Wax Trax! Records co-founder Dannie Flesher passed away from complications from pneumonia this past week. He was 57.Flesher, along with longtime partner Jim Nash (who passed away in 1995), founded Wax Trax! in the early 80's to release some of their favorite musics. Years later, this label experienced international success, and brought predominantly electronic and post-industrial acts like Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Thrill Kill Kult, Meat Beat Manifesto, Coil, Front Line Assembly, Psychic TV, KMFDM, Pig, Front 242, Chris Connelly, Controlled Bleeding, the Young Gods, Pankow, Laibach, Greater Than One, In The Nursery, Foetus, and countless others to the ears of listeners across the United States and beyond. Their influence has been heavy on such followers as Nine Inch Nails, who used the Wax Trax! sound and scene to springboard to major rock success.
Wax Trax! was the centerpiece of my teenage years, supplying the post-apocalyptic soundtrack to my angsty life, and it's something I'm proud of and will always appreciate. I spent a load of money ordering the latest Wax Trax! releases back in the pre-internet days, and I owe a large part of my musical education to Jim and Dannie's Wax Trax! legacy. May he (and Jim) rest in peace.
“Dannie was a good friend. He was a true visionary and he will be sorely missed by us and all the other artists whose lives he impacted.” -- Al Jourgensen
More info can be found here, with a more thorough eulogy by Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune:
Chicago Tribune article
And a fairly complete and exhaustive discography of Wax Trax! can be found here:
Wax Trax! @ discogs.com
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