RIP Steve Popovich

[stephanie]

He was responsible for the promotion of Bat out of Hell with Meatloaf when nobody believed in it and for the Jacksons albums being distributed when they signed with Epic.
He has quite a few accolades, google him and you will see. He was found dead in his apartment at the age of 68 there is no cause given as of yet.
Steph

[mark speck]

This made the front page of the Plain Dealer here in Cleveland yesterday...not exactly the best thing to wake up to, I'll tell you that. My Mom, brother and I knew Steve well...he made the rounds at many local Slovenian events, and thanks to him, I got to meet one of my heroes, Johnny Paycheck, when he brought him to Simcic's Tavern [[Donna Fargo was also supposed to be there, but unfortunately couldn't make it).

Steve had an amazing background in music...over a decade before his affiliation with Epic, he was a member of the local group the Twilighters, who cut a couple of singles for Bell and Imperial. Sometime later, after he had closed Cleveland International Records and severed ties with Epic, he was the head of Mercury's Nashville operations, working with Johnny Cash, Johnny Paycheck and quite a few others. He returned to Cleveland, re-established Cleveland International, and worked with Frankie Yankovic and other polka acts and also country acts like David Allan Coe and Roger Martin.

He was quite a guy and will be sorely missed...RIP, Steve, and thank you...

Best,

Mark

[tom_moulton]

Will miss you Buddy,RIP Steve