Wax
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Wax in 1986
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| Origin | Manchester, England |
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Wax were a new wave duo based in Manchester, England, consisting of American singer-songwriter Andrew Gold and 10cc guitarist/bassist Graham Gouldman. They are best known for their European hit singles "Bridge to Your Heart" and "Right Between the Eyes". In the US, they were listed as Wax UK, while later releases were additionally credited as Andrew Gold & Graham Gouldman.
In 1981, 10cc was working on what would become the album Ten Out of 10. Andrew Gold was invited to record with the band by Lenny Waronker, head of A&RatWarner Bros, and played keyboards and percussion on the completed album, as well as adding background vocals.[1] The U.S. release of Ten Out of 10 also featured three songs co-written by Gold: "Power of Love," "Runaway" and "We’ve Heard It All Before".[2] It led to an offer to join the band – an offer Gold declined because of other commitments.[3]
After 10cc split in 1983, Graham Gouldman persuaded Gold to visit him at his home in Mottram St Andrew, England, to write and spend some time together. Gold ended up staying for seven months. During this period, they wrote enough songs for an album. They chose World in Action as the band name and released a single, "Don't Break My Heart." Soon afterwards, they changed the name of the collaboration to Common Knowledge and later pressings of the debut single went under the new name. A second single, "Victoria", was released, but both singles failed to get any attention, and the album was shelved.[4]
Under the supervision of Harvey Lisberg, Gouldman's long-time manager, the pair started working on songs for a new album, and took the name Wax. They signed with RCA Records, and released three studio albums between 1986 and 1989.[5] The band's best known singles during that period were "Right Between the Eyes" and "Bridge to Your Heart".[6] with the latter being a European hit which was supported by European TV appearances including performances of the song on the renowned, high-profile British pop-music showcase Top of the Pops[7] and the German series Peter's Pop Show.[8]
The band's third album, A Hundred Thousand in Fresh Notes, failed to achieve the level of success of its predecessor and both Gold and Gouldman went on to continue with other ventures.[citation needed]
In the beginning of 1990, Gouldman was offered the chance to reform 10cc with Eric Stewart. They got back together to record the group's comeback album ...Meanwhile, on which Andrew Gold also appeared, adding guitar to the track "Charity Begins at Home". Andrew Gold himself re-formed Bryndle with its original members to record their self-titled debut album.
Gouldman and Stewart continued as 10cc and their next album, Mirror Mirror, also featured Gold. His contributions were backing vocals on "Grow Old with Me" and lead vocals on "Ready to Go Home", the latter co-written by Gold and Gouldman. Despite Gold not being an official member of 10cc, the band still released "Ready to Go Home" with his lead vocals.[9]
After 10cc's second split, Andrew Gold and Graham Gouldman continued to work together both as Wax and on each other's solo records. First new Wax material resulted in The Wax Files compilation album released in 1997, putting together six new songs, two previously unreleased Common Knowledge tracks, and already released material from the 1980s.[10]
In 1998, their Common Knowledge album was finally released as Common Knowledge.com, with several new tracks, under the Wax name.
A collection of out-takes and rarities, Bikini, was released in 2000.[6][11]
Andrew Gold died in 2011.
A live album was released in 2019 featuring a 1987 concert.[12][13]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [14] |
AUS [15] |
GER [16] |
NLD [17] |
SWE [18] |
US [19] | ||
| Magnetic Heaven |
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— | — | 65 | — | 47 | 101 |
| American English |
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59 | 86 | — | 41 | 8 | — |
| A Hundred Thousand in Fresh Notes |
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— | — | — | — | — | — |
| Common Knowledge.com |
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— | — | — | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||
| Title | Album details |
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| Live in Concert 1987 |
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| Title | Album details |
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| Works: Best of Andrew Gold & Graham Gouldman |
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| The Wax Files |
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| Bikini |
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| Title | Album details |
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| Box of Wax[20] |
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| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [14] |
AUS [15] |
BEL [21] |
GER [16] |
IRE [22] |
NLD [17] |
SPA [23] |
SWE [18] |
US [24] | |||
| 1984 | "Don't Break My Heart" (as World in Action / Common Knowledge) |
137[25] | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | common knowledge.com |
| 1985 | "Victoria" (as Common Knowledge) |
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| "Ball and Chain" | – | 89 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Magnetic Heaven | |
| 1986 | "Right Between the Eyes" | 60 | 68 | 18 | – | 28 | 24 | 1 | – | 43 | |
| "Shadows of Love" | 151[26] | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| "Systematic" | 155[27] | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1987 | "Bridge to Your Heart" | 12 | 17 | 3 | 19 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 9 | – | American English |
| "American English" | – | – | 29 | – | – | 96 | – | – | – | ||
| 1988 | "In Some Other World" | – | – | 37 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 1989 | "Wherever You Are" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | A Hundred Thousand in Fresh Notes |
| "Anchors Aweigh" | 95 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2022 | "Ready to Go Home"[28] | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Non-album single |
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||||||
| Year | Song | Director(s) | Album |
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| 1984 | "Don't Break My Heart" | Common Knowledge.com | |
| 1985 | "Ball and Chain" | Magnetic Heaven | |
| 1986 | "Shadows of Love" | John Scarlett-Davis | |
| "Shadows of Love (North American version)" | Storm Thorgerson | ||
| "Right Between the Eyes" | |||
| 1987 | "Bridge to Your Heart" | Storm Thorgerson | American English |
| "American English" | Storm Thorgerson | ||
| "In Some Other World" | Storm Thorgerson | ||
| 1989 | "Wherever You Are" | A Hundred Thousand in Fresh Notes | |
| "Anchors Aweigh" |
| Year | Release | Artist | Notes |
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| 1981 | Ten Out of 10 | 10cc | Andrew Gold co-wrote, co-produced and performed on "The Power of Love", "We've Heard It All Before" and "Run Away" |
| 1992 | ...Meanwhile | Andrew Gold plays 12 string guitar on "Charity Begins at Home" | |
| 1995 | Mirror Mirror | Andrew Gold performs lead vocal on "Ready To Go Home" and backing vocals on "Grow Old With Me" | |
| 1996 | ...Since 1951 | Andrew Gold | Most of the tracks on the album co-written and performed with Graham Gouldman. "Ready To Go Home" is taken from 10cc album Mirror Mirror, "Can Anybody See You" and "Baby's Got A Gun" would later appear on The Wax Files, while "First Time In Love" would later appear on Common Knowledge.com. "The King of Showbiz" is Andrew Gold's solo recording of the Common Knowledge.com track |
| 1997 | Thank You for Being a Friend: The Best of Andrew Gold | The album includes "Can Anybody See You" and "The King of Showbiz" from ...Since 1951 | |
| Greetings From Planet Love | The Fraternal Order of the All | The song "Love Tonight" is written by Andrew Gold, Graham Gouldman and Mike Botts. The album also includes "The King of Showbiz" that would later appear on Common Knowledge.com | |
| 1998 | Leftovers | Andrew Gold | 1989 song "Tail Lights" written by Andrew Gold and Graham Gouldman |
| 2000 | And Another Thing... | Graham Gouldman | Andrew Gold performed on and co-produced six songs with Gouldman |
| 2011 | The Essential Collection | Andrew Gold | Andrew Gold's best of compilation includes several Wax tracks |
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