Stan Klees

Summary

Stan Klees (29 April 1932 – 22 September 2023) was a Canadian music industry businessman. He created the music recording companies Tamarac and Red Leaf Records in the 1960s.[1]

Life and career edit

A native of Toronto, Ontario, Klees was a presenter at CHUM radio in the late 1940s then was employed by London Records. He founded Tamarac Records in 1963.[2]

His advice to Walt Grealis led to the development of RPM Weekly in 1964. Klees formally joined RPM as a staff member in 1971 to assist with organisation and publication design. He also designed the "MAPL" logo to identify Canadian content of produced songs, also known as the Cancon movement.[3][4] Klees and Grealis established RPM's annual awards for Canadian music in 1964 which led to the creation of the Juno Awards ceremonies in 1970.[5]

In 1995, Klees was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.

In 2001, he was awarded the Special Achievement Award at the SOCAN Awards in Toronto.[6][7][8]

Klees died in his sleep on 22 September 2023, at the age of 91.[9]

References edit

  1. ^ Connie Thiessen, "Industry builder and CanCon champion Stan Klees dead at 91". Broadcast Dialogue, September 26, 2023.
  2. ^ Graham, Sandy (26 April 2012). "Happy Birthday Stan !". Cashbox. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  3. ^ "Stan Klees: The Man Behind Cancon and Why It Had to Happen".
  4. ^ CRTC. "The MAPL System". National Campus and Community Radio Association. Archived from the original on 12 July 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  5. ^ Wheeler, Brad (23 August 2012). "The Juno Awards: It's always been about the bread". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  6. ^ "2001 SOCAN AWARDS | SOCAN". socan.ca. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016.
  7. ^ Larry LeBlanc (2001). "SOCAN recognized McLaughlin, Klees, Bachman and Cummings". Billboard: 74–. ISSN 0006-2510.
  8. ^ "The Guess Who, Murray McLauchlan Win Big At SOCAN"[usurped]. Chart Attack, 20 November 2001
  9. ^ "In Memory of Stan Klees". Junos on CBC Music. Retrieved 28 September 2023.

External links edit

  • Green, Richard (October 2004). "The MAPL System". Collections Canada. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  • RPM Music Weekly Tribute Site.