Click here to subscribe - http://bit.ly/sub2trax
Trax Records is probably the most important House music label of all time. Created in Chicago in 1985, the independent imprint quickly became the go-to company for anyone who was making House music in Chicago from 1984 onwards.
Originally owned by the larger-than-life Larry Sherman and managed day to day by ‘Screamin’ Rachel Cain, Trax Records officially launched in 1985 with Le Noiz’s “Wanna Dance” and crested the wave of both the House Music and Acid House scenes for the next 5 years with literally dozens and dozens of club hits and dance-floor smashes.
The label was renowned for its almost punk ethic of simply getting the releases out fast and furiously without much in the way of obvious design values or quality control. Their releases were generally pressed on recycled vinyl and housed in recycled card sleeves – in fact, it was not unusual to open the record and see bits of paper pressed into the vinyl and old printing on the inside of the sleeves! However, the operation perfectly suited the ethos of the music, the majority of which was often made on 4 track machines in numerous bedrooms before being tested at Chicago’s two main House clubs – Music Box via Ron Hardy and the Warehouse, where the legendary Frankie Knuckles ruled the decks. If the bedroom tape got the thumbs up from Ron and Frankie, then usually the aspiring producers would turn up at Trax the next morning and beg to get their productions on vinyl. The deals were probably not great but the lure of holding your own record seemed to override all other considerations. And thus dozens of new careers were hatched.
