I also like 'I Am The Cosmos',the posthumous Chris Bell alb.
― Andrew L, Friday, 19 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Sterling Clover, Friday, 19 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― JM, Friday, 19 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― fritz, Friday, 19 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers, Friday, 19 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― g, Friday, 19 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Helen Fordsdale, Friday, 19 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Mole Man, Saturday, 20 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
I heard Big Star before I heard either the Posies or Replacements or even the Fannies (a brother who had exceedingly bad taste most of the time finally got something right when he got "#1 Record" / "Radio city" in '91), and I've converted my fellow bandmate (a Fannies / Replacements / Smithereens fan) into a BS fan, his trying to convert me on the 'Mats and Smithereens has never worked in my direction for some reason. But we're totally agreed on the Posies and the Fannies though. Odd. I just can't get my head around the 'Mats at all, I've tried loads of times with different LPs of theirs, but still nothing. Mind, Paul Westerburg's last solo LP was rather good!
― Rob M, Monday, 22 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Tom, Monday, 22 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― dave q, Monday, 22 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Billy Dods, Monday, 22 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Bandwagonesque was all fine & good, but a bit slow (even when going fast) and surprisingly bland as a whole. Pleasant in certain situations, though. This is the only album I can confidently speak on, so feel free to ignore my pronouncements.
― David Raposa, Monday, 22 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
'Britpop' = term with huge ever growing scope creep
― Nick, Monday, 22 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― NA (Nick A.), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 20:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 20:52 (nineteen years ago) link
The Stax org was in such disarray in the early '70s that it's a wonder the records even got out there as much as they did. I've read that each of the first two albums only got into the marketplace in ridiculously small quantities...4000/5000 is a number I've seen.
I don't know if they "define" any era. A post above maintains that to define era, their records would've have to been bought by somebody. So I guess they were one of the first true indie/critic's bands...the reviews were mostly glowing. In retrospect they do seem to define the period much better than any number of more popular acts, though. I see nothing wrong with revisionist nostalgia myself.
For a long time I loved them without reservation, then went thru a period during which I'd just heard them too much. For a lot of us they were like the Beatles, the absolute gold standard of pop records. Now I just accept them as a great pop band, period, and wish people would quit gushing about them so much, or maintaining that they weren't really all that good. As a live band they seem to have sucked; but I can't think of any better-conceived record than "Radio City." Such style. And they seem to define not an era but a state of mind, one epitomized by the Eggleston "red ceiling" photo that graced the original "RC" LP...bad dreams and vibes in an oversexed room, distilled into melancholy, perhaps? With a few good times vaguely recalled? Maybe that's the '70s, I don't know.
Interesting to see what the new Big Star album will be like...
― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 21:12 (nineteen years ago) link
of course, Chilton & company could scrape a chalkboard with rusty chisels and this guy would say it's the best thing ever.
(I think I listen to Third the most, too)
― Will (will), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 22:25 (nineteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 22:38 (nineteen years ago) link
I wonder how committed Chilton is to the whole idea of Big Star these days. Probably not very. I didn't think much of "Hot Thing."
― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 00:22 (nineteen years ago) link
― de, Wednesday, 5 May 2004 00:24 (nineteen years ago) link
― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 00:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― de, Wednesday, 5 May 2004 00:38 (nineteen years ago) link
― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 00:50 (nineteen years ago) link
guys seriously I love "Ballad of El Goodo" so much
I want to be in a band that covers this
― iiiijjjj, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 01:41 (sixteen years ago) link
don't make me say a bunch of shit about it, just fire back re: yes this would be a pretty good thing to do, be in a band that covers this
― iiiijjjj, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 01:42 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah
― ghost rider, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 01:45 (sixteen years ago) link
I purchased the Blitzen Trapper song 'Summer Town' just because the vocal hook reminded me of BS' 'Thirteen.'
― calstars, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 01:46 (sixteen years ago) link
iiiiijjjjj where do you live?
Ya know, Evan Dando covered "El Goodo".
― Pleasant Plains, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 01:50 (sixteen years ago) link
'Thirteen'>>'El Goodo'
― Drooone, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 01:51 (sixteen years ago) link
fucking love them. i honestly feel sad for anyone who who passes them by.
― Frogman Henry, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 01:51 (sixteen years ago) link
drooone otm but it doesn't even matter
― ghost rider, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 01:55 (sixteen years ago) link
overrated Grandpappy Indie (VU notwithstanding); not worthless, but nor are Wishbone Ash, for goodness sake -- mark s, Wednesday, October 17, 2001 5:00 PM (5 years ago)
"overrated"
― gershy, Tuesday, 19 June 2007 05:18 (sixteen years ago) link
overrated Grandpappy Indie (VU notwithstanding); not worthless, but nor are Wishbone Ash, for goodness sake
-- mark s, Wednesday, October 17, 2001 5:00 PM (6 years ago) Bookmark Link
― strgn, Tuesday, 11 March 2008 11:24 (sixteen years ago) link
ENLIGHTENING
― strgn, Tuesday, 11 March 2008 11:25 (sixteen years ago) link
uh x-post
― strgn, Tuesday, 11 March 2008 11:29 (sixteen years ago) link
and 'mod lang' is what needs to get cover treatment
― strgn, Tuesday, 11 March 2008 11:30 (sixteen years ago) link
"Mod Lang" is quite easy to play, so a cover would be cool.
― whisperineddhurt, Tuesday, 11 March 2008 15:30 (sixteen years ago) link
and somehow, strangely, Big Star lives on. http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=gb_london&query=detail&interface=shepemp&event=257724 wish i could go ... is this one of them Don't Look Back things? Are they playing Radio City in its entirety? i'll also take this opportunity to say that Alex Chilton probably has one of the top 5 singing voices in rock and roll history. Serious.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 11 March 2008 15:41 (sixteen years ago) link
Actually, listening to Radio City and Third, Alex Chilton kind of reminds me of a vanilla Barrett Strong Rude from Lethem's "Forttress of Solitude." Moments on Third definitely sound fucked up enough to come from three-week coke binges.
That being said "Blue Moon" and "Stroke it Noel" totally PWNs! The former is better than "Thirteen" (which, sadly, contains no oboes).
― Drugs A. Money, Wednesday, 12 March 2008 02:44 (sixteen years ago) link
sweet jesus this band is good. they seem to have such a unique and effortless ear for hook and melody. such a pleasure to listen to. and on another note, 'i'm in love with a girl' appeared on a shuffle the other day. i was feeling a little absent-minded and it took me about 30 seconds to recall who it was without checking. such a sweet, simple song and yet it feels about 20 years ahead of its time.
― Charlie Howard, Thursday, 8 May 2008 16:44 (fifteen years ago) link
"i'll also take this opportunity to say that Alex Chilton probably has one of the top 5 singing voices in rock and roll history. Serious."
Agreed. Vulnerability and attitude in brilliant proportion.
― Usual Channels, Thursday, 8 May 2008 16:59 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, i'll concur there
― Charlie Howard, Thursday, 8 May 2008 17:01 (fifteen years ago) link
Sweet, poppy, cool, but also kinda fucked up. Quite obviously on Third, but also the hatefully desperate vibe on "Life Is White," and "She's a Mover" is some MANIC shit. I loved them when I was younger -- I was listening to "Thirteen" when I was 13 (funny how i hear it differently now -- so I was amazed when I put their records on about a month ago and they sounded better than ever. It's true, they will always somehow sound contemporary, like any inspired true-believing rock&roll, hey hey my my
― people explosion, Thursday, 8 May 2008 17:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Hes got a good range on Like Flies On Sherbert too, a bit more free than the Big Star stuff
― silkworm exploding, Thursday, 8 May 2008 17:17 (fifteen years ago) link
I love that album! It was a recent discovery for me. It's absolute proof that he was in complete sympathy with all things Rock n Roll. "Hey! Little Child" is amazing with its "Whold Wide World" beat* and Chuck Berry-level teenage lechery.
"Oh little fool, are you learning anything in school maybe you might drop out, maybe travel somewhere down south Hey hey little child"
*is there a better name for this beat? I had heard it all my life, but it never really came to life until I heard the Wreckless Eric song
― people explosion, Thursday, 8 May 2008 17:28 (fifteen years ago) link
Alex? Cantankerous?
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 07:34 (eight months ago) link
we went to see a reformed box tops at the hoboken arts fest. afterward my wife wanted to get alex to sign the set list she'd taken from the stage floor. i cautioned her that he might not take kindly to that, but he seemed to have been in a good mood for the whole show so she approached him and he smiled and signed it and was very gracious. a nice final memory of alex chilton.
― Thus Sang Freud, Saturday, 29 July 2023 09:47 (eight months ago) link
Must have had a very good soundman at that show.
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 10:04 (eight months ago) link
but deep down I doubt he was really dismissive and just being his usual cantankerous, difficult self.I’m sure there was more than a little “fuck you, where were you when we couldn’t get arrested?” frustration on Alex’s part whenever Big Star was gushed over in the ‘80s and ‘90s. And “Where were you when Chris Bell was alive?” was probably part of that frustration.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 29 July 2023 10:20 (eight months ago) link
This is probably somewhat true, but didn’t the rock press like Big Star, wasn’t there some press party in Memphis that encouraged them to keep going?
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 10:23 (eight months ago) link
No doubt held at TGIF.
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 10:24 (eight months ago) link
The Rock Writers Convention. May 25 and 26, 1973.
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 10:37 (eight months ago) link
Guess there was some myth that they had broken up after Chris and only got back together for this convention. But it did give them a shot in the arm and motivate them.
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 10:41 (eight months ago) link
Feel like I say this every few years or so, but I just think of Alex and Lou Reed as two peas in a pod filled with shpilkes, compelled to bait the press and audience incessantly in order to scratch some itch or relive and temporarily relieve some trauma.
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 10:44 (eight months ago) link
Highly recommend Bruce Eaton’s 33&1/3 book on Big Star’s Radio City.
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 10:54 (eight months ago) link
Okay maybe they hadn’t formally broken up before that but were kind of drifting a bit.
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 10:58 (eight months ago) link
Chilton and Reed shared that bitterness of, “Oh, you like us now, and it’s hip to know our music? Because we went through hell for years trying to find an audience and thinking everyone hated us.” For Reed that bitterness extended to the point where the planned 1993 Velvets US tour wouldn’t hit NYC. It was one of the few things he and Cale agreed on during the reunion: “NYC didn’t support us then, so why should they be able to see us now?” (though it was a moot point since they split up.)
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 29 July 2023 10:58 (eight months ago) link
Now I’m hearing “Style It Takes” in my head.
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 11:02 (eight months ago) link
What you say is of course true but I think there are some elements. I recall something Doug Yule saying something about Lou’s “imperfect instrument.” Both of these guys were huge talents but they lacked some facility which seems to have frustrated them. In the book I keep referring to, Alex totally dismisses his own songwriting, in particular his lyrics, on Radio City. Neither was a particularly natural musician in the traditional way, which I assume bugged them, although Alex managed to turn himself into his own kind of troubadour, slowly but surely building up his guitar chops from what he learned in those first lessons from Dennis Wilson on a Box Tops/Beach Boys tour.
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 11:10 (eight months ago) link
Something something something
I wish I had right now a member the press in my presence upon which head to heap vitriol for my annoyance at my own neverending string of typos.
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 11:12 (eight months ago) link
Member of
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 11:15 (eight months ago) link
To be fair, he did the songs
?
― budo jeru, Saturday, 29 July 2023 15:16 (eight months ago) link
I love thinking of 13 and You and Your Sister as a pair
― calstars, Saturday, 29 July 2023 18:03 (eight months ago) link
You And Your Sister (Songs)
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 29 July 2023 18:21 (eight months ago) link
To be fair, he did the songs?
He performed (many of them) live, he didn't shun the entire repertoire.
― Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 29 July 2023 18:24 (eight months ago) link
ah
― budo jeru, Saturday, 29 July 2023 18:29 (eight months ago) link
At this point it’s kind of pointless to try to get inside his head and figure out what he was thinking. At any point really
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 18:31 (eight months ago) link
I was just reading in my new/old favorite book about how he hated all his songs on Radio City, at least the lyrics, then that he hated the ones Chris wrote too, saying they were “written by committee” and then that he didn’t feel like he figured out how to write a good song at least lyric-wise, until 1977!
― Poor Little Fool Killer (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 29 July 2023 18:35 (eight months ago) link
I’m trying to think of an Alex equivalent to I am the Cosmos
― Diarrhea of a Madman (calstars), Saturday, 29 July 2023 19:29 (eight months ago) link
Maybe Holocaust
― Diarrhea of a Madman (calstars), Saturday, 29 July 2023 19:35 (eight months ago) link
"Big Black Car"?
I think he disliked a lot of the Big Star songs for the turmoil they reflect and describe; his later songs are "snappier" and reflect more classical virtues of wit and emotional control.
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 31 July 2023 03:05 (seven months ago) link