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Former Warner Bros. Records Chairman/CEO Russ Thyret Dies at 76
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Variety has learned. He was 76.
Over the course of his 30-year career with the label, Thyret climbed the ranks from sales, marketing and promotions posts eventually heading all three departments culminating in a run as chairman/CEO from 1995 to 2001. Warner was the only record company Thyret ever worked for.
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The famously bald and bearded executive signed Prince to the label (after being brought a demo by his then-manager Owen Husney and local Minneapolis promotion man Clifford Siegel) and was also a noted early champion of Madonna.
Animals Guitarist Hilton Valentine Dies
Hilton Valentine, the founding guitarist of the Animals, has died at the age of 77.
The news comes to us via Valentine s wife, Germaine, via an e-mail from Bob Merlis, the publicist for the Animals label. The cause of death was undisclosed.
Born May 21, 1943 in North Shields, Northumberland, England, Hilton Valentine, like so many other British kids at the time, was smitten with skiffle. He began playing guitar at 13 after seeing Lonnie Donegan perform Rock Island Line on a television show called
The Six Five Special. He formed a group called the Heppers, and, when they switched to rock n roll, changed their name to the Wildcats.