March 6, 2023

Jerry Kunkel of The Joey Vain & the Scissors passed away peacefully at home in Lawrence, Kansas, at the age of 78. Jerry started teaching in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Colorado in 1969, and served as Department chair from 1995-2003. He retired in 2006. His teaching talent and knowledge will live on in the students and artists he inspired, mentored throughout his life, and he certainly changed many lives in the town of Boulder by leading the band. His fine art is represented by Robischon Gallery in Denver, Colorado and Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri.
February 16, 2011

Rick Kulwicki of The Fluid passed away yesterday at the tragically young age of 49. A stalwart of the scene, the Denver native was also a member of the Frantix, Madhouse and, most recently, the Buckingham Squares. We'll have more details as they become available. In the meantime, sincere, heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends, bandmates and fans -- of which a great many of us around here are most certainly counted.

January 13, 2010

Wax Trax cofounder Dannie Flesher dies at 58
Dannie Flesher, who oversaw the internationally acclaimed Wax Trax record store and label in Chicago during the '80s and '90s, has died at age 58. Flesher died Sunday in his home town of Hope, Ark., of pneumonia.
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Al Leis

Billboard
October 21, 1995
HEADLINE: JIM NASH DIES AT 47; FOUNDER OF WAX TRAX!
BY TRUDI MILLER ROSENBLUM

Jim Nash, president and co-founder of the seminal industrial music label Wax Trax! Records, died of complications from AIDS Oct. 10 in Chicago. He was 47.

Wax Trax! began in 1974 as an alternative record store in Denver founded by Nash and Dannie Flesher, his partner and longtime companion. In 1978, they moved to Chicago and opened a new Wax Trax! store on the city's North Side. The store became the focus of Chicago's underground music scene. In 1980, some fans convinced Nash and Flesher to release a 12-inch EP by their band, Strike Under, and the Wax Trax! label was born. The label pioneered the industrial music movement in the U.S., issuing music by such acts as Ministry, KMFDM, Front 242, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, and Revolting Cocks--dark, grim, technology-oriented rock with a machine-like dance beat. (Occasionally, the label put out lighter releases, such as Divine's single "Born To Be Cheap"/ "The Name Game.")

The artist-oriented label worked largely on handshakes--an approach that ultimately backfired when a number of bands left for major labels. Wax Trax! was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1992 and was subsequently sold to TVT Records, but Nash and Flesher retained creative control.

TVT president Steve Gottlieb says, "Jim was just amazing. He was brilliant. He did what few people ever do--he built a kind of magical, personal imprint that made people want to buy and listen to his records just because it was a Wax Trax! record. He was an amazing inspiration to a whole lot of people. He knew how to nurture chaos and created a great home for a lot of creative people who I know are going to miss him--along with countless fans."

Gottlieb also describes Nash as "a visionary and a beautiful, gentle man." Gottlieb adds that Wax Trax! "is having its best year ever and will continue under the leadership of Dannie Flesher."

In November 1994, Wax Trax! released "Blackbox," a three-CD boxed retrospective. In addition to Flesher, the Kansas-born Nash is survived by his daughter, Julia; his son, Aaron; and his granddaughter, Olivia. A fund for donations in his memory will be established at a charity yet to be named.

Chicago Sun-Times
October 12, 1995, THURSDAY
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 64
HEADLINE: Jim Nash, Co-Founder Of Wax Trax! Records
BY LLOYD SACHS

Jim Nash, co-founder of Chicago's Wax Trax! record store and president and co-founder of Wax Trax! Records, the influential alternative-rock label that it spawned, died Tuesday night. The cause of death was AIDS.

Mr. Nash, 47, and his partner, Dannie Flesher, opened Wax Trax! in 1979 at 2449 N. Lincoln (the store moved two years ago to 1657 N. Damen). It is credited with being the city's first record store devoted to hard-core and industrial dance music, while also specializing in '50s and '60s cult artists and local bands.

Wax Trax! Records released the first recordings of Ministry, a Chicago band that went on to international renown. Its other groups have included My Life with Thrill Kill Kult, Throbbing Gristle and Front 242.

Acquired in 1992 by New York's TVT Records, the label has continued recording new and established bands.

"Jim had breadth and idiosyncracy and unpredictableness, and Wax Trax! reflected that," said TVT head Steven Gottlieb. "It thrived on a kind of 'nurtured chaos.'

"People do the label a disservice when they say it was just about industrial music. Jim let artists go in a lot of different directions, and they adored him for that."

"He was a great friend and we'll miss him dearly," said Ministry leader and Wax Trax! associate Al Jourgensen, through his publicist.

Mr. Nash is survived by Mr. Flesher, his companion of 25 years; a daughter, Julia; a son, Aaron, and a granddaughter, Olivia.