Stan Klees

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

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
  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". Chart Attack, 20 November 2001
  9. "In Memory of Stan Klees". Junos on CBC Music. Retrieved 28 September 2023.


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