Birth name Richard Delvecchio Role Music composer Name Richard Delvy | Years active 1960–2010 Instruments Drums, percussion | |
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Born April 20, 1942
Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S. ( 1942-04-20 ) Labels Vault Records
GNP
Rhino Records
World Pacific
Sundazed
Fantasy
Teichiku Records (Union) Associated acts The Challengers
The Clee-Shays
The Surfriders
The Good Guys
The De-Fenders Died February 6, 2010, West Hills, California, United States Albums Surfbeat, Los Challengers Music groups The Challengers, The Bel-Airs Genres Surf music, Folk rock, Psychedelic folk, Pop rock People also search for Randy Nauert, Eddie Bertrand, Dick Dodd | ||
Richard Delvy (April 20, 1942 – February 6, 2010) was an American music entrepreneur. He started in the music business as a drummer who played with The Bel-Airs and took his experience to broader appeal with The Challengers who were in the forefront of the surf music explosion in southern California. He also worked as a composer, arranger, music manager, producer and music publisher. He owned the rights to several iconic surf and rock songs including "Wipe Out", "Mr. Moto" and "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)". He is well known as being one of the first pioneers of surf music.
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Overview
Richard Delvy was a surf music pioneer. In 1960, the first band he played drums in was called The Bel-Airs and in late 1962 he founded The Challengers. They produced a smash hit album titled Surfbeat that they released in January 1963. Surfbeat took the California Sound and surf music to new levels of acceptance. His band released 15 Challengers albums throughout the sixties as well as others recorded under different names for the US and foreign markets. He also worked as a record producer through the rest of the 60's evolving with hot rod rock, folk rock, pop, rock and psychedelic rock music as they developed. In the early 1970s, Delvy toured as the music director for Tony Orlando and Dawn and with the teen sensation David Cassidy star of The Partridge Family TV show. During his career, he also worked for MGM Music, Bell Records and Carousel Records. Delvy was a multi-talented music entrepreneur and promoter who had the talent to join many different attributes needed between being a performer and managing the artist's output effectively.
Death and legacy
Richard Delvy died on February 6, 2010, after suffering from a long illness. Delvy helped produce many known and unknown artists and was involved in all aspects of the music business. He was survived by his wife, Bonnie, three children, as well as one grandchild.