Richard Delvy was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 drummer

Drummer

A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

 who played with The Bel-Airs

The Bel-Airs

The Bel-Airs were an early and influential surf rock band from Southern California, active in the early 1960s.They were best known for their 1961 hit "Mr. Moto", an instrumental surf rock song that featured a flamenco inspired intro and contained a melodic piano interlude...

 and The Challengers

The Challengers (band)

The Challengers were an instrumental surf music band started in late 1962. They were located in Los Angeles. They represented a growing love for surf music and helped make the genre popular...

. He also worked as a composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, music manager and producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

. 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 was known for being one of the first pioneers of surf music

Surf music

Surf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was particularly popular between 1961 and 1965, has subsequently been revived and was highly influential on subsequent rock music...

.

Overview

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

Tony Orlando and Dawn

Tony Orlando and Dawn was a pop music group that was popular in the 1970s. Their signature hits include "Candida", "Knock Three Times", "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree", and "He Don't Love You ".-History:...

 and with the teen sensation David Cassidy

David Cassidy

David Bruce Cassidy is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his role as the character of Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. He was one of pop culture's most celebrated teen idols, enjoying a successful pop career in the 1970s, and...

 star of The Partridge Family

The Partridge Family

The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...

 TV show. Delvy was a multi-talented music entrepreneur and promoter who blurred the lines between the many different attributes needed between being a performer and managing the artist's output effectively.

Selected production credits

• The Outsiders
  The Outsiders (American band)
  The Outsiders was an American rock and roll band from Cleveland, Ohio, that was founded and led by guitarist Tom King. The band is best known for its Top 5 hit "Time Won't Let Me" in early 1966, which peaked at #5 in the US, but the band had three other hit singles in 1966 and released a total of...
  
  
• The Chambers Brothers
  The Chambers Brothers
  The Chambers Brothers is a soul-music group, best known for its 1968 hit record, the 11-minute long song "Time Has Come Today". The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions with modern psychedelic and rock elements, spawning a heady mix...
  
  
• The Other Half
  The Other Half (band)
  For the Canadian 2000s tour band, see: Leslie Carter.The Other Half were a psychedelic hard rock band, based in San Francisco, active in the mid to late 1960s.-History:...
  
  
• The Grateful Dead
• The Great Scots
• Colours
• Thom Starr & The Galaxies
• Hamilton Streetcar
• The Surfaris
  The Surfaris
  The Surfaris were an American surf rock band formed in Glendora, California in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles, California area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" on the A-side and "Wipe Out" on the B-side of a 45 RPM single.-Career:The original...
  
  
• The Challengers
  The Challengers (band)
  The Challengers were an instrumental surf music band started in late 1962. They were located in Los Angeles. They represented a growing love for surf music and helped make the genre popular...
  
  

Legacy

Richard Delvy died on February 6, 2010 after suffering from a long illness.
Since the 1960s until his death, Delvy helped produce many known and unknown artists and was involved in all aspects of the music business. He devoted his life to the passion he had for recorded music and the scope of his work is a testament to this devotion.

External links

• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1373448/ Richard Delvy's IMDB page
• http://www.thechallengersband.com/ Challengers Tribute page