This last week has seen the music world lose two more from its fold. We remember and celebrate the lives of Seymour Stein and Vivian Trimble.
We also pick a couple of great new tunes for you to check out!
Seymour Stein (1942 - 2023)
Seymour Steinbigle was born on 18 April 1942 in New York City. At the age of 13, he took a job as a music clerk at Billboard magazine, and by 1958 was helping develop what would become the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In 1959, he was 'poached' by Syd Nathan of King Records, who persuaded Stein's parents that his moving to Ohio was a good career move. Over the next few years, he had several jobs, including working with impresario George Goldner in the legendary Brill Building.
In 1966 he went into partnership with producer Richard Gottehrer, each ploughing ten thousand dollars into what would become Sire Records. To begin with they focused on licensing European records in the US by a wide range of bands, like Focus. In 1974 the labels focus started to move towards new acts. On the recommendation of Stein's wife, a special audition was arranged for the Ramones, and in 1975 they were signed. The next few years would see the label sign the likes of Talking Heads, Richard Hell & The Voidods and the Pretenders. He signed Madonna from his hospital bed in 1982, having heard her song Everybody. Later signings and distribution deals were done with more legendary bands like the Replacements, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Ice-T and the Cure.
He was married to Linda to the late 1970s, with whom he had two daughters. He came out as gay in 2017. Then in July 2018, he retired from the music business. He passed away from cancer at his Los Angeles home, on 2 April aged 80. Madonna wrote in Twitter, "Seymour Stein Has Left Us! I need to catch my breath. He was one of the most influential men in my life!! He changed and shaped my world."
UK's Rough Trade Records said that he was, "One of music's great A&R men and good friend to Rough Trade. A truly standout individual. The music world would not be the same without him." The Echo & The Bunnymen Twitter feed shared a heartfelt message from lead singer Ian McCulloch.
"Seymour Stein was one of the good ones. He could spot something great and/or potentially great in the first few bars in many cases, and sometimes he'd wait for the chorus before he decided if it was good or not....The artists he signed to Sire kept their identity by and large, which is another reason Seymour Stein was so great..... Goodnight, Godbless Seymour, I'm proud to have known you. Mac xxx"
The Ramones: Blitzkrieg Bop - https://youtu.be/268C3N2dDYk
Talking Heads: Psycho Killer - https://youtu.be/jzIuZ-mrIL0
Madonna: Everybody - https://youtu.be/cOqr_x_9fMc
Vivian Trimble (1963 - 2023)
Viv Trimble was a founder member of 1990's indie rock band Luscious Jackson. Trimble played keyboards and sang with the band from its inception in 1991, through to 1998. She did not participate in their later reunions. The band included Trimble along with Jill Cunliff, Gabby Glaser and Kate Schellenbach, and their name was a malapropism of NBA star Lucious Jackson.
Their first gig was in support of the Beastie Boys and Cypress Hill, and it was to the Beastie Boys label, Grand Royal, that the band signed and released debut album, Natural Ingredients, in 1994. They would release the follow up, Fever In, Fever Out, in 1996, before Trimble left them in 1998. She would also release an acclaimed self-titled album as Dusty Trails, with Josephine Wiggs (The Breeders) in 2000. She died on 4 April from complications following years of treatment for cancer.
Her former bandmates released a statement on Twitter. "We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved friend and band member Viv on Tuesday. We are devastated beyond words to lose our graceful sister. Gabby, Jill, Kate." Actor, Elijah Wood said, "So sad to hear about Viv Trimble's passing. Love to her family and friends."
Luscious Jackson: Under Your Skin - https://youtu.be/bKoppkVsNGM
Dusty Trails: You Freed Yourself - https://youtu.be/ZN7_dmLcysw
New Tunes
Let's finish this on a positive, with three cracking new tunes for you to check out and hopefully enjoy.
Boygenius: Not Strong Enough
A, dare I say it, supergroup of three already renowned American songwriters - Boygenius is Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus. Not Strong Enough comes from their first LP, The Record, released at the end of March. This song is a jangly, mellow indie affair, with lots of echoing guitar and little blips of very 80s sounding keyboards. The three singers complement each other very well, and they layer the song up nicely. An ideal tune as the weather seems to be turning to spring sunshine.
A Certain Ratio: Samo
Like the chicken and the egg, I was tempted to start this by slightly dismissively referring to ACR as the 'band who have always sounded quite like Gang Of Four', but I thought I'd better check who actually came first! As it happens ACR were formed in Manchester in 1977 and Go4 in Leeds the year before, so they are pretty much contemporaneous. ACR were stalwarts of the old Factory label and, like Go4, ploughed a funky take on the post-punk scene. Samo comes from new album, 1982, and is inspired by the art of Al Diaz and Jean-Michel Basquiat. It has that classic funk heavy bass and staccato guitar line that they made their name with and it includes lots of early 80s references, like Andy Warhol and Fab 5 Freddy.
Big Moon: 2 Lines
Lastly, we bring you a wondrous piece of power pop from Big Moon. This song, about singer Juliette Jackson's pregnancy in 2021, builds beautifully to a soaring chorus. This version, taken from last months 6Music Festival has the addition of a choir to proceedings, which only gives it an extra boost. Truly majestic.
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