Iconic US 1970s and early 1980s disco label based in New York City and one of the first to release a commercial (as opposed to promo-only) 12-inch single. It was founded by brothers Joe Cayre, Ken Cayre and Stan Cayre and the siblings appeared as executive producers on many productions. The Cayre trio continued their business in computer games and video with Good Times Home Videos.
In 1978, Salsoul's manufacturing & distribution was taken on by RCA Records. This agreement remained until Salsoul folded around 1985.
At the same time as the RCA deal a solid red bar appears under the main Salsoul logo (eg. Disco Boogie Vol. 2). In some cases the red bar is not present, however if you look closely at the design you can see the red bar has been 'patched over' with the cloud illustration not aligned correctly. ie Inner Life - I Like It Like That.
1975-1980: 240 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016, U.S.A. (Contact info now obsolete)
1980-1984: 401 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10016, U.S.A. (Contact info now obsolete)
1992-2011: 18 East 40th Street, New York, NY 10016, U.S.A. (Contact info now obsolete)
2011-2015: 134 West 25th Street 5th Floor, New York, NY 10001, U.S.A. (Contact info now obsolete)
2015-now: 1745 Broadway 19th Floor, New York, NY 10019, U.S.A.
I am not too happy that whoever wrote this so-called bio for Salsoul Records left out the fact that Joe Bataan was a co-founder of Salsoul with the Cayre brothers, who eventually bought him out. Bataan also coined the term (which he used for his first album with the Cayres, originally released on Mericana) that gave the label their name. Please learn your facts, people!
I cannot get over the fact that the same people who founded Salsoul Records and positioned themselves as a rival of Philly soul are the same people that brought awareness to public domain cartoons (Fleischers, Disney ripoffs, etc.) and published QUAKE video games. The Cayre brothers have got to be a triple-edge sword in entertainment. Fortunately, Salsoul's catalogue seems to be in the good hands of Bertelsmann and the availability of most Salsoul records on streaming services (we have yet to hear Salsoul's take on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) has saved them from being forgotten by today. In spite of all of this, Salsoul is quite the unique gem and the other side of Philly soul that we don't often hear from radio stations or even SIRIUS XM's R&B stations, as far as I know.
The hilarious thing is, you tube is now, and has been for a very long time, the backbone of keeping great music alive & helping it transcend generations. Its a powerful source of marketing & nobody with integrity or influence over the general public wants to use an MP3 ripped from you tube. Most people hear something there, then go and buy it on sites like where we are now. Most of our youth seeking knowledge aren't queuing up in the local record store anymore, their trawling the net. So companies such as VMG are technically so behind the times, they might as well be sat with James Brown in the afterlife- him trawling through hours of new music trying to spot a funky drummer sample to bust, them shutting down you tube accounts- the very accounts that are doing their advertising for them- FOR FREE! R.I.P copy write busters- you'll be extinct way before the music.
All that was said by the previous reviewers is true; however, it must be regarded as a huge downer that a giant company and "chief copyright hunter" like VMG now owns Salsoul. This will, effectively, continuously lead to more and more cease-and-desist letters as well as future account bans on Youtube if you only dare put up *ONE* of the classics now "governed" upon by Verse. And hence it should not come as a big surprise that loads of users on YT just willing to share good music have had their years-long work DESTROYED by just one complaint filed by the Verse music video copyright hunters! Oh yes, I wish Salsoul were still a company of their own in the 2010's.
legendary disco label with outstanding artist and excellent sound that still burns today - First Choice´s "Let No Man Put Asunder" changed a whole Generation with massive Influence on the House-Scene, imitated and sampled a thousand times, but never reached that outstanding Quality in Sound, Songwriting and furious Power, pressed in a twelve inch Single !
Absolute classic label.
No self respecting house head should be without at least one of Salsoul's releases.From the originals to the remixes, the dj's, producers and the vocalists, it's all good.
po-po33
September 5, 2022