The Daily Swarm

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December 02, 2009

R.I.P Bob Keane, Del-Fi Records Founder & 'World's Youngest Bandleader'...

Bob Keane, a record producer who discovered Ritchie Valens and helped start the careers of Sam Cooke, the Bobby Fuller Four and Frank Zappa, died in Hollywood, Calif., on Saturday. He was 87.

Robert Verril Kuhn was born in Manhattan Beach, Calif., on Jan. 5, 1922. A Benny Goodman fan, he took up the clarinet at 5 and at 17 was fronting his own big band. The MCA talent agency, entranced by the idea of a teenage Goodman, signed him and promoted him as “The World’s Youngest Bandleader.”