Seymour Stein
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Seymour Stein (1942 – 2023) was an American entrepreneur and music executive. He co-founded Sire Records 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 80s, including Talking Heads, the Ramones, and The Pretenders; he signed Madonna as well.
oncentrated on licensing European releases with little success before breaking Dutch band Focus with their 1973 single Hocus Pocus. Gottehrer left the label in 1974 to concentrate on production, Stein then focussed on checking new acts in the New York Clubs and on his wife's recommendation arranged for the Ramones to do a showcase, signing them in 1975. Other signings soon followed including Talking Heads, Richard Hell & the Voidoids, the Pretenders in 1980, and foreign punk acts The Rezillos and The Saints. Stein signed Madonna from his hospital bed after hearing her track "Everybody" in 1982.
Other acts signed by Sire include The Replacements, Depeche Mode, The Smiths, The Cure, Ice-T, Ministry, The Undertones, and Echo & the Bunnymen. In 1966, Stein had an opportunity to sign Jimi Hendrix, 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, on successive occasions.
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, which he found derogative. Believing the term "punk" would mean poor sales for Sire's acts who had frequently played the New York club CBGB, he launched a "Don't Call It Punk" campaign designed to replace the term with "new wave".
