In the late sixties, Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, was a crucible of musical talent, and may be most remembered for its impact on R&B. But from 1969 to 1971, it was also home to a rock band so loaded with talent that its members went on to help shape the American music scene in the 70s, 80s, and beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the late sixties, Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, was a crucible of musical…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,2],"tags":[1239,1238,1237,285,1236,1235],"class_list":["post-13744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-news","category-news","tag-beau-jones","tag-david-kagan","tag-rick-chertoff","tag-rick-levy","tag-rob-hyman","tag-wax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13746,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13744\/revisions\/13746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Grammy nominated songwriter\u00a0Rob Hyman<\/strong>\u00a0(Time After Time<\/em>\u00a0and leader of The Hooters), five time Grammy nominated Producer\u00a0Rick Chertoff<\/strong>\u00a0(Cyndi Lauper, Joan Osborne, Sophie B. Hawkins, The Hooters), industry veteran bandleader\/manager\u00a0Rick Levy<\/strong>\u00a0(Herman\u2019s Hermits, Tommy Roe, The Box Tops), along with\u00a0David Kagan<\/strong>\u00a0(Baby Grand) and the late\u00a0Beau Jones<\/strong>…were\u00a0WAX<\/strong>. For a golden few years, WAX was the hottest band in Philly, performing a unique blend of art rock, blues, and jazz, that was complex and intelligent, yet driving and catchy. In 1970 the band started an album for legendary producer\u00a0Bob Crewe<\/strong>\u00a0at NYC\u2019s famed Record Plant, but the record was never finished due to financial difficulties at the label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2010, a master tape recorded live at an audition for Vanguard Records was discovered showcasing WAX at their creative peak as writers and performers, and that album was released as\u00a0Melted<\/em>. More recently a master tape was found with multi-track studio versions of several of the band\u2019s finest songs. In honor of the legendary band\u2019s 50th Anniversary, Lightyear is proud to reissue the WAX album, now entitled\u00a0Elmira Lane<\/em>, with the addition of the newly discovered\u00a0Regent Sound versions of\u00a0Nearer To God<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Warehouse Eyes<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Focus track will be the previously unreleased\u00a0Nearer To God<\/em>, which has lyrics that feel relevant at this moment in time: “everything is wrong…we’ve left the golden tower…to know that we are there to breathe and feel alive, to cut out all the\u00a0talking, cut out all the jive.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All tracks produced by\u00a0John Kalodner<\/strong>, (Aerosmith, Foreigner, Journey),\u00a0Billy Sisca<\/strong>, and Wax.\u00a0 Kalodner and Sisca were co-managers of the band.\u00a0Mastering and cover art by\u00a0John O. Senior<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WAX invites you to meander down Elmira Lane and enjoy the Things She Likes to Do. But don\u2019t mind her Evil Humor, and if Mr Media doesn\u2019t distract you, you might find yourself Nearer to God\u2026but in the end It Don\u2019t Matter at All.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A music video made for the new release, using the 2020\u00a0Nearer to God<\/em>\u00a0recording, working with vintage still images (nobody had a video camera in 1969) is\u00a0HERE<\/a>. (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wrQvTTXTxkM<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"