Mike Sikkas Passes Away

MIKE SIKKAS, 58, longtime A&R exec at Arista, Mercury and Dick James Music Publishing, passed away in upstate N.Y. At the time of his death, he had developed a love of woodworking and refinishing antique furniture. While at Mercury, he signed L.A. buzz band Greta to a deal, then renamed the group “Re-greta” after their debut album flopped. He started out as a "professional manager" at DJM, then began his A&R career at Arista finding songs for Clive Davis, before moving to PolyGram. He became a music supervisor and after a stint at MP3.com, worked at both Gold Circle and Dark Paradise Records before becoming an artist manager. (3/4p)