In 1973, legendary Krautrock band CAN lost their charismatic lead singer Damo Suzuki. A year later, in November of 1974, they remade themselves and gave us Soon Over Babaluma. This is the story of that album, how a band can indeed find success after their frontman leaves.

Poetic Wax: Music History Hidden in the Grooves is a weekly podcast, YouTube series, and Substack blog hosted by Andy Fenstermaker.

• Get the video version on my YouTube Channel.
• Find Transcripts on and Subscribe to my Substack.

This is the unlikely story of how the sun-soaked sounds of The Beach Boys struck a cord with the cold, electronic stoicism in post-war Germany and influenced Kraftwerk's breakout hit "Autobahn."

Poetic Wax: Music History Hidden in the Grooves is a weekly podcast, YouTube series, and Substack blog hosted by Andy Fenstermaker.

• Get the video version on my YouTube Channel.
• Find the Transcript on and Subscribe to my Substack.

The Smiths are among the most influential indie bands of all time. Led by confrontational artist Morrissey, the controversial frontman has never been one to keep quiet. He seemed to know this as far back as 1985, when he and Johnny Marr wrote "Bigmouth Strikes Again." This is the history of that song, the Rolling Stones song that inspired Marr's guitar riff, and the subtle nod to the Ancoats district in Manchester.

Poetic Wax: Music History Hidden in the Grooves is a weekly podcast, YouTube series, and Substack blog hosted by Andy Fenstermaker.

• Get the video version on my YouTube Channel.
• Find the Transcript on and Subscribe to my Substack.

On November 18, 1993, Nirvana took the stage for MTV’s Unplugged series—a moment in music history that no one could have predicted would become one of their most defining live performances. This is the heartfelt story of that show and the live recording that graced so many of our speakers when it was released a year later on November 1, 1994 on CD and vinyl, just months after Kurt Cobain's death.

Poetic Wax: Music History Hidden in the Grooves is a weekly podcast, YouTube series, and Substack blog hosted by Andy Fenstermaker.

• Get the video version on my YouTube Channel.
• Find the Transcript on and Subscribe to my Substack.

The success of "Blue Monday" by New Order was a mistake. The song was a joke. New Order never intended for it to be a hit. In this week’s episode of Poetic Wax, we pull out the 1988 reissue of "Blue Monday" on vinyl and give it a spin.

We'll dig into the surprising history of the song that blended alt rock, new wave, and electronic dance music and changed the course of music history.

The Poetic Wax Podcast is hosted by Andy Fenstermaker. What began as a weekly music history video series on his YouTube Channel can now be found on podcast platforms like this one with blog-form transcripts on his Substack.

Subscribe and follow along. New episodes go up each week!

When people ask The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, I push back and say give me The Kinks! This troupe began as mod rockers in the 1960s and came to weave theatrics into their music by the turn of the decade. Opening their 1967 album Something Else, "David Watts" plays into that playfulness with a slyness that makes you think. This is the story of David Watts and the inside joke between the Davies brothers that inspired it.

The Poetic Wax Podcast is hosted by Andy Fenstermaker. What began as a weekly music history video series on his YouTube Channel can now be found on podcast platforms like this one with blog-form transcripts on his Substack.

Subscribe and follow along. New episodes go up each week!

It's time to go deep into the history and story of Misery is a Butterfly, the 2004 album by Blonde Redhead. We'll go deep, exploring the band's noise pop origins and their move from Smells Like to Touch & Go Records.

For Misery, we'll dig into their decision to strike out on their own, ultimately landing at the legendary label 4AD. We explore the album's origins and the impact of a tragic horse accident member Kazu Makino sustained in 2002, of which traces of influence can be found within.

I explore and share my personal connection to the album and its lasting impact, 20 years on. In a sense, this is a mini album documentary.

Poetic Wax is a weekly YouTube video series and podcast hosted by Andy Fenstermaker. You can find the transcript with supplemental video and audio clips referenced in each episode on his Substack.

The Velvet Underground is one of the most influential bands in rock history, and their collaboration with pop art icon Andy Warhol has a lot to do with that. This is the BIZARRE story of how The Velvet Underground met Andy Warhol, and went on to change the landscape of music forever.

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