A handwritten note from Morrissey to Sire Records’ then VP/General Manager Howie Klein.  Morrissey writes:

Howard,

Step One

“Live in Dallas” Video

Step Two

“My Love Life” Single

Step Three

KROQ Limited “12/CD

Step Four

Sire Video

(on reverse)

All Artwork For Steps 1, 2 and 3 will

be on your desk this week.

Step Five

Live LP Album (New York?)

Step Six

Your Cue

Please Please Please Don’t

Let Me Down.

From a friend

Of Edith Sitwell’s

While undated, this must date from 1991, when Morrissey’s ‘My Love Life’ single was released following his Kill Uncle tour. the Morrissey at KROQ EP was released, and his ‘Live in Dallas’ video was recorded.  Showing his exacting career planning, Morrissey implores Klein not to let him down, quoting the Smiths song ‘Please Please Please Let Me Get What I’.  He then signs off using the name of eccentric English poet Dame Edith Sitwell, who he used as the mascot for the Kill Uncle tour.  Also included is Howie Klein’s laminate backstage pass for the tour, with his photograph on the back.

Recordmecca’s Jeff Gold was a close friend of Klein when both worked at Warner Bros. Records, and acquired this from his estate.  With Recordmecca’s written lifetime guarantee of authenticity.

________

As Billboard Magazine noted, Howie Klein was an ‘influential and forward-thinking record executive and political activist whose artist-first philosophy helped bring alternative music into the mainstream…Widely respected for championing creative freedom and resisting censorship, Klein left his mark on the music business through influential roles at Sire Records and Reprise Records, as well as earlier work in radio and indie labels.’

In 1987 Howie joined Seymour Stein’s Sire Records, a division of Warner Bros. Records, as VP/General Manager, working closely with artists including Lou Reed, the Ramones, Talking Heads, Depeche Mode and Morrissey. In 1997 he was promoted to President of Warner’s Reprise label, overseeing a roster that included Green Day, Alanis Morissette, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Wilco, Fleetwood Mac, Paul Westerberg and Enya.

In 2001, he left Reprise after the Time Warner-AOL merger, directing his attention to progressive political causes.  Klein passed away in December 2025.