Music industry veteran Seymour Stein started working at Billboard magazine in New York as a teenager.  In 1966, he formed Sire Productions with record producer Richard Gottehrer, which eventually lead to Sire Records.  A huge fan of the Record Research books, Seymour and Joel Whitburn became fast friends, sharing a mutual passion for music and the charts.

Seymour had a great eye for talent and signed many artists, including the Ramones, Talking Heads, The Pretenders and Madonna.  Here’s a sampling of some of Sire’s biggest chart hits through the decades …

1970s

Hocus Pocus – Focus

Couldn’t Get It Right – Climax Blues Band

Rockaway Beach – Ramones

Rivers Of Babylon – Boney M

Pop Muzik – M

 1980s

Tainted Love – Soft Cell

Genius Of Love – Tom Tom Club

Back On The Chain Gang – Pretenders

Burning Down The House – Talking Heads

I Melt With You – Modern English

Like A Virgin – Madonna

White Horse – Laid Back

People Are People – Depeche Mode

Chains Of Love – Erasure

1990s

I’ll Be Your Everything – Tommy Page

Constant Craving – k.d. lang

Far Behind – Candlebox

Kiss From A Rose – Seal