Am I the only person who thinks Big Star's "Radio City" is completely overrated?

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this record is underrated.

tylerw, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:20 (fourteen years ago) link

^^^^^

Mr. Que, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:21 (fourteen years ago) link

i know who iago g. is

velko, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:21 (fourteen years ago) link

go ahead, spill it velko! the name's doug eklund...who are you?

iago g., Monday, 15 March 2010 17:22 (fourteen years ago) link

hi doug

velko, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:22 (fourteen years ago) link

hey doug big star rules

Mr. Que, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:23 (fourteen years ago) link

i just think that the shorthand for this record being, you know, "classic power pop" isn't quite nailing what is so great about it. it's classic power pop, but it's a lot more too. Recent thing that knocked me out while listening: the end of "What's Going Ahn," that anguished Chilton vocal echoing back and forth, the booming drums, that brutal guitar. It's genius.

tylerw, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:23 (fourteen years ago) link

this record is wonderful

ciderpress, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:26 (fourteen years ago) link

yeah, I know, I know, everyone loves them, great. i kinda just felt like trolling, some of their stuff is OK--Radio City is sure a lot better than #3 sister lovers or whatevs. the question is, who are you, velko? you get one more chance after this!

iago g., Monday, 15 March 2010 17:27 (fourteen years ago) link

hey doug sister lovers is golden

Mr. Que, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:28 (fourteen years ago) link

my name is rafael

velko, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:28 (fourteen years ago) link

rafael what? one more shot then you get a big old piece of chicken

iago g., Monday, 15 March 2010 17:31 (fourteen years ago) link

i don't really like big star but i do love the chris bell record and recently i've been thinking of buying those cheap big star reissues and forcing myself to like them, do i do it in the name of science?

Joint Custody (ian), Monday, 15 March 2010 17:32 (fourteen years ago) link

do it in the name of spring

Mr. Que, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:33 (fourteen years ago) link

rafael is also my last name

velko, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:33 (fourteen years ago) link

someone was telling me that big star was music for the beach & firm young tits. xp

Joint Custody (ian), Monday, 15 March 2010 17:34 (fourteen years ago) link

i would add beer and warm, pre-summer breezes to that list

Mr. Que, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:35 (fourteen years ago) link

que otm

k3vin k., Monday, 15 March 2010 17:35 (fourteen years ago) link

thought so...

iago g., Monday, 15 March 2010 17:36 (fourteen years ago) link

i'm worried that big star is gonna be like gaddis with us, que--i love so much of what you do and then completely i am lost.

Joint Custody (ian), Monday, 15 March 2010 17:36 (fourteen years ago) link

maybe try third first then? it's probably closest in spirit to that Chris Bell record

Mr. Que, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:37 (fourteen years ago) link

but third is not available for $12 new on LP! i'd have to like, buy a CD or get a tape or something. my friend r0b3rt mcn3ill (do you know him from teh crypt daze??) said he was gonna tape it for me in his preferred running order. i should maybe ask him about that.

Joint Custody (ian), Monday, 15 March 2010 17:40 (fourteen years ago) link

#1 Record is probably the better overall album (barely), but Radio City has my favorite Big Star song ("Daisy Glaze"), so haters can fuck the fuck off.

Religious Embolism (WmC), Monday, 15 March 2010 17:41 (fourteen years ago) link

hmmm the only r0b3rt from those daze that i know lived/lives in Holland. is that him? i dunno, i don't wanna lead you astray, they might not be your thing. this time of year is the time of year when i fell in love with them and i fell hard.

Mr. Que, Monday, 15 March 2010 17:42 (fourteen years ago) link

ah, r0bert plays in the country teasers but is wholly american. lived in uh, wales? for a while? anyway, yeah we're gonna see.
i will just listen to the first two records at work tomorrow and see what happens.

Joint Custody (ian), Monday, 15 March 2010 17:44 (fourteen years ago) link

there's some other thread where we argue about what the best track order for 3rd is (I agree w/Shasta, whose favorite originated from some Italian bootleg of it iirc). Third was my intro to Big Star and is an amazing record but in a lot of ways it doesn't bear too much resemblance to what came before.

Get the Flaps Out (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 March 2010 17:46 (fourteen years ago) link

thirteen years pass...

That twangy guitar riff on "O, My Soul" has forever reminded me of "Footloose."

the very juice and sperm of kindness. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 18 March 2023 11:44 (one year ago) link

Heh

Think Fast, Mr. Mojo Risin’ (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 18 March 2023 11:45 (one year ago) link

Fun fact:

Loggins: “On the session, I asked my guitarist, ‘Gimme that Chilton thing, you know, like on Radio City.’ The guy looks at me like I have two heads. I said, ‘You know, Big Star? Radio City?’ He just looks more confused. So I ran out to my car, grabbed my tape that has #1 Record on one side and Radio City on the other — I’m telling you, that tape never leaves my car — and put it on for him. There’s that little riff just before Alex starts singing, and I said to my guitarist, ‘That! That’s what I’m looking for!’ So he picked up on it, and it became the main riff in ‘Footloose.’”

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:01 (one year ago) link

(OK, I just made that up.)

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:02 (one year ago) link

Well done.

the very juice and sperm of kindness. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:02 (one year ago) link

It totally sounds like a rip-off, it’s even the same notes no?

✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:10 (one year ago) link

I can totally imagine the singer of "I Met Her at Church" singing "Kick off your Sunday SHOEZZZ!"

the very juice and sperm of kindness. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:12 (one year ago) link

Bowie: "I said to Stevie Ray Vaughan, 'Stevie, have you heard of this obscure band called Big Star? There is a song of theirs with this great little guitar intro. Do you think you could maybe tweak it a little for a song I am currently working on?' And boy, did he ever. He listened to the Big Star, paused a moment, then picked up his guitar and immediately worked his magic. And that's how 'Modern Love' was born, and a guitar hero was made."

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:12 (one year ago) link

there is a clip on youtube of Loggins on Live from Daryl's House that is almost this exact scenario except he's trying to get the drummer to play "Modern Love" so they can start the song, we may have unlocked the secret to Footloose

Florin Cuchares, Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:20 (one year ago) link

I think of all of these examples as deriving from Duane Eddy, though I don't have an individual song in mind?

Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:22 (one year ago) link

In other words, it's a common rockabilly lick.

The difference I hear is that Chilton is sliding up to the note while Kenny (or his guitarist) is bending the string.

Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:24 (one year ago) link

Yeah, my guitar teacher (who had never heard "O My Soul" before I played it for him) described it as a "Strat master class."

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:26 (one year ago) link

lol Footloose is so similar. Sounds like something a guitarist does to warm up his fingers tbh.

Maggot Bairn (Tom D.), Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:29 (one year ago) link

Every time I hear twang my default ref is Duane Eddy.

the very juice and sperm of kindness. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:34 (one year ago) link

one time I read the book "Heaven is Real" for funsies which is not very fun and kind of distressing however at the end of the book there is a picture of the man a toddler recognized as Jesus

Florin Cuchares, Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:47 (one year ago) link

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3c/Kenny_Loggins.jpg/440px-Kenny_Loggins.jpg

I was pretty old before I realized that Loggins had a long and storied career before his '80s run, both with Messina and without. "Keep the Fire" is totally sophisticated yacht rock with a track that features Michael Jackson on backing vocals.

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 18 March 2023 14:53 (one year ago) link

Electric Prunes bassist Mark Tulin, on their 1968 touring guitarist:

The one positive aspect of the tour was playing with Kenny Loggins. I know where he's at now, but at that time he was a hard-core rocker and a pure joy to watch play. He went full-bore, full-out every night. Then back at the hotel he'd play some great song he'd just written. He was one talented son of a bitch.

Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 18 March 2023 15:44 (one year ago) link

Oh! Is this the thread from which sprung “terrifyingly consistent” and it referred to Jody’s drumming? I’m so happy

touche pas ma planète (flamboyant goon tie included), Saturday, 18 March 2023 16:27 (one year ago) link


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