Roulette Records
Parent company	EMI (1989–2013) Warner Music Group (2013–present)
Founded	1957 (1957)
Founder	George Goldner Joe Kolsky Morris Levy Phil Kahl
Defunct	1989 (1989)
Distributors	Blue Note Records (1989–2013) Rhino Entertainment (pop catalogue; North America) Parlophone (worldwide jazz; international pop catalogues)
Genre	Various
Country of origin	U.S.
Location	New York City

Roulette Records was an American record company andlabel founded in 1957 byGeorge Goldner, Joe Kolsky,Morris Levy and Phil Kahl, with creative control given toproducers and songwritersHugo Peretti andLuigi Creatore. Levy was appointed director.

The label had known ties to New York City mobsters.^[1] Levy ran the label with an iron fist.^[2] In 1958Roost Records was purchased. Goldner subsequently bowed out of his partnership interest in Roulette and, to cover his gambling debts, sold his record labelsTico,Rama,Gee and—years later—End andGone to Levy, who grouped them into Roulette. Peretti and Creatore later left Roulette and worked as freelance producers forRCA Victor throughout the 1960s. They co-foundedAvco Records in 1969. In 1971 Roulette took over the catalog ofJubilee Records.

During the late 1950s, Roulette scored hits byBuddy Knox,Jimmy Bowen,the Playmates,Jimmie Rodgers,Ronnie Hawkins,the Delicates, andFrankie Lymon as well as releasing albums byPearl Bailey,Dinah Washington andCount Basie.

During the early 1960s, Roulette issued recordings connected to thetwist dance craze, such as "Peppermint Twist" byJoey Dee and the Starliters. They also released a rare album of "twist songs" byBill Haley & His Comets,Twistin' Knights at the Roundtable. Other major 1960s hits for the label include "Two Faces Have I" byLou Christie. A group ofUnited States Marines calledthe Essex recorded the hit "Easier Said Than Done" while based atCamp Lejeune, NC, in 1963. In 1964,Stephen Stills andRichie Furay first recorded together on Roulette while in the nine-memberAu Go Go Singers, the house band for the Cafe Au Go Go inNew York City.

In the UK, Roulette's records were issued on EMI'sColumbia label. In April 1965, the UK music magazineNME reported that Roulette had agreed to offer a sponsored show to the UKpirate radio radio stationRadio Caroline. The hour-long show, recorded in the US by disc jockeyJack Spector, was to be broadcast five evenings a week. The contract covered a two-year period and was worth over £10,000 to the station.^[3]

According toTommy James ofTommy James and the Shondells, whose "Hanky Panky", "I Think We're Alone Now", "Mirage", "Mony Mony", "Crimson and Clover" and many others were released during his time at the label, Roulette was afront business for theGenovese crime family.^[4] His band was essentially forced into signing with the label afterJerry Wexler ofAtlantic Records mentioned that Levy scared off competitors who had interest in the group, including Atlantic, by claiming "Hanky Panky".^[5] James estimates that the label kept $30 million-$40 million of the group's royalties but afforded it total artistic freedom, whereas another label would have tampered with its formula and might have dropped the group early on.^[1] Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Roulette was one of the industry's major distributors, handling records for many leading labels.

Levy was the key financial backer for the rap music labelSugar Hill Records, which was founded in 1979 by the husband-and-wife team Joe andSylvia Robinson. Sugar Hill released the first Top 40rap single, "Rapper's Delight", in 1979. In the early 1980s, the Robinsons bought Levy out.

In 1981,Henry Stone turned to Levy to help prevent the demise ofTK Records, so they set up Sunnyview Records under the Roulette umbrella. In 1986, Levy was arrested, tried and convicted for extorting money from anFBI informant, John LaMonte, but he died inGhent, New York, before serving any time in prison. In 1989, Roulette Records was sold to a consortium ofEMI andRhino Records, the latter of which was later acquired byWarner Music Group. Rhino would control Roulette’s pop catalogue in the USA, Canada and Mexico, while EMI acquired Roulette’s jazz catalogue worldwide, plus the international distribution of Roulette’s pop catalogue.^[6] As of 2013, Warner Music Group now has worldwide rights to the Roulette catalogue as a result of acquiring EMI’sParlophone label.^[7][8]

Following their 1989 acquisition, Rhino and EMI began issuing large royalty checks to former Roulette artists. Tommy James recalled that his checks were in amounts in six or seven digits. Roulette was notorious for not paying royalties to its artists, who had to rely on concerts and personal appearances for their income.^[1]

Until 2013, EMI used the Roulette name for the reissue of old Roulette-label material. In the US,Blue Note Records handled the Roulette jazz catalogue for release on the Roulette Jazz label until 2013. It was one of the units of Parlophone that Universal Music was required to sell to Warner Music Group to comply with international regulators.

Roulette Records 25000 Popular Series of LP records began in 1957 and ran until 1968.^[9]

The Roulette 52000 Birdland Series of 12 inch LPs commenced in 1958 and consists of 124 album releases over 10 years.^[10]

All of the soundtracks in this series were for films released in the United States during1966.

Reissue series from used by the label during 1973. Not all these albums have "Echoes of An Era" somewhere in the title - some do, some don't. They are two-album sets.

This was the label's final effort at repackaging its old recordings.

These albums, which were acquired by Roulette for U.S. distribution, were recorded in the continent ofAfrica.

• Lists of record labels

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