***DISCLAIMER***
THIS IS A FAN PAGE ONLY, ITS PURPOSE IS INFORMATION AND NETWORKING FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN BANZAI RECORDS:
1. THIS LABEL IS OBSOLETE AND INACTIVE
2. I DO NOT REPRESENT OR HAVE DIRECT ASSOCIATIONS WITH THE LABEL OR ITS OWNERS
3. I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO ANY OF THE SONGS POSTED HERE, THEY ARE FOR REFERENCE PURPOSE ONLY!!!
That being said, the page is UNDER CONSTRUCTION! Stay tuned.
Banzai Records was a canadian record label active in the '80s. They were mainly licensing heavy metal albums that weren't domestically available in Canada. So most of what was on Metal Blade / Megaforce Records, Neat Records, Noise Records, Roadrunner, etc, would be released in Canada thru Banzai Records, via Polygram distribution. Michel Meese, founder and president of Banzai Records, had an immense knowledge of the metal scene, and a great feel for the canadian market. By seeing which imported albums were good sellers, the ones he chose to release on Banzai were always well recieved. Artists represented by Banzai Records included Venom, Anthrax, Metallica, Voivod, Raven and Slayer, to name a few.
Although the label had the rights to distribute most of the albums, a few are believed to be bootlegs. First pressed at 1000 copies, re-prints were ordered depending on popularity. Very few ever made it past 10,000 copies. But many of them were sold as cassettes, since it was the medium of choice back then, in the golden age of walkmans! A notable exception is Metallica. Both of thier Banzai releases were the only ones to reach gold status in Canada, at 50,000 copies each.
Banzai's business address, 1238 Crescent Street, Montreal, was also the home of the biggest heavy metal record store in Montreal called Rock en Stock. Banzai stopped their activities at the end of the '80s, and Rock en Stock closed shop at the end of the '90s, after a raid on bootlegged cds.
(THIS INFORMATION WAS WRITTEN BY DANIEL DULUDE AND IS USED WITH PERMISSION. CHECK OUT HIS BANZAI RECORDS SITE FOR MORE: CLICK HERE )
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