US label, started in early 1981 by artist (chairman of the board) and Dave Pell (president) exploring the contemporary jazz and fusion scene. artist was the initial VP and "on the road A&R functions" guy. artist was VP over artist and product development. Jim Gold was the CFO. Mark Meinhardt, of Push Promotion Company, supervised radio promotion. In August 1981, they appointed artist as sales manager and promotion coordinator and artist as art director and production manager.
The goal was to release audiophile quality pressings using digital masters and pressing with virgin vinyl, etc. Their first LP was release. About a year in, they moved to half speed mastering at label being advertised on the cover and announced that Record Technology Incorporated would be doing the pressings. In many cases, RTI did the mastering and Rainbo continued to do the pressing.
Initially, the label was distributed by MCA Distributing Corporation but by early 1982 were being distributed by David Hubert & Associates. After a period of dormancy (1983-1987), Headfirst was relaunched with Dave Pell at the helm in 1988 by K-Tel International (USA), Inc. which also handled the distribution.
While Record Technology Incorporated often provided the metalwork for their releases, they predominately used Rainbo Records for manufacturing and pressing. Jackets were usually printed by label.
Label Code: LC 06639