Andy Zax
Andrew Zax (born October 16, 1965) is an American music historian and a producer of music reissues.
Andy Zax
Early life and education[edit]
A Los Angeles native, Zax received a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from USC Film School. After a year as a motion picture development executive, Zax entered the music business as a copywriter, penning advertising and liner notes for various major labels, collaborating with figures as diverse as Quincy Jones[1] and 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell[2] on detailed histories of their work, producing promotional radio specials, and writing the questions for Rhino Records' long-running annual music trivia contest the Rhino Musical Aptitude Test.[3]
Writing[edit]
In 2010, Zax created the anonymously-written Twitter account "@Discographies".[15] Each @Discographies tweet contained a "definitive guide to an artist's body of work (studio albums only) in 140 characters". The @Discographies account quickly attracted widespread media attention and acclaim (Michael Azerrad: "@Discographies is at once rock criticism's glittering acme and the final nail in its coffin. Bravo."[16]) and was named "Music Critic Of The Year"[17] by the Village Voice.
Zax's writing, under his own name and the @Discographies pseudonym, has appeared in The New Yorker,[18][19] Rolling Stone,[20] The Oxford American,[21] iPad newspaper The Daily,[22][23] and Exact Change]. In 2014, he received an ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for his article about the life of composer Tupper Saussy of the Neon Philharmonic, "Scenes From The Chocolate Orchid Piano Bar".[21]
Television, radio and stage[edit]
From 2001 to 2003, Zax co-starred on the Comedy Central game show Beat the Geeks as the show's primary "Music Geek," answering difficult questions about all forms of popular music in order to defeat the show's contestants.
From October 2006 until May 2007, Zax hosted a weekly radio program, Archives of Oblivion, described as "a treasure hunt through the scrapheap of mid-20th Century pop-culture ephemera", showcasing his notoriously eccentric record collection.[24] He has made occasional appearances as a DJ on dublab[25] and WFMU.[26]
Zax was a recurring panelist on the live stage revival of What's My Line? in Los Angeles and New York City from 2004 to 2008; Los Angeles deemed his performances "fabulous.".[27]
Personal life[edit]
On January 19, 2008, he married actress Lisa Jane Persky in Beverly Hills.[28]