Label Guide: Salsoul

Salsoul was a New York City based record label founded by brothers Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre in 1974. "Salsoul" was street lingo for the musical culture of urban Latinos who were absorbing African-American popular music and infusing into their own culture, as well as vice-versa (Wikipedia). The label's catalogue consisted of Soul, Funk, and especially Disco Music, and Salsoul released the first commercially available 12-inch single, Double Exposure's Ten Percent, in 1976.

With the decline of Disco Music in the late 1970s, the label survived only a few more years before the Cayre brothers shut down their recorded music operations in 1984. However, Salsoul was revived in 1992, changed its name to Bethlehem Music Company, but often uses Salsoul as an imprint. Today, Bethlehem Music Company focuses on releasing Salsoul & Bethlehem Jazz recordings.