Label Guide: Cotique

George Goldner was a New York-born promoter and producer who is famous for the many record labels he helped founding in the 1950s and 1960s. His involvement in the record label industry began in the 1940s, when he ran popular dance halls in New York City and New Jersey. He was especially fond of Latin Music, and his first record label, Tico Records, was established in 1948 to record and distribute music by such artists as Tito Puente, Joe Loco and Machito. Tico quickly became the most important Latin music label of its time.

Over the next two decades he started a large number of record labels, including Rama, Gee, Roulette, End, Gone, Red Bird, and Firebird Records. Goldner founded over a dozen record labels, but he never gave up on his love for Latin Music, and in late 1965, he launched Cotique Records, another Latin label that focused on the boogaloo sound, then later ventured into more progressive Latin soul and funk music.

When Goldner unexpectedly died of a heart attack in April 1970, some of his record labels, including Cotique outlived him. In early 1972, Cotique boss Ed DiNallo signed a distribution pact with Fania Records, where Cotique kept full control over their artists and production. However, Cotique became a fully owned subsidiary of Fania by the end of the year.