US label, started in early 1981 by (chairman of the board) and (president) exploring the contemporary jazz and fusion scene. was the initial VP and "on the road A&R functions" guy. 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 as sales manager and promotion coordinator and 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 . About a year in, they moved to half speed mastering at being advertised on the cover and announced that 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 which also handled the distribution.

While often provided the metalwork for their releases, they predominately used for manufacturing and pressing. Jackets were usually printed by .

Label Code: LC 06639