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. The label started in business in 1974, went defunct in 1985 and was relaunched in 1992. Artists such as The Salsoul Orchestra (led by Vincent Montana Jr), Aurra, Skyy, Inner Life, Rafael Cameron, Edwin Birdsong, Instant Funk, Loleatta Holloway, Civil Attack, Double Exposure, Love Committee(Gold Mind), First Choice, Joe Bataan, The Strangers, Moment of Truth, Vaughan Mason & Butch Dayo, Carol Williams, Jocelyn Brown, 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. 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. They acquired a license for North American distribution for some of CBS's Latino 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. 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