Henry Rollins Hosts Seymour Stein

When you listen to Henry Rollins on KCRW, you typically can expect two things: the best in sonic exploration and the deepest music history lessons. On any given show he’ll tee up interesting artist tidbits, songs from all eras and locales, and plenty of context to frame the music. This was all the more true this past weekend as Henry welcomed music industry vet Seymour Stein to the studio.

Stein started working at Billboard Magazine as a teenager, went on to co-found the legendary Sire Records, and signed countless iconic artists along the way. The label is celebrating 50 years, so this was the perfect opportunity to hear all the insider stories of the making of the modern music industry and, of course, to listen to some tunes with the music man himself.

Here’s Henry on Stein:

“We were very lucky and had Seymour Stein as our guest for the entire two hours. He co-founded Sire Records. He signed the Ramones, the Saints, the Rezillos, Richard Hell, Radio Birdman, the Talking Heads, the Smiths, Depeche Mode, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Replacements and, oh yeah, Madonna.

“Amazing person with 60+ years in the music industry. How do you do that? He did it by starting work at Billboard Magazine at age 13. A real record man. We had a great time with him. Tune in if you can.”

Listen to this fantastic show right now AND as a big bonus be sure to tune-in this Sunday (4/23) @ 8pmPT, as Henry will have a limited edition Sire Records 50th Anniversary Vinyl Boxset to giveaway to one lucky KCRW Member. Also, noteworthy: Ian MacKaye will be his guest in studio 🙂