I remember well the shorter radio versions. The special call letter drop ins. The Pointer Sisters Fire ...I'm riding in your car, you turn on WLS. I recall a special mashup song WLS would play. When Billy Don't Be a Hero was near the top, and played every 2 hours. When it got to the chorus, instead of Billy Don't Be a Hero..they dubbed in Doesnt Somebody Want to Be Wanted by the Partridge Family. It actually didn't sound bad.
Phil Nee
Paul Haney of Record Research ran a nice tribute to Seymour Stein the other day …
Music industry veteran Seymour Stein started working at Billboard magazine in New York as a teenager. In 1966, he formed Sire Productions with record producer Richard Gottehrer, which eventually lead to Sire Records. A huge fan of the Record Research books, Seymour and Joel Whitburn became fast friends, sharing a mutual passion for music and the charts.
Seymour had a great eye for talent and signed many artists, including the Ramones, Talking Heads, The Pretenders and Madonna.
Here’s a sampling of some of Sire’s biggest chart hits through the decades …
1970s
Hocus Pocus – Focus
Couldn’t Get It Right – Climax Blues Band
Rockaway Beach – Ramones
Rivers Of Babylon – Boney M
Pop Muzik – M
1980s
Tainted Love – Soft Cell
Genius Of Love – Tom Tom Club
Back On The Chain Gang – Pretenders
Burning Down The House – Talking Heads
I Melt With You – Modern English
Like A Virgin – Madonna
White Horse – Laid Back
People Are People – Depeche Mode
Chains Of Love – Erasure
1990s
I’ll Be Your Everything – Tommy Page
Constant Craving – k.d. lang
Far Behind – Candlebox
Kiss From A Rose – Seal
I worked with Seymour Stein when I was at ZE Records in the crazy 80's ... Kid Creole & The Coconuts, ZE's group, were signed by Stein and Sire. Working mostly with Sire's Audrey Strahl was a delight as Sire was able to take them to the next level (two in fact) through Warner's distribution network.
Stein was a sharp-eyed gunslinger for sure. I first met him at Billboard eons ago when I was just starting out. True legend for sure. Look at who was on Sire! Lou Reed to The Pretenders ... amazing label.
David Salidor
Several years ago, Fred Bronson compiled a list of Sire Records’ 30 Biggest Hits for his “Billboard’s Hottest Hot 100 Hits” book.
Here’s how they ranked in 2003 …
(It’s no secret who Sire’s biggest recording artist was!!! Lol
Madonna’s got 18 of The Top 30 positions locked down!!!)
# 1 - KISS FROM A ROSE – Seal
# 2 - LIKE A VIRGIN – Madonna
# 3 – VOGUE – Madonna
# 4 – JUSTIFY MY LOVE – Madonna
# 5 – LIKE A PRAYER – Madonna
# 6 – THIS USED TO BE MY PLAYGROUND – Madonna
# 7 – PAPA DON’T PREACH – Madonna
# 8 – LIVE TO TELL – Madonna
# 9 – POP MUZIK – M
#10 – OPEN YOUR HEART – Madonna
#11 – WHO’S THAT GIRL – Madonna
#12 – MATERIAL GIRL – Madonna
#13 – I’LL BE YOUR EVERYTHING – Tommy Page
#14 – CAUSING A COMMOTION – Madonna
#15 – EXPRESSS YOURSELF – Madonna
#16 – CHERISH – Madonna
#17 – I’LL STAND BY YOU – The Pretenders
#18 – TRUE BLUE – Madonna
#19 – LA ISLA BONITA - Madonna
#20 – COULDN’T GET IT RIGHT – The Climax Blues Band
#21 – LUCKY STAR – Madonna
#22 – BACK ON THE CHAIN GANG – The Pretenders
#23 – TAINTED LOVE – Soft Cell
#24 – BORDERLINE – Madonna
#25 – BRASS IN POCKET – The Pretenders
#26 – ANGEL – Madonna
#27 – CRAZY – Seal
#28 – ENJOY THE SILENCE – Depeche Mode
#29 – DON’T GET ME WRONG – The Pretenders
#30 – PRAYER FOR THE DYING – Seal
Both nights of Eric Clapton’s Tribute Concert to the memory of Jeff Beck (who left us earlier this year) have already sold out …
But one look at this line-up helps to explain why …
And more superstar names may still be added to the list!
As of right now, scheduled to perform are:
Doyle Bramhall; Eric Clapton; Gary Clark, Jr.; Johnny Depp; Billy Gibbons; Imelda May; John McLaughlin; Joe Perry; Robert Randolph; Olivia Safe; Rod Stewart; Joss Stone; Susan Tedeschi; Derek Trucks; Ronnie Wood and, from the Jeff Beck Band: Rhonda Smith, Anika Nilles and Robert Stevenson.
The concerts will take place May 22nd and 23rd at The Royal Albert Hall in London. (kk)
>>>"Agent Elvis" is probably one of the WORST things I've seen on TV in ... well, maybe forever. (We didn't even make it all the way thru the first episode. Man, this is bad!) kk
HA! I didn't even make it to the end of the "Trailer/Preview!!"
Buell
I am still constantly amazed how decades later, long lost / forgotten and unknown Beatles recordings are still showing up.
No matter how crude these may sound, it’s a historical artifact that warrants attention.
We first heard about these from Clark Besch … and then saw this article posted in Ultimate Classic Rock …
From Clark, early Tuesday Morning …
I got this yesterday and this is so awesome.
It’s a BEATLES hour long tape from April 4, 1963, never heard before.
"C'mon Man! That cannot be in today's age."
Yes, hard to believe the Buckinghams and Who played a concert TOGETHER for a Wichita, Ks high school in 1967, but imagine the Beatles doing a concert for your school on April 4, 1963! Then, imagine someone taping it and no one hearing it for 60 years!
Here's the short version of what we heard just yesterday on the BBC featuring a small bit of the tape and lots of photos! Note that the famous Beatles logo was still the script they used on Ringo's drums back at beginning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIrVGg68X2Y
The full show on BBC with same amount of the tape here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001kpq1
The story behind the tape from BBC site here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65167799
NOW, my take on April 4, 1963 …
I agree with the BBC that THIS tape can be enhanced much better than the Lingasong tape made at the Cavern. It is STILL an audience mic tape of which I have many radio tapes like that. I am accustomed to that sound, but many won't be. I THINK it will be great to hear with enhancement, but some won't care for it, maybe.
April 3, 1963, was my 7th birthday! 60 years later, today, I am 67 and still enthralled by radio, reel to reel tapes, records, the Beatles and 60's music. 60 years ago is etched in my memory still.
Clark also shared his own personal list of favorites, exactly as he wrote them down, one month later in May of 1964 …
To say the list is a little heavy on The Beatles side is a bit of an understatement …
Much like the Madonna / Sire list above, EIGHTEEN of Clark’s Top 20 Favorite Songs were by The Fab Four!!!
And, of course, April 4th, has some OTHER Beatles-related significance in their long list of accomplishments …
That’s the week that they occupied ALL FIVE of the Top Five positions on Billboard’s Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart, a feat that had NEVER occurred before but today, thanks to the charts being based on being able to download an entire album’s worth of material and have it ALL show up on the chart at the same time, this feat has been eclipsed by Drake and Taylor Swift, each of whom have now captured The Top Ten positions during the same week. (It hardly seems fair … if Beatles albums tracks were allowed to chart with equal weight, they might have held down the Top 25 between their ”Meet The Beatles,” “Introducing The Beatles” and “Beatles Second Album” releases … and more coming right around the corner.)
Still, a pretty remarkable feat from back in the day when (as we always remind people) you had to get up out of your house and ride your bike or drive your car to an actual record store and physically plunk down the money to buy your favorite hit records of the day … then cart ‘em back home to play them on your portable little record player until you wore the grooves out!!! Now THAT’S how the charts should be compiled … not just lying back in your bed, downloading whatever songs you want on your phone!!! (kk)
And, since we’re talking Beatles, here’s another new Billboard Chart Achievement that brings BTS into some pretty exclusive company … with The Beatles … and The Supremes!!!
But still … as amazing of a feat as this truly is … NO OTHER
ARTIST can boast about EACH MEMBER having their own series of #1 Hits as solo
artists in addition to their still record-breaking 20 #1 Hits as a
group!!! (Yeah, I’m partial … but those
are the facts, Jack!!!) kk
