What's All This, Then?

Welcome to The Sarsaparilla Discographies.

This is the latest incarnation of a project I started over 25 years ago. It has been rewritten many times in several different programming languages. Though improvements and enhancements may be made, this is to be this project's final form.

The purpose of these site is to document and showcase some of the strangest and most interesting labels that have existed. Perhaps even some that aren't that bizarre but just have an interesting story behind them. In the beginning, this site will simply provide information about these labels and their releases, but in the future I may introduce a marketplace feature allowing users to buy, sell, and trade releases from these labels.

Please be advised: while many of these labels will be safe for all, or most, some of the labels I have chosen have released some problematic, if not flat out abhorrent music. That is part of what makes these labels interesting. For example, the premiere label in this project, Rock-O-Rama Records, began as a German punk label and evolved into a source of extreme right-wing, neo-nazi skinhead music. The story behind that shift and the sketchy practices of the label are what make that label worth documenting. On the other hand, there are lables out there such as Reb Rebel Records, for instance, that were simply an outlet for segregationist, and Ku Klux Klan music, which have no place in this project, as they have absolutely no redeeming qualities and the stories behind them are not particularly interesting. The appearance in these pages of any labels or their releases that promote or contain any hateful or discriminatory language, images, or ideas, should in no way be interpreted as support or endorsement of these beliefs.