Rock-O-Rama

Rock-O-Rama was a German record label started in 1980 by Herbert Egoldt. The label folded in 1994 after a police raid.

History

Egoldt bootlegged 1950s rockabilly recordings in the early 1970s before starting the Rock-O-Rama mail order service, which was the first significant source for English and American punk records in Germany. The label was originally an outlet for (more or less left wing) German punk bands such as the Vomit Visions and the Razors. These early bands sang in English, which led to the following comment by John Peel, who wrote to Egoldt in May 1980: "One thing about the records. Why do German singers sing in English? Is it because it is fashionable? Or is it a marketing consideration? Whichever it is, I think they should sing in German anyway."[1]

In the mid-1980s, Rock-O-Rama was best known for white power rock bands like Skrewdriver. By then, the label had left its punk roots behind and concentrated on records by neo-Nazi and far right bands. Egoldt had developed a reputation for questionable business practices before he began to release records by right wing bands. The label has been accused of defrauding bands of royalties, and of issuing or reissuing records without the consent of the bands. Most of the bands had signed away their rights. Böhse Onkelz, one of the most successful German rock bands of the 1990s — who had enough money to pay for good lawyers — couldn’t prove any legal wrongdoing.

Roster

See also
  • List of record labels

References
  1. Same Old Song zine, No. 29, June 1980
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