Wax Museum Radio
Next broadcast February 1st Friday Night at midnight and Saturday night at 10pm on WRGG.
Hear Today In Rock and Roll History
Today In R&R History February 4th
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
February 4th
- February 4th Birthday, The Animals drummer John Steel, born in Gateshead, County Durham, England in 1941.
- February 4th Birthday, Two birthdays in 1943 in the same band, keyboardist Barry Beckett, born in Birmingham, Alabama and guitarist Jimmy Johnson, born in Sheffield, Alabama. Both were famous for their session work in the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section at Muscle Shoals studio in Sheffield.
- February 4th Birthday, Singer Florence Larue, from The 5th Dimension, born in 1944 in Plainfield, New Jersey.
- February 4th Birthday, Singer, songwriter Alice Cooper, born Vincent Furnier in 1948 in Detroit, Michigan.
- February 4th Birthday, Kansas drummer Phil Ehart, born in Coffeyville, Kansas in 1950.
- February 4th Birthday, Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley, born in 1952 in Finchley, London, England.
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
February 4th
- February 4th, 1956 James Brown and the Famous Flames’ make their first professional recordings for King Records in Cincinnati, Ohio, tracking their first single for the label, “Please, Please, Please.” The Famous Flames entered local radio station WIBB in Macon, Georgia to first record a demo of the song on November 1st, 1955 which lead to their signing with King Records. The song was co-written by James Brown and Johnny Terry. Terry and R&B singer Bobby Byrd sing backing vocals on the finished recording. The record became a million seller and hit No. 6 on the R&B charts. “Please, Please, Please” charted again in 1964, peaking at No. 95 on February 22nd.
- February 4th, 1961 While his record “You’re Sixteen” was peaking on the singles charts, Nashville rockabilly star Johnny Burnette underwent an emergency appendectomy and was forced to postpone a twenty-eight date tour of the UK.
- February 4th, 1965 Liberty Records release Jan and Dean’s “Here They Come From All Over The World” on 45. The song was co-written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri. The record was produced by Jan Berry. “Here They Come From All Over The World” entered the charts in March and peaked at No. 56 on April 3rd.
- February 4th, 1966 Bob Dylan and The Band played at the Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky, the first date on a world tour that was Dylan’s first playing electric guitar.
- February 4th, 1966 The Who play their first show as headliners, at the Astoria in Finsbury Park, London. Also appearing are The Fortunes and The Merseys.
- February 4th, 1967 A Buffalo Springfield cover of “Sit Down, I Think I Love You” by San Francisco band The Mojo Men enters the singles charts. The song was written by Stephen Stills prior to the formation of Buffalo Springfield, who had recorded the song for their first album. The Mojo Men version was produced by Lenny Waronker and went to No. 36 on the singles charts on March 18th.
- February 4th, 1967 A&M Records release “Live” by The Merry Go Round on 45. “Live” was written by band member Emitt Rhodes, from the group’s only self-titled studio LP. The record entered the charts in April and went to No. 63 in America on May 13th. The Bangles covered the song on their debut album “All Over the Place” in 1984.
- February 4th, 1967 “California Nights” by Lesley Gore enters the singles charts following a December release on Mercury Records. The song was co-written by Marvin Hamlisch and Howard Liebling. The record was produced by Bob Crewe. The 45 peaked at No. 16 on March 18th.
- February 4th, 1967 The Monkees self-titled debut album started a seven-week run at No. 1 on the British LP charts.
- February 4th, 1967 Buddah Records release “Darling Be Home Soon” by The Lovin’ Spoonful on 45. The song was written by John Sebastian for the soundtrack of the 1966 Francis Ford Coppola film You’re a Big Boy Now. Recorded by The Lovin’ Spoonful but with session musician Billy LaVorgna rather than The Spoonful’s Joe Butler on drums and a string and brass arrangement by Artie Schroeck, the record went to No. 15 on March 18th.
- February 4th, 1968 Recording sessions for John Lennon's “Across The Universe” begin at EMI studios in London with producer George Martin. The Beatles completed initial sessions for the track on February 8th. Of the numerous versions released on albums and CD's, takes seven and eight were the source of mixes by George Martin and later Phil Spector. Donated and released first on a charity LP in Britain for the World Wildlife Foundation, the song was revived during the January 1969 Get Back sessions and later included on the “Let It Be” LP, released in April 1970.
- February 4th, 1972 A&M Records release “Grave New World” by The Strawbs. The LP sessions were taped at Morgan Studios, Island Studios and Landsdowne Studios, their first with keyboardist Blue Weaver following the departure of Rick Wakeman. The album reached No. 191 in the US on August 5th and No. 11 in Britain.
- February 4th, 1972 David Bowie records “Starman” at Trident Studios in London, co-producing with Ken Scott. Guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Mick Woodmansey played on the track. Bowie recorded “Starman” late in the sessions for “The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust” LP, after RCA requested a radio friendly track for release as the lead single for the LP. With a Mick Ronson string arrangement, “Starman” entered the charts in July, peaking at No. 65 on August 19th, No. 10 in England.
- February 4th, 1972 Charisma Records release “Meet Me On The Corner” by Lindisfarne on 45 in Britain. Written by Rod Clements and produced by Bob Johnston, the single went to No. 5 in England.
- February 4th, 1974 Harvest Records release “Us And Them” by Pink Floyd on 45. Co-written by band keyboardist Rick Wright and bassist Roger Waters, the song was issued as the second single from the “Dark Side Of The Moon” LP, released in 1973. The album version, nearly eight minutes long was edited to three minutes and fifteen seconds for the single release.
- February 4th, 1974 MCA Records release Elton John’s “Bennie And The Jets.” Written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, produced by Gud Dudgeon, the song was recorded nearly a year earlier in France during sessions for Elton’s LP “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” The single peaked at No. 1 on April 13th and was awarded a Gold Record on April 8th.
- February 4th, 1976 Paul McCartney and Wings record “Let ‘Em In” at Abbey Road Studios in London. The track was written and produced by Paul McCartney. Released on June 28th during the “Wings Over America” tour, the song went to No. 3 in the US on August 14th, No. 3 in Canada, No. 2 in Britain and was certified Gold for over a million copies sold in America.
- February 4th, 1976 Reprise Records release “Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)” by Fleetwood Mac on 45. Written by Stevie Nicks, the full length title was only used on the single release. Nicks discovered the Rhiannon story in the early 1970s through a novel called “Triad,” by Mary Bartlet Leader. The novel is about a woman named Branwen, who is possessed by another woman named Rhiannon. Both Rhiannon and Branwen are major female characters in the medieval Welsh prose tales of the Mabinogion. “Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)” spent eighteen weeks on the charts and peaked at No. 11 on June 5th.
- February 4th, 1977 Capitol Records release the live version of Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Maybe I’m Amazed” on 45 in Britain, with a US release three days later. The song was written by Paul McCartney. Issued from the “Wings Over America” album and produced by Paul McCartney, the single entered the charts on February 12thand peaked at No. 10 on April 2nd.
- February 4th, 1977 Harvest Records in England release “One Of Those Days In England” by Roy Harper on 45. Co-produced by Harper and Peter Jenner, the song featured Paul and Linda McCartney on backing vocals, Ronnie Lane on bass and Alvin Lee on guitar.
- February 4th, 1977 Warner Brothers Records release Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” LP. Recorded in Los Angeles from February through August 1976, the album would stay at No. 1, beginning April 2nd, for thirty-one weeks. “Rumours” won Album of the Year at the twentieth Grammy Awards and has sold over forty million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.
- February 4th, 1978 “If You Can’t Give Me Love” by Suzi Quatro is released in Britain. The song was co-written by Nicky Chinn and the record’s producer Mike Chapman. “If You Can’t Give Me Love” came out in the US the following May on RSO Records, entered the singles charts in May and peaked at No. 45. The 45 was an international hit, going Top Ten in Britain, Germany and Australia.
- February 4th, 1978 “Hollywood” by Boz Scaggs enters the singles charts. Scaggs wrote the song with Michael Omartarian, who also arranged the track, with Joe Wissert producing. The record peaked at No. 49 on March 3rd.
- February 4th, 1978 “Silver Dreams” by The Babys enters the singles charts. The song was co-written by Babys drummer Tony Brock and singer/bassist John Waite. Produced by Ron Nevison, the record peaked at No. 53 on March 11th.
- February 4th, 1978 Sire Records release “Psycho Killer” by Talking Heads on 45. The song was co-written by the three original members of the group, David Byrne, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz. The record entered the singles charts in February and peaked at No. 92 on March 11th.
- February 4th, 1979 Dark Horse Records release “Blow Away” by George Harrison on 45 in the US, out February 23rd in Britain. Written by George Harrison, the record was co-produced by Harrison with Russ Titelman. “Blow Away” entered the charts in March spent fourteen weeks on the charts and peaked at No. 16 on May 5th.
- February 4th, 1980 Sire Records release “End Of The Century” by The Ramones. Produced by Phil Spector, the LP was recorded at five different studios in the Los Angeles area, beginning May 1st at Gold Star in Hollywood. It was the first Ramones album without original drummer Tommy Ramone. While the record is biggest selling LP of the band’s career, sessions with Spector were contentious, with Spector insisting on adequate rehearsals and multiple retakes. The album reached No. 44 on March 29th.
- February 4th, 1980 Charisma Records in Britain release “Games Without Frontiers” by Peter Gabriel on 45. Written by Gabriel, Kate Bush sings backing vocals on the track, issued from the Steve Lillywhite produced third Peter Gabriel album. “Games Without Frontiers” became Gabriel’s first Top Ten record in Britain, peaking at No. 4. In America, the single went to No. 48 on September 20th.
- February 4th, 1980 Asylum Records release “I Can’t Tell You Why” by The Eagles on 45. Produced by Bill Szymczyk, the song was co-written by Timothy B. Schmit, Glenn Frey and Don Henley, it was the first Eagles song to feature Schmit on lead vocals. “I Can’t Tell You Why” peaked at No. 8 on April 19th.
- February 4th, 1982 Modern Records release “Edge Of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks on 45. The song was written by Stevie Nicks and the track produced by Jimmy Iovine. Released as the third single from Nicks’ debut solo album, “Bella Donna,” the record went to No. 11 on April 17th.
- February 4th, 1984 Eurythmics score their first No. 1 album in the UK with their second LP “’Touch.”
- February 4th, 1984 “Learning To Crawl” by The Pretenders enters the album charts following a January release on Sire Records. Produced by Chris Thomas, the record was recorded following the deaths of both guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon. The album went to No. 5 on February 25th.
- February 4th, 1985 The self-titled debut album by The Firm is released on Atlantic Records. A collaboration between Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers after the two had co-written several songs together, the album reached No. 17 on April 13th and featured the hit “Radioactive.”
- February 4th, 1985 Atlantic Records release “No Jacket Required,” the third studio album by Genesis singer and drummer Phil Collins. The album was co-produced by Collins and Hugh Padgham at The Townhouse in London and Old Croft Studios in Shalford, Surrey, England. Peter Gabriel and Sting both sang on the sessions. The album featured the hit singles “One More Night,” Sussudio,” “Don’t Lose My Number” and “Take Me Home.” The record logged one hundred and twenty-three weeks on the charts and peaked at No. 1 on March 30th.
- February 4th, 1991 EMI Records in Britain release the thirteenth studio album by Queen “Innuendo.” The LP was recorded between March 1989 and November 1990, becoming the last of the band’s career issued in singer Freddie Mercury’s lifetime. Keyboardist Mike Moran contributed to the sessions and Yes’ Steve Howe plays Spanish guitar on one song. The record peaked at No. 30 on March 2nd.
Miscellaneous February
- February 1957 Gale Records release “Chickee Wah Wah” by Bobby Marchan on 45. The song was co-written by Huey “Piano” Smith and John Voncent. Smith played piano on the track. Marchan was the lead singer in Smith’s band Huey “Piano” Smith and The Clowns, a popular live attraction in New Orleans in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
- February 1964 Polydor Records in Britain release “I Just Wanna Make Love To You” backed with “Let The Good Times Roll,” the first single by Scottish singer Alex Harvey and His Soul Band. Harvey wrote the A-side lyrics, reworking the Willie Dixon song. The flip side was penned by Leonard Lee, a cover version of the Shirley and Lee song from 1961.
- February 1968 Lee Hazelwood’s LHI Records release “Safe As Home” by The International Submarine Band. Led by twenty-one-year-old Gram Parsons, the LP was recorded at Western Sound (Studio B) in Hollywood with producer Suzi Jane Hokom. Parsons had accepted the offer to join The Byrds before the album was released.
- February 1973 Harvest Records release “Lifemask,” the sixth album by Roy Harper. Produced by Peter Jenner at Abbey Road Studios in London, Jimmy Page and Nice drummer Brian Davidson were among the studio musicians on the record.
- February 1973 John Martyn’s “Solid Air” album is released. Recording began in July 1972 at Sound Techniques in Chelsea with producer John Wood. Further sessions took place in September and recording was completed by December 9th, 1972.
- February 1974 A&M Records release “When The Morning Comes” by Hoyt Axton on 45. Written by Axton who co-produced the track with Allan McDougall, the song features Linda Ronstadt on backing vocals.
- February 1975 Warner Brothers Records release “Rock The Nation,” the debut single from Montrose. Co-produced by the band and Ted Templeman, the band included lead vocalist Sammy Hagar, guitarist Ronnie Montrose, Bill Church on bass and Denny Carmassi on drums.
- February 1976 RCA/Equinox Records release “Jamaica Farewell” by California Music on 45. The traditional song was co-credited to Terry Melcher, Curt Boettcher and Gary Usher. Usher and Melcher were in the group along with Beach Boy Bruce Johnston.
- February 1977 DEVO release their first single on their own record label, Booji Boy Records. “Mongoloid” backed with “Jocko Homo” was co-credited and produced by the band. Both songs would be rerecorded for the group’s first LP “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are DEVO!” in 1978.
- February 1978 Columbia Records release “Godzilla” by Blue Öyster Cult on 45. The song was written by Cult guitarist Donald Roeser from Blue Öyster Cult’s fifth album “Spectres.” The record was co-produced by the band, Murray Krugman, Sandy Pearlman and David Lucas.
- February 1980 CBS Records in Ireland release “Another Day” backed with “Twilight” by U2 on 45. The group co-wrote the LP collectively and co-produced the disc with Chas De Walley.
- February 1980 Virgin Records in the US release the first stateside single by XTC. “Ten Feet Tall” was written by bassist Colin Moulding and produced by Phil Wainman, While the label copy states the song is from the band’s “Drums And Wires” LP, the version issued on the 45 in not the same as the one on the album.
- February 1987 Legacy Records in Britain release “Staring Up” by Roy Wood. The LP was written produced and arranged by Roy Wood, playing and singing all the instruments and vocals himself.
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 February 1st
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 February 1st - Genesis
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.
