Roulette Records
| Roulette Records | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Warner Music Group |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Founder |
George Goldner Joe Kolsky Morris Levy Phil Khals |
| Defunct | 1989 |
| Status | Defunct |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | New York City |
Roulette Records was an American record company and label founded in 1957 by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Khals, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed director.
The label had known ties to New York City mobsters. Levy ran the label with an iron fist. In 1958, Roost Records was purchased. Goldner subsequently bowed out of his partnership interest in Roulette and, to cover his gambling debts, sold his record labels Tico, Rama, Gee, and, years later, End and Gone, to Levy, who grouped them into Roulette. Peretti and Creatore later left Roulette and worked as freelance producers for RCA Records throughout the 1960s. They co-founded Avco Records in 1969. In 1971, Roulette took over the catalog of Jubilee Records.
During the late 1950s, Roulette scored hits by Buddy Knox, Jimmy Bowen, the Playmates, Jimmie Rodgers, Ronnie Hawkins and The Delicates as well as releasing albums by Pearl Bailey, Dinah Washington, and Count Basie.
During the early 1960s, Roulette issued a number of hits connected to the twist dance craze, most notably "Peppermint Twist" by Joey Dee and the Starliters. They also released a rare album of "twist songs" by Bill Haley & His Comets, Twistin' Knights at the Roundtable. Other major 1960s hits for the label include "Two Faces Have I" by Lou Christie. A group of United States Marines called the Essex recorded the hit "Easier Said Than Done" while based at Camp Lejeune in the 1960s. In 1964, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay first recorded together on Roulette while in the nine-member Au Go Go Singers, house band for the Cafe Au Go Go in New York City.
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