Wayne Stierle, founder of the WORLDS FIRST all-oldies record label, CANDLELITE RECORDS! Wayne, under the name CANDLELITE MUSIC was the first person to sell ROCK N' ROLL MUSIC on television! The first time Rock N' Roll had EVER been sold directly on television, on the planet Earth! This introduction of direct-responce selling of Rock N' Roll on television became a "way of life" that has never ended. The fast clips used by Wayne, (up to 130 clips in under 45 seconds, provided a view of Rock N' Roll in rapid-fire edits that set the stage for MTV, which would debut 8 years AFTER Waynes' first dramatic t.v. spots). Cub Coda, writer of the rock anthem, "Smokin' In The Boys Room", called Wayne Stierle "The Father Of MTV"! Selling Rock N' Roll on t.v., soon spread around the world.
As founder of Candlelite Records in 1960, Wayne established the FIRST "all oldies" label in history, and even labels that followed him, were not 100% devoted to "oldies". In fact, this concept only really became a "normal" manner of business over a decade and half later!
Wayne brought labels such as Atlantic Records to television for the very first time, and brought other labels, such as RCA Records, Columbia Records, and Capitol Records, into the field of Rock N' Roll on t.v. for their very first ventures into that area.
Wayne produced the first Rock N' Roll radio program ever done on FM Radio. (When FM radio was nothing more than classical music, and educational oriented themes). To say that Rock N' Roll eventually "took off" on FM Radio, is putting it mildly.
In the early 70's Wayne produced the first "Oldies" program on FM Radio to topple the AM competition, including the mighty WABC AM Radio in New York City. This programming, done very personally by Wayne, started the entire concept of "oldie" radio, and has gone on to sweep the world, as a "staple" item in every market!
As a disc-jockey himself, Wayne pioneered many concepts still copied by "oldies" radio in every country.
Wayne was the first person to use the word "DOO-WOP" commercially, which established the term as a word now used all over the world. ("Doo-Wop" was not a "50's" term, and in fact started as a "word" in 1969 as "Doo-Wah").
As a Song writer/producer; Wayne was one of the founding fathers of ACAPELLA (Acapella was not a style recorded for commercial release in the 50's, despite the mistaken belief that it was) ; as well as other striking contributions to the culture of The Golden Era of Rock N' Roll and R&B Music.
Wayne Stierle produced a majority of the recordings by The Shells, of "Baby Oh Baby" fame. Wayne wrote The Shells best known acapella effort, "IF YOU WERE GONE FROM ME". He produced the very first acapella album ever recorded by a professional "50's" group. (Acapella Session With The Shells"). This landmark album also includes his composition, "Oh, What A Dream". Wayne acted as producer, and engineer. The album, as with several of the singles was rehersed in part, in The Brill Building. (1619 Broadway, New York City).
Wayne produced an entire album with Richard Blandon and The Dubs, which included Waynes' compositions, "WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE", "I'M DOWNTOWN", and "Concrete Jungle". The album includes a tribute to Clyde McPhatter, as penned by Wayne, and spoken by Richard Blandon.Wayne said, ".......working with the very great Richard Blandon was a special thing to do. Richard could be very difficult, but after all, just listen to his voice,.....he was Richard Blandon, a unique vocalist who really touched peoples' imaginations. The session was in New York, but the rehersals were in New Jersey. "New Jersey deserves more credit for its' contribution to the "New York Sound" than it gets."
Wayne produced a tremendous ammount of acapella material, and by the end of the 60's, he had produced over 80% of all the acapella released by that time. This included recordings by The Quotations, The Chessmen, Nicky and The Knacks, and so many more. Wayne wrote many acapella songs, including "It Was Acapella Music", which was the first song ever written about acapella. (1965).
Wayne was one of the pioneers of acapella, and was there when the name was chosen for this musical form. "....I didn't like taking the very proper "a' capella" and changing it to "acapella" because it didn't sound right to me. I preferred calling it "Subway Sounds" or something that set it apart from simply singing without music". The name WAS a problem early on, as "acapella" recordings were dumped into the foreign section of record stores, even in New York City!
"Where Do We Go From Here" was written for The Dubs, (And recorded by The Dubs), but it was recorded later by The Jive Five with Eugene Pitt, the original lead singer of The Jive Five. (There was a c&w version recorded also, in the 80's). "If You Were Gone From Me" was recorded five times. Many other songs were recorded more than once, as well.
By the 90's, the basic concept of Candlelite Records had gone from something very unusual, to an industry that is accepted around the world! In fact, in the 90's and into the year 2000 and beyond, it would be impossible to imagine such a concept not existing! Wayne Stierle says: ".......first they think you're crazy or stupid, or both, and later they say you were ahead of your time. It just takes 3 or 4 decades before they "see" what was there from the start....".
As a photographer, Wayne has taken countless photos that appeared on over 100 albums, and in many tv productions. Wayne also shot a very well known "short" film, with a hand-held camera and no crew at all. He took the original b&w photos of Times Square Records, which have been used (without permission) on a "Times Square" album series.
Wayne has worked with King Curtis, Chet Atkins, Tony Williams of The Platters, Mandy Patinkin, Roy Orbison, "Jocko", Alan Freed, Rosie & The Originals, Bobby Bandiera, The Dubs, The Jive Five, The Shells, The Quotations, Bobby Rydell, Murray The "K", Jim Lowe, "Dandy" Dan Daniels, Bobby Jay, "Big" Anderson, Alan Paul, The Del-Vikings, and virtually countless vocal groups, among other artists and producers.
Wayne was the first person to direct John Travolta, dancing on film. (For a record set commericial cast by Wayne).
Wayne wrote more liner notes for and about Elvis Presley, than any other writer in history. (Including three during Elvis' life).
WAYNE STIERLE, best known for being the first person to put Rock n' Roll on TV as a direct-responce item, was the creator of Candlelite Records and Candlelite Music. (Direct-Responce being where phone calls are placed to order an item "not sold in stores"). The fast edits and short clips, and dramatic writing and audio/video editing by Wayne, pre-dated MTV by over seven years, and contributed to what became the basic MTV style. Cub Coda, the writer of "Smokin' In The Boys Room", called Wayne, "The Father Of MTV".
The Candlelite Music productions brought every major label into the rock n' roll area of direct-responce, and introduced the great Atlantic Records to a tv audience, via their first "tv packages" ever.
Wayne worked with many artists through these years, including among others, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tony Williams the lead singer of The Platters, Bobby Darin,Fats Domino,Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, The Beach Boys, Dick Clark, Dick Jacobs,Jerry Wexler, and more. Wayne wrote 9 liner notes for Elvis Presley, which is more than any writer in history. (Elvis' favorite late-night commercials were The Candlelite spots produced by Wayne).
The style, and the actual words from these ground-breaking commercials are still being used every day in the selling of music on television.
Candlelite Records was founded by Wayne in 1960, while he was still in high school, and was the first all-oldies record label in history. The first in the world. (The label was dedicated to releasing previously released rock n' roll and r&b 45's, sometimes with two different artists on one 45.)
In late 1959, and into 1960 and 1961, Wayne was involved in re-releasing records that had failed in the latter 50's. Some of these records became so popular that they were regarded as "new" records, and actually becames early "sixties" hits. These records include, among others, "There's A Moon Out Tonight", "Baby Oh Baby", "Rip Van Winkle", and "Rama Lama Ding Dong".
With the hit status of the re-issued "Baby Oh Baby", Wayne began working with The Shells, and ultimately produced over 75% of their recordings. At the same time, Wayne began working with The Dubs, of "Could This Be Magic"/"Don't Ask Me To Be Lonely"/"Chapel Of Dreams" fame, eventually recording an entire album in 1972.
Wayne produced the "oldies" radio show hit that inspired the "oldies" only radio stations, that first sprang up in the seventies. The show that started the trend was a major hit in New York City.
Wayne was the first person to release a commercial album series using the word "Doo-Wop", which was not a known word or term at the time. Contrary to general belief, "Doo-Wop" as a word or even a description, is an early seventies term that evolved from "doo-wah". It is not a "fifties" word at all, although it has come to represent "fifties" styled vocal groups.
Wayne was one of the creators of Acapella. It all happened as follows: Along with Donn Fileti, Wayne discovered unreleased master recordings that were to be purchased on behalf of three people, that included Donn, Wayne, and industry vet Leo Rogers. When Leo backed out of the deal, it was taken to "Slim" at Times Records, who made the purchase. Donn left the area, and Wayne continued on, eventually owning a few of the masters from the huge tape and demo findings. These tapes included practice tapes by the great Connecticut group, The Nutmegs. Like many practice tapes, these recordings were done without paying a band, as simple showcases for either the song, or for an arranger to listen to and thereby write an arrangement for a band or small combo. These recordings were done without music, and not planned for release whatsoever. Prompted by Wayne, "Slim" decided to release The Nutmegs recordings, although he had offered to give them to Wayne in return for his various work with Times Records. ("Slim" was not very impressed with The Nutmegs, and Wayne taught him the historical value of the group that had been so important in 1955 with "Story Untold"). "Slim" felt the recordings that had no musical background needed to be highlighted as such, in part to make sure they weren't returned by customers, and in part to show the difference they represented compared to "normal" vocal group recordings. They spent weeks kicking the ideas around, with Wayne voting for various names such as "Subway Sounds", and others. Finally "Slim", who wanted to press the records, opened a dictionary and found a' capella, the "high class" term used for operatic type music done without background. It was decided that if this was what it was going to be, then it would be changed to a word that didn't even exist: Acapella. And so, the word and the style was born, and the label company was called with the copy for the first releases. This was the beginning of "Acapella", and the start of this word meaning "rock n' roll or r&b vocal groups". (As Wayne likes to point out, the first releases were put in the Italian section of many record stores, who assumed they were foreign records.). ".....we started something that we didn't intend to start....and I still think the name is wrong........but it's way too late to do anything about it..........".
Wayne produced, wrote, and did the music and vocal on the only Elvis "tribute" record to be approved of by Elvis and Vernon Presley. First released in 1969, and re-done in 1973, this release on which Wayne is billed as "The Phantom Of Rock", was well received, especially in Europe. (When Elvis passed away, Wayne refused all requests to re-release it, not wanting to exploit the sadness and loss. As of mid-2005, it still remains on the shelf).
In the early sixties, Wayne produced a radio show that was the first rock n' roll show ever on FM Radio, and almost gives a new meaning to "underground radio"! (It was so early in FM, that the rock n' roll portion of the public did not know what FM Radio was!). Imagine a time where rock n' roll was not on FM, and you have the 50's and early 60's.
The story has much more to it, and this page should be updated.
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Wayne Stierle
