Seymour Stein
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Seymour Steinbigle (April 18, 1942 – April 2, 2023), known professionally as Seymour Stein, was an American entrepreneur and music executive. He co-founded
Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...
and was vice president of Warner Bros. Records. With Sire, Stein signed bands that became central to the new wave era of the 1970s and 1980s, including
Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads
and
The Pretenders The Pretenders are a British rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (ba ...
; he signed
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
as well. He was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
in 2005.


Career

Stein was born in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York City. As a 13-year-old high school student, he worked as a clerk at music industry magazine ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'', assisting head of Billboard charts Tommy Noonan. Together they helped develop the ''
Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...
'', launched in August 1958. King Records owner Syd Nathan approached Stein to work for him in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, Ohio. Stein's father was skeptical, but King told him "Your son has shellac in his veins. Your son is good for one thing and one thing only, and that's being in the record business. If you don't let him into the music business, he will wind up delivering newspapers for the rest of your life. If you don't want that on your conscience, you will let him come with me for the summer." Stein started work for King, working there for two years as an intern before joining the company in 1961. Homesick, he returned to New York in 1963 to work for
Herb Abramson Herbert Charles Abramson (November 16, 1916 – November 9, 1999) was an American record executive, record producer, and co-founder of Atlantic Records. Life and career Abramson was born in 1916 to a Jewish family in Brooklyn. He studied to be a ...
, but this was short-lived, lasting only three months. He then became an assistant to impresario George Goldner, who had formed Red Bird Records with songwriters Jerry Leiber and
Mike Stoller Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wr ...
in 1963. Working there in the Brill Building, he became friends with FGG Productions record producer
Richard Gottehrer Richard Gottehrer (born June 12, 1940) is an American songwriter, record producer and record label executive. His career began as a Brill Building songwriter in the 1960s. His first number one record as a songwriter and producer was " My Boyfr ...
. Seeing that relations between Goldner and Leiber and Stoller were fracturing, he decided to start a new venture. He founded Sire Productions in 1966 with Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company, which led to the formation of
Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...
. That year, Stein had an opportunity to sign
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
, praising him for his original material, but ultimately decided against doing so after witnessing Hendrix smash his guitar on one occasion and argue with his friend,
Linda Keith Linda Keith (born 1946) is a former British fashion model, best known for her work for ''Vogue (British magazine), Vogue'' magazine during the 1960s as well as her involvement in the rock music scene during the Swinging Sixties. Early life Linda ...
, on successive occasions. The label initially concentrated on licensing European releases with little success, until Dutch
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
band
Focus Focus (: foci or focuses) may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in East Australia Film *Focus (2001 film), ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based on the Arthur Miller novel *Focus (2015 ...
had an international hit with the 1973 single " Hocus Pocus". Gottehrer left the label in 1974 to concentrate on production; Stein then focused on checking new acts in the New York clubs and on his wife's recommendation arranged for
the Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...
to do a showcase, signing them in 1975. Other signings soon followed including
Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads
, Richard Hell & the Voidoids,
the Pretenders The Pretenders are a British rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (ba ...
in 1980, and foreign punk acts The Rezillos and The Saints. Stein signed
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
from his hospital bed after hearing her track " Everybody" in 1982. Other acts signed by Sire include The Replacements,
Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...
,
The Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...
,
The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...
,
Ice-T Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958), known professionally as Ice-T (or Ice T), is an American rapper and actor. He is active in both hip hop music, hip hop and heavy metal music, heavy metal. Ice-T began his career as an underground r ...
,
Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...
, Ministry, The Undertones, and Echo & the Bunnymen. Such was Stein's influence in signing and promoting the new wave genre of music that he is sometimes credited with having come up with the name as an alternative to the term "
punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
", which he found derogatory. Believing the use of the term would mean poor sales for Sire's acts who had frequently played the New York club
CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...
, he launched a "Don't Call It Punk" campaign designed to replace the term with "new wave". That term had previously been used to refer to the
French New Wave The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...
film movement of the 1960s. Stein was the president of Sire Records as well as vice president of Warner Bros. Records until his announced retirement on July 18, 2018. He had had a marketing and distribution deal from 1976 to 1994 and again from April 2003 until his retirement. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14, 2005, under the lifetime-achievement category. On June 9, 2016, Stein was honored with the Richmond Hitmaker Award at the
Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work represent and maintain the heri ...
.


Legacy

Stein was the subject of an eponymous song by the Scottish musical group Belle and Sebastian about a failed attempt to sign the group. He was the winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Dance Music Awards in 2010.
Ice-T Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958), known professionally as Ice-T (or Ice T), is an American rapper and actor. He is active in both hip hop music, hip hop and heavy metal music, heavy metal. Ice-T began his career as an underground r ...
wrote about Stein in his autobiography, stating: "He's cut from that cloth of the old-time music executives like
Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...
, but he's way more eccentric... Just a little more bizarre, a bit more avant-garde, more of an edgy cat." He wrote that Stein would never edit his musical output, but would sometimes express concerns (e.g. he was against
homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
in rap).


Personal life and death

Stein was married to the music promoter and real estate executive Linda Stein (1945–2007) and together the couple had two daughters, Samantha who died as a result of brain cancer in 2013 at the age of 40 and film director Mandy Stein. They divorced on amicable terms in the late 1970s; he never remarried. He was born
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish and publicly came out as gay in 2017. Stein published his autobiography, ''Siren Song: My Life in Music'', in 2018. Stein died of cancer at home in Los Angeles on April 2, 2023, aged 80.


References


External links


Biography by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Interview with Seymour Stein
by Terry Gross of ''
Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's hosts are Terry Gross and Tonya Mosl ...
'', October 15, 2009 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stein, Seymour 1942 births 2023 deaths American LGBTQ businesspeople Gay Jews American music industry executives 21st-century American Jews Deaths from cancer in California Businesspeople from Brooklyn Record producers from New York (state) American founders