Stephen K. Peeples (born Oct. 3, 1951) is a Grammy-nominated record producer, award-winning radio producer, award-winning newspaper website editor, veteran music journalist and record company media relations executive, WAVE-nominated TV producer-host, and longtime journalist in Santa Clarita, California.[1][2][3] He and his younger sister Ruth grew up in Southern Florida and Southern California and both received early schooling in media from their newspaper journalist parents, William A. Peeples II and Joan R. Peeples.[4][5][6][7][8][9] In 1971-1973, Stephen studied at Santa Monica College and Ventura College.[1][2][10] He and Nadine A. Martini married in September 1981, and raised two children, Scot and Veronica.[11][12][13]
Peeples began his professional media career in early May 1975 as an associate editor of Cashbox Magazine, based in Hollywood.[14][15] His Cashbox features included an interview with outlaw country artist Waylon Jennings, a review of the third Willie Nelson July 4th Picnic in Texas, a recap of a free Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane concert at Lindley Field in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, and a profile of Texas rock band ZZ Top.[16][17][18][19][20][21]
He joined Capitol Records in October 1977 as Editorial Manager in the Press & Artist Relations Department, based at the Capitol Tower in Hollywood.[27] In addition to writing the label’s artist biographies, press releases, newsletters, and other editorial, he wrote the liner notes for the McGuinn, Clark & Hillman album by Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, and Gene Clark in 1979.[1][28] Peeples assisted with the photo research and choices for the gatefold cover and sleeve for Capitol’s U.S. version of The Beatles: Rarities compilation LP in 1980.[29] And he met Nadine, who also worked at Capitol.[2]
In July 1980, Peeples moved to Elektra/Asylum Records in West Hollywood as Editorial Director in the Media Relations Department, based in West Hollywood.[1][30][31] One of the first press kits he created was for Tom Waits’ Heartattack and Vine LP.[32][33] Later that year, Peeples wrote liner notes for the picture sleeve of "People Are Strange," a single released from The Doors Greatest Hits compilation. After the RIAA certified the album gold, Elektra executive Jerry Sharell presented Peeples a gold album award, which was later signed by Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek.[34][35]
Peeples then segued to radio as a writer-producer of programming for the Westwood One Radio Network from 1983-1990.[36][37] During his later years at Westwood One, he wrote and produced The Lost Lennon Tapes documentary series, which was hosted by Elliot Mintz and aired from 1988-1992. In late 1987, Westwood One received master tapes from John Lennon’s audio archives via a special agreement with Yoko Ono and the John Lennon Estate. Peeples researched and wrote the series’ first 128 hour-long episodes, which aired from February 1988 to July 1990, co-producing with engineer David Kephart.[38] Peeples received an International Festival of New York award for the series. He was also an International Radio Festival of New York Bronze winner in 1989, for his work on the radio special "The Lives of John Lennon: Fact or Fiction?”.[39][35]
In May 1991, Peeples conducted an all-night-long interview with Les Paul at the recording and electric guitar pioneer’s home studio in Mahwah, New Jersey, and wrote a 64-page book to accompany Capitol Records’ four-CD Les Paul: The Legend & The Legacy box set, released that October.[36][40][41]
Also in late 1991, Peeples began collaborating on producing The Monterey International Pop Festival box set with Geoff Gans for Rhino Entertainment and the Monterey International Pop Festival Foundation. Assigned by Rhino A&R chief Gary Stewart, Peeples and Gans, then Rhino’s Art Director, listened to recordings of all the performances from the historic June 1967 music festival, featuring artists such as The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, and Jefferson Airplane, then compiled the 4-CD track list. As Rhino’s Craig Kamins secured legal clearances, Peeples researched and wrote the accompanying booklet and Gans gathered images and designed the 12”x12” package. Rhino/MIPF released the box set in October 1992. Peeples, Gans, and Lou Adler, co-producer of the original festival and executive producer of the box, earned Grammy nominations when the box was nominated in the "Best Historical Album" category in 1994.[42][10][43][44][45][3]
In June 1992, as he and Gans were completing the Monterey Pop box, Peeples joined the Rhino Media Relations staff as National Publicity Director and Editorial Director. Two years later, Peeples was promoted to Co-Director of the department. He co-directed a staff of six, handled corporate press as well as PR for key releases and events, edited and proofread all printed collateral, and, prior to moving into the online arena, initiated the department’s use of e-mail for press releases.[46][47]
Peeples was project manager of the team that created and developed the company’s first website, which premiered at Rhino.com in summer 1996.[48][49] He served as the site’s first content producer-editor and promotions director, producing myriad multimedia content and special events from chats (Mel Brooks & Carl Reiner, Tom Lehrer, The Monkees’ Peter Tork) to webcasts (The Monkees at Billboard Live).[50][51][47] In addition, Peeples developed media campaigns for some of the label's major events, such as the Presidential Speechwriters Roundtable at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. and Bobby Darin Day in Las Vegas celebrating the 40th anniversary of the entertainer’s debut there.[52][53][54]
Stephen K. Peeples hosting a segment of “Beatles Etc.” on KHTS-AM 1220/Santa Clarita in summer 2004. Photo: Scot L. Peeples.
While at Rhino, Peeples also was executive producer of Man-Tora! The Manhattan Transfer Live in Tokyo CD (1995) and associate producer of the four-CD Cowabunga! The Surf Box collection (1996).[56][57] In 1992, he penned liner notes for Rhino’s reissues of Al Stewart's Modern Times and Past, Present & Future albums, Firefall’s Greatest Hits, and the various-artists collection Modern A Cappella.[58][59] Peeples also cowrote liner notes with Ray Stark for Rhino’s Jubilation!Great Gospel Performances, Volumes I, II, and III compilations in 1992. The Library of Congress’ American Folk Music division included the series on its “Folklore Recordings: A Selected List 1992”.[60] From 1990-1997, Peeples was liner notes editor for many Rhino audio releases -- approximately 75 per year. Independently, he wrote liner notes for a pair of Carole King albums released by Sony/Legacy: A Natural Woman: The Ode Collection (1994) and Live At Carnegie Hall (1996).[61]
In October 1997, Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner enlisted Peeples as their public relations agent for Rhino’s The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000: The Album CD.[62][63][64][65][66][67] After leaving Rhino in early 1998, he wrote the book for Rhino Home Video’s John Lennon & Yoko Ono on The Mike Douglas Show VHS box set, which documented Lennon and Ono’s five days as co-hosts of the daytime variety program in February 1972. Peeples also created the media campaign for the project.[68] Peeples then transitioned to creating content for Warner Music Group websites from 1998-2000, serving as editorial consultant, chief writer, and occasional producer for WMG’s ear1.com, TuneMail.com and PreviewTunes.com Web sites.[2][36]
After WMG, Peeples spent a few years as IT Director and Project Coordinator for two general contractors, Houck Construction Inc. in West Los Angeles and Blackwood Builders Inc. in Newhall, California.[69][70]
He returned to media as a features writer for The Signal, the daily newspaper in the Santa Clarita Valley, in the northwest corner of Los Angeles County, from 2004-2006.[71][72] He was managing editor of the MySantaClarita.com community website for the next year and a half, raising its site traffic 291 percent. He returned to The Signal as Online Editor and entertainment columnist from 2007-2011. In spring 2010, Peeples was the honoree when the California Newspaper Publishers Association awarded The Signal “Best Website” in the state for newspapers of its size.[71]
From 2011-2016, Peeples doubled as a news writer-editor and entertainment columnist for KHTS Radio News in Santa Clarita and as a television entertainment reporter for Santa Clarita Valley community television station SCVTV. He covered the local music scene in his Peeples Place at KHTS column, which later evolved into the SCV Rock Beat.[1][73]
Peeples also hosted House Blend with Stephen K. Peeples, a local music and interview series that premiered on SCVTV in fall 2010 and ended production in mid-2015 after 69 half-hour episodes. Peeples booked, scripted, and hosted each program, co-producing with the SCVTV staff including director Megan Perez, sound producer Michael R. Mazzetti, and executive producer Leon Worden. A show at the end of the first season received a WAVE nomination from the Alliance for Community Media for excellence in community television in 2012. The nominated episode included Peeples’ interviews with and music by Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen.[74][1][75]
In May 2017, Peeples returned to SCVTV as an editor/reporter for SCVNews.com, the station’s local news website, a position he held until April 2021, when he retired to focus on book projects.[1]
Through these positions, Peeples has written several obituaries for public figures as well as family members over the years.[76][4]
In 1999, Peeples joined a handful of community leaders dedicated to providing shelter and services to homeless people in the Santa Clarita Valley. He signed on as a board member with the Santa Clarita Community Development Corporation, the all-volunteer nonprofit organization formed two years earlier. The SCCDC operated a 22-bed emergency shelter for homeless individuals during the winter, aided by volunteers from local schools, churches, and civic groups. Peeples built the organization’s first website to increase public awareness and support for the shelter, and maintained the site for the next several years before retiring from the board in 2010.[80] The SCCDC renamed itself Bridge to Home in 2011. By 2022, celebrating its 25th anniversary, the organization was operating daily, serving more than 700 households each year, and building its first permanent facility.[81]
Peeples was also an early proponent and adopter of high-speed internet access in the Santa Clarita Valley, which at the end of the 20th century was still not yet available there. Access via dialup over a telephone line using a 56kbps modem was typical. Peeples joined a nonprofit group of community stakeholders called Connecting Communities that helped speed deployment of DSL and cable internet access to area businesses, schools, and residences over the next few years. The group also encouraged local businesses to get online and use the “World Wide Web” to expand their brand awareness and customer bases outside the area.[82]
Books
Beyond the Les Paul: The Legend & The Legacy, Monterey International Pop Festival and John Lennon & Yoko Ono on The Mike Douglas Show box sets, Peeples has had extensive experience in editing, proofreading, and assisting in the production of magazines and books.[83]
In 2011, he wrote the introduction and an extended author biography for American musician and photographer Henry Diltz’s “Unpainted Faces,” a collection of his famous and rare black and white images.[36][2]
In 2016, Peeples, writer-producer Corey Duncan Stewart, and Texas artist Boyd Elder began developing “Artlaw Boyd Elder: The Greatest Artist You’ve Never Heard Of.” The art book collects images of Elder’s painted-and-adorned animal sculptures for the covers of Eagles’ “One of These Nights” and “Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)” albums, plus rare images and tales of his adventures. In October 2018, three weeks after he and his collaborators finished their book proposal, Elder died. Peeples and Stewart teamed up with Elder’s daughters to continue developing the project. The book is expected to be completed in 2024.[84][85]
In late 2020 and early 2021, Peeples was among the editors and final proofreaders for “Bring Music Home,” a 500-plus-page book documenting the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic’s first year on the live music industry across the United States.[86]
In 2022, Peeples was commissioned to write the memoirs of Cindy Johnson (O’Dare) and Jeri Jenkins, founders of Home at Last. From the early 1970s to the early 1980s, their Miami-based concierge service provided luxury lodging, food, and transportation for rock stars in town to record at studios including Criteria and Bayshore. Home at Last clients included Stephen Stills and Manassas, Eric Clapton, Eagles, the Bee Gees, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jimmy Buffett, and dozens more.
Canyon Country is a neighborhood in the eastern part of the city of Santa Clarita, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies along the Santa Clara River between the Sierra Pelona Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains. It is the most populous of Santa Clarita's four neighborhoods.
KDOW is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a financial news/talk format. Licensed to Palo Alto, California, United States, the station serves the greater San Francisco Bay Area. The station is owned by the Salem Media Group.
KHTS is a commercial radio station that is licensed to the Canyon Country neighborhood of Santa Clarita, California, about 30 miles (48 km) north of Los Angeles. The station is owned by Jeri Lyn Broadcasting. KHTS broadcasts with 1,000 watts during the daytime and 500 watts at night. The station is nicknamed "Your Hometown Station". KHTS is rebroadcast on FM translator K251CF in Santa Clarita.
Santa Clarita is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17th-largest in California, and the 98th-largest city in the United States. It is located about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and occupies 70.75 square miles (183.2 km2) of land in the Santa Clarita Valley, along the Santa Clara River. It is a notable example of a U.S. edge city, satellite city, or boomburb.
And Now... The Runaways is the fourth and final studio album by American rock band The Runaways, released in Europe on 16 December 1978 and Japan in 1979.
KAVL is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Lancaster, California and serves the Antelope Valley area. The station is owned by RZ Radio LLC and broadcasts a sports radio format as an affiliate of Fox Sports Radio. KAVL has a directional-east 4900-watt signal during the day and a directional-south 4000-watt signal at night. It is the Los Angeles home of the Rich Eisen Show.
Mark Chasan is a digital media pioneer, lawyer, merchant banker, entrepreneur, regenerative developer, and author. He is known for founding eMusic, the first digital media streaming and distribution company and Webcentral, one of the first cloud hosting companies. Currently, Chasan is the Chairman and CEO of Transformative, a consulting firm focused on eco-social projects and AWE Global, a developer of health-focused sustainable and integrated workspaces. Chasan has been instrumental in creating new financial models for a process driven approach to liquidity and value creation utilizing a private-to-public strategy.
Golden Valley High School is a school in the William S. Hart Union High School District in the Canyon Country neighborhood of Santa Clarita, California, United States. The school first opened in 2004 with a new campus, admitting freshmen and sophomores; the first class graduated in 2007.
Placerita Canyon State Park is a California State Park located on the north slope of the western San Gabriel Mountains, in an unincorporated rural area of Los Angeles County, near the city of Santa Clarita. The park hosts a variety of historic and natural sites, as well as serving as a trailhead for several hiking trails leading into the San Gabriel Mountains.
Apogee Electronics is an American manufacturer of audio interfaces and audio converters, USB & iOS microphones as well as audio production software.
Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Rodgers & Hart is a 1995 compilation album by Frank Sinatra. In this album, Sinatra sings his renditions of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.
Sara Niemietz is an American singer/songwriter and actress based in Los Angeles, California. She has performed on Broadway, at Radio City Music Hall, and the Grand Ole Opry. A substantial portion of her YouTube offerings are live performance music-videos and her channel has surpassed 25 million views. Her regular co-writer and long-time accompanist is W. G. Snuffy Walden, and she has also co-written with Melissa Manchester. Niemietz is a regular cast-member with Postmodern Jukebox, appearing on a dozen albums, a PBS television special, and an MTV music video. She is a featured artist on Richard Marx's A Night Out with Friends (2012) (PBS), Christmas Spirit (2012), and B. J. Thomas's The Living Room Sessions (2013).
The Lost Lennon Tapes was an American music documentary series presented by Elliot Mintz, comprising a three-hour premiere episode and 218 one-hour episodes, broadcast on the Westwood One Radio Network between 24 January 1988 and 29 March 1992. The show had about 7 million listeners weekly, and was broadcast in six countries.
The Gentle Barn is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) animal sanctuary organization located in Santa Clarita, California; Dittmer, Missouri; and Christiana, Tennessee. Founded by Ellie Laks in 1999, The Gentle Barn's mission is to provide sanctuary for abused animals who would not otherwise be able to find homes.
Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival is an annual event held at the William S. Hart Park in Old Town Newhall, Santa Clarita, California. Each year, over 10,000 visitors from all around the world attend lectures and performances on multiple stages by famous poets, authors, instructors, musical acts, and dancers, in fields including Western, Bluegrass, Americana and Spoken Word to folk, Native American and Mexican American traditions. Guests participate in cowboy and cowgirl living history through activities such as life around a chuck wagon, roping, bull riding, crafts, games, and trying an assortment of dishes including BBQ and peach cobbler. Guests can also attend a demonstration of plains Tipi living, tours of the historic Heritage Junction town and train engine, appearances by lasso expert Dave Thornbury and gunslinger Joey Rocketshoes Dillon, the Buffalo Soldiers camp, and a Western and Civil War reenactment.
The Rye Fire was a wildfire that burned in Santa Clarita, California, in the United States, and one of multiple wildfires that broke out across Southern California in December 2017. The fire threatened over 5,000 structures, including Six Flags Magic Mountain, threatened the city of Santa Clarita and impacted traffic on Interstate 5. The Rye Fire burned a total of 6,049 acres (24.48 km2), before it was fully contained on December 12. The fire destroyed six buildings, including minor structures located at the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center.
Scott A. Barlow is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2018.
Vista Canyon is an under construction transport hub located in the Canyon Country area of Santa Clarita, California.
Suzette Martinez Valladares is an American politician who is a member of the California State Assembly from the 38th district. Elected in 2020, she assumed office on December 7, 2020.
Central Park is a large municipal park located near the geographic center of Santa Clarita, California. The park was developed on 105 acres (42 ha) of land leased by the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency to the City of Santa Clarita. It is accessible via Bouquet Canyon Road, which parallels Bouquet Creek along the northern edge of the park.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
