Del-Fi Records was an American

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

based in Hollywood, California and owned by

Bob Keane Robert Verrill Kuhn (January 5, 1922 – November 28, 2009), professionally known as Bob Keane, and also sometimes known as Bob Keene, was an American musician, producer and the founder and owner of the record label Del-Fi Records. He was the ...

. The label's first single released was "Caravan" by Henri Rose released in 1958, but the label was most famous for signing

Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens was killed i ...

. Valens' first single for the label was " Come On Let's Go", which was a hit. His next single, "

Donna Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian. People * Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name * Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), ...

"/" La Bamba", was an even bigger hit, and brought national notoriety to the label.

Johnny Crawford John Ernest Crawford (March 26, 1946 – April 29, 2021) was an American actor, singer, and musician. He first performed before a national audience as a Mouseketeer. At age 12, Crawford rose to prominence playing Mark McCain in the series ' ...

, the co-star of the television series ''

The Rifleman ''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show wa ...

'', was the Del-Fi artist who recorded the most hit singles.

History

In 1966, legal action was taken against Del-Fi by attorney Al Schlesinger for Anthony Music, which filed a $122,000 suit over breach of contract, fraud and money owed. The principal stockholder of the company,

Anthony Hilder Anthony J. Hilder (1935 - April 26, 2019) was an American author, film maker, talk show host, broadcaster, news correspondent and former actor. In the late 1950s to the mid-1960s he was also a record producer, producing music mainly in the sur ...

, claimed the dispute was over royalties not being paid as per an alleged agreement for the masters of albums by

The Centurians The Centurians were an instrumental surf rock band started by Dennis Rose from Newport Beach, California. They were active in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their music has been used in at least two films. They reformed as The Centurions in 199 ...

, Dave Myers and The Surftones, and The Sentinels, and an LP ''Battle of the Surf Bands''.

Sister labels

Keane soon launched Stereo-Fi Records and Donna Records as sister labels. Donna Records was started in 1959, named after Ritchie Valens' hit of the same name. By 1965, Bob Keane felt the Del-Fi and Donna labels were aging, so the Bronco Records and Mustang Records labels were started in their place, capitalizing on their new, exciting themes. The Mustang label achieved fame through

Bobby Fuller Four The Bobby Fuller Four (sometimes stylized as Bobby Fuller 4) was a popular mid-1960s American rock & roll band started by Bobby Fuller. First formed in 1962 in Fuller's hometown of El Paso, Texas, the group went on to produce some of its most m ...

(previously on Donna Records), producing their biggest hit, "I Fought the Law" in 1965. Their fame continued into 1966, with assistance from the then A&R man

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

, but Fuller's death later that year brought a halt to the label, and Mustang Records closed down in 1967.

Legacy

Del-Fi was briefly revived in 1987 for 7" and 12" releases of "La Bamba '87", featuring remixes of the Richie Valens classic, capitalizing on the success of the film, '' La Bamba''. Keane resurrected the Del-Fi label in 1995 and reissued many original recordings on CD (some under the Donna label), and signed some new acts as well. In September 2003, Bob Keane sold the Del-Fi and its subsidiaries to the

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

. Today, it is now run under

Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded in 1978, Rhino was original ...

and reissues some of its older material.

Various artist compilations

In 1999, the label released ''Del-Fi Girl Groups: Gee Baby Gee''. Compiled and annotated by Steve Stanley, the CD featured 21 vintage tracks from the Del-Fi label. They were by girl groups and singers such as The Ladybugs,

Brenda Holloway Brenda Holloway (born June 26, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter, who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the soul hits, "Every Little Bit Hurts", " When I'm Gone", and " You've Ma ...

, Pippy Shannon, Lori Martin, Pierre And Anne-Lyse, Desda, Mary Sawrey, and seven tracks by The Sisters, a group that featured Ersi Arvizu.

New recordings

One band that has recorded for the label is

The El Caminos The El Caminos are a Japanese surf music band who were formed in the 1990s. They had an album that charted in the late 1990s. Background They have been described as a band that peruses the sounds of surf music from the 1960s without limits. They ...

, a Japanese surf music band who had their 1997 album ''Reverb Explosion'' released on Del-Fi. It got to #12 on the

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

Core Radio chart.''CMJ New Music Report'', September 8, 1997
Page 9 CORE RADIO
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Artists

Addrisi Brothers The Addrisi Brothers were an American pop duo from Winthrop, Massachusetts. The brothers themselves were Donald "Don" Addrisi (December 14, 1938 – ) and Richard "Dick" Addrisi (born ). Biography Both Don and Dick played parts in their fami ...

Eden Ahbez George Alexander Aberle (April 15, 1908 – March 4, 1995), known as eden ahbez, was an American songwriter and recording artist of the 1940s to 1960s, whose lifestyle in California was influential in the hippie movement. He was known to frien ...

Bobby Curtola Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a constab ...

(Donna & Mustang) *

Roy Gaines Roy James Gaines (August 12, 1937 – August 11, 2021) was an American Texas blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He wrote and recorded the song "A Hell of a Night", which was first issued on his 1982 album ''Gainelining''. ...

The Gallahads The Gallahads were an American doo-wop band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1952. The band released three singles during its existence and were popular particularly in Los Angeles, California for their song, "(I'm Just A) Lonely Guy". The grou ...

Ron Holden Rolan Webster Holden (August 7, 1939 – January 22, 1997) was an American pop and rhythm and blues singer from Seattle, Washington, United States. He appeared on ''The Lloyd Thaxton Show'', ''Mike Douglas Show'', '' American Bandstand'' (with C ...

(Donna) *

Bruce Johnston Bruce Arthur Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who is a member of the Beach Boys. Johnston also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bru ...

* Little Caesar & the Romans *

The Lively Ones The Lively Ones were an instrumental surf rock band from USA, active in Southern California in the 1960s. They played live mostly in California and Arizona. They recorded for Del-Fi records with production from Bob Keane. They recorded mostly cov ...

Outrageous Cherry Outrageous Cherry were an American psychedelic pop / power pop band from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Outrageous Cherry formed in 1991, and soon expanded to a four-piece after performing live in 1993. The group has released 13 albums, includ ...

* Josephine Roberto aka 'Banig' *

Chan Romero Robert Lee "Chan" Romero (born July 7, 1941) is an American rock and roll performer, best known for his 1959 song, "Hippy Hippy Shake". Life and career Romero was born in Billings, Montana, Billings, Montana. His father was of Spanish people, Sp ...

*Spider Webb and the Insects (

Tom Fogerty Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist for Creedence Clearwater Revival. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Biography ...

) *

(Bronco) *

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

Later artists

Kari Wuhrer Kari Samantha Wuhrer (born April 28, 1967) is an American actress, model, and singer. Wuhrer began her career as a teenager, and is best known for her time as a cast member on MTV's ''Remote Control'', as well as her roles as Maggie Beckett in t ...

References

{{Authority control Ritchie Valens American record labels Record labels based in California Rock and roll record labels Record labels established in 1958 Record labels disestablished in 2003 1958 establishments in California Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Warner Music labels Labels distributed by Warner Music Group 2003 disestablishments in California