No edit summary
|
→Retrospectacle: rm as-it-happened details
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit Advanced mobile edit
|
||
(43 intermediate revisions by 31 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|American record label}} |
|||
{{Infobox record label <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Music --> |
{{Infobox record label <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Music --> |
||
| name = Wax Trax! Records |
| name = Wax Trax! Records |
||
Line 5: | Line 6: | ||
| founded = |
| founded = |
||
| founder = Jim Nash<br>Dannie Flesher |
| founder = Jim Nash<br>Dannie Flesher |
||
| genre = {{hlist|[[Industrial music|Industrial]]|[[Punk rock|punk]]|[[New wave music|new wave]]|[[post-punk]]{{sfn|Larkin|1998|p=5734|ps=: "Along with Touch & Go Records, Wax Trax is Chicago's most important post-punk label."}}}} |
|||
| genre = [[Industrial]]/Various |
|||
| country = United States |
| country = United States |
||
| location = [[Chicago]] |
| location = [[Chicago]] |
||
| website = |
| website = {{URL|www.waxtrax.com}} |
||
}} |
}} |
||
'''Wax Trax! Records''' is an American [[independent record label]] based in [[Chicago]]. It began as a record shop in [[Denver, Colorado]], opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that year, they opened a |
'''Wax Trax! Records''' is an American [[independent record label]] based in [[Chicago]]. It began as a record shop in [[Denver, Colorado]], opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that year, they opened a store under the same name in the [[Lincoln Park, Chicago|Lincoln Park]] neighborhood.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-ent-wax-trax-queer-industrial-history-chicago-0414-story.html |title=Wax Trax! Records' pioneering LGBTQ history is explored in new 'Industrial Accident' documentary |last=Roti |first=Jessi |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US |access-date=2019-04-14}}</ref> During the 1980s and 1990s, the accompanying record label became a strong presence on the [[industrial music|industrial]] music scene as well as the [[punk rock]] sceneinChicago, and an outlet for European bands. The label was purchased by [[TVT Records]] in 1992 and was discontinued in 2001. In 2014, it was re-established by Julia Nash, daughter of co-founder Jim Nash. |
||
Richard Giraldi of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' wrote, "As important as [[Chess Records]] was to blues and soul music, Chicago's Wax Trax imprint was just as significant to the punk rock, new wave and industrial genres."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Giraldi |first=Richard |title=Wax Trax Records long gone, but pulse of its music is strong |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |pages=21A |date=April 17, 2011 |url=http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/music/4863427-421/wax-trax-records-long-gone-but-pulse-of-its-music-is-strong.html | |
Richard Giraldi of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' wrote, "As important as [[Chess Records]] was to blues and soul music, Chicago's Wax Trax imprint was just as significant to the punk rock, new wave and industrial genres."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Giraldi |first=Richard |title=Wax Trax Records long gone, but pulse of its music is strong |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |pages=21A |date=April 17, 2011 |url=http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/music/4863427-421/wax-trax-records-long-gone-but-pulse-of-its-music-is-strong.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010182602/http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/music/4863427-421/wax-trax-records-long-gone-but-pulse-of-its-music-is-strong.html |archive-date=October 10, 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=April 17, 2011}}</ref> According to critic [[Greg Kot]], the legacy of Wax Trax is trusting the artist.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/sc-ent-wax-trax-legacy-0412-story.html |title=Wax Trax! Records radical legacy: Trust the artists |last=Kot |first=Greg |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US |access-date=2019-04-14}}</ref> |
||
== Origins == |
== Origins == |
||
The record store became a record label slowly at first, initially releasing limited edition records such as [[Brian Eno]]'s |
The record store became a record label slowly at first, initially releasing limited edition records such as [[Brian Eno]]'s “[[The Lion Sleeps Tonight|Wimoweh]]”/“Deadly Seven Finns” seven inch.<ref name="Eno-JuliaNash">{{cite web | last=Nash | first=Julia | title=HISTORY-1979 | work=waxtraxchicago.com | date=21 December 2010 |access-date=March 24, 2011 | url=http://cherryberry321.wordpress.com/history/1979-2/}}</ref><ref name="Eno-Discogs">{{Discogs release |1297556 |ENO – Lion Sleeps Tonite (Wimoweh)/Seven Deadly Fins |type=single }}</ref> The first official Wax Trax! release was [[Strike Under]]'s ''Immediate Action'' twelve inch EP in 1980,<ref>{{Discogs label |Wax Trax! Records |Wax Trax! Records}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last = Weld| first = Henry| title = Punk Rock In Illinois| work = CollectorScum.com| url = http://www.collectorscum.com/volume3/illinois/| access-date = April 15, 2011}}</ref> followed by [[Divine (Glen Milstead)|Divine]]'s ''Born To Be Cheap'' seven inch. But it was the release of ''[[Cold Life]]'' by [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]] in 1981—along with the licensing of [[Front 242]]'s ''Endless Riddance'' EP—that set the stage for Wax Trax! to become America's preeminent [[industrial music|industrial]] label of the 1980s and 1990s. |
||
</ref> followed by [[Divine (Glen Milstead)|Divine]]'s ''Born To Be Cheap'' seven inch. But it was the release of ''Cold Life'' by [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]] — along with the licensing of [[Front 242]]'s ''Endless Riddance'' EP — that set the stage for Wax Trax! to become America's preeminent [[industrial music|industrial]] label of the 1980s and 1990s. |
|||
== Artists == |
== Artists == |
||
{{Category see also|Wax Trax! Records artists}} |
|||
Among the most noteworthy artists released by Wax Trax! were [[Minimal Compact]] (''Next One Is Real''), [[Front 242]] (including [[Jean-Luc De Meyer]] side project [[C-Tec]]), [[KMFDM]], [[Raymond Watts|PIG]], [[VNV Nation]], [[Underworld (band)|Underworld]], [[Meat Beat Manifesto]], [[Front Line Assembly]], [[Young Gods]], [[Sister Machine Gun]], [[My Life |
Among the most noteworthy artists released by Wax Trax! were [[Minimal Compact]] (''Next One Is Real''), [[Front 242]] (including [[Jean-Luc De Meyer]] side project [[C-Tec]]), [[KMFDM]], [[Raymond Watts|PIG]], [[VNV Nation]], [[Underworld (band)|Underworld]], [[Meat Beat Manifesto]], [[Front Line Assembly]], [[Young Gods]], [[Sister Machine Gun]], [[My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult]], [[Coil (band)|Coil]], [[Chris & Cosey]], [[Chris Connelly (musician)|Chris Connelly]], [[Die Warzau]], [[In the Nursery]], [[Controlled Bleeding]], [[The KLF]], [[Braindead Soundmachine]], [[Cubanate]] and [[Laibach (band)|Laibach]]. The label also released a bevy of side projects by [[Al Jourgensen]] and [[Paul Barker]] of [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]], including [[Revolting Cocks]], [[Acid Horse]] (a collaboration with [[Cabaret Voltaire (band)|Cabaret Voltaire]]), [[Pailhead]] (a collaboration with [[Ian Mackaye]] of [[Minor Threat]]), [[PTP (band)|PTP]] (short for "Programming The Psychodrill"), [[Lead into Gold]] (a solo vehicle for Barker), and [[1000 Homo DJs]]. |
||
== Partnerships == |
== Partnerships == |
||
Line 26: | Line 27: | ||
== Bankruptcy and purchase == |
== Bankruptcy and purchase == |
||
Following a bankruptcy filing, Wax Trax! was bought by [[New York City|New York]] |
Following a bankruptcy filing, Wax Trax! was bought by [[New York City|New York]]–based [[TVT Records]] in 1992, with Nash and Flesher retaining creative control of the label. TVT continued to use the Wax Trax! imprint for years, even after Nash's death from [[AIDS]]-related complications on October 10, 1995.<ref name="Reader-Wyman">{{Cite news|last = Wyman| first = Bill | title = The Ballad of Jim and Dannie - Wax Trax' Jim Nash/RIP| newspaper = [[Chicago Reader]]| date = October 27, 1995| url = http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-ballad-of-jim-and-dannie/Content?oid=888822| access-date = April 15, 2011}}</ref><ref name="SunTimes-Sachs">{{Cite news| last=Sachs| first=Lloyd| title = Jim Nash, Co-Founder Of Wax Trax! Records|newspaper = [[Chicago Sun-Times]]| page = 64| date = October 12, 1995| url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4304253.html| archive-date = November 5, 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105205950/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4304253.html| url-status=dead| access-date = April 15, 2011}} |
||
</ref><ref name="Billboard-Rosenblum">{{Cite magazine| last = Miller Rosenblum|first = Trudi| title = Jim Nash Dies at 47; Founder of Wax Trax! |
</ref><ref name="Billboard-Rosenblum">{{Cite magazine| last = Miller Rosenblum|first = Trudi| title = Jim Nash Dies at 47; Founder of Wax Trax! |
||
| newspaper = [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|volume=107|issue=42|page = 10|date = October 21, 1995| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mw4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10| |
| newspaper = [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|volume=107|issue=42|page = 10|date = October 21, 1995| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mw4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10|access-date = October 6, 2018|via=Google Books}} |
||
</ref> |
</ref> |
||
In 1994 TVT released ''[[Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years]]'' under the Wax Trax! label. It was a 3-CD box set compilation of the label's biggest hits. However, due to licensing issues stemming from the label's bankruptcy, the set did not contain any material by Front 242, even though the band's single "[[Headhunter (song)|Headhunter]]" had been the label's best-selling record to date. A video compilation of the same name was also released, containing music videos by label artists (and likewise omitting Front 242's "Headhunter" video.) |
In 1994 TVT released ''[[Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years]]'' under the Wax Trax! label. It was a 3-CD box set compilation of the label's biggest hits. However, due to licensing issues stemming from the label's bankruptcy, the set did not contain any material by Front 242, even though the band's single "[[Headhunter (song)|Headhunter]]" had been the label's best-selling record to date. A video compilation of the same name was also released, containing music videos by label artists (and likewise omitting Front 242's "Headhunter" video.) |
||
TVT closed the label's doors in 2001, with the final Wax Trax! imprint appearing on KMFDM's ''[[Beat By Beat By Beat]]'' DVD.<ref name="BeatByBeat">{{citation | title= KMFDM – Beat By Beat By Beat | url=http://www.discogs.com/KMFDM-Beat-By-Beat-By-Beat/release/326459 |publisher= on [[Discogs]] | |
TVT closed the label's doors in 2001, with the final Wax Trax! imprint appearing on KMFDM's ''[[Beat By Beat By Beat]]'' DVD.<ref name="BeatByBeat">{{citation | title= KMFDM – Beat By Beat By Beat | url=http://www.discogs.com/KMFDM-Beat-By-Beat-By-Beat/release/326459 |publisher= on [[Discogs]] |access-date=May 9, 2011}}</ref> Dannie Flesher retired from the music business and subsequently died of pneumonia on Sunday, January 10, 2010, in Hope, Arkansas. He was 58.<ref>{{cite web|last=Marlowe |first=Sam |url=http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2010/01/wax-trax-cofounder-dannie-flesher-dies-at-57.html |title=Theater Loop: Chicago Theater News, Reviews & More - chicagotribune.com |publisher=Leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com |access-date=2014-07-28}}</ref> Julia Nash owns and maintains the website titled "WaxTraxChicago.com: The Official Family Site dedicated to the memory of Jim Nash / Dannie Flesher and the History of & Wax Trax! Records."<ref name="JuliaNash">{{citation | last=Nash | first=Julia | title=WaxTraxChicago.com: The Official Jim Nash, Dannie Flesher, & Wax Trax! Historical Site | url=http://www.waxtraxchicago.com |access-date=March 24, 2011 }}</ref> |
||
== Retrospectacle == |
== Retrospectacle == |
||
|
In January 2011, the label announced "Wax Trax! Records Retrospectacle Comes to Metro."<ref name="Retrospectacle">{{citation | last=Nash | first=Julia | title=Wax Trax! Records Retropectacle Comes to Metro April 15 & 16, 2011 | date=10 January 2011 |access-date=March 24, 2011 | url=http://cherryberry321.wordpress.com/retrospectacle/}}</ref> The Retrospectacle was the 33 & 1/3 year Wax Trax! Records Anniversary commemorative concert with proceeds that benefited the non-profit "[[Center on Halsted]];" hosted by "The Nash Group 2449 (The Nash family and friends including [[Metro Chicago]]'s owner [[Joe Shanahan]])" on April 15, 16 and 17th, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois; with performances by former Wax Trax! Artists: [[Front 242]], [[My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult]]; [[Luc van Acker]], [[Paul Barker]], and [[Chris Connelly (musician)|Chris Connelly]] formerly of [[Revolting Cocks]] with special guest [[Jamie Duffy (American musician)|Jamie Duffy]]; and [[En Esch]], [[Günter Schulz]], [[Raymond Watts]] formerly of [[KMFDM]]; additional artists included Rights of the Accused, as well as Chicago DJ's and VJ's.<ref name="JuliaNash"/><ref>{{Cite news |
||
| last = Conner |
| last = Conner |
||
| first = Thomas |
| first = Thomas |
||
| title = Wax Trax! |
| title = Wax Trax! Records' ongoing influence celebrated at Metro |
||
| newspaper = [[Chicago Sun-Times]] |
| newspaper = [[Chicago Sun-Times]] |
||
| pages = 13–14 (Weekend) |
| pages = 13–14 (Weekend) |
||
| date = April 14, 2011 |
| date = April 14, 2011 |
||
| url = http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/conner/4817009-421/wax-trax-records-ongoing-influence-celebrated-at-metro.html |
| url = http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/conner/4817009-421/wax-trax-records-ongoing-influence-celebrated-at-metro.html |
||
| |
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121010182533/http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/conner/4817009-421/wax-trax-records-ongoing-influence-celebrated-at-metro.html |
||
| |
| archive-date = October 10, 2012 |
||
| url-status = dead |
| url-status = dead |
||
| |
| access-date = April 15, 2011}} |
||
</ref> |
</ref> |
||
Notably not included in the event were Ministry's Al Jourgensen and KMFDM's Sascha Konietzko, who issued a joint statement, saying:<blockquote>"Jourgensen was never asked to participate, and Sascha Konietzko's (and KMFDM's) desire to participate and perform was ''declined'' by the event organizers. However, while we are both in no way associated with this event, we want to make it clear that we do support the good works of the charity involved and honor the memory of Wax Trax! founders Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher." |
Notably not included in the event were Ministry's Al Jourgensen and KMFDM's Sascha Konietzko, who issued a joint statement, saying:<blockquote>"Jourgensen was never asked to participate, and Sascha Konietzko's (and KMFDM's) desire to participate and perform was ''declined'' by the event organizers. However, while we are both in no way associated with this event, we want to make it clear that we do support the good works of the charity involved and honor the memory of Wax Trax! founders Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher."<ref>{{Cite news|last = Conner|first = Thomas|title = Where's Al Jourgensen?|newspaper = [[Chicago Sun-Times]]|pages = 13–14 (Weekend)|date = April 14, 2011|url = http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/weekend/4817008-421/story.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121010182544/http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/weekend/4817008-421/story.html|archive-date = October 10, 2012|url-status = dead|access-date = April 15, 2011}} |
||
</ref> </blockquote> |
</ref> </blockquote> |
||
==Rebirth== |
==Rebirth== |
||
[[File:Wax Trax! Popup store card face.jpg|thumb|Front side of card promoting the Wax Trax! pop-up store on June 15, 2014, at the Metro Theater in Chicago |
[[File:Wax Trax! Popup store card face.jpg|thumb|Front side of card promoting the Wax Trax! pop-up store on June 15, 2014, at the Metro Theater in Chicago]] |
||
In |
In June 2014, Jim Nash's daughter Julia Nash re-established Wax Trax! Records with the release of a 12-inch single from Cocksure. This was followed shortly afterward with the release of a 7-inch single for [[Front 242]] to mark the band's 30th anniversary in the US. |
||
This was accompanied by a pop-up store at the [[Metro Chicago]] music venue on June 15, 2014. |
This was accompanied by a pop-up store at the [[Metro Chicago]] music venue on June 15, 2014. |
||
== Documentary == |
|||
<br /> |
|||
In 2016 Julia Nash began work on directing and producing a documentary about the history and impact of her father and his partner's independent store and label. The film, titled ''INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT: The Story of Wax Trax! Records'', won numerous awards and international acclaim during the 2018 festival circuit.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Screenings {{!}} Wax Trax! Films|url=http://www.waxtraxfilms.com/screenings/|access-date=2020-09-23|language=en-US}}</ref> |
|||
After seeing the documentary, [[Vans]] became an executive producer on the project to help make the film commercially available. In 2019, Vans sponsored in coordination with Record Store Day, a six city North American tour to promote the film. The tour included showcasing the Wax Trax! band Ministry with an early era set. |
|||
==Discography== |
==Discography== |
||
Line 71: | Line 69: | ||
== See also == |
== See also == |
||
* ''[[Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years]]'' |
* ''[[Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years]]'' – a retrospective box set of Wax Trax!' output as an indie label |
||
* [[Chicago Record Labels]] |
* [[Chicago Record Labels]] |
||
* [[List of record labels]] |
* [[List of record labels]] |
||
Line 79: | Line 77: | ||
==Bibliography== |
==Bibliography== |
||
* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Larkin|first=Colin|date=1998|title=Wax Trax Records|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofpo07lark/page/5734/mode/1up|encyclopedia=[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|edition=3rd|volume=7|location=London|publisher=Muze|page=5734|isbn=1-56159-237-4|lccn=98-37439|oclc=1033585112|via=the [[Internet Archive]]}} |
|||
* {{cite journal|last=Lee|first=Stephen|title=Re-examining the concept of the 'independent' record company: the case of Wax Trax! records| |
* {{cite journal|last=Lee|first=Stephen|title=Re-examining the concept of the 'independent' record company: the case of Wax Trax! records|journal=Popular Music|date=January 1995|volume=14|issue=1|pages=13–31|doi=10.1017/S0261143000007613|jstor=853341|issn=0261-1430|eissn=14740095}} |
||
* {{cite book|last1=Reed|first1=S. Alexander|title=Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music|year=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|url=| |
* {{cite book|last1=Reed|first1=S. Alexander|title=Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music|year=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|url=https://archive.org/details/assimilatecritic0000reed|url-access=registration|isbn=978-0-19-983260-6|oclc=1147729910|lccn=2012-42281|via=the Internet Archive}} |
||
* {{Cite book |title=Chicago Portraits |
* {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/chicagoportraits0000sawy_b4a8/|url-access=registration|title=Chicago Portraits|edition=Updated|last=Sawyers |first=June Skinner |publisher=Northwestern University Press |isbn=978-0-8101-2649-7 |location=Evanston, Illinois |date=2012 |pages=114–115|chapter=Dannie Flesher|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/chicagoportraits0000sawy_b4a8/page/n129/mode/2up|others=Foreword by Rick Kogan|lccn=2011038716|oclc=1319191063|via=the Internet Archive}} |
||
==External links== |
==External links== |
||
Line 87: | Line 86: | ||
* [http://waxtraxrecords.com/ Wax Trax! Records], the Denver record store |
* [http://waxtraxrecords.com/ Wax Trax! Records], the Denver record store |
||
* {{Discogs label|id=953|Wax Trax! Records}} |
* {{Discogs label|id=953|Wax Trax! Records}} |
||
* {{cite web|author=Rod Smith|title=Wax Trax: An Introduction|url=http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2014/03/wax-trax-feature|website=Red Bull Music Academy Daily|publisher=[[Red Bull Music Academy]]|date=March 27, 2014| |
* {{cite web|author=Rod Smith|title=Wax Trax: An Introduction|url=http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2014/03/wax-trax-feature|website=Red Bull Music Academy Daily|publisher=[[Red Bull Music Academy]]|date=March 27, 2014|access-date=December 10, 2017}} |
||
* [http://keepkey.yochanan.net/waxtrax.htm Wax Trax! Revisited - Part One (Denver) and Part Two (Chicago)] |
* [http://keepkey.yochanan.net/waxtrax.htm Wax Trax! Revisited - Part One (Denver) and Part Two (Chicago)] |
||
* [http://mywebpages.comcast.net/sborst20/waxtrax/index.html Black Box], a highly detailed discography of the label |
* [http://mywebpages.comcast.net/sborst20/waxtrax/index.html Black Box], a highly detailed discography of the label |
||
{{Authority control}} |
|||
[[Category:Record labels established in 1978]] |
[[Category:Record labels established in 1978]] |
||
Line 102: | Line 103: | ||
[[Category:American companies established in 1978]] |
[[Category:American companies established in 1978]] |
||
[[Category:American companies disestablished in 1992]] |
[[Category:American companies disestablished in 1992]] |
||
[[Category:Record labels based in Illinois]] |
Wax Trax! Records | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Founder | Jim Nash Dannie Flesher |
Genre |
|
Country of origin | United States |
Location | Chicago |
Official website | www |
Wax Trax! Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago. It began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado, opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that year, they opened a store under the same name in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.[2] During the 1980s and 1990s, the accompanying record label became a strong presence on the industrial music scene as well as the punk rock scene in Chicago, and an outlet for European bands. The label was purchased by TVT Records in 1992 and was discontinued in 2001. In 2014, it was re-established by Julia Nash, daughter of co-founder Jim Nash.
Richard Giraldi of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "As important as Chess Records was to blues and soul music, Chicago's Wax Trax imprint was just as significant to the punk rock, new wave and industrial genres."[3] According to critic Greg Kot, the legacy of Wax Trax is trusting the artist.[4]
The record store became a record label slowly at first, initially releasing limited edition records such as Brian Eno's “Wimoweh”/“Deadly Seven Finns” seven inch.[5][6] The first official Wax Trax! release was Strike Under's Immediate Action twelve inch EP in 1980,[7][8] followed by Divine's Born To Be Cheap seven inch. But it was the release of Cold LifebyMinistry in 1981—along with the licensing of Front 242's Endless Riddance EP—that set the stage for Wax Trax! to become America's preeminent industrial label of the 1980s and 1990s.
Among the most noteworthy artists released by Wax Trax! were Minimal Compact (Next One Is Real), Front 242 (including Jean-Luc De Meyer side project C-Tec), KMFDM, PIG, VNV Nation, Underworld, Meat Beat Manifesto, Front Line Assembly, Young Gods, Sister Machine Gun, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Coil, Chris & Cosey, Chris Connelly, Die Warzau, In the Nursery, Controlled Bleeding, The KLF, Braindead Soundmachine, Cubanate and Laibach. The label also released a bevy of side projects by Al Jourgensen and Paul BarkerofMinistry, including Revolting Cocks, Acid Horse (a collaboration with Cabaret Voltaire), Pailhead (a collaboration with Ian MackayeofMinor Threat), PTP (short for "Programming The Psychodrill"), Lead into Gold (a solo vehicle for Barker), and 1000 Homo DJs.
Nash and Flesher licensed a number of recordings from Play It Again SamofBelgium, and eventually opened a North American office for the label (dubbed Play It Again Sam Records U.S.A.) as a division of Wax Trax!. Play It Again Sam, in turn, oversaw the operation of Wax Trax! Europe, although it closed abruptly when the relationship between the labels ended acrimoniously in the early 1990s. Play It Again Sam U.S.A. was subsequently absorbed by Caroline Records.
Following a bankruptcy filing, Wax Trax! was bought by New York–based TVT Records in 1992, with Nash and Flesher retaining creative control of the label. TVT continued to use the Wax Trax! imprint for years, even after Nash's death from AIDS-related complications on October 10, 1995.[9][10][11]
In 1994 TVT released Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years under the Wax Trax! label. It was a 3-CD box set compilation of the label's biggest hits. However, due to licensing issues stemming from the label's bankruptcy, the set did not contain any material by Front 242, even though the band's single "Headhunter" had been the label's best-selling record to date. A video compilation of the same name was also released, containing music videos by label artists (and likewise omitting Front 242's "Headhunter" video.)
TVT closed the label's doors in 2001, with the final Wax Trax! imprint appearing on KMFDM's Beat By Beat By Beat DVD.[12] Dannie Flesher retired from the music business and subsequently died of pneumonia on Sunday, January 10, 2010, in Hope, Arkansas. He was 58.[13] Julia Nash owns and maintains the website titled "WaxTraxChicago.com: The Official Family Site dedicated to the memory of Jim Nash / Dannie Flesher and the History of & Wax Trax! Records."[14]
In January 2011, the label announced "Wax Trax! Records Retrospectacle Comes to Metro."[15] The Retrospectacle was the 33 & 1/3 year Wax Trax! Records Anniversary commemorative concert with proceeds that benefited the non-profit "Center on Halsted;" hosted by "The Nash Group 2449 (The Nash family and friends including Metro Chicago's owner Joe Shanahan)" on April 15, 16 and 17th, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois; with performances by former Wax Trax! Artists: Front 242, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult; Luc van Acker, Paul Barker, and Chris Connelly formerly of Revolting Cocks with special guest Jamie Duffy; and En Esch, Günter Schulz, Raymond Watts formerly of KMFDM; additional artists included Rights of the Accused, as well as Chicago DJ's and VJ's.[14][16]
Notably not included in the event were Ministry's Al Jourgensen and KMFDM's Sascha Konietzko, who issued a joint statement, saying:
"Jourgensen was never asked to participate, and Sascha Konietzko's (and KMFDM's) desire to participate and perform was declined by the event organizers. However, while we are both in no way associated with this event, we want to make it clear that we do support the good works of the charity involved and honor the memory of Wax Trax! founders Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher."[17]
In June 2014, Jim Nash's daughter Julia Nash re-established Wax Trax! Records with the release of a 12-inch single from Cocksure. This was followed shortly afterward with the release of a 7-inch single for Front 242 to mark the band's 30th anniversary in the US.
This was accompanied by a pop-up store at the Metro Chicago music venue on June 15, 2014.
In 2016 Julia Nash began work on directing and producing a documentary about the history and impact of her father and his partner's independent store and label. The film, titled INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT: The Story of Wax Trax! Records, won numerous awards and international acclaim during the 2018 festival circuit.[18]
After seeing the documentary, Vans became an executive producer on the project to help make the film commercially available. In 2019, Vans sponsored in coordination with Record Store Day, a six city North American tour to promote the film. The tour included showcasing the Wax Trax! band Ministry with an early era set.