R.I.P. Seymour Stein of Sire Records, 1942-2023

Remembering Sire label boss Seymour Stein – who signed The Ramones, Talking Heads and Dead Boys – with a few interviews.

While record man Seymour Stein – who sadly died of cancer at age 80 – will undoubtedly be remembered for his foresight in signing The Ramones, Talking Heads, The Dead Boys, discovering" Madonna and releasing important early recordings by Radio Birdman, The Saints, The Undertones and others on his Sire Records imprint, one of my favourite recordings he released probably won't get any attention at all.   

Seymour's numerous contributions to the music business began with stints at King Records under boss Syd Nathan, serving as a clerk at Billboard Magazine where he helped develop the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in 1958 before getting hired as an assistant to producer/promoter/label owner George Goldner of Red Bird, Blue Cat, Gee, Roulette, Tico, End, Gone, etc. It was while Seymour was working with Goldner at the Brill Building that he connected with producer Richard Gottehrer (The Strangeloves, Angels, The McCoys, etc) which led to their joint venture Sire Productions in 1966 which later became Sire Records. 

Among the indie label's earliest productions was a one-off single released in March 1968 by a group from Spokane, Washington called The Jam which had nothing to do with Paul Weller's group of the same name. Hidden on the the flip of the throwaway A-side "Loving Kind Of Way" is The Jam's timeless power pop gem "Something Gone" penned by band member Terry Smith, arranged by Dexter Foote (also responsible for The Mickey Finn's freakbeat classic "Garden Of My Mind")  and produced by Seymour Stein. Well, at least that's what how the label credit reads. When I asked Seymour about the mysterious Sire recording by The Jam some 30 years later, he had zero recollection of the session that resulted in Sire S-5001, the band or even the fantastic tune. Go figure. 

In any case, have a listen to Seymour's greatest production, The Jam's largely overlooked classic "Something's Gone" followed by a few interviews – including a hilarious exchange about the Sex Pistols with Steve Jones for Jonesy's Jukebox in which it soon becomes apparent that Seymour has no idea that he's speaking with the group's guitarist – and keynote addresses. Check out a fond recollection of Seymour's famous love of fine food penned by former Barenaked Ladies manager Nigel Best right here.