Mo’ Wax in the UK Charts
Mo’ Wax was a record label started by James Lavelle in 1992. It was an indie label best remembered for helping to popularise trip hop music, and was home to DJ Shadow, Money Mark, Luke Vibert, and Lavelle’s own UNKLE project.
Success in the charts doesn’t always mean you’re making the best music of your era, but it is an interesting indication of what the public are buying. Especially before the 2000’s when charts data was based on the sale of CDs and vinyl. Now the charts include digital sales and streaming so occasionally old songs resurface just because everyone has decided to buy them.
Mo’ Wax had releases in the charts fairly regularly between 1994 and 2001. But even after the label closed around 2003, they occasionally had albums return thanks to re-releases.
The First Mo’ Wax Appearances In The UK Charts
Mo’Wax had their chart debut in 1994 thanks to the compilation album Royalties Overdue, which peaked in the Compilations Chart Top 100 at #37. Later that year their compilation Headz also appeared in the same chart, peaking at #36.
The first appearance in the Singles Chart was from DJ Shadow & DJ Krush’s split single Lost And Found (S.F.L.)/Kemuri, which peaked at #82 in 1994. While the first album to chart was actually an EP. UNKLE’s Time Has Come EP, released in 1995, peaked at #73.
1995 was the year Mo’ Wax really took off and they had three albums in the Top 100 Albums Chart, and 11 entries in the Top 100 Singles Chart.
Highest Chart Performances
There are several different charts, from formats like albums and singles, to genres like dance and classical. There are also charts for independent record labels, to seperate them from majors, and even though Mo’ Wax was part of A&M, and later Beggars Group, they were still considered an independent label.
Mo’ Wax earned their only #1’s on the Independent Albums Chart Top 50, and both occurred in 1998.
Money Mark was the first to reach #1 with his album Push The Button, and UNKLE’s Psyence Fiction followed soon after.
Both albums appeared in the Top 100 Album Chart too, with UNKLE peaking at #4, and Mark peaking at #17.
Notably, Psyence Fiction also spent the longest on the charts, moving in and out of the Top 100 Albums for 14 weeks between September 1998-March 1999. It spent even longer on the Independent Albums Chart, sticking around until May 1999 for a total of 34 weeks.
Lowest Chart Performances
Officially the UK Albums Chart is a Top 100, but they also record data for the Top 200, allowing us to see who may have just missed out.
In 1997 DJ Krush peaked at #100 with his album MiLight, making it the lowest peak position the Top 100 in Mo’ Wax’s history.
Within the Top 200 Singles, Love T.K.O.’s For What It’s Worth? peaked at#195 in 1994, the lowest Mo’ Wax entry to chart, while Midnight Funk Association’s Fire Scratch just missed out on the Top 100 in 1995 when they peaked at #102. Weirdly DJ Shadow’s Dark Days also peaked at #109, and that was only available as an import from the US.
For albums, Dr.octagon’s self titled album from 1996 peaked at #110 in the Top 200, and Luke Vibert’s Big Soup peaked at #119 in 1997.
Endtroducing….. On The Charts
Probably Mo’ Wax’s most famous release, DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing album first appeared on the charts in September 1996. It would peak at #17 in the Top 100 Albums Chart, #27 on the Scottish Chart, and #28 on the Indie Album Chart.
After moving up and down within the Top 200, Endtroducing finally dropped out in 1997, but returned again several times.
In 2002, on the same date DJ Shadow’s follow up The Private Press made its chart debut, Endtroducing returned to the Top 100 Albums, peaking at #93. The Private Press peaked at #8.
Endtroducing would return to the Top 200 briefly in 2003, 2005, and 2011. The album has been repressed and repackaged frequently, with a Deluxe Edition released in 2005, and in 2011 it was repressed on vinyl for the first time since 2002.
Mo’ Wax’s Only Jazz Album
Did you know Mo’ Wax released a jazz album? Tommy Guerrero’s A Little Bit Of Somethin’ was released in 2000 and entered the UK’s Jazz & Blues Albums Chart Top 30, peaking at #8.
This is his only UK chart appearance to date, and the only Mo’ Wax album to enter the Jazz & Blues Charts.
The Scottish Charts
Outside of the UK’s charts the Scottish Charts keeps track of what’s hot up north.
Not as many Mo’ Wax artists entered their charts compared to the UK as a whole, but DJ Shadow was the first when Midnight In A Perfect World peaked at #52 in the Scottish Singles Sales Top 100.
UNKLE’s Psyence Fiction had the highest position in 1998, reaching #7 in their Album Chart Top 100, while Money Mark’s Push The Button was the only other album to chart, peaking at #24.
The Final Mo’ Wax Release In The Charts
Mo’ Wax officially closed around 2002 or 2003. There’s no exact date, and a few releases appeared in 2003, but by then the label was considered over.
The last album and single to chart during this period belong to David Axelrod and South. Axelrod’s self titled album reached #24 in the Independent Albums Chart Top 50, while South’s Keep Close peaked at #88 in the Singles Chart Top 100.
In terms of the Top 100 Albums Chart, Mo’ Wax’s last appearance there was in 1999 with Quannum’s Spectrum, which is arguably a compilation. It peaked at #90.
But post-2003, Mo’ Wax re-entered the charts in 2014 when Blackalicious’ Alphabet Aerobics shot up to #13 in the Independent Singles Chart Top 50, and #192 in the Top 200 Singles.
This was thanks to Daniel Radcliffe performing the song on US TV, which renewed interest enough to push it back into the UK’s charts.
Top 100 Totals
Between 1994–2001, Mo’ Wax had 9 appearances in the Album Charts Top 100, 10 in the Independent Album Chart Top 50, 35 in the Singles Chart Top 100, 7 in the Independent Singles Chart Top 50, 4 in the Compilations Chart Top 100, and 1 in the Jazz & Blues Albums Chart Top 30.
Of those, DJ Shadow made 13 appearances, Money Mark made 10, DJ Krush made 7, and UNKLE made 5. Post-Mo’ Wax, only DJ Shadow and UNKLE have continued to appear in the charts with each new album.
Notes On Data
Data was compiled from Official Charts, and Music ID which collects data from charts around the world. To see more data on Mo’ Wax in the charts I previously collected information from the same sources into a spreadsheet.
Also a special shout out to Mo’ Wax Please who wrote about Mo’ Wax in the charts in 2015.
