Big Star fades away

Have you ever heard of the band called Big Star? Unless you were alive in the 70's or really love the TV show That 70's Show chances are you have not. Sadly the man who started the band, Alex Chilton died last week at 59 of a heart attack. I'll be honest and say I didn't know of these guys when I was a kid. I had heard of Chilton, because he was the lead singer of the Box Tops and at 16 had a number one hit with "The Letter," believe me if you heard it you'd know it, it's a stable of oldies radio.

After he left the Box Tops, Chilton started Big Star which turned out to be the most ironic name for a band ever as they were critical darlings but never sold any records. Even more ironic, the first record was called #1 Record. Their second record, Radio City, was better than the fist and again got amazing reviews, but because of record company issues never got any distribution. After a third record they broke up and Chilton became a producer for such seminal punk bands as the Cramps.

Although Big Star was hugely influenced by the British Invasion bands like the Beatles and the Kinks, they ended up being very influential themselves. In the 1980s and 90s bands such as REM and The Replacements admitted to being hugely influenced by Big Star who were crowned "The Fathers of Power Pop" by Rolling Stone magazine. Rolling Stone also includes all three of their studio records in their 500 greatest records of all time. In 1998 their song "In the Streets" was re-recorded by Cheap Trick as the theme for That 70's Show (they changed some of the words).

Do yourself a favor and buy Big Star's first two records, they are bundled on one CD and remastered by Rino Records.