Chris Stimson - Still Rockin’ in the Free World

I came across Chris Stimson when working on Ric Fazekas’ memoir, since they had collaborated on a record label group together. Chris similarly had a long and intriguing career in the music industry, having worked with Iron Maiden and Duran Duran, and helped popularize the music video, some of which was featured in Ric’s book. Recently, however, I came across an article buried deep in the Internet that sheds more light on Chris' career, and I am re-posting it here:

CHRIS STIMSON ’69 STILL ROCKIN’ IN THE FREE WORLD 

What do a Loden coat, a Tandberg reel to reel tape deck, and a twelve-string guitar have in common? Working a cup a jo, Chris Stimson would not be so immodest as to suggest that he was a young man in control of his options, although he knows full well his family provided an environment where freedom could be enjoyed. His father was a spooky air attaché to the American Embassy in Oslo, Norway in the late 60s, but that suited Chris just fine. He had a mind to stay in Europe, where the music scene was exploding; and the choice of Frankfurt to be his alma mater worked. So, equipped with a diplomatic passport and the beat in his heart, his family (Dad, Mom, Brian, Allison and Melissa...all in their big Jeep) drove Chris from Norway to the dorm in Frankfurt with those three essential articles, and he began his own life as a senior in 1969.

Concert after concert—from the Doors and with Canned Heat, to Hendrix to Steppenwolf and Donovan, Chris soon found himself a freshman at UM München in the dorms, which, he explained, were actually previously those of the Hitler Corp. He was an artist, but he was also a musician, and played publicly in a trio called the Bad Habit, opening at the university‘s student center. And of course, the concert life continued. What Chris enjoyed most about the European music experience were the club venues, allowing audiences to experience incredible bands in a more personalized setting—to wit, Jimi Hendrix at the magnificent Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt.

Chris went back stateside for his second year of college, at the University of Akron. At the Phi Sigma Kappa frat house, he befriended the owner/manager of Cops and Robbers, one of the first head shops in the area. The manager noted difficulty in getting customers into the second-floor shop, so Chris, the artist, volunteered his services, suggesting he paint signage, and thus, the shop took off. At some point, the owner decided to sell the shop, and Chris shrewdly bought him out.

About that time the music scene in the Northeast broke from what can only be explained as the American AM radio snooze, wherein the listener was inundated with loud, obnoxious commercials, brassy DJs, and a handful of mostly boring top-ten pop tunes. At that time WMMS Cleveland, broke from its robot station format as it took on the staff of its competitor WNCR FM, an underground radio station. From there it and other underground FM stations speckled across America, with their mellow softly spoken and understated chilled FM disc jockeys, became the harbinger of the new in a digestible format. WMMS was the forefront radio, and according to Stimson, the most influential station in the United States at the time, from which emerged hero artists like Springsteen, Marley, Roxy Music, Eno, Bowie, The Pretenders, etc. It was the emergence of FM and the whole new era of progressive rock.

Chris explains that in the fallout of the early 70s economic failure in the industrial north—or the Rust Belt, music became the default bottom line; and Akron became the Liverpool of the U.S. During that period, Chris moved around a bit, mostly working as a manager of record stores, and briefly did a radio show on public radio breaking alternative music. All of this served to open in Chris a love of exposing and promoting new music to the public. However, jockeying for position sometimes calls for lateral movement, if only to keep on keepin‘ on during hard times. He took a marketing job with The Crow‘s Nest in Joliet, Illinois, the owner of which held the patent for the pinch hitter, and from the profits of which, opened a huge music store, and Chris became the buyer.

As buyer, Chris also became the Billboard reporter for the store. Billboard reporters provided sales information to Billboard, which kept track of the top 100 tunes. Reporters were thus in a position to not necessarily report the top selling music, but to influence the music scene by reporting top emerging music. Before long, Chris was romanced by record labels and was offered a job as one of the customer service representative for Capitol Records‘ Chicago branch. Back in those days, promoters pretty much had no budget, and the sky was Chris‘ limit. 

At the time, musicians were beginning to include videos as promotional material when romancing record labels and the primary means of promotion—radio. And the record companies had no idea what to do with this material, other than to file it.

Meanwhile, Chris targeted dance clubs and college radio stations, both to promote and to discover. It was in such a dance club that Chris saw his first music video in use for the public. Chris was wearing a satin tour jacket from the Tubes. When the DJ played a Tubes number, Chris went to the DJ booth to chat. Naturally, the DJ realized the legal ramifications of playing the pirated video, but Chris gave the DJ his Capitol blessing, realizing the beginning of the biggest promotion in music history. Of course, MTV grabbed that baton and ran shortly thereafter.

Chris snagged a Capitol contest among the thirteen Capitol US Branches, initiated by Iron Maiden and Ron Smallwood, the underground British Metal Bank on Capital, and their brilliant manager, who were shrewdly working the concept of bands marketing to promote themselves directly to fans, rather than chasing radio. Chris had Maiden‘s chief character, a massive Eddie, built over the roof of former employer The Crow‘s Nest and did an instore appearance by the band at the store. They had over 2,000 fans show up along with both of the hottest radio stations in Chicago—WMET-FM and WLUP-FM. Needless to say, they won. The prize was a trip to London, where he met and worked with Iron Maiden at Hammersmith Odeon, not to mention David Bowie at Wembley Arena.

Over time, he met—and broke wide open–Duran Duran, met the Police, and was present at Prince‘s Park West‘s premiere of 1999. He worked for A&M, EMI, Red Label Records (The Super Bowl Shuffle—remember that?), 4:20® Records, and more.

Chris decided to move to San Francisco and work for Navarre Corp. and Landmark Distributing, working with artists like Run DMC. However, he soon started his own promotion/distribution company, Miraloma Music, continuing to expose and produce some of the underground latest and greatest from the west coast.

He also appeared before the San Francisco city council to argue the case against artistic apartheid with regard to a city program originally developed to foster artists and computer driven entrepreneurs vis a vis turning rotting lofts into affordable housing for them. The real estate market soon manhandled the program to make it work for them, using any angle possible to sell real estate and cutting out the parties the program was to have benefited. Chris and others helped the City put the kibosh on the misuse, and maintain its posture on promoting an environment for artists and the computer industry.

By then Chris owned a second company—4:20®Records, and after the Big Quake, moved to Los Angeles, still running Landmark, himself now living in a loft. There he met Rick Fazekas, who had a radio show he was trying to get syndicated. They formed a company to bridge a gap between Latino artists and fans. They called their indie distribution company VyJ2 (an abbreviation for Truth and Justice 2 in Spanish). Chris is the president and Rick handles the artists and repertoires. Seems to be a great way to bring young second-language Latino rockers into the mainstream of the American record business.

But as it happens for the over fifty generation, parents begin to require assistance, as did Chris‘ mom. So he moved back to Akron, all the while running his companies via phone and electronics. In Akron, Chris formed yet another company, The Christopher Services, a party service which also provides wine and food, and is in the middle of structuring another company whereby he might work with his brother Brian (‘71)—but that‘s still a little hush-hush.

Today, he takes good care of his mother, and continues his role as something of a wizard of Oz for the music industry. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain—you may be assured he has his hand on the heartbeat of exciting, new music.