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| Trax Records LTD | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founder | Larry Sherman |
| Genre | House |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Official website | traxrecords.net |
Trax Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It played a major part in the development of house music.
Larry Sherman was originally a collector of vintage jukeboxes, and, frustrated with the limited range of records began operations in 1983 by purchasing Musical Products, a pressing plant in Bridgeport, Illinois.Though it is frequently said that Jesse Saunders and Vince Lawrence were co-founders there is no proof via corporations or any type of genuine documentation to prove it. There is no legal documentation what so ever to back Vince Lawrence Claim of label design or Trademark. Legal exhibits need to be included to verify this information. The initial artist signings were done by Vince Lawrence. The first release was "Wanna Dance/Certainly" by Le Noiz (a pseudonym of Jesse Saunders), TX-101 (matrix number 85 indicated the year of release).
Trax Records was an important outlet for house music in its early days, releasing many classics including "No Way Back" by Adonis (1986), Jamie Principle & Frankie Knuckles's "Your Love" (1988), Larry Heard's "Can You Feel It" (1986), and Marshall Jefferson's "The House Music Anthem (Move Your Body)" in the same year. [1] This latter tune gave a massive boost to house music, extending recognition of the genre outside of Chicago.[ citation needed ]
In 1991, Trax declared bankruptcy when distributors owing Trax 4.5 million dollars went out of business. [2]
In 1995 Rachael Cain married the founder, Larry Sherman. In 2007, Cain divorced Sherman and received 50% of the Trax Records library. Cain started a new company which is not connected to old catalogue material and released music under the alias Screamin Rachael. Some of the current artists she has been releasing include Saytek, Late Nite Dub Addict, Irene Michaels, DJ THADX, along with productions and music by Chicago House legend Joe Smooth.
In 2002, Trax Records formed a joint venture with Casablanca Media in Canada. Litigation started in 2004. By 2005 all of the classic materials ownership was awarded to Casablanca in Canada. Lawyers for the Creative Arts took Sherman & Cain’s case Pro- Bono, as they proved to have no funds, or be making any income from Casablanca who became the catalogue owners. They were represented by Rick Darke of the Duane Morris law firm. Many years of litigation finally ended on January 1, 2022. Royalty systems are being put in place by infinite Catalogue. There is also an amount of money held specifically in a trust for the artists who sign off from the exclusive Demon Records deal that Casablanca instituted.
Sherman was criticised for poor-quality vinyl pressings (partially due to the use of recycled vinyl), missing royalty payments, and a lack of interaction with the artists on his roster. DJ Pierre of Phuture once claimed “Trax never paid me royalties”, and Jamie Principle, who sang "Your Love", alleged he was not properly signed to the label, saying they “literally just stole my stuff”.[ citation needed ] Frankie Knuckles publicly criticized reissues of his former material, and distanced himself from the label. [3] However the Knuckles estate and their Attorney Jeffrey Becker along with TRAX are working to preserve Knuckles writing, productions and master recordings. Monies are currently on hold for the titles Knuckles did with Trax. Jamie Principle, disputes Frankie Knuckles had any involvement. There are two judgements in favor of Knuckles credibility both in the United States and the UK.
In a 2014 statement, the label's former creative director Jorge Cruz acknowledged the numerous disputes, saying: "The reality is that the Trax Records name is making money but much of the money is not reaching the label or the artists. We cannot change the past or the legal battles that are tied to it." [4]
In June 2020, Robert Owens and Larry Heard filed lawsuits against Trax claiming : as “musicians hungry for their first break,” Owens and Heard “were lulled into a business relationship with an unscrupulous record company,” per the text.[ citation needed ] The plaintiffs “signed away valuable rights to their music” for inadequate compensation, the filing proceeds, and Trax Records nevertheless failed to pay the owed royalties and wages.[ citation needed ] Trax asserts and Heard admits that he signed a contract assigning the copyright in the music for his three biggest hits, Can You Feel It, Washing Machine and Beyond the Clouds.
Heard closed four contracts with the brand around 1985–1987, and though the lawsuit describes various issues and omissions with each (including missing signatures and not covering copyrights specifically), they centered mainly on his transferring the rights to hit songs for $3,000 apiece and, in a portion of the deals, a guarantee of 15 percent of sales revenue. More broadly, the label allegedly “exploited the artists’ other musical works” without permission (contractual or otherwise) throughout the last four or so decades, including by releasing unauthorized vinyl records and failing to turn over royalty payments. The lawsuit also describes the plight of different musicians who have allegedly been denied their due royalties from Trax Records, including Adonis, a pioneering acid house artist. The Chicago native's much-publicized quest to collect 34 years worth of back pay from Trax, writing that he still hasn't “received one word from that shameless label. [5]
In November 2020, Trax filed to dismiss seven of the eight counts raised in Owens & Heard's complaint. [6] In September 2022, Resident Advisor released an article on Trax Records response to the royalties scandals and lawsuits. [5]
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House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture in the late 1970s, as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat.
Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the first ever house music productions, which were by Chicago-based artists in the 1980s.
Ron Hardy was an American, Chicago, Illinois-based DJ and record producer of early house music. He is well known for playing records at the Muzic Box, a Chicago house music club. Decades after his death, he is recognized for his innovative edits and mixes of disco, soul music, funk and early house music.
Marshall Julius Jefferson is an American musician, working in the house music subgenres of Chicago house and deep house.
Farley "Jackmaster" Funk is an American musician, DJ and record producer of Chicago house and acid house music. He is notable for writing and producing a number of highly influential tracks in the mid and late 1980s.
"Acid Tracks" is a 1987 acid house song by Phuture produced by Marshall Jefferson and released by Trax Records. Phuture consisted of Nathan Pierre Jones, better known as DJ Pierre, Earl Smith Jr, and Herbert Jackson. Jones had been interested in developing dance music and became superficially interested in house music after Spanky had taken him to see DJ Ron Hardy perform in Chicago. The trio began developing tracks without finding anything that they felt was satisfying; Jones had heard a track made on the unpopular Roland TB-303 bass machine, which led the group to purchase one.
Nathaniel Pierre Jones, better known by his stage name DJ Pierre, is an American DJ and performer of house music based in Chicago. He helped to develop the house music subgenre of acid house, as member of Phuture, whose 1987 EP Acid Tracks, is considered the first acid-house recording. Allmusic.com calls Jones a crucial DJ and the production wizard partly responsible for the development of Chicago acid-house. Jones' first single, "Generate Power," became standard fare for scores of producers during the next few years. Philippe Renaud, a journalist for La Presse in Montreal, states that the term acid house was coined in Chicago in 1987 to describe the sound of the Roland 303 bass machine, which made its first significant recording appearance on Phuture's Acid Trax in that year.
Irwin Larry Eberhart II, better known by his stage name Chip E., is an American DJ and record producer.
"Your Love" is a 1986 Chicago house song that was recorded by American house artist Jamie Principle, who wrote its lyrics about a meeting with a woman Lisa. The lyrics were later given to Frankie Knuckles, a DJ who worked in Chicago clubs Principle frequented. Despite having not produced any original music, Knuckles agreed to work on the song after hearing Principle's original version. Knuckles added more music to the song and played it at his club, generating an enthusiastic reception. His version of the song was played from tapes and is different from later releases; according to Jacob Arnold of Wax Poetics, the edit Knuckles played at his club was musically a snare with vocals. For the first publicly available release, DJ Mark "Hot Rod" Trollan later revised the song by adding a synthesizer intro and a bassline; this version was first released in 1986 by Persona Records.
Lidell Townsell is a house-music artist from Chicago, Illinois. He originally released numerous singles on the Trax and D.J. International labels. He released one album, Harmony, on Mercury/PolyGram Records as Lidell Townsell in 1992. Two singles from the album were hits in the US, "Get with U" and "Nu Nu"; the latter featured the duo M.T.F., whose members were singer Martell and emcee Silk E.
"This Is Acid", also known by its full title, "This Is Acid ", is a song by Chicago house music DJ and producer Maurice Joshua, who recorded the track under his first name "Maurice". It reached number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in April 1989 and stayed there for two weeks.
Acid house is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesizer-sequencer, an innovation attributed to Chicago producers DJ Pierre of Phuture and Sleezy D.
Vince Lawrence is an American dance music record producer, businessman and is one of the leading innovators of the genre of music called house music. Industry insiders recognize Lawrence as co-author of "On and On", the first recording officially designated "house music". He worked with Jesse Saunders in the initial creation of Jes Say Records, designing its logo by hand. He served as head of marketing and was the lyric writer for "Funk U Up", "Undercover" by Dr. Derelict, "Real Love", and many other songs released in the label's heyday. He also co-authored "Love Can't Turn Around" which featured Daryl Pandy, which reached #10 in the UK Singles Chart in 1986 and started the House music revolution in the UK. He organized Trax Records, a Chicago house label. He is the founder of Slang MusicGroup, which has received numerous gold and platinum awards for their contributions.
Deep Heat 4 - Play With Fire is a continuation of Telstar Records Deep Heat compilation series released in September 1989. Containing 32 dance tracks. It continued the series' success, reaching #2 on the Compilations Chart and was awarded a UK Gold Disc for album sales in excess of 100,000 copies. As with the rest of the series, the album features dance music styles of the time including techno, acid house and hip house.
Screamin' Rachael, a Chicago native, was born Rachael Cain. Dubbed the “Queen of House Music” by Billboard magazine, Rachael has been connected to the evolution of the House music genre. She has worked with performers such as Grandmaster Melle Mel, Marshall Jefferson, Colonel Abrams, Afrika Bambaataa, and many others.
Virgo is the eponymous debut studio album by American house music duo Virgo Four, released in 1989 on Radical Records in the United Kingdom. It compiles two 12" EPs released in the United States on Trax Records, Do You Know Who You Are? by Virgo Four and Ride by M.E.. Both were pseudonyms of Eric Lewis and Merwyn Sanders, two art students and childhood friends from Chicago. The album was first reissued in 2010 on Rush Hour Recordings.
Earl Smith Jr., known as DJ Spank Spank or Spanky, was an American musician credited with inspiring the acid house music genre. He founded the group Phuture.
Derrick Harris was a Chicago Music producer and pioneer of house music and acid house. He is known for the song "I've Lost Control", which was released as a 12" single on the Trax Records label, issue number TX 113. The song used a Roland TR-808 and a Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer to create the signature modulated waveform sound which would directly inspire Acid House. The track is arguably the first to use this particular sound, and rose to cult underground popularity thanks to DJ Ron Hardy's Music Box club in Chicago.
D.J. International Records is a Chicago record label founded in 1985 that specializes in house music, a type of electronic dance music. In the 1980s, DJ International Records released music by key house innovators such as Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Hot Mix 5 member Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, Steve “Silk” Hurley, and Marshall Jefferson. DJ International Records also released ESP’s song "It’s You", Dymond's "Wild About Your Love" and Liz Torres' "What You Make Me Feel". The label also had acid house, such as Adonis's 1987 "The Poke", and Tyree's "Acid Over" and there were late 1980s hip house recordings, too, such as Fast Eddie's "Hip House" and "Yo Yo Get Funky". In the early 1990s, the label released Mike Dunn's song "Jass Yo Azz Off". Udiscover Music called the "history of DJ International...the history of house music, the very DNA of modern dance music."
Acid: Can You Jack? is a 2005 compilation album released by Soul Jazz Records. The album compiles acid house music from the Chicago era from labels such as Trax and DJ International.
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