To understand the overwhelming importance of Wax Trax! in Chicago record store history, recall the depressing retail landscape of 1978. Current singles were really only available at the Ashland Avenue Sounds Good. Rose Records (now Tower) on Wabash arranged its albums by label, not artist. The Downtown Records chain had a few sealed Danny Williams cut-outs, but not much else. New wave promo LPs by Talking Heads, Richard Hell and the Dead Boys littered the Second Hand Tunes, Wax Stax and Ha Ha stores. But full-line imports, oldies and obscurities were absolutely not available anywhere. So vinyl-starved Chicagoans welcomed Wax Trax! with open wallets on the Saturday after Thanksgiving 1978.

My opening day haul included a full run of Sean Bonniwell Music Machine singles on Original Sound and Warner Brothers, six yellow vinyl Five Americans Abnak promo singles (including, of course, "Ignert Woman"), four Yma Sumac Capitol singles, "Walkin' My Baby" by the Trashmen and Lou Christie's first Roulette album with the rare alternate blue cover. I was hooked.

On a typical Friday afternoon, I would hit Wax Trax!, go straight to the 'New Arrivals' bin and wrangle for the latest singles with law students, radio DJs and assorted record hounds. Ask any Wax Trax! staffer and the advice was always the same: "Buy the twelve inch, it's really good!" Format overkill was never a concern; I'd buy the import and domestic album, the seven inch and the twelve inch singles, all in the name of 'completeness.' (Never mind that I later had to dump pitifully 'complete' collections of the suddenly unlistenable Elvis Costello, Simple Minds and Gary Numan!)

Jim and Dannie would greet customers with the breaking news ("Didja hear about Sid Vicious?") or 'the next big thing' (two-necktie-wearing Wazmo or Praxis act Ray Milland). Co-owner Mike Smyth would return from European buying trips overloaded with Lou Christie, UK Buddah 45s that he'd picked up just for me. Smyth eventually left to open the best record store in Nashville.

But Greg Pickett was my main contact at Wax Trax. Especially in the early years, Greg ordered the new releases and evaluated the used goods. Greg was by far the most serious record collector I had ever met. He owned every (and I mean EVERY) worthwhile record, new or old, single or album, American or British, major label or independent. Unlike many hard-core collectors, Greg was a kind, thoughtful and truly generous person. Greg was working the counter when Klaus Nomi visited Wax Trax! on September 16, 1980. Describing the meeting, Greg said, "Nomi had alot of flash-but there was real talent behind the flash."

A world-class Sparks fan, Greg fed me Sparks sheet music, UK Island 45s and "The Wedding Of Jacqueline Kennedy To Russell Mael" (US Island 043). Sadly Greg died in 1985 after a two-year illness. Even in the hospital he remained a record man, anxiously paging through the latest Billboard Buyer's Guide.

Carol Blank (affectionately referred to as "Punky") was another key Wax Trax! employee. Carol had a highly developed sense of fashion and a wide knowledge of English pop, blue beat and dance music. She especially liked the Jam. One afternoon in December 1982, Carol convinced me to purchase Funkapolitan's "In The Crime Of Life" single. The next morning I was shocked to learn that Carol had died.

As a tribute to "our good friend Carol who turned us on to a lot of good music," WXRT-FM's Terri Hemmert played Roxy Music's "Oh Yeah" ("Where was I / How was I to know?"). Jim & Dannie were still crying over Carol when they attended the ABC concert at the Riviera December 14th.

As the store became established, Jim & Dannie started sponsoring shows and selling (handmade) concert tickets. Wax Trax! Shows at rock dungeons like Gaspars, Mothers or Tut's, were often opened by local bands, including Tutu and the Pirates (nice toilet seat guitar), and Skafish ("Disgracing The Family Name"). Then, as now, concerts could get a bit gnarly. You'd stand for hours waiting for the terminally late main act. And when the show finally started at 3AM, some drunk guy with a swastika tattoo would dance all over everyone, "accidentally" humping a few females, stepping on feet and burning people in the back with a lit cigarette. When challenged, he'd inevitably reply, "Duh, sorry dude, you know how it is."

Wax Trax! initially favored European acts like Roxy Music, David Bowie, Eno, the Human League, Heaven 17 and even Spandau Ballet. Gradually, tastes expanded to include the free-form Slits and Pop Group ("Getting ever closer / To the new being").

Independent labels were stocked extensively: Les Temps Modernes (Minny Pops, Crispy Ambulance), 4AD (Bauhaus, Mass, Sort Sol, The The), Stiff (Desmond Dekker), 2 Tone (Specials), Tommy Boy (Planet Patrol) and Sugar Hill (Grandmaster Flash). Rare items would be strategically held back for leaner times, like a clear vinyl XTC "Life Begins At The Hop" single or the first (raised letter) pressing of OMD's "Electricicty" sleeve.

Heavily inspired by Joy Division's 'Unknown Pleasures' album in July 1979, Wax Trax! became the supreme Factory Records center of Chicago. Any Factory record by Crispy Ambulance, Section 25 or the Names was stocked in abundance and featured prominently. A custom-made 'Joy Division' neon sign glowed behind the front counter. Wax Trax! printed tickets and planned to present Joy Division at Tut's on May 27, 1980. Unfortunately lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide on May 18 and the first-ever US tour was cancelled. Curtis' suicide affected Wax Trax! staffers very deeply.

In January 1985, Wax Trax! presented Factory's Section 25 ("Looking From A Hilltop") at Cabaret Metro. The classic ad from that show was later reprinted in the CD booklet of LTM's Section 25: 'Deus Ex Machina: Archive Recordings 1983-1985' (August 1998).

Wax Trax! allegedly had some connection to the 'blue MONDAY' album (Fac-Pro-3) which boasted New Order's live version of Sparks' "When I'm With You."

The Wax Trax! Records label started quietly with limited edition singles like Eno's "Lion Sleeps Tonight." But in summer 1982, Wax Trax! Records hit Billboard's Dance / Disco Top 80 chart with Ministry's "Cold Life" / "I'm Falling" / "Prymental" twelve inch (Wax Trax! 110072 XA). From there, the sounds got darker and often harsher. Front 242, Chris Connelly, My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult and other Wax Trax! artists found national success. As the focus shifted to the Wax Trax! label, other store stock suffered. Employees and customers left. Reckless Records blew into town in 1988. And finally in mid-1993, Wax Trax! moved to Damen Avenue in Wicker Park.

But the memories still remain:
Jim & Dannie striding in like conquering heroes to Roxy Music's "Manifesto" show at the Uptown, April 6, 1979. Jim and Dannie racing back from the distributor with copies of Joy Division's just-released 'Still' album. Jim's cousin Mark cranking the anemic horns of "Shack Up" by A Certain Ratio. Greg blasting "I Predict" by Sparks. 'Wild Chicago' profiling the store. Ronnie Spector biographer Vince Waldron pleading for an Elvis Costello cardboard stand-up. 'Cool' customers not being charged sales tax. The nasal guy screaming "WAZ-mo" as we were severely wadded up in the proto-mosh pit at the Devo show at B'ginnings. An audience member at Gaspars shouting "I want to be a machine," to which Ultravox frontman John Foxx slowly replied, "I do too, actually." It was a golden time.