Born in Brooklyn in 1942, Seymour Stein ignored his parents' pleas to become a doctor or lawyer to make a career in music.

He started early - at 13 working at Billboard, before learning his trade with some of the legendary figures from the Fifties and Sixties, including Syd Nathan and George Goldner.

In his early twenties he co-founded Sire Records with Richard Gottehrer and a decade later had discovered The Ramones playing a dingy bar on the Bowery.

After ...