Sire Records founder SEYMOUR STEIN, the man who signed Madonna and The Ramones, sings to Alistair Houghton

YOU don’t have to wield a guitar or trash a drum kit to be a rock’n’roll legend.

Seymour Stein may not be a household name like the acts he signed to his company Sire Records – artists including Madonna, Talking Heads, and Liverpool’s own Echo & The Bunnymen.

But he is a giant figure in the music industry, renowned for promoting punk and New Wave, and for a passion for music that saw him shuttle across the Atlantic at the mere suggestion of a new act he should sign.

That’s why one of the most eagerly- awaited events at Liverpool Sound City this week isn’t a gig, but a conversation between Stein and Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch.

The pair will take to the stage at the Hilton Hotel tomorrow to discuss Stein’s career from his apprenticeship at Billboard in the 1950s to his work with Madonna and his revival of Sire in the 2000s.

If my conversation with Stein is anything to go by, it’s sure to be a lively event. It was less of an interview and more of a storytelling session, a feast of tales and even singing from a man who’s still in love with rock’n’roll.

Speaking from his New York office, he says: “I consider myself lucky to have been doing this for so many years. I’ve been in the business for well over 50 years now.

“The music business is just a continuous strand and I’m part of it. It’s been my whole life – it still is. I feel blessed.

“Look at the roster of artists I’ve worked with – like The Ramones, Talking Heads, Madonna, many more artists. And there’s all the great British artists I’ve worked with. It’s been an incredible, incredible experience.”

Stein said his love of music came from his older sister, who played records to him in their New York home.

“Thanks to her, I got exposure to music in that transitional period between the big bands and rock and roll,” he said.

“There was all that great music happening – R’n’B, country music, even gospel – it was all starting to take hold. So I was there at the birth of rock’n’roll. I got on that merry-go- round and never got off.”

At junior high school, Stein began visiting Billboard magazine’s headquarters to do research and soon found himself winning paid work.

“They paid me a cheque and I couldn’t believe it,” says Stein. “I gave the cheque to my mother, and said ‘I should be paying them!’”