SIRE Records Pull-It-Out
Independent labels have an honourable history it was Sun Records that discovered Elvis Presley. Chess that signed Chuck Berry. Atlantic that recorded the Drifters and the Coasters.
Seymour Stein's Sire label holds a similar position today. As Stein observes: “The early independent labels didn’t try to compete with the majors and I think we're doing the same thing . . . Why did Chess have everybody? Nobody else wanted them. That’s similar right now.” Stein tapped the productive scene emerging from New York’s CBGB Club and signed The Ramones. Talking Heads, Richard Hell and The Dead Bovs.
To date none of these acts have been commercially successful (though Talking Heads seem on the verge of crossover acceptance) but Stein is hopeful: “Well Fats Domino made his first records in 1949. He had his first hit in 1955. Elvis spent three years on Sun. The Beatles played in Hamburg a long time. Whoever had it easy? Everything takes time.”
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/RIU19790201.2.21
Bibliographic details
Rip It Up, Issue 19, 1 February 1979, Page 9
Word Count
158SIRE Records Pull-It-Out Rip It Up, Issue 19, 1 February 1979, Page 9
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