Wax Museum Radio
Next broadcast January 24th Friday Night at midnight and Saturday night at 10pm on WRGG.
Hear Today In Rock and Roll History
Today In R&R History January 19th
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, weekday mornings on KSRQ in Three River Falls, Minnesota, KIYU in Galena, Alaska
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.
Rock and Roll Birthdays
January 19th
- January 19th Birthday, Electric blues singer and harmonica player Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, born Willie Lee Smith in 1936 in Helena, Arkansas. He died on September 16th, 2011 at the age of 75.
- January 19th Birthday, Singer, songwriter, along with brother Don, half of The Everly Brothers, Phil Everly, born in 1939 in Chicago, Illinois. He died on January 3rd, 2014, aged 74.
- January 19th Birthday, Drummer Joe Butler from The Lovin’ Spoonful, born in 1941 in Long Island, New York.
- January 19th Birthday, Big Brother and The Holding Company vocalist and solo artist Janis Joplin, born in 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas. She died on October 4th, 1970, aged 27.
- January 19th Birthday, Original Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans born in Eton, Buckinghamshire, England in 1947.
- January 19th Birthday, Powerstation and Vinegar Joe singer and solo artist Robert Palmer, born in 1949 in Batley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He died of a heart attack on September 26th, 2003, aged 54.
- January 19th Birthday, The Motels singer Martha Davis, born in Berkeley, California in 1951.
- January 19th Birthday, Dewey Bunnell from the band America, born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England in 1952.
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.
Today In Rock and Roll History
January 19th
- January 19th, 1961 Chuck Berry records “I’m Talking About You” with Leonard and Phil Chess producing. On the recording with Berry were Ellis “Lafayette” Leake, Reggie Boyd and Phil Thomas. The track was released on 45 by Chess Records on February 13th, backed with “Little Star.” “Little Star” was recorded a year earlier, February 15th, 1960, again with the Chess brothers producing. Both sides of the single were written by Chuck Berry.
- January 19th, 1963 The Beatles made their first national TV appearance in the UK on Thank Your Lucky Stars performing “Please Please Me.”
- January 19th, 1966 Columbia Records release Simon and Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound.” Paul Simon wrote the song while touring England as a solo act in early 1964. The track was recorded December 14th, 1965 with producer Bob Johnston. The record entered the singles charts in February and went to No. 5 on March 26th.
- January 19th, 1966 Liberty Records release “Batman” by Jan and Dean on 45. The song was co-written by Don Altfeld, Fred Wieder and the record’s producer Jan Berry. The record peaked at No. 66 on March 5th.
- January 19th, 1967 The Monkees were at the top of the British singles chart with “I’m A Believer,” The Monkees’ only No. 1 hit in the UK.
- January 19th, 1967 The Beatles begin recording basic tracks for “A Day In The Life” at EMI Studios in London with producer George Martin. John Lennon sang and played acoustic guitar; Paul McCartney played piano; George Harrison played maracas and Ringo Starr played congas. After more work on the track on January 20thand February 3rd, the forty-piece orchestral sections of the track were taped on February 10th with Paul McCartney conducting. Friends of The Beatles in attendance by invitation were Mike Nesmith, Marianne Faithful, Donovan and Graham Nash. John, Paul, Ringo and road manager Mal Evans played the final E major chord of the song on three different pianos on February 22nd.
- January 19th, 1967 Pink Floyd and Marmalade played at The Marquee Club, London, England. Marmalade went on to score a No. 1 UK hit the following year with their version of The Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.”
- January 19th, 1968 Columbia Records release “Too Much Talk” by Paul Revere and The Raiders featuring Mark Lindsey. Written, produced and arranged by Lindsey, the track was issued from the band’s “Something Happening” LP. The record entered the singles charts in February and peaked at No. 19 on March 16th.
- January 19th, 1968 Track Records in Britain release the debut single by “Follow Me” backed with “Here I Come Again” by The Eire Apparent. The record was produced by Chas Chandler. The band included future Wings and Grease Band guitarist Henry McCullough. The A-side was co-written by Mickey Keen, Neil Landon and Robin Shaw. The single B-side was co-written by band members Chris Stewart, David Lutton, Ernie Graham and Henry McCullough.
- January 19th, 1968 Pye Records in Britain issue “Back On My Feet Again,” the second single by The Foundations. A February 2nd release date followed on UNI Records in the US. “Back On My Feet Again” was co-written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod. The song was chosen to follow The Foundations big hit “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You.” The single charted at No. 18 in Britain, entered the US charts in March and reached No. 59 on April 6th.
- January 19th, 1970 Reprise Records release “John B. Sebastian,” the first solo album by former Lovin’ Spoonful front man John Sebastian. The Spoonful’s record label, MGM, claimed ownership of the album and issued the record with different cover art. When the lawsuit dust settled, MGM’s version was withdrawn. Sessions for the record were produced by Paul A. Rothchild and featured David Crosby, Graham Nash and Stephen Stills, months before the trio officially became a band. It was the biggest selling solo album of Sebatian’s career, peaking at No. 20 on April 25th.
- January 19th, 1970 The Who record “The Seeker” at IBC Studios in London, England with Nicky Hopkins on piano, their first recordings after the “Tommy” LP sessions. Written by guitarist Pete Townshend, the song was released on the 21st of March 1970 in Britain as a stand-alone single and went to No. 19 on the British singles charts. In America “The Seeker” entered the charts in April and peaked at No. 44 on May 23rd.
- January 19th, 1973 Epic Records release “Magic Woman Touch” by The Hollies on 45. The song was co-written by Colin Horton-Jennings and Garth Watt-Roy for their British progressive rock band The Greatest Show On Earth, in 1970. The Hollies version entered the charts in February beginning a six-week run that peaked at No. 60 on March 17th.
- January 19th, 1973 Threshold Records in Britain release “I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock and Roll Band)” by The Moody Blues. In America, the record entered the charts on February 3rd following a December 1972 release. Written by band bassist John Lodge, it was the second 45 released from The Moodie’s “Seventh Sojourn” album and went to No. 12 in the US on March 17th, No. 36 in England.
- January 19th, 1973 Columbia Records release “Sweet Jane,” a cover of the Lou Reed original, by Mott The Hoople on 45. The song was produced by David Bowie from the band’s “All The Young Dudes” LP.
- January 19th, 1974 Black Oak Arkansas appeared at Kent State University, Kent Ohio. The support act was Bruce Springsteen. Tickets cost four dollars to get in.
- January 19th, 1974 “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo,” the debut solo single by Rick Derringer enters the singles charts. Derringer wrote the song and first recorded and released it while a member of Johnny Winter’s band “And.” Derringer plays guitar, bass, tambourine and sings the lead vocal, with Bobby Caldwell on drums. Produced by Bill Szymczyk, “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo” became Rick Derringer’s only Top Forty hit as a solo artist, reaching No. 23 on March 23rd.
- January 19th, 1974 “Bachman-Turner Overdrive II,” the second studio album by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, enters the album charts following a December 1973 release on Mercury Records. Released on singles from the album, “Let It Ride” hit No. 23 and “Takin’ Care Of Business” went to No. 12. “BTO II” reached No. 4 on the album charts on August 31st.
- January 19th, 1978 TK Records release “Boogie Shoes” by KC and The Sunshine Band on 45. The song was co-written and produced by KC under his real name Howard Wayne Casey and Richard Finch. Originally issued as the B-side to the band’s hit “Shake Your Booty,” the song was reissued as a 45 A-side after it appeared on the Saturday Night Feversoundtrack album. The record peaked at No. 35 on April 4th.
- January 19th, 1979 DiscReet Records release “Sleep Dirt,” an LP of material Zappa recorded in 1974 and 1976 at The Record Plant in Los Angeles and Caribou Studios in Nederland, Colorado. Produced by Zappa for a larger project called “Lather,” the tracks from the unreleased “Lather” project were issued on the separate albums “Zappa Live In New York,” “Studio Tan,” “Sleep Dirt” and the forthcoming “Orchestral Favorites” album. Later reissues of “Sleep Dirt” featured new vocal and drum overdubs that were not on the 1979 release. Among the session musicians on the tracks were Patrick O’
- Hearn, Terry Bozzio, George Duke, Bruce Fowler, Chester Thompson, Ruth Underwood and Chad Wackerman. The album peaked at No. 175 on February 24th.
- January 19th, 1980 “Brass In Pocket (I’m Special)” gave the Pretenders their first UK No. 1 single, while their self-titled album started a four-week run at No. 1 on the British LP chart. On the same day, the self-titled album was released by Sire Records in America, where it peaked at No. 9 on June 7th.
- January 19th, 1980 Pink Floyd’s The Wall started a fifteen-week run at No. 1 on the US album chart. The group’s third US No. 1, “The Wall” sold over twenty-three million copies in the United States.
- January 19th, 1984 Polydor Records release “Milk And Honey (A Heart Play)” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The material was intended as the basis for the follow-up to the “Double Fantasy” album in 1980, before Lennon’s murder. Ono augmented the essentially unfinished studio tracks and demos for the LP’s release with studio musicians and overdubs. “Milk And Honey” peaked at No. 11 on March 10th.
- January 19th, 1987 Atlantic Records release “Ready Or Not,” the first solo album by Foreigner singer Lou Gramm. Co-produced by Pat Moran and Lou Gramm, the album featured two hits, the title track and the No. 10 hit “Midnight Blue.” “Ready Or Not” peaked at No. 27 on April 25th.
- January 19th, 1987 Warner Brothers Records release “Warehouse: Songs And Stories,” the sixth and final album by Husker Du. Co-produced by the band’s Bob Mould and Grant Hart, the record peaked at No. 117 on March 7th.
- January 19th, 1998 Capitol Records release the Foo Fighters’ “My Hero” b/w “Dear Lover” on 45.
Miscellaneous January
- January 1959 Del Fi Records release “Fast Freight” backed with Big Baby Blues” by Arvee Allens on 45. Both instrumentals, the name was a pseudonym for Ritchie Valens, who wrote the songs. Rereleased later under his real name, it was Valens’ last single issued in his lifetime.
- January 1967 Verve Folkways Records release “More Than A New Discovery,” the first album by Laura Nyro. The LP was produced by Milton Okun from July through November 1966 at Bell Sound Studios in New York City. Verve reissued the tracks as “The First Songs” in 1969 on their Verve Forecast imprint and Columbia did the same in 1973, reissued with a new cover, when it peaked at No. 97 on March 24th.
- January 1968 CBS Records in Britain release “Come Out Fighting Genghis Smith,” the second album by Roy Harper. The LP was produced by Shel Talmy.
- January 1969 CBS Records in Britain release “Love Chronicles,” the second album by Al Stewart. The LP was co-produced by Roy Guest, John Wood and Al Stewart. Session musicians included Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and four members of Fairport Convention, Simon Nicol, Richard Thompson, Martin Lamble and Ashley Hutchings.
- January 1971 Warner Brothers Records release the self-titled debut album by Little Feat. Produced by Russ Titelman, the LP didn’t chart. Little Feat were formed by guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in Los Angeles in 1969.
- January 1972 Reprise Records release “The Spotlight Kid,” the sixth studio album by Captain Beefheart. The album was recorded in the Autumn of 1971 with Beefheart and Phil Schier co-producing.
- January 1972 Buddah Records release “City Of New Orleans” by songwriter Steve Goodman. Although Goodman’s version didn’t chart, two subsequent cover versions did. Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson both had hits with the song. Goodman received a posthumous Grammy award for best Country Song at the 27th Grammy Awards in 1985 for Nelson’s cover of the song.
- January 1973 Palladium Records release “Back In ‘72” by Bob Seger. The album contains the original studio version of one of Seger’s signature songs, “Turn the Page.”
- January 1974 Warner Brothers Records release “Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath” by Black Sabbath on 45. The single version of the song was edited to three minutes and thirty-three seconds from the album version that was nearly six minutes long.
- January 1974 Ardent Records release “Radio City,” the second album by Big Star. Down to the three-piece unit of Alex Chilton, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel, former guitarist Chris Bell did contribute to the writing of a few songs on the LP before departing in late 1972. A few of the songs were completed by Chilton with session players. Sales were hampered by poor distribution of the album when Ardent’s parent company had disagreements with Columbia Records, who otherwise would have placed the album in stores.
- January 1975 Wilco Johnson’s band, Dr. Feelgood, release their first LP “Down The Jetty” on United Artists Records in Britain.
- January 1976 Mercury Records release “Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed” by Thin Lizzy on 45. The song was co-written by Phil Lynott, Scott Gorham and Brian Downey. The track was produced by John Alcock from the band’s “Johnny The Fox” LP.
- January 1977 Private Stock Records release the eponymous first album by Blondie. Produced by Richard Gottehrer, the group bought back their contract with Private Stock and re-signed with Chrysalis Records, wrote re-released the album the following September.
- January 1981 Full Moon/Epic Records release “Outside” by Ambrosia as a single backed with the Eagles song “I Can’t Tell You Why” on the flip side. Both songs were featured in the 1980 Richard Donner film soundtrack Inside Moves. The record peaked at No. 102 in the US.
- January 1981 Sire Records release Talking Heads “Once In A Lifetime” on 45. Co-produced and written by the band and Brian Eno. It was the lead single from Talking Heads’ fourth studio album, “Remain In Light.” The LP went to No. 19 on December 6thbut the single never entered the Top One Hundred despite significant airplay on early MTV broadcasts. A live version released in 1986 peaked at No. 91.
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
This Week In Rock and Roll History
This Week In Rock and Roll History week of January 18th
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.
Jonas Reingold Interview
Jonas Reingold in The Wax Museum
Click image to hear Chris Palladino's 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
The Cool Song Of The Week
Cool Song Of The Week January 18th - The Barbarians
Cool songs from the Rock and Roll Era, Closet Classics and more.
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.
