Big Star: Radio City
1974
Ardent Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc
Track Listing: 1. O My Soul 2. Life Is White 3. Way Out West 4. What's Going Ahn 5. You Get What You Deserve 6. Mod Lang 7. Back of a Car 8. Daisy Glaze 9. She's a Mover 10. September Gurls 11. Morpha Too 12. I'm in Love with a Girl
Okay, I couldn't find the third in the collage series yet, but I was able to dig up a drawing me and my friend Josh did of the Custodians at our high school...
Holy shit, I'm LOLing over this...This was something we used to do back in the day...Just draw everyone's photos from the yearbook, and often putting them in unlikely situations...I still have quite a few pages of these...But this one stood head and shoulders above the rest...The names carved into the tree are a masterstroke...
Okay, let's get back to business.."Radio City" was Big Star's second record, and in my eyes, definitely their best...The album is rougher, dirtier, and sketchier than "#1 Record" but in a lot of cases, this brings a ragged beauty to the tracks....I mean, would "September Gurls" be so inspiring if it didn't feel like it was on the verge of coming apart?
Speaking of which, I seriously think this is my favorite song ever...When I first heard it I couldn't stop playing it and I remember literally wincing at its gorgeousness...And then I kind of forgot about it for about 13 years, but I was feeling a bit nostalgic for some of the old Cd's I listened to in the 90's and picked up this again, and it was even better than I remembered...That spangly, opening guitar riff sounds so damn important...To this day I have zero idea what Alex is singing...and I don't want to know..It is isn't important...How he sings is is what matters...The mere sound of it gives me a feeling that I can only describe as an exhilarating longing...Honest to god, the most beautiful thing I've heard in my life...This is why I'm so obsessed with music...To this day I don't think I've ever listened to "September Gurls" just once...As soon as it's done I inevitably say, "Man, I've gotta hear that again..." and I repeat the process until I force myself to stop...Surely, classic rock radio can cut one airing of "Don't Stop Believing" every once in awhile to play this!
And that song has got some stiff competition here...Cos this album also has "Back of a Car," which has an awkward melody that somehow twists itself into perfect harmonies...Alex has a real talent for this sort of thing...Songs that initially seem so odd or stumbling suddenly start clicking..The first album felt so effortless, but this feels like they're trying as hard as they can to complete the song, which provides a palpable sense of desperation...Like when they finally hit the easy-going chorus of "Way Out West" you kind of breathe a sigh of relief that they made it...I can't explain it but for some reason that doesn't stop me from writing about it...
"#1 Record" and "Radio City" are most commonly sold as a twofer CD...
But I think it does both albums a bit of a disservice..The epic 80-minute running time somehow makes the albums seem more daunting than they actually are and the two albums really are radically different, and should be listened to under different circumstances...I'd recommend the vinyl versions which are readily available...You get the big, nice cover art of the red ceiling with the light-bulb (that's waayyy too small to see on the CD art) and you get to experience each album as it was meant to be...
Big Star released two more albums after this one, but I don't own those...I've heard the Rykodisc version of 1978's "Third/Sister Lovers" quite a few times and I've enjoyed it immensely..It was actually my introduction to Big Star...If "Radio City" feels like it's on the verge of falling apart, then "Third/Sister Lovers" is where it actually happens..It starts off with a couple of tracks that seem like it's going to be another upbeat power-pop record, then "Big Black Car" comes on and the the record falls into the abyss and mostly stays there...At least he still manages to snag a few great melodies there...There's some question as to whether it should even be considered a proper Big Star record, since it was essentially recorded as an Alex Chilton solo album, and abandoned, and then later put together by a record company and released under the Big Star name...
In 2005, Alex and Big Star drummer Jody Stephens teamed up with two of the Posies to release "in Space." I've never heard it though...
Alright. it's time to stop talking about Big Star and actually listen to them...So here's "September Gurls" by Big Star...Enjoy...
