Fresh off a longstanding Cleveland-based tenure with his brainchild groups Hot Chocolate and Love Apple, Lou Ragland journeyed west in 1980 searching for newer and warmer sources of inspiration. With a guitar, a tuxedo, and a $300 paycheck, Lou embarked on his brightly lit Las Vegas chapter, becoming captured by the effervescence of the neon city. Starting at a forgotten jazz hole-in-the-wall on the west side, he graduated to the Speakeasy at Flamingo and Paradise Roads, where he and his newly formed Great Lakes Orchestra appeared regularly throughout the decade. Though rich in studios and musicians, Sin City lacked any real record companies, a problem Lou and his partners at American Creative rectified with the formation of Casino Records. The lack of a tried and true music business infrastructure in Vegas would inspire Lou to further cement his place in the Vegas soundscape, helming his own Great Lakes offshoot in tribute to the glacial waters of his home state. The label’s output however would be overshadowed by Lou’s work at Casino, resulting in a lone release by Great Lakes Orchestra featuring Lou Ragland, 1982’s “This Is The Night For Loving b/w Didn’t I Tell You.”