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]
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. A frequent contributor from the magazine's inception, 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 RPMs 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]