Roadrunner/Roadracer [now on The Corroseum website!]

[DaN]

I have found out a lot more details about the Roadrunner label over the last while so I'm going to add to this. Just keep in mind that I’m almost strictly a CD collector, so all of this may not apply to vinyl.

“Roadrunner” was the original name that this label used. The label was originally formed out of Holland and catered specifically to the European market.

Their releases were generally licensed out to other labels (Metal Blade, Combat) for the North American market until around 1987.

In 1986 Roadrunner expanded their offices, most notably to the US but due to copyright/further legal issues were unable to use the name “Roadrunner” for US pressings. To get around this they started using two other “sub-label” names around 1988. “Roadracer” was the European branch mostly manufactured in Holland and West Germany. “R/C” was the North American branch mostly manufactured within the US.

During the 1988-1990 period very few releases were put out still bearing the “Roadrunner” name, however, bands that had previous multiple album contracts with Roadrunner from before this time (King Diamond, etc) still had their albums printed under the Roadrunner name for the European market, as well as under “Roadracer” and “R/C”. So you could actually purchase multiple copies of the same album released the same year under “Roadrunner”, “Roadracer” and “R/C”.

To add even further confusion to the process, in 1991 the label also started releasing US pressings under the “Roadracer” name up until late 1992.

I hope that this information is of use to you.

Cheers! Yes, I've been working on a Roadrunner-discog for quite some time now. The -runner/-racer/RC-mess is slowly starting to make sense. Stay tuned..

[DaN]

If someone needs a good excuse to go oogle their own collection, check if you can find any albums which exist both as Roadrunner and Roadracer-pressings (on the same format, i.e. 2 vinyls or 2 CDs).

I think there might be a few but I'm not sure...

[Avenger]

If someone needs a good excuse to go oogle their own collection, check if you can find any albums which exist both as Roadrunner and Roadracer-pressings (on the same format, i.e. 2 vinyls or 2 CDs).

I think there might be a few but I'm not sure...

I don't have the time for this now, nor will I be at home for a while, but for the time being musik-sammler.de is your best friend for this.

[rictusgrin666]

What were the "copyright issues" - anything to do with Warner Bros' annoying blue nemesis of the long-suffering coyote?

[DaN]

What were the "copyright issues" - anything to do with Warner Bros' annoying blue nemesis of the long-suffering coyote?

That's always been my guess, yes.

[Korgüll]

I have a CD copy of 'ZnoWhite-Act Of God' with the cat no of RRD9587 on the spine.
The matrix around the center hole has RRD9587 & M.O.# 10187-1 A
I've always wondered whether this is a bootleg?
It says both Roadrunner & Roadracer Records 1988 & the tracklist inside is different to the tracklist on the back cover.What's written inside is the correct tracklist.
The booklet is typical lame 4 panel RR style though...

[®O©O]

M.O.# 10187-1 A...

i have the same one, but it writes W.O.#
bought it some then years ago, so i think it is not bootleg...

[Heathen]

I have a CD copy of 'ZnoWhite-Act Of God' with the cat no of RRD9587 on the spine.
The matrix around the center hole has RRD9587 & M.O.# 10187-1 A
I've always wondered whether this is a bootleg?
It says both Roadrunner & Roadracer Records 1988 & the tracklist inside is different to the tracklist on the back cover.What's written inside is the correct tracklist.
The booklet is typical lame 4 panel RR style though...

For some reason there are quite a lot of Roadrunner released CDs circulating that seem to have inserts taken from one release and the disc from another one. Catalogue numbers differ between the inserts and the disc, as well as label name. Take a look at this for example:



I also had Beyond Recognition and Arise with similar mismatch. Anyone knows why Roadrunner did that and if they are legit releases?

[perishinflames]

They are of course legit, though I have no idea why they would have done this. I too had the Beyond Recognition sealed in a blisterpak that had mismatched disc/inserts, some King Diamond/Fate CDs and some others. Weird but normal for RR I guess.

[Avenger]

This is a classic case of Roadrunner trying to cut corners. Remember "Roadrunner" was the original name the label went by when they were located solely out of Holland. "Roadracer" was the European alias and "R/C" the US alias circa 1986 around the time these CD's started getting produced. They shipped the CD and/or inserts from Europe to North America and stuck them with another piece of the item to create the final product. This process took place until US CD pressing plant deals were established.

[perishinflames]

Which CDs do you have from 1986 on the R/C imprint? Earliest I've seen is 1988, and those are "RC Records", they didn't add the "/" until like 1990. And also there are plenty of Roadracer that were made in the US, most thrash/speed stuff was on Roadracer and the stuff that leaned more towards the extreme side was labeled as RC. For example Znowhite & Annihilator = Roadracer, Razor & Pestilence = RC. The only thing that was different in the states was that they couldn't use Roadrunner, both of their imprints were in production in the states and overseas. And the explanation of 'they did it until they had US pressing plants' is also false, there were mismatched releases like this well into the 90s.

[Avenger]

Which CDs do you have from 1986 on the R/C imprint? Earliest I've seen is 1988, and those are "RC Records", they didn't add the "/" until like 1990. And also there are plenty of Roadracer that were made in the US, most thrash/speed stuff was on Roadracer and the stuff that leaned more towards the extreme side was labeled as RC. For example Znowhite & Annihilator = Roadracer, Razor & Pestilence = RC. The only thing that was different in the states was that they couldn't use Roadrunner, both of their imprints were in production in the states and overseas. And the explanation of 'they did it until they had US pressing plants' is also false, there were mismatched releases like this well into the 90s.

I've seen earlier versions that mix and match "Roadrunner" and "Roadracer" released in 1987. The mixing and matching did not always take place either. In fact, I go out of my way in most cases to ensure that my personal copies have all matching discs and inserts. The sub-genre of the artist has absolutely nothing to do with which alias label the CD was pressed under. "RC", "R/C" and the "R lightning bolt C" are all the same thing, it’s just a matter of the logo having changed slightly over the years. Re-read what I said regarding the US pressing plants. I said that it had to do with dealings. Not the actual plant itself. The mix and match was done to cut corners. More often then not, (BUT NOT ALWAYS) the CD's were manufactured in Europe and the inserts were printed in US/Canada.

[DaN]

I knew we had an old thread about this, so I might as well use it...

Part 1 of The Corroseum's Roadrunner/Roadracer/RC Records discography is now finished! Hopefully this should give a picture of how the different sublabels worked, but it's quite a mess. I'm halfway done with Part 2, it might be up in a month or so - there's where things start to get really complicated.

As always, corrections/additions are more than welcomed.

[Ernest Thesiger]

Part 1 of The Corroseum's Roadrunner/Roadracer/RC Records discography is now finished!

Thank you! Surprised & pleased to see they licensed a Robert Wyatt comp early on.

[DaN]

Part 1 of The Corroseum's Roadrunner/Roadracer/RC Records discography is now finished!

Thank you! Surprised & pleased to see they licensed a Robert Wyatt comp early on.

From the early non-Metal releases I think I used to own Spizzenergy and Lora Logic, before I sold off most of my new wave collection.. I'm very tempted to collect all the children's records tho'