Forum (2)

The Forum label was a budget reissue label, usually marketed in grocery store racks and similar non-record store outlets. It was founded in July, 1959, and operated as Forum or Forum Circle until late 1964. Forum was always either a division of Roulette or not far out of their control. There are several different attributions on the various Forum labels, and there seem to be three distinct phases through which the label went. The earliest series was the F/SF-7000 series, which was a classical music series reissuing material recorded in Europe. This lasted for 20 albums, the earliest issued in August, 1959, and the last issued in March, 1960. That month, Forum abandoned the classical series and announced a new 16000 pop series. This series lasted for 13 albums. The original labels for both the 70000 and 16000 series were black with gold print, the forum logo above the center hole. The attribution curving around the top of the label said, "Forum Records/A Division of Roulette Records, Inc." The Forum logo on the front cover also incorporates "A Division of Roulette Records, Inc." into the logo. This label was also used for the 32000 "Audio History" series, which had one album. The 9000 series was next, starting in 1961, and was largely a vehicle for straight budget-price reissues of the Roulette and Tico albums previously available. Almost all the 9000 series items were reissues, with very little in the way of studio work required to compile new albums. In fact, the stampers used for these issues were the same ones used for the original Roulette, Tico, or Forum 16000 series albums, as they had the original master numbers scratched into the trailoff grooves. The 9000 series label was red with black print, the same design as the earlier black label, except "Forum Records/A Division of Jaymo Products Inc." around the top of the label replaced the previous designation as a Division of Roulette Records. All mention of Roulette was removed, including on the cover logos. Jaymo was probably another of Morris Levy's companies, and he was probably the "Mo" of the name. Later, second pressings of 9047 through 9057 replaced the "Jaymo" with "Roulette." Original labels for all 9000 series released up to 9057 were the red Jaymo labels. Starting with 9058 and running through 9077 in 1963, the original labels were deep red for mono and royal blue for stereo. In the third phase, starting in early 1964, the label name was changed to Forum Circle, although the change in the logo was minor and it was obviously the same label. On the Forum Circle records, the notation of the jacket and label states, "Mfg. by Connoisseur Record Corp., 160 Passaic Avenue, Kearny, New Jersey." The label colors changed to yellow for stereo and light blue for mono. Apparently Morris Levy leased his Roulette masters to Connoisseur Records on what appears to be a one-year deal. Connoisseur was owned by Banker's Life & Casualty, an insurance company headquartered in Chicago. Bankers owned a 100,000 square foot pressing plant in Kearny, New Jersey. Labels for Forum Circle varied, and can be seen via the link to bsnpubs.com, below.