Stan Klees (born 29 April 1932 at

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired music industry businessman. He created the music recording companies Tamarac and Red Leaf Records in the 1960s. Klees was a presenter at

CHUM radio Bell Media Radio, G.P. (formerly CHUM Radio), operating as iHeartRadio Canada, is the radio broadcasting and music events subsidiary of Canadian media conglomerate Bell Media. The company has its origins in CHUM Limited, which was acquired by ...

in the late 1940s then was employed by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. He founded Tamarac Records in 1963. His advice to

Walt Grealis Walt is a masculine given name, generally a short form of Walter (name), Walter, and occasionally a surname. Notable people with the name include: People Given name * Walt Arfons (1916-2013), American drag racer and competition land speed record r ...

led to the development of ''

RPM Weekly ''RPM'' ( and later ) was a Canadian music-industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. ''R ...

'' 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 Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television broadcasters (inclu ...

of produced songs, also known as the Cancon movement. Klees and Grealis established ''RPMs annual awards for Canadian music in 1964 which led to the creation of the

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

s ceremonies in 1970. In 1995, Klees was inducted into the

Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame The Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame honours Canadian country music artists, builders or broadcasters, living or deceased. The artifact collection includes extensive biographical information on the inductees. It is located in downtown Merritt, ...

. In 2001, Klees was awarded the Special Achievement Award at the

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collects ...

Awards in Toronto."The Guess Who, Murray McLauchlan Win Big At SOCAN"
''Chart Attack'', 20 November 2001

References

External links

*
RPM Music Weekly Tribute Site.
1932 births Living people Businesspeople from Toronto 20th-century Canadian businesspeople Canadian music industry executives {{Canada-business-bio-stub