Steve Stanley

Raised in Oklahoma in the 1970s, Stanley developed an appreciation for the music of the 1950s and 1960s through his mother’s record collection.[1] According to Brian Greene’s 2012 Shindig! article on Stanley: “The seven-year-old (Stanley) was greatly affected by Elvis Presley’s death and, later in his youth, felt like a musical outsider, preferring the music of Elvis, Buddy Holly, and The Beatles to the then-popular rock and pop acts.”[2] His family later moved to Los Angeles where he played in bands, including The Acitones and Single Bullet Theory.[1] After working as a waiter, he entered the music business at age 24 as a salesman for Navarre Corporation, a music distributor based in Minnesota.[3] By 1997, he was one of the three top salesmen in the company when Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records, the man who signed Sam Cooke and Ritchie Valens, hired Stanley to head up sales for his label.[4]

While at Del-Fi Records, Stanley co-produced releases for the label, including the various-artist compilations Gee Baby Gee: The Del-Fi Girl Groups,[5] and Delphonic Sounds Today!: Del-Fi Does Del-Fi.[6] After leaving Del-Fi, Stanley began producing, designing, and/or annotating reissues for the Rev-Ola imprint of London-based Cherry Red Records. Stanley’s projects focused on lesser-known, cult pop artists of the 1960s whose albums had long been out of print, including titles by The Merry Go Round,[7] Eternity’s Children,[8] Nino & April,[9] Evie Sands,[10] and others.[11] Rev-Ola’s reissue of Nashville arranger Bergen White’s For Women Only album,[12] which Stanley also produced, received five-star reviews in both Mojo[13] and Uncut[14] and made Uncut's Best Reissues of 2004 list.[15]

By the late 2000s, Stanley launched his own Cherry Red Records imprint, Now Sounds.[16] He produced, designed, and/or annotated reissues of albums by The Association, Janis Ian, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Cowsills, The Mamas & The Papas, The Knack, Dion, Del Shannon, Donna Loren, Roger Nichols, Paul Williams, Tiny Tim,[17] and others. The label also includes mastering engineer Alan Brownstein[18] and writer/editor Sheryl Farber.[19][3] In 2012, music journalist and Saint Etienne member Bob Stanley (no relation to Steve) wrote a feature article on the Now Sounds label and sunshine pop music for The Times of London. He described Now Sounds as “specializing in late Sixties Soft Rock - the orchestrated, harmony-rich sound propagated by The Mamas and The Papas, typified by Pet Sounds, and made a world-beating now sound by Sgt. Pepper.”[20] Also in 2012, Now Sounds was voted one of the Top 5 "Best Record Labels" in Shindig!'s 2012 Writers' Poll.[21]

Also a graphic designer, Stanley has art directed and/or designed boxed set packages and contemporary releases for Rhino Records, ABKCO Records, Warner Records, and Sony/Legacy, including titles by Nilsson, Bee Gees, Bob Seger, The Monkees, Love, Jan & Dean, Devo, Allen Toussaint, and others.[22] The boxed set package of The Beau Brummels’ Bradley’s Barn, which Stanley designed, made Rolling Stone’s Best Reissues list of 2011.[23] Stanley also art directed the various-artist collection Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets 1965–1968. In 2010 this boxed set was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Historical Album category.[24]

The Los Angeles-based pop quartet The Now People includes Stanley and mastering engineer Alan Brownstein, with Nelson Bragg and Probyn Gregory,[25] members of Brian Wilson’s backing band. The group’s debut album, The Last Great 20th Century Love Affair, was issued in 2006 on Bird Songs Recordings, an imprint of Parasol Records.[26] The album was recorded at Studio Thru Inner Space and Carousel 44, and includes participation by some of the members of the Wondermints.[27] The Now People’s recording of “All The Things You Are,” written by Stanley, was featured in the motion picture Randy and the Mob, starring Ray McKinnon and Burt Reynolds.[28] As a solo vocalist, Steve has also participated in tribute and benefit concerts in Los Angeles, including the Wild Honey Foundation’s 2015 presentation of The Beatles’ White Album.[29]

As a journalist, Stanley has penned articles which have appeared in Mojo magazine, including a 2004 feature on Bobby Jameson after Stanley located the reclusive singer songwriter through a private investigator.[30]

In the mid-2000s, Stanley launched a weekly Internet radio show called 'The Now Sounds'[31] on luxuriamusic.com. He has featured a number of guests on his show including studio drummer Bernard Purdie and Orpheus, a psychedelic Bosstown Sound band that had hits in the 1960s.[32]

As an actor, Stanley appeared as Wrecking Crew member Barney Kessel in The Beach Boys: An American Family, a 2000 television film directed by Jeff Bleckner. The film was nominated for three Emmy Awards.[33] Stanley was also a musician on the 2013 documentary Dear Mom, Love Cher about Cher's mother, Georgia Holt.[34]

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Sheryl Farber, a three-time Grammy nominee.[35][36]

• Official Now Sounds website
• Steve Stanley at the All Music Guide