Susanna Hoffs has a new novel, “This Bird Has Flown,” and a new covers album produced by Peter Asher, “The Deep End.” We talk about these two projects, growing up, the Bangles, meeting her husband and so much more! 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/susanna-hoffs/id1316200737?i=1000607684674

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/2117230c-4af0-4991-9e6f-75a1cb88bc3d/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-susanna-hoffs

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/susanna-hoffs-301635299

Spotify playlist: https://spoti.fi/3MsWJrI

I’m not sure whether to recommend this Netflix show. There are nine episodes and I kept vacillating as to whether it was highbrow or lowbrow, fodder for the masses or something meatier.

Actually, there’s one episode about relationships that is killer. It’s episode 6, entitled “Musical Chairs.” And you could watch just that one, you’d understand it, but I don’t recommend it.

“Maestro in Blue” was shot in the Greek islands, mostly Paxos, I’ve never been, even though I listened to Joni Mitchell’s “Blue,” you know, with Carey on the Grecian isle, and now I’m eager to go. The water is so clear. And life is so slow. The only thing is I’ve lived in small communities and everybody is in everybody else’s business and I love the anonymity of the city, but still… The Greek islands are now on my list.

But the reason I’m writing about “Maestro in Blue” is the soundtrack. Because either they had a huge budget or acts did them a big favor and…

There are three tracks I want to talk about. In a perfect world, I’d write three separate essays, but then people would sign off because of too much incoming, but now I run the risk of people not getting that far in my screed.

Anyway…

WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN

This was the radio track from “Rattle and Hum,” when U2 overloaded us and people were pissed at the band because Bono thought he was God, or at least that was the public perception. And the funny thing is the band felt the slings and arrows, and licked its wounds and went to Berlin and ultimately came up with “Achtung Baby” two years later, which sounds nothing like what came before, which is my favorite LP of theirs. It was unclear how successful the project would be, I mean the first single was “The Fly,” that’s not playing to radio, and the band toured indoors, one of the three best shows I’ve ever seen, and then demand built and there was the Zoo TV stadium tour and then U2 followed it all up with “Pop” and the audience wasn’t hip enough to get the joke and the band has been anxious about its public perception ever since. (Of course I’m ignoring “Zooropa,” but that was seen as an adjunct to the Zoo TV tour, not its own separate album statement.)

And now… It’s been misstep after misstep. “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” contained the monstrous hit “Beautiful Day,” but compare that to “Pride (In the Name of Love),” or “Sunday Bloody Sunday”…it shoots so much lower, it’s ear candy, it’s not meaningful. And then there was the Apple debacle. And ultimately the “Joshua Tree” tour and…how are we supposed to take your new work seriously when you’re trading on nostalgia? Once you give the people what they want, once you play to the audience instead of yourself, you’ve lost your artistic meaning and are in the rearview mirror. As for the new “acoustic” album… I cherry-picked it, because it’s endless, and I enjoyed what I heard, but I didn’t need to hear it again. These should have been YouTube clips, even TikTok clips, not part of an official release.

So… At some point you’ve got to stop trying to top yourself. This is what got Michael Jackson in trouble, he could never equal the success of “Thriller.” And Peter Frampton put a huge dent in his career by delivering “I’m In You” to satiate the boppers when musos were his core audience and… It’s hard to give up the spotlight. But if you’re going to make new records, play by your own rules. This is where Dylan is the beacon. In records and live gigs. I won’t say I appreciate his new work to the degree I love the old, I think some of the hosannas are the emperor’s new clothes, and I don’t get it live, but at least Dylan is exploring. And he never got plastic surgery and never loosened up and at some point, you’ve got enough money. As far as being top of people’s mind… That’s a fool’s errand. Because no one is that big anymore. No one reaches everybody like in the pre-internet days, no one.

So I was surprised how much I loved hearing “When Love Comes to Town.” The show was relatively quiet, not cacophonic, like too many TV productions, and it was the perfect soundtrack, the music was primary as opposed to secondary, like too much stuff today, and with almost forty years of distance, sans the trappings, it had me smiling and enjoying it and…

SON OF A PREACHER MAN

She’s English and she’s dead.

I say this because I confuse her with other acts. It’s so long ago. Dusty Springfield died in 1999, of breast cancer, it was seen as a tragedy, at this point it wasn’t a badge of honor to come out of the woodwork and proclaim you had breast cancer and try to raise awareness like it actually became. We’re still trying to have a similar movement in the men’s world, about prostate cancer, but not only do too many men not want to go to the doctor, tons don’t want to have a colonoscopy, and I don’t get it, you can now take pills for prep and the procedure is painless, you get the Michael Jackson drug, propofol and…

All of this is to say by time Dusty Springfield died the focus was elsewhere. Her hits were behind her and the internet had not yet burgeoned, so…

To a great degree Dusty is lost to the sands of time.

However, every seven to ten years there’s another wave of nostalgia and writings, appreciation for her “Dusty In Memphis” album.

Now what I remember first about Dusty Springfield is “I Only Want to Be With You.” That was 1963, before the Beatles broke over here, when we still had surf music and our transistors might be tuned to the ball game as much as music.

But then came “Wishin’ and Hopin’,” in 1964, after the Beatles arrived. The Liverpool lads dominated the radio, which we were all addicted to, but there was a hangover of the old stuff, there were still pop numbers, and this one…sounded nothing like the British Invasion. Dionne Warwick had recorded it previously, but Dusty Springfield had the hit. The recording might sound dated, out of time, but it still maintains its magic, which is hard to describe, but easy to feel.

So Dusty was cold, signed with Atlantic, got hooked up with the label’s production team of Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd and…made a stiff album. Sure, black soul was triumphant, but white soul lived in a no-man’s land. But over time “Dusty in Memphis” has come to be considered one of the best albums ever.

And the funny thing is it contains versions of two songs the Al Kooper Blood, Sweat & Tears covered on that band’s first LP, Goffin and King’s “So Much Love” and Randy Newman’s “Just One Smile.”

And “Dusty in Memphis” didn’t sound dark and English, but like something cut in the delta. And there was one huge hit…”Son of a Preacher Man.”

It starts subtly, the antithesis of the guitar heroes coming out of the U.K., in Memphis you could underplay, and it felt so right.

And eventually there were horns.

But really it’s Dusty’s vocal that makes the record.

One of the through lines of “Maestro in Blue” is about a nineteen year old girl’s infatuation with the fortysomething maestro, and normally when you heard singles like this it was on the AM radio, or with background music, not alone, in the quiet, but sans background noise “Son of a Preacher Man” reached me in a way it never did before. Like…

CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE

Mariza Rizou makes it her own. To the point where I couldn’t place the original. It sounds nothing like the Elvis Presley hit.

As a matter of fact, I forgot that Elvis did it, my mind was searching for the version I knew, which I ultimately realized was UB40’s.

Now in truth Elvis Presley’s take is pretty slow. But it’s a period piece, with the production, it’s a record, whereas Mariza Rizou’s…

UB40’s take is faster, and reggae-esque, and I dig it, but Mariza Rizou’s version…

Not that I knew who Rizou was. I was searching and found a “Maestro in Blue” soundtrack on Spotify, not that it was an official release, the soundtrack album concept is dead, first and foremost there is no album, no souvenir, just tracks, which can be cherry-picked on a streaming service so…

I’ve got no idea who Mariza Rizou is, but I assumed she was Greek, with that name, and she turns out to be, and she doesn’t have her own Wikipedia page, so she can’t be that big, even in Athens. But this version of “Can’t Stop Falling in Love”…

Love is slow, reflective. Oh, Cupid’s arrow might pierce your heart and set it aflame, you might ultimately be in a passionate embrace, even intertwined sexually, but at first there’s a lot of time apart, thinking about the other person, which is one of the features of “Maestro in Blue,” and Mariza Rizou’s version of “Can’t Stop Falling in Love” is slow and contemplative just like that experience of nascent love in your head, whether you be walking down the street alone or lying on your bed or…

What I’m saying is this version of “Can’t Stop Falling in Love” is so slow that the lyrics really stand out.

“Wise men say

Only fools, only fools rush in”

And that’s true. Normally we know the lyrics, but we don’t think about them, but in this take you can’t help but be infected by them, as they slowly rattle around in your brain.

“Shall I stay

Would it be, would it be a sin

If I can’t help falling in love with you”

Forbidden love. Do you fly straight, do what’s right, or do you follow your passion…it’s a hard choice. And an important choice, who you marry is the most critical decision you’ll make in your life, choose wisely. And love is certainly the winding road they speak of, the infatuation wears off, and then the hard work begins. And if the person you’re involved with isn’t willing to do the hard work, you’re gonna get divorced. Because relationships are hard, they demand commitment and trust, and sure, sometimes people get divorced and find someone better, but oftentimes they don’t, or they’re so shallow they jump from infatuation to infatuation, not learning about themselves, never mind their partner.

That’s the power of music, to make you think about and feel all this.

And as slow and quiet as Mariza Rizou’s version of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” might be, it’s just that powerful.

P.S. If you watch “Maestro in Blue,” don’t shut it off at the credits, let it run!

First, thank you so much for sharing some personal stories about Michael.  He wouldn’t have wanted them shared while he was with us, but I, being his younger sister, appreciate that others get to read what a great, generous person he was.

I was fortunate enough to visit with him numerous times in the past couple of months; these visits were some of the best times I have had with him since we were kids. He was so smart, funny, generous, a loyal sports fan (Yankees, Knicks) and despite spending a lot of time in CA, he was a true New Yorker at heart. His passion for music originated in our home in South Orange.  He turned me on to many artists/music that shaped our youth, and beyond.

I too am pissed that I’ll never get to see him again. My hero since I was a little girl; he will always be in my heart.

Sari Leon

P.S. Last spring he thought he was suffering from Covid… headaches, lethargy, etc. And his disposition changed.  Saw physicians in NYC.. battery of tests, surgery.. Yadayada.  Stage 4 glioblastoma. They moved to LA for treatment – in early October- poor prognosis.  He had minimal treatment and went downhill quickly last week.  Still was watching  basketball, golf but took drastic turn about a week ago.  Was praying he went soon…Txs for asking .. I will miss him …forever.

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I was happy to have Michael as a close friend for 42 years, and fortunate to spend a good amount of time with him during his last six months in LA.

I’ve never met anyone who approached the end with such dignity and equanimity. From his initial diagnosis, his mantra was ‘It’s fine, I’ve had a great life.’  At first I thought he was just being Michael, but it soon dawned on me he was telling the truth.  He did have a great life: lots of professional success, two great marriages, two wonderful kids, a tremendously loving wife, many friends.  He spent his last months in a beautiful house high in the hills, surrounded by family and friends.  When I left him for what turned out to be the last time, about 10 days ago, I said ‘I’ll see you next week.’  He said, with a smile, ‘If I’m still around.’

I thought he would be, but I was wrong.  I learned a lot watching him approach the end, and hope I can emulate him when my time comes.

Take care,

Jeff Gold

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Michael was a suave cool NYer. I met him during his A&M days and he did a great job making the East Coast A&M shine with style. As independents, we all looked up to Herb, Jerry and Gil. Michael represented them and their Artists well. I was down the block at Chrysalis on Madison Avenue and ran into Michael often.

I was lucky to work with him at SBK which then evolved into EMI Records Group NA. Michael was a great head of International. When I became president we traveled a lot together. Most memorable trip was to Germany. He knew his stuff and we broke Artists and records globally.

My warmest memory is when we sold SBK to EMI we were interviewing press companies. PMK was very prominent, somewhat legendary. Pat Kingsley called me to say she cannot make it to the NY offices personally but highly recommended her East Coast “right hand” Leslee Dart. Leslee was already building her reputation as a force in fil , tv and music.

When Leslee came for her tour of our offices I unexpectedly lost her on the way. I thought she was close by as I was introducing her to various executives on the sprawling floor. It turns out she stopped after I brought her to meet Michael… and it was love at first sight. A beautiful story and marriage. Michael was an awesome Dad too. I will miss him.

Daniel Glass

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I met Michael in the 70’s and both being “Jersey Boys” hit it off immediately with much in common. Michael was one of the first record company executives to understand that some promoters were “producers”. He introduced me to much of the A&M staff and helped me nurture a relationship with Gil who loved to pick my brain about what was going on in   N.Y.C. This was time period when the good labels embraced promoters and included us in helping to break their artists. As time went on another Jersey Boy (Al Cafaro) succeeded Gil and continued A&M’s artist first strategy and continued to look for good partnerships with leading promoters/producers. Then in around 1990 all three of us ended up at Polygram. Michael and Al on the A&M side and me starting Polygram Diversified Entertainment. We all stayed friends and when the Alain Levy reign was all over the three of us united and together with  my promoting and management duties formed an independent label (Hybrid Recordings). Michael retired and Al left A&M and joined me and our staff. Michael was perhaps the best networker in the business and his combination street and well educated smarts made him stand out as one of the greats in our business. I’ll miss my friend.

John Scher

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Devastating news. I met and worked with Michael at EMI in the late 90’s and he was one of the nicest and most genuine people I’ve ever met in the business. He didn’t want anything from me. He enjoyed music, the business of music, art, travel, wine, food and socializing with various people. He was likable and fun to be around. I’m sad I didn’t keep up with him. I have nothing but fond memories.

Larry Stessel

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So many of your points are so true, so spot on.  But, you touch my heart when you speak about Michael Leon.  Initially, our paths crossed in the mid-seventies when I managed a band on A&M records and Michael was east coast head of promotion.

He did a superlative job trying to get a midwest rock band, Head East, airplay in some tough markets.  The important point to me was his honesty and caring attitude whenever he brought me news.  He was then, and will always be remembered as a mensch: a person of integrity and honor.

We didn’t connect for many years after our manager/promotion rep relationship had ended, as the band departed from A&M.  Yet, to my good fortune we had a mutual personal friend, Bobby Margolis, who reintroduced us in Palm Springs. Golf was the connection for us, and we played many rounds together when he visited the desert.  He stayed at Bobby’s house with a bevy of friends making our reacquaintance seamless, and so much fun!

Thanks to Bobby, I was able to see Michael and have lunch with him in LA a few weeks ago.  He was in good spirits while knowing that his life was near the end.  It was my blessing to have seen him.  He seemed content and at peace. That, in and of itself, was who he was-happy to have lived a good life. Thank you for remembering him.

RIP, Michael.

Irv Zuckerman

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Tough to read this one Bob, not only because one can’t help but self-reflect when an artist dies, let alone someone in the business you were close with, or even of course a friend or relative. We’re all on this tightrope walk and we try to do the best for ourselves and others that we can. Speaking of doing the best for others, this post is also tough because Michael Leon was very good to me and played an important role in my life as Jim Merlis and I started Big Hassle Media out of the ashes of the Univsersal-Polygram merger in 1999. Jim started the company with Rufus Wainwright as his sole client two weeks before I joined in early Feb of that year. When I came on board, Melinda Newman was nice enough to run an item about us in her very well-read Billboard column. I hadn’t done pr for a couple of years because I left Atlantic to go to Mercury’s marketing department in 97. When I got laid off, I went back to pr thanks to Jim and was more than a little nervous about the future. I had never known Michael Leon before, but he read that item in the column and called me!! We had a great meeting the next day, and he sent me home with an advance of “Lost and Gone Forever,” by Guster. Needless to say, I fell in love with the record and I was back in business working with great artists, and I very much have Michael Leon to thank for that. SO Big Hassle hoists one for Michael Leon today. Thanks for taking a chance on us! RIP.

Ken Weinstein

Big Hassle Media

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A real gut punch to read that Michael Leon is gone.

We grew up in the same neighborhood, went to the same elementary school.  He was a year older and a lot taller than I was.  Long before we knew that we’d both devote the rest of our lives to music, I used to play basketball with him in his backyard.  Not too many kids our age were adept at cross-over dribbling or stopping on a dime to hit a rainbow jumper.  Michael was really flashy on the court, a Pete Maravich type.  I looked up to him and he was as decent a person as you describe.

As an aside, Michael Leon’s younger sister Sari was my first girlfriend.  The first girl I ever made out with.  The first girl who dumped me (7th grade) for another guy.  My first love lost that caused me to cry crocodile tears in front of my friends.  Sari and I made up a few months later and have remained lifelong friends to this day.  She is a music junkie/sports fanatic of the highest order and I know how devastated she must be.  Michael was her only sibling.

Michael and I were only acquaintances who hooped together because I’d be hanging out with Sari at the Leon house in the North Newstead section of South Orange, New Jersey.  We both ended up in the music business.  When I changed careers from radio/journalism/bandleader to concert promotion and moved from Boulder to San Diego, I started bumping into Michael every year at the New Music Seminar or APAP.  I chewed his ear off trying to make him aware of the new concert venue I was booking (Humphrey’s by the Bay in San Diego) so that he might steer me toward some A&M acts’ agents and managers.  I mentioned in passing that I had been the lead singer in a rock ‘n’ roll band in Boulder (Kenny & the Kritix), and had achieved some local renown before giving it up to move to San Diego.

Michael could have cared less about me as a concert promoter.  All he asked about was my band.  Could I send him a tape.  Send him a promo package.  Did I have a video.  I explained to him that my band days were over and I was trying to reinvent myself as a concert producer.  When I would see him the following year at yet another convention, the first thing he’d say was “How come you haven’t sent me a tape of your band???”  Michael Leon was the consummate A&R guy, a talent scout, music loving pathfinder.  No matter how much I told him that I wasn’t the next big thing, he wanted to hear my stuff anyway.  I have never forgotten that.

As I get ready to watch the San Diego State Aztecs try and finish their improbable/impossible journey and take down mighty UConn, I’m sad that Michael won’t be watching the game (I know that his sister Sari will be).  The first thing most people will remember about Michael Leon is his passion for music.  I remember that too, but will always first flash back to his ball handling skills and other worldly jump shot.

–Kenny Weissberg

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Michael and I both were East Coast GM’s – he A&M and I at Elektra.  I was so jealous of his ponytail that I grew one.

Bill Berger

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I got hired to do local Boston promo for A&M in 1981…Michael Leon was the GM of the East Coast office in NYC. He flew me down to welcome me into the A&M “family”. Working at A&M

did feel like a family. and yes, I agree Michael was “warm and intelligent”…always enjoyed our work together and conversations…thank you Michael for being a gentleman in a business where that was not

so common…. gone way too soon…RIP…

Peter Wassyng

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This is very very sad news indeed.

Michael was one of the first people that I met in the industry when I started at Arista as an advertising copywriter right out of college.

In addition to his love of music and of New York, he was also a huge sports guy, and we played a lot of pick up basketball together and were teammates on a very good Arista Records cormpany softball team.

I hadn’t really seen him since he moved to LA but am very shocked and saddened to read of his passing.

RIP

Stephen Dessau

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Thanks, Bob. I enjoyed that. I knew and loved Michael Leon   I spent five years doing promotion for A&M. He WAS smart and he was elegant and a gentleman. Not many like him.  Wish I had stayed in touch. And everything else you said rang true too. We’re the same age (I think) and it’s interesting how the reality of situations and people get clearer every year. Our time is looming. I still feel good. Still work a few records. And still have a few laughs    So maybe I will outlast everyone!

Patti Martin

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I had the pleasure of working with Michael during my MTV days both in the U.S. with A&M and later in Europe where he wore the SBK flag.  I knew Michael professionally, but once at a lunch we went off topic and started  talking about life and things other than music.

There I learned of his passion for baseball and his NY Yankees.  He told a story I’m sure he’d told many times, but as a “brother in baseball”, I was riveted when he told me that as a kid (I think he was around 9) his father pulled Michael and his brother out of school and they bore witness to an event that has never happened before or since and most likely won’t ever again…a perfect game (thrown by Don Larsen) in the 1956 World Series.  His attention to every detail was that of a historian, but the glee and joy in that conveyance was that of Michael’s inner kid.  RIP ML…

Brian Diamond

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I wanted to tell you something, you, actually YOU are the main reason I have started to go to the doctor. I’m a 43 year old roadie and former army ranger, my saying was if The taliban couldn’t kill me what else can. Then reading your notes and constant talk about regular illness and doctors made me second guess. I guess it’s because I have been reading your letter for so long that I have to admit sometimes I see you as my friend and I worry about you. Nonetheless, thanks for doing what you do. I have begun to take my health more seriously and dropped the bravado because of you. Thanks man.

Andy Cormack

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So sorrt to hear about Michael, he was one of the really nice ones. Lots of golfing together. All this is reallys scary, as I am almost 77, and plan on making it well past 80.  Gotta last at least as long as your sister Jill and my boss, Mr. Buffett.   Cross your fingers

Harold Sulman
President, Mailboat Records

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I always admired his charm and  fun

Bobby Tarantino

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Michael Leon……a class act.

Mike Bone

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I liked Mike Leon a lot, he was gracious. I looked forward to working with him on A&M acts. In the early ’80s when I was at DIR our offices were directly across 57th St from the beautiful building where A&M’s offices occupied the penthouse.

Paul Zullo

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Thanks for this. My wife and I host a retreat each year at onsite for parents who lost kids. Out of order is hard to ever accept but it does bring the two worlds closer together, and makes parents not fear death as much .  Coming from a city which is still is reeling from last Monday’s shooting

John Huie

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I think it is time for NARAS or the Rock Hall to fund a Music Industry Hall of Fame. No voting… with just a few requisites. A memorialization of those who helped to make the music and those artists to be heard.

There’s a very long list… and one day we will be on that list.

Bruce Garfield

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It seems like everyone is passing away – an acceleration of the stars and singers and music bosses and producers that were as gods to me.

Some of them are so arcane they pass with barely a notice, but for those who were, well, say for me when I was 15-24 – they will forever remain. And when they pass – my heart stops.

death of despair.

I wrote music for film and tv for 30 years and in 48 hours it ended. If you don’t know what meniere’s disease is google Huey Lewis. Meniere’s disease. I have suffered with it for so long, and it is horrific. It’s like being a painter for your whole life and waking up blind. My case is worse than Huey Lewis’ – but reach out to me Huey. I could use someone to talk to. Or try to. Friggin’s stars you guys. Right side along Michael. I remember Clover! And your voice – the hits – you must be so grateful for them. And now you are fly fishing in Wyoming. I know what you feel. I know. I live it every day.

When you get Meniere’s comorbid with diplacusis dysharmonica you cannot hear pitch anymore. One ear hears a Bb, the other a D. So it renders all music atonal serial horror. You can’t play, sing, go to concerts, listen to any of the music you wrote. When Burt Bacharach  died I tried to hear “Raindrops keep Fallin’ On My Head” thru my laptop with specialized eq – it was so sad. I couldn’t hear any of it. All the songs that defined me, everything I found on my own – becoming a successful composer for decades – only to face being tone deaf and prone to vertigo attacks beyond description.

It was not the way I imagined my retirement. I had worked long and hard enough to travel the word, write my own music – but now I can hardly do anything. My body is strong. My will is strong. Nothing has ever knocked me down. So…

Assisted suicide is now legal in many states and started in, err, Sweden?

You don’t die because of meniere’s, you die with it. It is progressive, chronic and incurable. You become anhedonic and agoraphobic. It occurs differently for everyone. In many cases, or some, or few, I don’t really know – it leads to Alzhiemer’s and then dementia.

That is when I will go. Here in Washington State it is legal. I was very successful for a long time and I make a decent amount of money from royalties. Enuf money that I pay the same for Medicare as Bill Gates does, while it still gets taken out of my own check from my own corporation. Plan A B and D – if you are getting there do a deep dive.

I will not have my precious, loving children standing by my side at my hospital room looking at me drooling and saying “now who are you again?”, when the person I am talking to is my daughter. Oh my baby, remember my swagger, remember my music. My fans. Remember my Emmy nomination, Ascap award, remember me playing guitar to soothe you to sleep. I was never a star. But I always got on base.

For as much as it will hurt you and your brother for life, it is already so hard to keep going. At 67. And a better end than suicide. They interview you. Analyze you. Talk to you. And if  it seems like the right thing they put you in a chair, put the IV in you, but then you have to turn the knob yourself.

I didn’t see things ending this way.

William Anderson

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From: Dan Navarro

We live as long as we live. Some get more, some get less. No one gets out alive, and every day above ground is a good one. Period. Any illusion to the contrary is psycho. And we have lots of friends who are psycho.

BUT… how we live is the real battle. Do we value every day? Do we laugh every day? Do we stop complaining about bullsh*t little things? Do we invest in community and the generation coming up? Do we learn the landscape on the horizon? Do we value new, different, unknown, outside the comfort zone? Nothing worth a sh*t ever came from a comfort zone.

Or do we petrify our mindset and maintain a death grip on what is no longer possible. Do we still use outdated standards as we navigate the obstacle course of the immediate present, oblivious to the future.

Our industry has changed, irretrievably. Yeah, it was better before, when it was fresh, important, inspiring, and the public ethos revolved around what an artist said or did in their creations. I sure hung on every word and every note. Just like you did.

I mean, hell, I’m not in the music business any more. Haven’t been for years. I just make music for a living in the niches, where I found an eager and generous audience. And I’ve managed to learn what is still relevant — communication.

It means driving thousands of miles a year, setting up my own gear, little sleep, more than a few frustrations, some broken field running, and planning my moves pretty much alone (though I do have an agent, a digital coordinator and a social media person). My journeyman career is still productive, profitable and worth-it. I’ve had fun. A boatload of fun, and I’m still having it, very fricking day.

Why am I writing this? I’m older than you, by a few months, we’ve compared notes on that before. My health is good, somehow I still have my all hair, not even receding, and it’s still 90% not grey (not so for my beard, LOL). Nothing but genetics and still more dumb luck.

And, like you, I’m losing people like crazy. My age, older, younger. Croz, Jeff Young, David Lindley, Peter Cooper, Chicago legend Lin Brehmer (closest friend of the bunch), never mind Lisa Marie, Kirstie Alley, Michael Rhodes, Tom Leadon, Jeff Beck, or Michael Leon or Seymour Stein, none of whom I knew. Seems like a new one every week. Or every day.

We notice it because we are aging and not dying just yet.

As we’ve discussed, Eric Lowen died at 60, eleven years ago. He didn’t get to see 70. We were 30 years together and at 60 I had to reinvent. Nothing blasted fresh air into my perspective more than that. He’s gone, and I’m still here. Time to get to work and be more grateful for the time I have left, determined to spend it vigorously doing what I love every single day. Use it or lose it.

Dude, you’re tops at your game, and still throwing punches. Your health appears to be under control. You’re in a good relationship and you are still vertical and above ground, with a platform. Your perspective is razor sharp and you still care about the new even as you reminisce about the old.

Let’s face it. You won.

xx
dn

Hi Bob:

Long term friend Stephen Budd copied me in on your recent email relating to the sad departure of Seymour Stein.  I felt compelled to respond…so here goes!

Your observations and stories about Seymour have had me reminiscing since I woke up this morning.  We go back a long, long way that’s for sure…mid to late 1960s when I was primarily working for The Decca Record Company Ltd.  My plans to launch my own record Blues label were already underway by 1964…some three and a half years later Peter Green left John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers to form Fleetwood Mac and then I had to leave the staff at Decca to become an Independent Producer. I guess that was around the time I first met Seymour…the Windsor Blues Festival that he alluded to amongst those emails that you listed. Anyway, I truly do not have the time right now to delve back into my memory ‘bank’ but I would like to say how much I enjoyed reading about those priceless memories.  He was very kind to me in those early days…flew me to New York and put me up at his apartment.  Showed me Chinatown…introduced me to Henry Glover and Bobby Robinson…and endless stories, mainly about Syd Nathan!  He could tell a story too with impersonations and sound effects…hilarious.  They were great times…never to be forgotten and never to be beaten either.

I will check my Inbox so see what I have from the man himself…we were corresponding about this and that but not sure about the content.  That was at the time when the Blue Horizon label was being resurrected…maybe three years ago?  I was in touch with both Seymour and his daughter Mandy.

Anyway, thank you again for brightening up what would have been a very sad day.  We will all be celebrating his life as he surely gave so much to us.  One of a kind…gone but never to be forgotten.  R.I.P. Seymour Steinbigle

Best to you…

MIKE VERNON MBE

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I first met Seymour in the seventies when I was in the international division at EMI. I had managed to get the USA as one of my “markets” and started licensing records that Capitol would not, or had not released in the USA. He had Sire, an indie then, and a series of compilation albums called The roots of British rock I believe. He came to see me at EMI but before he came I checked his deals to find that he had not possibly been accounting “regularly”. So I arranged with the lawyer at EMI that he would come in halfway through the meeting and threaten him for non payment as a sort of spoof. Well Seymour gave me the best line ever. He said “I have live artists. I have to pay them before I pay your dead artists.” I ended up licensing him some more records and licensed his partner at Jem an early Floyd solo record that had been out for ten years in the UK. Rupert Perry threatened to get  me fired for that but Bob Mercer stood by me. When I went in to A and R at EMI we stayed in touch and later on at Polygram I managed to give him as many records as I could including Tainted love, the deal for which we did on a napkin in some dive. He was one of the greats and enjoyed all sorts of music. I even  licensed him the great David Rudder from Trinidad who we signed to London with him taking the US. He was a regular at Carnival in Trinidad and went to the tents there where he knew all the calypsonians performing.What a great record guy.

Roger Ames

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Great piece on Seymour.

He was a wonderful character.

I would often bump into him in London, not going to shows but buying antiques and paintings.

He loved going to the auctions.

This was his great hobby.

Seymour was from the great era of finding fabulous artists and selling them to anyone who would listen.

He had amazing foresight in choosing his music.

He will be greatly missed.

Harvey Goldsmith

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BEST POSTING EVER, A COLLECTION OF SEYMOUR COMMENTS, THANKS BOB

I KNEW SEYMOUR AND LINDA IN THE 70’S WHEN THEY SIGNED MY FIRST BAND ( I WAS THE ROAD MANAGER)  STANKY BROWN GROUP TO SIRE.

EVERYTHING I HAVE READ DESCRIBING SEYMOUR IS TRUE AND THEN SOME, I’LL LEAVE MY STORIES FOR ANOTHER DAY AND TO THOSE WHO KNEW HIM BETTER

BERT HOLMAN

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Wow!
Those emails are incredible!
He was always completely charming when I met him.
One of the all time greats.
They don’t make them like him anymore.

Richard Griffiths

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Thanks for sharing your Seymour Stein stories and letters. I was fortunate to have spent some time with him when he attended a Gountty Radio.Seninar convention at the Opryland Hotel sometime in the 90s. I had met him before through our mutual friend Richard Gottehrer, at a Madonna party at the Red Parrot and several times before that in the 70s at CBGBs, but we had never had the chances to talk. He was a record man who really loved the music, and I had learned not to take that for granted. Folks who worked with him at King had told me that he could identify any record in their catalog by number  He was full of great stories as expected.  Truly one of the all time greats.

Ed Salamon

Nashville  TN

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Very sad news to wake up to this morning, I can’t count on the number of Sire Records in my collection, from a reissue of the Nuggets garage rock compilation (originally on another groundbreaking Warner acquisition, Elektra) through the Ramones and Talking Heads to the English Beat and Echo & the Bunnymen, and of course Madonna (I have nearly all of her 12” singles, right up to her dismantling of American Pie). One of the best hours of my life was spent in Seymour’s company, when he came to Halifax for the East Coast Music Awards & Conference (and also for the seafood, I’m sure), and he invited me to lunch after we’d had a particularly robust phone interview (we even talked about the Strangeloves, and Manny’s Music Store) before he came to town.

It was a fun, freewheeling chat about music and some of his other passions. Mostly I remember asking him why the Monkees weren’t in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (“Because some people in charge say it’ll happen over their dead bodies”) and asking him if he grew up listening to the Yiddish comedy records of Mickey Katz, whereupon he told me a story about recently being at a birthday party for Jennifer Grey, daughter of Broadway legend Joel Grey, whose father was Mickey Katz, the original “Weird Al” Yankovic of parody songs. I gather they sang a few bars of The Barber of Schlemiel and Duvid Crockett, King of Delancey Street together. He asked me what some of my favourite Sire artists were, and Echo & the Bunnymen came to mind, which apparently was a signing he was very proud of, even if they didn’t get a North American hit until their fourth album with The Killing Moon, a song that’s become an indie-goth classic, and is frequently licensed for film and TV shows. I loved that Seymour played the long game, and let artists develop their talent, and believed in the power of a strong catalogue. My life would have been very different without Sire Records as its soundtrack.

 

~Stephen Cooke

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He wasn’t the average record exec indeed. He was one of a kind and I too was privileged to know him. If you had one conversation with him about music, you would immediately understand the depth of his knowledge on music: he would reference songs and artists I had never heard of, ad infinitum. It was like taking a Master Class on pre-Beatles rock and roll and music business. One time we were at a Thai restaurant and he stopped eating and paused when a random song came on the restaurant’s stereo system, he looked perplexed and confused while he was trying to place the song and then eventually he smiled that cheshire cat smile and said in that Brooklyn accent of his, ‘it’s Leiber and Stoller of course…they were just the absolute best!’.

I didn’t know him in his 80’s heyday, but through his daughter Mandy, I got to know him and spend time with him in the last 15 years of his life. He really liked a Joseph Arthur tribute record to Lou Reed I was involved with (he pointed out he and Lou were born a month apart and that he had released his ‘New York’ record) and wanted to sign it but couldn’t get his team on board. Regardless he wanted the other label interested (Vanguard) to know he was interested with hopes that it would get the advance and their enthusiasm up. I thought that was a classy move. He also once tried to put me in touch with Morrisey, who I had expressed interest in managing but forewarned ‘you do know what you’re getting yourself into, right?!”.

In 2011 he came to Montreal for the Pop Montreal Festival and I met him at the airport, brought him into the city and later at night, when I figured he would probably prefer sleeping, we met up and went around to some clubs, checking out acts. He would hobble his way up and down flights of stairs with his cane but once he was in the room and there was music being played, you could tell he was in his element. He would soak it all in and afterwards would bounce around introducing himself to these young acts saying he was ’Seymour Stein from Sire Records,’ and I would wonder if these young acts had any idea of who he was and what greatest they were standing in front of.

The last time I saw him was at the 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. I walked in and saw him sitting down so I went to say hi to him. He immediately pulled out his phone and called Mandy and handed me his phone so I could say hi to her. What an amazingly soulful man he was, and true visionary.

Peter Wark

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My best Seymour story : Apologies for brevity , am on the move…

We managed Ian McCulloch in the 90s signed to Sire/Warners.

I drove Seymour from London to Liverpool. He fell asleep so I ragged his car and did 156 mph down the M1. He then woke up and was laughing encouraging me!!! He said it was the fastest he’d ever been and it woke him up. It was 1995 and you could do it then. Not now with cameras etc. We were going up to see Electrafixion play at the lomax. Mac and Will (Echo and the Bunnymen) had just got back together and were speaking again for the first time since the Bunnymen split years earlier at their peak. I took him to the Jung Wah – best chinese rezzo ever in Liverpool, sadly no longer there. My great grandparents lived there originally (before Chinatown) when they got off the boat from Russia in the early 1900s thinking they were in NY! I explained the history and he laughed his head off again. He absolutely loved the food – traditional Cantonese. We actually saw one of his bands there – the long forgotten  Singing Ringing Tree. We then all went to the lomax for the gig. And then I drove him back to London – at a more conservative 130 mph -  after hanging out with Mac backstage. He said it was one of the best nights ever!!!

Darren Michaelson

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Thank u for this stunning ‘from-the-horses-mouth’ view of Seymour Stein.

He traversed the world continually seeking the very best in music – so we were lucky to meet him even here in South Africa. He had success with Johnny Clegg and Juluka from Johannesburg – and continued to scour our musical landscape.

In Cape Town and Joburg we had lunches and dinners of epic proportions – with all the stories in your article – and many more.

The best was when Seymour would fearlessly sing all these songs of yesteryears with great love and joy – in his shaky but beautiful voice – lyric perfect. He would do this in the middle of restaurants. He would astound us by ordering double main courses!

I loved him. The only disagreement we ever had was whether Chubby Checker should be in the Rock Hall of Fame. His opinion was an emphatic ‘no’ – whilst I thought he should be. Not sure who ultimately prevailed …

He was a mensch. He made our music business a place of true magic.

Salutations, Seymour

Patric van Blerk

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This really hit me hard.

I was always amazed that you would see Seymour at all the showcase events around the world. Checking the bands out. Cane in hand. I saw him everywhere. We spoke about China and India often. He always had time to say hello.

The conferences then started having him do the “this is your life” keynotes/panels – and then the book tour – but it was always the shows that blew my mind. This guy – out in the clubs – doing what I was doing and doing what none of his peers were. Hell – you didn’t even see the A+R’s out, but there he was. My youth was shaped by Sire.

I hate to see a true music man go. Really one of the last label heads that you can name and that you care about – that was out there.

I was trying to think of Sire releases that were not good. There were not many! When I worked in retail as a kid  – there were not a lot of Sire releases in the cut out bin. Lot’s of MCA and Atlantic!

I did get to have dinner with Seymour. Chinese of course. You are so right about his eating. What a production!

I will really miss seeing him out there.

Adam Lewis

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Excellent salute to Seymour Stein, Bob. His encyclopedic knowledge of music never ceased to astonish, and extended to Chinese pop hits of the 40’s and 50’s. I was up in his office once and mentioned I had an album out of Chinese pop classics from that era—and he proceeded to sing a famous Chinese song, “Megui, Megui”, a/k/a “Rose, Rose, I Love You”,  in the original Mandarin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-vv-tgoab0 Not only that, but he informed me that the song’s singer Yao Lee was still alive and in her 90’s living in Hong Kong—and that her song had been re-recorded with totally different lyrics in English by Frankie Laine, where it made #3 on the Billboard pop charts in 1953. Another time I ran into him at Pop Montreal and over tea lobbied him for inclusion of Captain Beefheart in the Rock ’n Roll Hall of Fame, telling him that most of the artists he’d signed during the Punk era would agree with me. He looked at me and with a straight face said, “Gary, my friend Neil Sedaka’s not in there! How do you think I feel about that??” Total legend!

Gary Lucas

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My old group Morcheeba was signed by Seymour to Sire after Jac Holzman had our first couple of albums on Discovery.

Seymour loved us. We couldn’t believe our luck we had no ambitions to break the States, we were doing great Worldwide but to be signed by two of the greatest golden eared moguls of all time was all I needed. Talk about a pat on the back.

Whenever we were in the same city Seymour would take us to the best restaurants and tell us great stories. We were sitting at a swanky eatery in Manhattan and Michael Caine walked in. Life was never dull when Seymour was in town. Our song “Rome wasn’t built in a day” was one of his all time favourites and he used to croak the melody to us. We were so happy hanging. They said he used to collect British bands and Antiques from West London, and he had great taste for both. He lasted much longer than I imagined given his lifestyle but he always had that great smile and those sparkling blue eyes so I guess he had other plans. Rest in Peace Seymour! You gave a young British man validation beyond his imagination. Thank you.

Paul Godfrey

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I was incredibly fortunate to work for two absolute legends in my record label days – and Seymour was one of them.  Sire Records was a bit of a mess by the time I got there in the late 90’s, but working in the West Coast A&R Dept with Bud Scoppa and Andy Paley was definitely a career highlight.  If you were courting a band and you were able to get Seymour to a dinner with them – he was magic.  He had an incredible ear and was responsible for so many of my favorite bands and records; it was both and honor and a thrill to work for and get to know him.

-Gregg Bell

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Seymour called me out of the blue about ten years ago because he wanted to get his memoirs out before it was too late.  My friend Ivo Watts-Russell referred him to me.  He didn’t have a literary agent but had heard through grapevine I could help him get a writer and a book deal with an editor at a major house with no agent fees.  He was right, and I got him superb music writer Gareth Murphy, plus SMP editor extraordinaire, Elizabeth Beier.  Even though extracting the right stories from Seymour was painful, Siren Song was a damn good book.  Some stories pissed people which attested to the accuracy. Mo Ostin was not pleased.

But it was just fun hanging out with Seymour, him stopping mid sentence in a story to call Andy Paley to make the details were right.

And there was always food, messy but delicious.  And too much wine.

He lived big, a true character.

Jeff Capshew

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Beautiful tribute Bob.

Seymour Stein was cut from a different cloth.  Nobody knew music like he did.

I just went back to listen to your interview from 2018.

I loved this interview too from 4 years ago in Please Kill Me.

‘SHELLAC IN HIS VEINS’: AN INTERVIEW WITH SEYMOUR STEIN

I had the pleasure of hanging with him a couple times.

It was in foreign countries as you said, where he actually spent time chatting with me.   The times we bonded the most was Tel Aviv. A music conference called Tune-In Tel Aviv.  I remember he came out to all the shows and stayed almost to the end.  Walking up stairs with his cane probably in pain but you would never have known.   He was a trooper and a music fan through and through!

I don’t think I ever heard him laugh but he definitely smiled the few times I saw him.

I saw him many times at MIDEM too but that was earlier on in my career and he never seemed to remember me.

The first great convo I had with Seymour was about the British Invasion.

I was able to tell him The Zombies had a record deal and he was ecstatic to hear about that and very keen to hear the new album.   He loved The Zombies. He said they’ll get inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame one day! That was in 2015. Then I saw him in NYC at the Polar Music Prize Polar Talks which I helped produce. That was up in Harlem.

The last convo we had was right after the 2019 Inductees were announced!  I had told him about a new artist I was repping called AJ Smith and had asked if he had received his material.   He wrote this below.

“Glad about the Zombies.   Big representation from UK this year,  including Sire band the Cure.

FYI, I’m not working at present time. Hopefully, soon.

OK to resend A.J. Material.

Best,

Seymour

I’m forever grateful and honored to have had that time with an industry giant!  It really feels like the end of an era!

Fiona Bloom

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This was a wonderful read.

When I was working with Ted Templeman on his autobiography he told me many times that Seymour had an encyclopedic knowledge of 20th c. music of all genres. Exact quote from a few years back from Ted: “Seymour worked for King Records. That label was one of my first inspirations. He’s a historian. He knows everything. Early rock and roll? Ruth Brown. Wynonie Harris. Seymour knows that stuff cold.  James Brown — Seymour told me that Tammi Terrell was James Brown’s girlfriend. Seymour told me Elvis was blonde! A blonde guy. He said he naturally had hair like mine. I didn’t know any of that! He’s the most fascinating, greatest guy in the world.”

I loved reading Seymour’s emails and your tribute to him. Thank you.

Greg Renoff

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Best meeting I ever had with a record executive was with Seymour. Danny Fields was managing a new, young artist that Seymour wanted to sign, so Danny arranged for me to go up to meet with Seymour.  We met in his office and after some niceties, he took a business card and wrote the deal points for my client’s contract on the back of the card … then sent me down to business affairs to give it to them and tell them to do that  deal with me for the artist.

Wallace Collins

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Seymour called my band mate and I in 2018 regarding one of our singles. We knew nobody would believe us so we actually recorded the conversation. He loved the song and wanted to hear more. Unfortunately nothing ever happened but it was a pretty cool moment to have a legend in the biz call you. RIP.

Danny Jay

Shytown

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Don’t forget he signed Ice T.  The first “rapper” signed to a major record company on the west coast- and maybe in the United States

Eric Greenspan

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Bob: Seymour moment: Although acquired by WB in 1978, Sire/WB released “Reel To Reel ” by Climax Blues Band in 1979 (and “Shine On” in 1978).  First band to record at AIR Studios in Montserrat, West Indies (now abandoned after epic island volcano eruption).  Major artistic departure for the band to go “mainstream” with major rotation on AOR and formatted radio in the States at the time.  I played the elpee non-stop and thus spread the word throughout various U.S. industry channels.  Soon thereafter, Seymour called my office to express his appreciation.  We never met prior. We spoke for over half an hour.  From Frank and Nancy Sinatra (see producer Lee Hazlewood) to artists of the day. 

Very sad day indeed.

Scott Hazlewood

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The Great Seymour.

You’re so right about his music from the 30s and 40s.

One time we were driving up PCH in Malibu. I asked him what his favorite song was. (An impossible question…I know, I know.)

He said, “Little Yellow Bird.” (The song performed by a 20-year-young Angela Lansbury in the 1945 film “The Picture Of Dorian Gray.”)

Then, he sang the whole song from memory. I thought he was going to cry. Maybe he did.

Goodbye, Little Yellow Bird
I’d rather brave the cold
On a leafless tree
Than a prisoner be
In a cage of gold

Seymour. He sure LOVED his music.

Bobby Woods