweet man when I met him. Add Regina Spektor to his talented findings and signings. BDE
See my homepage plz
RIP Mr Stein ! Sending My Condolences To Family And Friends And To Madonna Sorry For Your Loss !
An unsung hero. Rest in Peace, Seymour. 🕊️🖤
R.I.P. 🪷
🙏🏿
m_scrapbook ✝️
I met Seymour many years ago at the first Gavin Americana convention. He was eating ice cream at the time.
A legend! RIP ❤️
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