Salsoul Records

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Salsoul Records
Salsoul Records Logo.png
Parent company BMG Rights Management
Founded1974 (1974)
Founder Joseph Cayre
Kenneth Cayre
Stanley Cayre
Genre Disco, R&B, soul music, funk, latin music, post-disco
Country of originU.S.A
Location New York City
Official website salsoulrecords.co

Salsoul Records is an American New York City based record label, founded by three brothers, Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre (the Cayre brothers). Salsoul issued about 300 singles, including many disco/post-disco 12-inch releases, and a string of albums in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Contents

The label started in business in 1974, went defunct in 1985 and was relaunched in 1992. Artists such as Aurra, [1] Skyy, Double Exposure, Love Committee(Gold Mind), [2] Inner Life, Rafael Cameron, [3] Moment of Truth, [4] Jakky Boy & the Bad Bunch, Edwin Birdsong, Instant Funk, Loleatta Holloway, Civil Attack, First Choice, Joe Bataan, Vaughan Mason & Butch Dayo, Carol Williams, Jocelyn Brown, Ritchie Family, Salsoul Orchestra (led by Vincent Montana Jr) and Charo were at one time part of their roster.

Bethlehem Music Company's catalogs, which included Salsoul Records, Bethlehem Records (a jazz label) and others, were licensed by Verse music group from 2010 for five years, before Verse's catalogs were bought out by BMG Rights Management in 2015. [5] [6]

History

Early days

The Cayre family had been involved in many entrepreneurial ventures before they manufactured and distributed 8-track tapes, which included Bethlehem Records, in the early 1970s. They had purchased some catalogs of Mexican music to distribute, and infringed on the copyrights of CBS Records and RCA Records by selling them in the United States of America. They acquired a license for North American distribution for some of CBS's Latin catalog. This led to recording sessions that were distributed by CBS. When CBS was unable to increase profits, the rights reverted to the Cayres.

Origin of name

The label's name was conceived by artist Joe Bataan, who recorded some of the earliest sessions for the Cayre brothers before the label's formation. "Salsoul" was street lingo for the musical culture of urban Latinos who were listening to soul music and combining it with salsa music. [7] Bataan chose the name for an LP he made for the Cayre brothers. Bataan had the first single, "The Bottle", and album, Afro-filipino, on the initial Salsoul label released through Epic, before a deal with RCA.

1970s: Influence from Philly soul

Ken Cayre sought session musicians to play Philly soul. He worked with the key session players for Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International Records label and its predecessor, Gamble-Huff Productions, founding members of the MFSB Orchestra on Philadelphia International.

Gamble and Huff were in dispute with their key musicians over business matters and Salsoul quickly took the chance to put them under contract. Among these Philly soul artists were Vince Montana (orchestral arrangements and vibes), Norman Harris (lead and rhythm guitar, arrangements, songwriting and production), Ronnie Baker (bass guitar, arrangement and production), Earl Young (drums and percussion), Bunny Sigler and others. Earl Young's 16 beat of the hi-hat cymbal originated a staple '70s disco beat for dancers. [8] Baker would create a thunderous bass sound, exemplified on the record "Love is the Message" by MFSB.

Baker, Harris and Young had the girl group First Choice under contract and they brought them along to Salsoul. Led by Rochelle Fleming, the group had success on the Philly Groove label with Armed and Extremely Dangerous (1973), [9] which Salsoul acquired and would re-release among its classic catalogue in the 1990s. For Salsoul, First Choice would record "Dr. Love" (1977) and "Let No Man Put Asunder".

Montana wrote, arranged, and produced second single and the first Salsoul hit, "Salsoul Hustle" (1975) by the newly formed Salsoul Orchestra, which included members of the Philly session players. During the following years, the label enjoyed a string of hits, but Salsoul's biggest successes came in the later years, as the company moved from disco to funk. Instant Funk reached the top of the Billboard R&B chart (No. 20 pop) in 1979 with "Got My Mind Made Up", a million-seller produced by Bunny Sigler, with the group's follow-up album also going gold. Cayre brothers also produced Flashlight (Philly Groove Records).

According to Ken Cayre, it was his exposure to early discothèques that gave him the idea to record music for the dance market. Salsoul released the first commercially available 12-inch single, Double Exposure's "Ten Percent", in 1976. Salsoul was affected by the disco backlash of 1979, but it was one of the few labels to survive after the death of disco. It continued to release new material until 1984, when the Cayre brothers shut down their recorded music operations to concentrate on the home video business, such as GoodTimes Entertainment. [10]

1980s

Skyy made it to No. 1 R&B in 1981 with "Call Me" (No. 26 pop) and Aurra climbed to No. 6 R&B in the same year with their release, "Make Up Your Mind" (No. 71 pop). Sigler also reached the R&B top 10 in 1978 with his solo single "Let Me Party With You" (No. 8 R&B, No. 43 pop) on the Gold Mind subsidiary.

The Cayres recorded at the same studios, Sigma Sound, as Gamble & Huff in Philadelphia. Many of the remixes and singles were mixed or recorded by Bob Blank at his studio.

Revival

In 1992, Salsoul Records was revived as Salsoul New Generation Records (also known as Double J Records). Because of the resurgent interest prompted by Loleatta Holloway's "Love Sensation", Black Box's "Ride On Time" & Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch's "Good Vibrations" in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the label's catalogue was digitally remastered. Two volumes of remix albums were also issued the same year.

More than a year beforehand, also in "Ride on Time" by House pioneers Black Box, which was at first criticised by fans of vintage Salsoul and Ms. Holloway herself, but after legal matters were settled, many lauded the Italian DJ group for exposing an entire new generation to the Salsoul Sound. A year after revival, Salsoul changed its name to Bethlehem Music Company, but it still used Salsoul as an imprint, with Bethlehem Music Company focusing on releasing Salsoul material and also Bethlehem's jazz recordings.

In 1992 and 1993 Salsoul sub-label Double J released two volumes of remixes (Synergy and Rhythm) by contemporary house-music artists.

See also

Related Research Articles

Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The genre laid the groundwork for the emergence of disco later in the 1970s by fusing the R&B rhythm sections of the 1960s with the pop vocal tradition and featuring a more pronounced jazz influence in its melodic structures and arrangements. Fred Wesley, trombonist with the J.B.'s and Parliament-Funkadelic, described the Philadelphia soul sound as "putting the bow tie on funk."

MFSB, officially standing for "Mother Father Sister Brother", was a pool of more than 30 studio musicians based at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom Bell, and backed up Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the O'Jays, the Stylistics, the Spinners, Wilson Pickett, and Billy Paul.

Instant Funk were an American 1970s and 1980s disco band, best known for their disco classic, "I Got My Mind Made Up ".

Philadelphia International Records (PIR) was an American record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1971 by songwriting and production duo Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff along with their longtime collaborator Thom Bell. It was known for showcasing the Philadelphia soul music genre that was founded on the gospel, doo-wop and soul music of the time. This sound later marked a prominent and distinct era within the R&B genre. During the 1970s, the label released a string of worldwide hits that emphasized lavish orchestral instrumentation, heavy bass and driving percussion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loleatta Holloway</span> American singer (1946–2011)

Loleatta Holloway was an American singer known for disco songs such as "Hit and Run" and "Love Sensation". In December 2016, Billboard named her the 95th-most successful dance artist of all time. According to the Independent, Holloway is the most sampled female singer in popular music, used in house and dance tracks such as the 1989 Black Box single "Ride on Time".

Walter Gibbons was an American record producer, early disco DJ, and remixer. He helped pioneer the remix and 12" single in America, and was among the most influential New York DJs of the 1970s.

Double Exposure is an American, Philadelphia-based disco group. They are best known for their 1976 hit, "Ten Percent".

Vincent Montana Jr., known as Vince Montana, was an American composer, arranger, vibraphonist, and percussionist. He is best known as a member of MFSB and as the founder of the Salsoul Orchestra. He has been called "the Godfather of disco". Montana was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2016.

The Salsoul Orchestra was the backing band of session musicians for many acts on the New York City label Salsoul Records and, under its own name, recorded several hit singles and albums between 1975 and 1982.

Norman Ray Harris was an American guitarist, producer, music arranger and songwriter, closely associated with Philly soul. He was a founding member of MFSB, the Philadelphia studio band, and one of the Baker-Harris-Young record production trio.

Walter "Bunny" Sigler was an American R&B singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer who did extensive work with the team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and was instrumental in creating the "Philly Sound" in the early 1970s.

<i>Salsoul Jam 2000</i> 1997 compilation album (DJ mix) by Grandmaster Flash

Salsoul Jam 2000 is a DJ mix album by Grandmaster Flash. It was originally released in the US in 1997, and was his first release in nine years. The album consists of classic disco tracks originally released on the Salsoul Records label, mixed and segued together as a continuous DJ mix in front of a live crowd.

Dexter Gilman Wansel is an American R&B/jazz fusion singer, arranger, musician, composer, conductor, synthesist and A&R director.

Skyy was an American R&B/funk/disco band based in New York City. They are perhaps best known for their 1981 hit, "Call Me", as well as their 1989 "comeback" hits, "Start of a Romance" and "Real Love".

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Got My Mind Made Up (You Can Get It Girl)</span> 1978 single by Instant Funk

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<i>Loleatta Holloway</i> (album) 1979 studio album by Loleatta Holloway

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Joseph Jack Cayre is an American billionaire businessman and real estate developer. Together with his brothers he co-founded the record label Salsoul Records, video tape distributor and producer GoodTimes Entertainment, and video game publisher GT Interactive. He is also the founder and principal of the New York-based real estate development firm Midtown Equities.

<i>When Love Is New</i> 1975 studio album by Billy Paul

When Love is New is an album by soul singer Billy Paul. It was produced by Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff; arranged by Bobby Martin, Dexter Wansel, Norman Harris, and Jack Faith; and engineered by Joe Tarsia. Released in December 1975, it reached #139 on the Billboard Pop Album chart and #17 on the Soul chart. It includes the singles "Let's Make a Baby" which hit #83 on the Pop singles chart, #18 on the Soul chart, and #30 in the UK and "People Power" which reached #82 on the Soul chart and #14 on the U.S. Dance chart. The album was reissued on CD in 2010 by the U.K.'s Edsel Records. This was the final album where Paul was backed by MFSB, the house band of Philadelphia International Records (PIR).

Thomas Joshua Tindall was an American guitarist. He was a member of MFSB and played on 38 gold and platinum funk and R&B records and more than 30 hits produced by Gamble and Huff in the 1970s and 1980s. Tindall is considered one of the architects of the Philadelphia Sound. He was inducted twice into the Philadelphia Music Alliance's Walk of Fame as a member of MFSB and the Salsoul Orchestra.

References

  1. ↑ "Aurra - Aurra". Discogs. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  2. ↑ Love Committee allmusic Retrieved 19 January 2024
  3. ↑ "Rafael Cameron". Discogs. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  4. ↑ Moment of Truth allmusic Retrieved 19 January 2024
  5. ↑ "The Verse Music Group". PROJEKT : UNDERGROUND - Chronicles of the ShiKing. April 25, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Salsoul Records". versemusicgroup.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Do The (Salsoul) Hustle: Big Break Celebrates Salsoul Records Legacy with Four Reissues". theseconddisc.com. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Earl Young (The Trammps)". eddiegordon.info. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  9. ↑ First Choice allmusic.com Retrieved 29 December 2023
  10. ↑ "Salsoul Records". Disco-disco.com. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
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