Wax Museum Radio
Next broadcast July 18th Friday Night at midnight and Saturday night at 10pm on WRGG.
Hear Today In Rock and Roll History
Today In R&R History July 17th
Daily Rock and Roll History, Birthday and short music clips.
A year long, day by day look back at this date in Rock History in 3-5 minute segments. Now airing WRGG in Greencastle, PA.
Rock and Roll Birthdays
July 17th
- July 17th Birthday, Guitarist Spencer Davis, born in 1937 in Swansea, Wales. He died on October 19th, 2020, aged 81.
- July 17th Birthday, The Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton, born in Washington, DC in 1948. He died on January 1st, 2009 of a heart attack, aged 60.
- July 17th Birthday, Sweet drummer Mick Tucker, born in 1948 in Middlesex, England. He died on February 14th, 2002 of leukemia, aged 54.
- July 17th Birthday, Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, born Terry Butler in Birmingham, England in 1949.
- July 17th Birthday, Singer, songwriter Phoebe Snow, born Phoebe Laub in 1952 in New York City. She passed away on April 26th, 2011 from complications following a stroke at the age of 60.
- July 17th Birthday, Singer and part-time actress Nicolette Larson, born in 1952 in Helena, Montana. She died on December 16th, 1997, of cerebral edema, aged 45.
- July 17th Birthday, The Pixies and The Pandoras guitarist Kim Stattuck, born in Burbank, California in 1963. She passed away from ALS on October 2nd, 2019 at the age of 56.
Today In Rock and Roll History
July 17th
- July 17th, 1962 Tamla Motown Records release Mary Wells “You Beat Me To The Punch.” Backed by The Love-tones, the song was co-written and produced by The Miracles’ Smokey Robinson and Ronnie White with instrumentation by Motown house band The Funk Brothers. The song peaked at No. 9 on the Pop Singles charts on September 22ndand was Wells first No. 1 R&B hit.
- July 17th, 1962 RCA Victor Records release “She’s Not You” backed with “Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello” by Elvis Presley and The Jordainaires on 45. “She’s Not You” was co-written by Doc Pomus, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, while the B-side was a Leiber-Stoller composition. The record peaked at No. 5 on September 8th.
- July 17th, 1963 The Beatles record a BBC Radio session at Playhouse Theatre, St John’s Rd, Hulme, Manchester, Lancashire for the BBC Light Programme show Easy Beat from 8:45–9:45pm before a live audience, for broadcast on July 21st, 1963. Songs performed that night were “I Saw Her Standing There” co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, “A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues” written by Terry Thompson, “There’s A Place” co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and “Twist And Shout” co-written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns.
- July 17th, 1963 Marvin Gaye records “Can I Get A Witness” at Hitsville USA Studios in Detroit with producers Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. The song was co-written by the pair with Eddie Holland and released on Tamla Records on September 20th. Eddie Holland had gone over the vocal with Marvin Gaye once in the studio and Gaye then laid down his lead vocal in one take. Funk Brothers pianist Earl Van Dyke played the lead break in the song with members of The Supremes and Holland-Dozier-Holland singing the backing vocals. The record peaked at No. 22 on December 28th. The single’s B-side charted as well. “I’m Crazy ‘Bout My Baby,” written and produced by William “Mickey” Stevenson, peaked at No. 77 on November 2nd.
- July 17th, 1967 Gordy Records release the “With A Lot O Soul” LP by The Temptations. The album featured four hits, “(Loneliness Made Me Realize) It’s You That I Need,” “All I Need,” “You’re My Everything” and “(I Know) I’m Losing You.” The record peaked at No. 7 on September 30th.
- July 17th, 1967 Motown Records release “Reach Out” by the Four Tops. The album features six of the group’s Top Ten singles, “Bernadette,” “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” “Standing In The Shadows Of Love,” “7 Rooms Of Gloom,” “If I Were A Carpenter” and “Walk Away Renee.” The record peaked at No. 11 on September 16th.
- July 17th, 1968 The Beatles’ animated film The Yellow Submarine premiers in London with all four members of the band in attendance.
- July 17th, 1970 Yes begin The Yes Album tour at London’s Lyceum Ballroom with new guitarist Steve Howe.
- July 17th, 1971 “I Ain’t Got Time Anymore” by The Glass Bottle enters the singles charts on Avco Records. Co-written by Mike Leander and Eddie Seago, the track was released as the B-side of the song “Things.” The band was co-produced by Dickie Goodman. Goodman had an advertising deal with a PR firm that was trying to save the glass industry from losing soda pop clients to plastic bottles, so Goodman and co-producer Bill Ramal formed a group, called them “The Glass Bottle” and produced their album. “I Ain’t Got Time Anymore” peaked at No. 36 on September 25th.
- July 17th, 1971 “Reason To Believe” by Rod Stewart enters the singles charts on Mercury Records. Released from his self-produced “Every Picture Tells A Story” album, the song was written by Tim Hardin. The single reached No. 62 in the US before its’ B-side, “Maggie May” caught fire and began a five-week run at the No. 1 spot on the singles charts October 2nd. Simultaneously topping the record charts in Britain, Australia and Canada, at the same time Rod’s LP “Every Picture Tells A Story” hit No. 1 on the album charts. Maggie May” was co-written by Rod Stewart and guitarist Martin Quinttenton with Stewart himself producing. “Maggie May” was recorded in two takes and originally released as the B-side of “Reason To Believe.”
- July 17th, 1971 Hot Wax Records release “Stick Up” by Honey Cone on 45 as the follow-up to the No. 1 single, “Want Ads.” The song was co-produced by General Johnson, the singer from Chairman Of The Board and Greg Perry, producer and keyboard player for the Hot Wax/Invictus record labels. The two co-wrote the song with R&B singer Angelo Bond. “Stick Up” peaked at No. 11 on September 18th.
- July 17th, 1971 Track Records release “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who on 45. Early sessions for the track were in March in New York City but the band rerecorded the song in April back in England at Mick Jagger’s house in Stargroves. Utilizing songwriter Pete Townshend’s synthesizer demos, the eight minute plus album version was edited to three minutes and thirty-six seconds for the single release. The track was co-produced by Chris Stamp, Kit Lambert and Track Records owner Pete Kameron. The record went to No. 9 in England; No. 15 in the US, on September 18th.
- July 17th, 1971 “Mother Freedom” by Bread enters the singles charts following a June release on Elektra Records. Written and produced by David Gates, “Mother Freedom” went to No. 37 on August 21st.
- July 17th, 1971 “Indian Summer” by British band Audience enters the singles charts following a May release on Elektra Records. Co-written by group guitarist, singer Howard Werth and bassist Trevor Williams, the record was produced by Gus Dudgeon. The single reached No. 74 on August 14th.
- July 17th, 1971 “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers enters the Pop Singles charts following a June release on Sussex Records. Written by Bill Withers, the track was initially issued as the B-side of the Withers song “Harlem.” Both songs were produced and arranged in Memphis by Booker T Jones. “Ain’t No Sunshine” featured The MG’s Donald “Duck” Dunn on bass, Al Jackson on drums and Stephen Stills on guitar with studio engineer Terry Manning. The first of three Gold Records by Bill Withers, the recording won a Grammy in 1972 for Best R&B Vocal and peaked at No. 3 on September 18th, No. 6 R&B.
- July 17th, 1972 Atlantic Records release a single edit of the song “America” by Yes on 45. Recorded in February the track was a cover of the Paul Simon song that had otherwise only been issued on an Atlantic Records compilation album. The record peaked at No. 46 on September 9th.
- July 17th, 1973 Columbia Records release “Loves Me Like A Rock” by Paul Simon on 45. The recording features background vocals from the Southern black gospel group Dixie Hummingbirds, who later recorded their own version of the tune. Production credits on the track include Paul Simon, The Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section and Phil Ramone. With sales of over a million copies, the single was awarded a Gold Record in the US, peaking at No. 2 on October 6th.
- July 17th, 1974 The Moody Blues opened Threshold Studios in Cobham, Surrey, England, the first commercial recording studio designed for quadraphonic recording.
- July 17th, 1976 Atco Records release “2nd Street,” the second album by Back Street Crawler and the last to feature guitarist Paul Kossoff, who died that March.
- June 17th, 1977 Warner Brothers Records in Britain release “The Stroll,” the first single credited to Roy Wood’s Wizzo. The song was written and produced by Roy Wood. Recorded at De Lane Lea Studios in London, Wizzo was a one-off jazz/rock project put together by Roy Wood. The band split up after one LP.
- July 17th, 1981 Some Bizarre Records in Britain release the Soft Cell single “Tainted Love.” The song was written by former Four Preps bassist Ed Cobb and originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964. Producer Mike Thorne took Soft Cell into London’s Advision Studios to record the track. Issued in November in the US, where the single charted for forty-three weeks and peaked at No. 8 on July 17th, 1982, a year after it came out in the UK. An extended version was released that incorporated The Supremes’ song “Where Did Our Love Go” as a medley with “Tainted Love.”
- July 17th, 1982 Barking Pumpkin Records release “Valley Girl” by Frank and Moon Zappa on 45. Radio station KROQ-FM in Los Angeles obtained an acetate disc before its’ official release and added it to their on-air rotation. Stations around the country began playing it and the single became rank Zappa’s only Top Forty hit in the US. Co-written by the pair and produced by Frank Zappa, the record peaked at No. 32 on September 11th.
- July 17th, 1987 Virgin Records signed Keith Richards to a solo record contract.
- July 17th, 1989 Parlophone Records release “This One” backed with “The First Stone” by Paul McCartney on 45. “This One” was written by Paul McCartney. “The First Stone” was a non-LP B-side co-written by McCartney and Hamish Stuart. Both songs were produced and arranged by Paul McCartney. Capitol Records in the US issued “This One” as a promo-only disc on July 26th.
- July 17th, 2001 Rhino Records release the “Buffalo Springfield” box set. With tracks assembled by Neil Young, the four-disc set took a chronological approach for the track listing and featured a number of previously unreleased songwriting demos. The set peaked at No. 194 on August 4th.
Miscellaneous July
- July 1959, Chess Records release “Go Bo Diddley,” the second album by Bo Diddley.
- July 1959, Chess Records release “Berry Is On Top” by Chuck Berry. Other than the song “Blues For Hawaiians,” the record was a collection of previously issued singles with nine hit 45’s.
- July 1964 Nashville label RIC Records release “Beach Walkin’” backed with “Banzai Washout,” the first single by California band The Catalinas on 45. Both songs were written by Los Angeles session musician and record producer Steve Douglas. Future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston and Wrecking Crew alumni Hal Blaine, Bill Pitman, Billy Strange, Leon Russell and others were part of the studio band.
- July 1965 Fantasy Records release “You Can’t Be True” backed with “You Got Nothin’ On Me,” the third single by The Golliwogs. Both sides were co-written by Tom and John Fogerty, using the names Rann Wild and Toby Green. The Golliwogs renamed themselves Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1967.
- July 1967, Elektra Records release “The 5,000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion” by The Incredible String Band in England. Recorded at Sound Techniques in Chelsea, London with producer Joe Boyd, it was the group’s second album, regrouped as a duo following their first album in 1966. “The 5,000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion” went to No. 25 in Britain. The LP came out in America in January 1968.
- July 1969, Douglas Records release “Devotion,” the second album by John McLaughlin. There are conflicting dates attributed to the release. Some say May some July and others say September. The record was recorded while McLaughlin was a member of Tony Williams Lifetime, using a backing band of organist Larry Young, bassist Billy Rich and Buddy Miles. The album did not chart in the US.
- July 1970 Capitol Records release the self-titled debut album by British jazz-rock band “If.” The album reached No. 187 in the US.
- July 1974, Casablanca Records release “Strutter,” the third single by Kiss. The song was co-written by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. The track was co-produced by Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise, taken from Kiss’ self-titled first album.
- July 1975, RCA Records release “Why Do Fools Fall In Love,” the second single by Bruce Johnston, Gary Usher and Terry Melcher’s California Music. The song was credited to Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy. The song was originally a hit for Lymon and The Teenagers in 1956.
- July 1976 Oyster Records release “Child In Time” by the Ian Gillan Band. It was the first solo album by former Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan. The group featured keyboardist Mike Moran, guitarist Ray Fenwick and bassist John Gustafson. The LP was produced by Purple’s Roger Glover at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany in December 1975 through January 1976. The album reached No. 55 in England.
- July 1976 Atco Records release “Viva! Roxy Music,” a live album by Roxy Music, six months in advance of its British release date in February 1977. The recordings were taped at the Glasgow Apollo in November 1973, Newcastle City Hall in October 1974 and the Wembley Empire Pool in October 1975. “Viva! Roxy Music” was produced by Chris Thomas. The same month, Island Records in Britain release a new four-song EP by Bryan Ferry, “Price Of Love” and “Shame Shame Shame” backed with “Heart On My Sleeve” and “It’s Only Love.” Island issued “Price Of Love” as a single in August.
- July 1981 A&M Records in America release “Iris” by Split Enz on 45. The track came from the band’s “Waiata” album, produced by David Tickle.
- July 1983 Virgin Records release “Wonderland” by XTC on 45 in England. Written by Colin Moulding, the session was co-produced by XTC and Steve Nye. It was the only single from the group’s “Mummer” LP to be released in the US, in February 1984.
- July 1984 A&M Records in the US release “Message To My Girl” by Split Enz on 45 from the LP “Conflicting Emotions.” The song was written by Neil Finn, co-produced by Hugh Padgham and Eddie Rayner.
- July 1987 Jet Records release “1, 2, 3” backed with “O What A Shame” by Roy Wood on 45. The A-side was a cover version of the Len Barry hit from 1967, co-written by J Madaea, D White and L Bonsoff. The B-side was written by Roy Wood. Both tracks were produced by Roy Wood.
- July 1987 Virgin Records release “You’re A Good Man Albert Brown (Curse You Red Barrel)” by The Dukes Of Stratosphere on 45. The band were XTC with guitarist Dave Gregory’s brother Ian on drums. The song was written by Andy Partridge and credited to Sir John Johns. The record was co-produced by the band and John Leckie.
- July 1990 Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay release “Christmas ; MacKay and Manzanera featuring The Players” on Ryko Records. Album is a collection of Christmas songs by Andy MacKay and Phil Manzanera from Roxy Music.
- July 1991 Demon Records in Britain release the soundtrack to the British TV series “G.B.H.” It was the first of two collaborations between Elvis Costello and English composer, musician and member of progressive rock band Gryphon, Richard Harvey.
- July 1994 Warner Brothers Records in Britain release “You Tripped At Every Step” by Elvis Costello and The Attractions on 45, the third single released from the band’s “Brutal Youth” LP. The song was written by Costello, who co-produced the track with Mitchell Froom.
This Week In Rock and Roll History
This Week In Rock and Roll History week of July 12th
This Week In Rock and Roll History is a weekly one hour look back at the songs, the artists, and the stories behind the music of the rock and roll era.
The Cool Song Of The Week
Cool Song Of The Week 7/12 Billy Preston
Cool songs from the Rock and Roll Era, Closet Classics and more.
Craig Maher / Exo-X-Xeno Wax Museum Interview
Craig Maher from Exo-X-Xeno talking about the 2025 album "Luminous Voyage"
- Click picture to listen to the interview with Craig talking about the Exo-X-Xeno project with Yes members Billy Sherwood, Jay Shellen and Patrick Moraz.
Nektar Wax Museum interview 4/11/25
Nektar interviewed on the second night of the 2025 "Mission To Mars" Tour
- Click image to hear the exclusive the Wax Museum interview with Nektar discussiing the current tour, future plans and group history.
The Paul Bielatowicz Band Wax Museum interview 4/11/25
The Paul Bielatowicz Band interviewed on their 2025 Spring Tour
- Click image to hear the exclusive the Wax Museum interview with The Paul Bielatowicz Band discussiing the current tour and future plans.
Music and conversation with Andy Tillison of The Tangent
Wax Museum interview May 2024
- Click image to hear The Wax Museum's Andy Tillison interview
Jonas Reingold Interview
Jonas Reingold in The Wax Museum
Click image to hear the Wax Museum Interview with Jonas Reingold
Carl Giammarese / The Buckinghams Interview
The Buckinghams Radio Show
Click image to hear Chris Palladino's interviews on WRGG with Carl Giammarese from The Buckinghams in 2022 and 2024
Robert Fripp Radio Oz interview 7/25/85
King Crimson guitarist Radio Oz interview
- Click Fripp's image to hear the King Crimson guitarist, record producer, solo artist in this 1985 interview for the WARX Sunday night Radio Oz program. Fripp discusses his then current Guitar Craft courses, King Crimson stories, his start in the music business, and more.
Annie Haslam 2019 Wax Museum interview
Annie Haslam "In Words and Music"
- Click picture to hear Annie Haslam "In Words and Music". The iconic Renaissance singer talks at length about music, her life, and artwork for an exclusive interview in The Wax Museum.
Tommy James Wax Museum Interview January 2019
Tommy James
- Click picture to hear Tommy promoting all his planned 2019 activities; new album, Sirius XM radio show, touring, new movie, etc.
From the Radio Oz interview archives
Firesign Theatre interview 1980
- Click picture to listen to this archival interview with The Firesign Theatre recorded during their 1980 Fighting Clowns tour of the US for Radio Oz now available for purchase in the Firesign Theatre's "Fighting Clowns" of Hollywood" collection! Also check out this Tiny Ossman interview from 1995 -
Woody Lissauer Wax Museum Interview 2/22/20
Baltimore based Woody Lissauer steps up to the Wax Museum microphones for this in depth interview!
- Click picture to listen to the Wax Museum interview with Woody Lissauer and his latest album "Trouble The Water" with Barbara Ireland and Steve Caplan.
