US record label.
Label Code: LC 0332 / LC 00332
Roulette was a record label formed by Morris Levy, George Goldner, Joe Kolsky and Phil Khals in New York in 1957, with producers Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore as its A&R men. Goldner sold his part of the label to Levy one year later along with his own Rama, Tico Records, Gone Records, End and Gee labels. Roulette had a large jazz roster (built up by recording jazz musicians who frequented Levy's Birdland jazz club), which was further expanded in 1958 through the purchase of Roost Records.
Pop chart success came with Buddy Knox, Jimmie Rodgers (2), The Playmates and Jimmy Bowen in the late 1950s along with best-selling LPs by Count Basie and Pearl Bailey. Success continued in the 1960s with Joey Dee and The Starlighters, The Essex, Al Caiola and Tommy James and The Shondells. In the late 1960s, Roulette also released a number of now very collectible psych-rock records. By the late 1970s, the label was in limbo and released only some reissues and compilations.
After severe legal problems (Levy was convicted for extortion), Levy sold the label in 1989 to an EMI Ltd./Rhino Records (2) consortium, which began a series of Roulette-branded reissue CDs. The Roulette/(Royal) Roost jazz catalog was then managed by Blue Note Records (with CD reissues appearing under the Roulette Jazz imprint). The Roulette pop and R&B catalog is now managed by Rhino Records (2) in North America and EMI, which owned the Roulette name and logos, elsewhere. Universal () sold (previously EMI's division, which included its Roulette holdings) in 2013 to conform to international requirements after it absorbed EMI the previous year.
Please note that, after the label-takeover in 1989, some label releases also carry an label logo. In these cases label should not be added as a label, since the boxed label-logo that appears with the label label merely implies that label was controlled by the label, outside of North America, not that label was a label itself".
Classic orange/yellow label used since 1963.
45 RPM Catalog Number, Date and Label Identification:
4001 through 4004 (1957): Orange or red label with roulette wheel circling label.
4005 through 4050 (1957–1958): Orange or red labels with partial roulette wheel or no wheel at all.
4051 through 4420 (1958–1962): White label with six colored "spokes" (lines).
4421 through 4500 (1962–1963): Dark pink label.
4500 and higher (1963 forward): Orange label with broken line and logo circling label.
All changeover numbers are approximate with Roulette. Information helpful in narrowing these down would be appreciated.
In March 1968, they announced they were eliminating the 25000 & 52000 series and replacing them with the 42000 series. With singles, the 4000 series was replaced by the 7000 series.
For bootlegs / counterfeit releases, see Roulette (8).