FiFo Records

The "I Won't Hurt You" single. Note the caricature of Bob Markley.

FiFo Records was an American record label established by singer-songwriters Bob Markley and Baker Knight in Los Angeles, California, in 1961. Following Markley's unsuccessful stint with Warner Bros. Records as a solo artist, he teamed up with Knight, a co-writer on both of Markley's two singles, to found the label, which recorded a variety of pop, R&B, and folk musical acts. FiFo is best-known, however, as the label that released the debut album by the psychedelic rock group the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band (The WCPAEB) in 1966.^[1]

All the recordings issued on FiFo were licensed through RHM (Robert H. Markley) Publishing. Aside from the WCPAEB, another notable artist on the label was Sonny Knight, a seasoned musician who had a national hit in 1956 with "Confidential". Although not particularly successful, the doo wop group the Triangles recorded the single "My Oh My", which has become a valuable collector's item that sells for as much as $700. Markley produced all the sessions, provided his "trademark" bongos, and carries a writing credit for all the singles released (often in collaboration with Baker Knight).^[1][2]

The label is well-known among WCPAEB followers for distributing the band's debut album Volume One in 1966. Recorded mostly before Markley was a band member, the album consists of a handful of cover versions of popular songs and some original material by the Laughing Wind, the group that developed into the WCPAEB.^[3] The "FiFo fan" imprinted on some of the releases was a caricature of Markley that was later revived for the compilation album The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band Companion in 2011.^[2][4]

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