Richard Delvy (April 20, 1942 – February 6, 2010) was an American music entrepreneur. He started in the music business as a

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

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 Surf music (also known as surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is inst ...

explosion in southern California. He also worked as a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

music manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager, or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of Entertainer, artists within the entertainment industry. The responsibility of a talent manager is to ove ...

, producer, and

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers began to play a role in the management of the intellectu ...

. He owned the rights to several iconic surf and rock songs including " Wipe Out", "Mr. Moto" (written by him with Paul Johnson), and "

Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It) "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)" is a song written by Janice Lee Gwin and Linda Martin and performed by Daddy Dewdrop. It was featured on his 1971 album, ''Daddy Dewdrop''. The lyrics in the verses are spoken, rather than sung. "Chick-A-Bo ...

". He is well known as being one of the first pioneers of

Overview

Richard Delvy was a

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 ''Surfbeat'' was the first album recorded by the Los Angeles-based surf rock group The Challengers. They recorded the album in a 3½ hour session at the end of 1962. The album was released in early 1963 and became a huge hit, helping to prope ...

'', released in January 1963. ''Surfbeat'' took the California Sound and surf music to new levels of acceptance and remains the best selling surf album of all time. His band released 15 Challengers albums throughout the sixties as well as others recorded under different names for the US and foreign markets. Delvy also worked as a record producer through the rest of the 60's evolving with

hot rod rock Surf music (also known as surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a Music genre, genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The ...

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

, and

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

music as they developed. In the early 1970s, Delvy toured as the music director for

Tony Orlando and Dawn Tony Orlando and Dawn (also known simply as Dawn) is an American pop music group that was popular in the 1970s, composed of singer Tony Orlando and the backing vocal group Dawn (Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson). Their signature hits inclu ...

and with the teen sensation

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor and musician. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical-sitcom ''The Partridge Family''. After completing high school, Cassidy purs ...

, star of ''

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom created by Bernard Slade, which was broadcast in the United States from September 1970 to March 1974 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. After the final first-run telecast on ABC in March ...

'' TV show. During Delvy's career, he also worked for MGM Music,

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benn ...

, and Carousel Records. ''Billboard'' recognized Delvy as a multi-talented music entrepreneur and promoter who had the talent to join many different attributes needed as a performer and to manage artists' output effectively.

Death and legacy

Richard Delvy died on February 6, 2010, after suffering from a long illness. He helped produce many known and unknown artists, and was involved in all aspects of the music business. He was out lived by his wife Bonnie, three children, and one grandchild.

Credits (incomplete)

Bands and music

* The Outsiders *

The Chambers Brothers The Chambers Brothers are an American psychedelic soul band, best known for their eleven-minute 1968 psychedelic soul hit " Time Has Come Today". The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions ...

* The Other Half *

The Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, and world music with psyc ...

* Buzz Clifford * Peanut Butter Conspiracy * A.B. Skhy *

The Surfaris The Surfaris are an American surf music band formed in Glendora, California, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the record chart, charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and "Wipe Out (instrume ...

* The Challengers * The Great Scots * The Citations * Dick Monda * Colours * Formula IV * Thom Starr & The Galaxies * Thunder & Lightning * Hamilton Streetcar * The Good Guys * The Surfriders * The Clee-Shays * The De-Fenders * Daddy Dewdrop aka The Groovy Ghoulies

Films

*'' The Green Slime'' (1968)

Television

*''

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids ''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'' (often referred to simply as ''Fat Albert'') is an educational American animated television series created, produced, and hosted (in live action bookends) by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a nu ...

'' *'' Groovie Goolies'' *''

The Archie Show ''The Archie Show'' (also known as ''The Archies)'' is an American musical animated sitcom television series produced by Filmation for CBS. Based on the Archie Comics, created by Bob Montana in 1941, ''The Archie Show'' aired Saturday morning ...

'' (also called ''The Archies'')

References

External links

Richard Delvy's IMDB page {{DEFAULTSORT:Delvy, Richard 1942 births 2010 deaths Musicians from Bridgeport, Connecticut American male drummers American male composers American composers American music managers Record producers from California Drummers from Connecticut