Holland's answer to Banzai Records.

...No, let's be fair. RR hoarded more licensing deals of US as well as European Hard Rock and Metal than any other label at the time and these cheapo "Dutch imports" should be found in the dozens/hundreds of most half-decent collections out there. Their own singnings are clearly in minority, but how can we not give some credit to the label who took the mighty MERCYFUL FATE (and subsequently King Diamond) under their wings? Some other notable names among their own private rooster would be CARNIVORE, SILVER MOUNTAIN, WITCH CROSS, WHIPLASH and BULLDOZER. The catalogue numbers running from 9999 and backwards implies a Satanic cult connection, which we of course applaud, but they loose some points for not even touching Metal until their 42nd release (a GASKIN license pressing). I'm being lazy below and won't hunt down any sleeve pics for the non-Metal releases until RR 9900, which is abouts when Roadrunner solidified as a mainly-Metal label.

The trickiest part of putting together this list (apart from the sheer SIZE of it!) has been to figure out the best and easiest way to disentangle and explain the US v/s Dutch versions and the usage of their many sublabels, especially the RoadraceR and RC Records variations. The "Sublabel" column in the list will tell you which label/labels were used for the Dutch and/or US pressing in question, but note that so far I will not go into detail about the many different variations and represses of the (mostly) Dutch pressings that exist on their more popular releases. Some notes:



The motherlabel, obviously. The logo sometimes appear on releases that also wear the RoadraceR, RC or other sublabel logos. Most releases the least bit involved with RR should have a copyright note (p) designated to Roadrunner Productions B.V. Cat# prefix: RR

In 1984, Roadrunner started up the Roadracer sublabel, then for the purpouse of marketing their own private signings in the US*. The story runs somwhat like this:

• The first handful of releases were co-opted with Important Records, using Important's own cat# system.
• Then they had a short fling with Greenworld Distribution, using their numbers until GW folded in 1986.
• By late 1986-early 1987 Roadracer stood on their own feet, still distributed by Important but now using their own familiar RR #### numbers. Up until about 1988-89, most releases by Roadrunner's own signings came out on Roadrunner in Holland and Roadracer in the US.
• By late 1988 things started getting more complicated, and Dutch releases started appearing on Roadracer, while some of the US pressings started using the new RC Records imprint. The RO-prefix are mostly used from now on.
• By 1992, both Roadracer and RC Records were being phased out and the Roadrunner-brand was then used for most Metal releases from there on.

This list ends with the final (?) RO-release, thus completing the original Roadracer discography.



With a few exceptions, most releases wearing the RC logo were US pressings - as in "made for the US market" (a couple of early CDs were actually manufactured in Germany). Many of them were releases where the previous US-imprint Roadracer was now used on Dutch pressings and some were US-only releases, licensed to different labels in Europe ...except for US artists who were originally signed to RC - the Dutch pressings of these releases often bear the RC logo (yeah, I told you it was complicated..). This list should include all original RC releases. Cat# prefix: RC



RR's main non-Metal sublabel, active between 1986-1992, including anything from alternative, new wave and punk to classic-, jazz- and blues rock. Cat# prefix: EM



Short-lived HC label, active i 1988-1989. Cat# prefix: HR



Highly periferal info, but a funny one: In their early days, Roadrunner had no less than 2 sublabels - A'dam and Lieverde - concentrating solely on children's records(!)

Roadrunner co-operated with loads of labels both in Europe and the US and often borrowed those brands for their own pressing, while still using their own catalogue system. Metal examples would be Metal Blade, Shrapnel, Music For Nations, GWR, Neat, Medusa, Combat, Steamhammer etc, and also some US punk/alternative labels like Taang! (cat# prefix: TG), Restless (cat# prefix: LS), Third Mind (cat# prefix: TM)and Triple X (cat# prefix: TX). Some releases like this doesn't carry any RR-logos at all, which can cause some confusion. It's possible that many of the missing numbers in this list belong to yet undiscovered sublabels or co-ops, though I have reason to believe that the majority of them were planned releases that either got scrapped or postponed.