Wax Trax! Records

Wax Trax! Records was a record label in the United States. Wax Trax! began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado opened by Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher. They sold the store in 1978 and, in November of that year, opened a new one under the same name at 2449 North Lincoln Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. This store would become the center of the New Wave, punk rock and industrial music scenes in Chicago.

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[1]. The first official Wax Trax! release[2] was Strike Under's Immediate Action twelve inch EP in 1980[3], followed by Divine's Born To Be Cheap seven inch. But it was the release of Cold Life by 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 and dance label of the 1980s and 1990s.

Nash and Flesher licensed a number of recordings from Play It Again Sam of Belgium, 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 late 1990. Play It Again Sam U.S.A. was subsequently absorbed by Caroline Records.