MORE THAN SEDATED
New wave guru Seymour Stein is on the road to nowhere, aged 80. Active in the music biz from an early age, he co-developed the Billboard Hot 100 in the late 50s and was active as an apprentice in the Brill Building corridors before splitting to his own ventures. He co-founded Sire records with Richard Gottehrer in the 60s, which saw scant success until tapping into the punk reservoir and signing acts like the Ramones and the Talking Heads, alongside bringing a US audience to numerous UK acts including the Pretenders, Soft Cell, and Echo and the Bunnymen. He was also key to popularizing “new wave” as a term, feeling that the allusion to the French New Wave was more dignified sounding than “punk”. Despite his association with the genre, his biggest financial coup was outside of the new wave aegis when he signed Madonna to the label after listening to her demo tape from his hospital bed. Poppin’ Clogs gets touched for the very first time this DDP season.
Seymour Stein
18 April 1942 – 1 April 2023, aged 80
💀💀💀💀💀💀 + 👻 = 10 POINTS