The Color Tapes label was the brainchild of a young Gary Ramon after being inspired by cassette labels such as Fuck Off Tapes, Weird Noise and other underground UK labels, and also by the music of the late '70's and early '80's such as Cabaret Voltaire, Suicide, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Throbbing Gristle, Fad Gadget, as well as electronic musicians such as John Cage, La Monte Young, Stockhausen, Pierre Henry, Moondog, and hip hop electro pioneers Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash that were being discovered after the Kraftwerk assault with "The Man Machine".

Color Disc was introduced in 1984 for vinyl releases.

The label relaunched in 2014 as Color Tapes with "Cold Waves of Color" for a series of vinyl & CD compilation albums taken from the labels 1980's archives and select reissues from a choice of more than 75+ albums.

Cat Numbering is different for Vinyl & Cassettes.