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 …