Meeting Seymour Stein

In case you don’t know, Seymour Stein is a mega legend in the music biz….the guy that started Sire Records and signed Madonna for goodness sakes! Plus Talking Heads, The Ramones, KD Lang, Bare Naked Ladies and Ice-T. He also signed US deals with The Cure, The Pretenders, Depeche Mode, Madness, The Smiths, and Echo & The Bunnymen. 

Well, back in the late 80s I was working on a rap album with a guy called MC Merlin. Merlin was a young kid, 15 or 16 maybe but was extremely talented though musically and lyrically. He was signed to the Rhythm King label, run by the very quirky Martin Heath - a man with great ears but lacking the business skills to back them up. Rhythm King shared a studio with Mute Records - and that was where I was working, recording vocals with MC Merlin, the day when I met Seymour.

While Merlin was doing his thing at the mic I noticed he looked a bit distracted, he seemed to be looking at something behind me. I turned around to see a very sick looking older guy sitting in a chair right behind me. I jumped out of my skin.

I had absolutely no idea who this guy was but I knew he must be important because there were two or three nervous looking people with him - a couple of them looked like their job was to try and keep him alive. He looked really ill, his skin was puffy and blotchy, he was sweating profusely and his eyes were totally glazed over. He looked like he should be in Accident and Emergency, not a recording studio. 

Someone said to me, ‘This is Seymour Stein’ - a name that meant nothing to me at the time. I looked at him and said ‘Hi, nice to meet’ you and told him my name. His eyes remained fully disengaged and he never said a word. He didn’t look capable of doing so. He was completely out of it.

After an awkward moment while I waited to see if he’d ever respond - which he didn’t - I turned around and carried on recording vocals with Merlin. A couple of minutes later I turned back and Seymour and company were gone - like it was all just a nightmare. At least he didn’t die in the studio. 

Years later the lead singer from one of his major UK signings told me that minutes after signing a contract with Seymour, he felt a hand on his arse and Seymour whispering in his ear….’you better get that sweet ass of yours insured son’. The singer told me that he wanted to burst into tears and run home to his mum. He thought ‘What the hell have we just done?!’