Music Industry Visionary Dick Griffey Dies In Los Angeles

S.O.L.A.R. Records founder Dick Griffey was one of the most successful independent black recording moguls of the post-Motown era, a dynamic entrepreneur who, directly or indirectly, played a crucial role in the discovery of countless R&B and pop acts. Yet despite his tremendous influence, it’s safe to say that many people outside of the music industry were not aware of the recording pioneer, who died Friday in Los Angeles from complications of quadruple bypass surgery.

According to reports, Griffey leaves behind his wife, Carrie Lucas Griffey; daughters Regina Hughes and Carolyn Griffey; sons Lucas Griffey and Che Scelsa; adopted son Haile Williams and five grandchildren: Curtis, Devin, Paula, Reggie and Kennedi.

Though Griffey operated quietly behind the scenes, his work is well known to the millions of music lovers who snapped up the posh funk hits his label generated. From its 1977 inception throughout its 1980s heyday, S.O.L.A.R. issued an impressive series of family-friendly hits performed by acts like the Whispers, Shalamar (featuring future solo stars Jody Watley and Howard Hewett), Midnight Star, Lakeside and others. S.O.L.A.R. hits like “A Night To Remember” (Shalamar), “I Miss You” (Klymaxx), “And The Beat Goes On” and “Rock Steady” (The Whispers) are essential listening for any lover of funk-era R&B.

Griffey’s cultural impact is formidable. He was first to recognize the talents of songwriter/producer Leon Sylvers III, who went on to craft many S.O.L.A.R. hits, as well as chart-topping tracks for the Spinners, Gladys Knight & The Pips and others. A number of the singles generated by Griffey’s S.O.L.A.R. and Constellation Records labels became crossover hits, penetrating the R&B, pop and adult contemporary charts.

Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and producer Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds was a modest guitarist in a band called The Deele when Griffey discovered him. He remembered Griffey as a “complicated” man with stringent standards and a sharp eye for talent.

“Personally, Dick was responsible for bringing me out of the shadows,” Edmonds told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “It was Dick’s decision for me to be a solo artist. I would do demos and sing all the time, and he would say, ‘Why aren’t you doing this yourself?’ He pressed that. I would not be a solo artist if wasn’t for Dick.”

Singer Walter Scott of the Whispers remembered Griffey as a “brilliant” man who was fair and candid.

“He was first guy to explain to us that artists were the last guys on the totem pole in the eyes of (most) record companies,” Scott told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “You wouldn’t think that a guy who owned a record company would admit those kinds of things to an artist, but that’s the kind of guy that he was.”

Though his self-promotional skills were no match for Berry Gordy’s, Griffey nonetheless shaped S.O.L.A.R. Records into a model of Detroit-style efficiency. Just as Motown turned its working class Detroit connections into a marketing point, so did S.O.L.A.R. proudly promote its Hollywood affiliations. Indeed, the S.O.L.A.R. name is a brilliant concept. The name — an acronym for “Sound Of Los Angeles Records” — seems to veritably burst with meanings, from its implied allusion to soul to its literal reference to the sun.

In a 1995 interview with Brenda T. Myers, Griffey said he entered the entertainment business in the mid-60s after experiencing a revelation: “I started thinking how entertainers come and go, but business people are always here,” he said.
Beginning his career as a nightclub booking agent, he founded Dick Griffey Productions and quickly established himself as one the nation’s most prominent black managers/concert promoters, overseeing domestic and international tours for world-renowned acts like Stevie Wonder and The Jacksons.