Big Star's first album in 30 years (!) will be released next month, it's called In Space. One of the new tracks is previewed on a freebie CD included with this month's issue of Q magazine in the UK ~ it's great! Sounds just like Big Star!

http://www.q4music.com/nav?page=q4music ... rrentissue

Wow, I wonder if Cheap Trick will cover one of the new songs for another sitcom theme....

Quick, somebody hit Big Star on the band game...

I am so buying this. After my Spider-Man Pocket Books (1-18 in three tiny volumes, man), my #1 Record / Radio City CD is the first thing I'd save in a fire. And that's counting Gramma.

Okay, sure I could buy another copy. But that disc's gotten me through some hard times. Gramma, what'd she ever do for me?

I'll do that if nobody answers about the Trashcan Sinatras....

Love this so much. Here's a taster ...

Wow...That's a new recording? Sounds like it was recorded between Radio City and Sister Lovers. Too often, a record after such a long layoff sounds too far removed from what the band really was, but that seems to fit right in.

I mean, there's no mistaking anything from God Bless the Go-Gos for being on Talk Show.

BTW, Linda, Big Star's the current topic in the Band Game thread and nobody's bit...Tell us all about how/why you love them, then suggest the next one!

Dan wanted to talk about Big Star, didn't he?

Yeah, but he hasn't, and it's been a whole day since I declared them the topic at his request. The only responses have been, "Wow, I thought Cheap Trick's version was the original" when I suggested them in the context of "In The Street." And nobody who's said that has suggested another band yet.

Yeh. Very, very impressive. Just a theory on my part, but I think that having Ken and Jon in the band is "focusing" Alex to play to his strengths, the things they grew up loving about his work, and it's keeping the weirdness and noodling of Alex's solo years at bay. It really does sound like Big Star! Now, what are the odds of them finally having some commercial success? Considering they've influenced half the bands in the world at this point ...!

Okay.

I been here, but I wanted to hear you guys talk about Big Star. I'm like the kid who sits cross-legged at everyone's feet listening to the adults talk, gaping foolishly, and every now and then someone pats him on the head or slips him a piece of bacon. 'Cept nobody at IMWAN's given me bacon yet, man you guys are cold...

Hank's right -- that song above there sounds like it comes right off Radio City, say. And the beauty of that is the stuff on Radio City all sounds like it was recorded two or three days ago, so now we got a single that's old + new = classic, instantly. Dunno if it's gonna earn Alex commercial success, but he's got it where it counts.

Makes me think (as I wait for somebody to get up here at my parents' house and start the coffee, cos I can't figure out how to work the machine): what bands haven't aged for you? This isn't just what bands doya still like, but rather -- what bands' music could've been recorded thirty years ago, could've been recorded last week, you can't really tell just by listening to the records. Usually I imagine it's going to be something that was so unique and perfectly realized when they first made the record that nothing's touched it since -- the song's still relevant, the music's undated and the studio/recording quality's as valid now as it was then...

For me, Big Star fits this bill, and so do the Soft Boys. Feels like either band would have made exactly the same records, exactly the same way, in any era -- Big Star's vision was that dead-on, and the Boys were just the weird guys down the street who could really play, so you know they're not goin' anywhere...

How about you all? Any timeless classics in your collection? Cos unless you convince me otherwise, I'm gonna declare I've named the only two.


(By the way, just kidding about that whole "IMWAN is cold" thing. IMWAN is warm. It warms me inside. Like a hug from a yellow sun.)

For Dan:

I think the Beatles' non-album singles of late 1964 through 1966 fit that bill - among I Feel Fine, She's A Woman, We Can Work It Out, Day Tripper, Paperback Writer, and Rain, really only She's a Woman can you hear and not say "that song's WAY ahead of its time."

I think among recent recordings, the Flaming Lips' last couple albums have that status, not because they sound old, but because they're so out there, that who can tell when they were made?

Nice article about the forthcoming album appears in the current issue of I.C.E.:

>> Small wonder that pop music renegades continue to sing Big Star’s praises (as the Replacements literally did with "Alex Chilton"); the Memphis-based group defied prevailing tastes in the early ’70s by carrying the torch for intelligently crafted pop. The band’s first two releases, No. 1 Record and Radio City, sold negligibly, both albums’ Anglophile sensibilities being the antithesis of ’70s FM playlists. Big Star called it a day after recording Third, its harrowing tone matched only by Nick Drake’s contemporary Pink Moon. However, Third’s posthumous 1978 release cemented the band’s cult status. Alex Chilton, the group’s guitarist and vocalist, then embarked on a lengthy, quixotic solo career, one that refuted most of the qualities endearing Big Star to its continually expanding fan base.

Fortunately for those fans, In Space, the first collection of new Big Star material in 30 years, due September 13 on Rykodisc, plays to the band’s strengths. The lion’s share of the tunes sound as though time stood still within Memphis’ Ardent Studio, where Big Star has tracked the entirety of its recorded output. "Sly, skewed and sprung" was one critic’s description of Big Star’s first albums; it applies equally to the group’s new songs, with "Best Chance We Ever Had," "February’s Quiet" and "Hung Up with Summer" framed by the harmony vocals and ringing guitars that have long been the group’s hallmark.

The new album’s genesis can probably be traced to a 1993 date that reunited Big Star original members Chilton and drummer/vocalist Jody Stephens, assisted by the Posies’ Jon Auer (vocals, guitar) and Ken Stringfellow (vocals, bass, Hammond A100 organ), which then led to intermittent touring through the following decade. Naturally, there were thoughts of recording. "Alex announced, at London’s Mean Fiddler festival, that we’d be doing a new album," Stephens tells ICE, "though that was in 2001."

The In Space sessions at Ardent were governed by a predetermined working method. According to Stephens, "Alex had the idea to generate one song per day until we had an entire album, then overdub and mix. It went like that for about 15 days, and a dozen songs made the cut. We recorded to two-inch multitrack tape, with extra inputs assigned to Pro Tools. There wouldn’t be any computer tricks like pitch correction or cutting and pasting. We worked like we always did, right down to using ’70s microphones."

The band is now formulating tour plans. "It’s tough to work around everyone’s schedules," Stephens cautions, "but we plan to hit L.A., San Francisco and New York." By way of characterizing Big Star’s latest chapter, he adds, "Playing is nothing but a good time. At the end of [the In Space sessions], Alex sat down to mix with our engineer, Jeff Powell. They spared me listening to all the necessary replays and handed me a CD at the end. I went for a drive to listen, and I thought, ‘This is exciting. This is an adventure.’" <<

Raspberries ...?

Big Star ...?

If these things are possible, cannot Badfinger be far behind?

but -- HOW ?

Joey Molland, Mike Gibbins and ...?? Wouldn't be much of a Badfinger at this point.

This review will make you want to buy Big Star In Space:

http://www.popculturepress.com/bigstarreview.html

>> It's been thirty years since the last of Big Star's three studio albums. Each of them has gone on to become among the most influential American albums of the 1970s. From selling only about 4000 copies each of their three albums, they've become cult fan favorites, and ultimately, have become nearly household names (at least among music fans) thanks in part to their music being played weekly on a hit TV show. Since the reformed band -- Jody Stephens, Alex Chilton, and the creative half of the Posies, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow -- has now been together for 12 years (exactly three times longer than the original band was together), it might be assumed that fans would consider this the belated recorded debut of a much-beloved touring band. But the reality is that the new Big Star has so far always been an 'oldies act.' Trotted out once or twice a year to play selections from the first three albums, mostly when someone offered them a decent paycheck. But that was okay, since they barely played live in the '70s anyway, therefore almost no one got to see them, and nearly all their fans discovered them only after the original band had long since broken up. Can you really be an 'oldies' band if no one saw you the first time around?
Few bands have ever faced such resistance to making new music when they reformed after a long absence. Reunion albums, we all know, are vastly more likely to be pale imitations of the original band's sound and style. Sometimes the chops aren't there anymore. Sometimes the new songs are woefully lacking. And very often, the album is done for all the wrong reasons: money and/or a fix for that 'fame addiction.' But there have been good ones: The Bangles, The Soft Boys, The Buzzcocks, Jason and the Scorchers. Even The Who, with half its membership dead, have played some of the finest shows of their career since reforming in the last few years. A couple of years back, Alex Chilton told his fellow members of Big Star that he really wanted to do an album of new Big Star material 'with this band.' And that's the key ingredient in this record's success -- the decision to make the record was made by Chilton with the others' enthusiastic agreement -- they didn't even have a record label, and didn't really know if anyone would put it out, much less agree to let them have complete artistic control of the end result. And it's with great pleasure that Big Star In Space can be counted an artistic success. Now, whether anyone buys it remains to be seen. There is, after all, a more enormous hurdle of preconceptions to be dealt with than any reunion since The Beatles or The Jam (both of whom resisted the urge to reform, at least partly due to those very preconceptions).

Alex Chilton has always been a man nearly everyone would describe as 'difficult.' While the 'new' Chilton of 2005 seems to be a different man from the Chilton of, say, 1974, which is to say, by all reports he seems to be happier and in a better mental state than ever before, difficult is a word not likely to ever not describe Chilton. And when you couple a lifelong proclivity to challenging preconceptions with a public that for the last 30 years has always wanted Chilton to be something he never truly was, logic would tell you that a new Big Star record might not be what some newer fans want it to be. The man's defied others' expectations of him for most of his life. The whole 'Big Star sound,' while it was always a completely collaborative thing between the four founding members -- Christopher Bell, Chilton, Stephens, and Andy Hummel, with mentor/keyboard player/occasional backing vocalist Terry Manning, Ardent Records producer/engineer playing a small role -- was really something that Alex Chilton joined, not created. The Big Star sound so much beloved and worshiped and imitated by thousands of fans around the world was fully in place in Christopher Bell's earlier bands (with Stephens, Manning, and Hummel) -- Rock City and Icewater. Chilton went from superstardom in the soulful Box Tops, to being a NYC based folkie who followed in the footsteps of artists like Loudon Wainwright, to being a member of a Memphis-based Anglophile rock band. Chilton played that 'Big Star sound' from 1971-1974. And then abandoned it completely except on the rare occasions it was 'revived' for oldies Big Star shows. And don't forget, either, that the original 4-piece Big Star only made one album, 1972's #1 Record. 1974's Radio City was a compilation of tracks recorded by three different bands, the original quartet (one song), the Dolby Fuckers (three songs), and the reformed trio without Christopher Bell (the remainder of the album, tho several of the songs dated back to Bell's involvement, they were new recordings). Hummel, in some ways the glue that held the band together, had quit by the time Radio City was in the stores. 1975's Sister Lovers was a drug and alcohol fueled dark masterpiece, the sound of a young man breaking down completely, taking the sound of the band, and essentially, immolating it. From there, there could be no going on. Beyond Sister Lovers was only death. Which Christopher Bell found in 1978.

But Big Star has always been a mixed blessing for Alex Chilton. On the one hand, those three albums are among the very finest works of any artist in the music industry in the 20th Century. Period. Chilton might never admit it, but he knows. On the other hand, it's very much been an albatross around his neck for the last 30 years. The records never sold, no one came to see them play in the day, and even years later, after the albums had been elevated by hardcore fans and critics to classic level, no royalties flowed his way. And both fans and critics for 30 years have been very vocal in their displeasure over Chilton's willful refusal to sound just like those records, even though those who knew Chilton knew he could still sound just like that at will. Big Star's much-lauded SXSW appearance in 2004 was, speaking as someone who saw the original band live, a vastly superior musical performance over any the band gave in 1974. Put another way, backed by ace drummer Stephens and the immensely talented Auer and Stringfellow (the latter's also been in R.E.M. for the last decade), the new Big Star can and does play Big Star songs better now than the original band (which seldom played live) did back in the day.

But Chilton's forte has always been this: he's a masterful interpreter of others' material, a stubborn, playful and visionary experimentalist, and a guitar player with few peers. Most important of all, he's always had a God-given ability to reach out and touch souls with his voice. For a while in Big Star, he was interpreting Bell's sound and material (just as Bell masterfully sang Chilton's "In The Street," Big Star's now-signature song). But some fans have always refused to allow Chilton to follow his own muse.

Another really important key to understanding Big Star, and to fully appreciating their new album, is this: the guys in Big Star grew up in Memphis, arguably the birthplace of modern music as we know it. In the '60s, when they were teens, all anyone wanted to know about in Memphis was Stax/Volt, Elvis Presley, Al Green, Sun Records, etc. Being intelligent, rebellious kids, Big Star naturally went in the exact opposite direction, and were total, utter Anglophiles. Addicted to British Invasion rock bands, garage rock, heavy guitar rock, and especially glam (particularly Chilton), which exactly coincided with Big Star's career, but was nearly totally unknown in mainstream America at the time. Put more simply, if you were a teen in Memphis, and considered yourself hip, you listened to bands from London and New York (Big Star was among the first to 'discover' the Velvet Underground), and considered your local music scene to be rather backwards and not particularly cool. But like any teens, they grew up, and with the benefit of hindsight and life experience, they recognized the truth -- that they'd grown up in one of the most musically vital and brilliant music communities anywhere, it was and in fact always had been 'hip,' and they came to embrace that heritage.

In Chilton's case, it meant going directly from covering Velvets and T. Rex songs to covering Furry Lewis (his cover of "I Will Turn Your Money Green" is definitive) and Rufus Thomas. And don't think this was EVER far from Big Star's hearts, either; remember that Terry Manning, who was certainly Christopher Bell's mentor, engineered many of the classic Stax/Volt Records, produced his first number one with the Staple Singers ("I'll Take You There," "Respect Yourself") at more or less the same time he co-produced the Staple Singers (and Led Zep III), and Sister Lovers producer Jim Dickinson was a founding member of The Dixie Flyers, who backed everyone at Muscle Shoals from Aretha to Wilson Pickett. If #1 Record had been a hit, if Chris Bell had not had his mental breakdown and quit, if the original Big Star had stayed together for a whole series of albums, would they have remained a resolutely Anglophile band? Realistically, probably not. A lot of the type of material featured in Chilton's solo albums might very well have wound up on Big Star albums, albeit in a different form. And as I pointed out in an article written for this website last year (you can find it on this site under "Web Exclusives"), it was always Bell and Manning that were die-hard Beatles nuts. Chilton was always a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson/Kinks/Who man. So with Bell long gone and Manning not involved, it stands to reason that any new Big Star record would be more nearly influenced by Chilton's faves (as well as by Auer's and Stringfellow's), not by Bell's. But perhaps, incidentally, and fortunately for those post-1980 Big Star fans who insist that Chilton should still sound like Bell, it's probably a good thing that among Auer/Stringfellow's main influences are, um, Big Star and Christopher Bell.

Which brings us, at last, to Big Star In Space. This is a fresh, vibrant, humorous, exciting and utterly contemporary record, with both feet planted firmly in the Big Star legacy, and more importantly (especially considering the involvement of the Seattle/grunge/Posies camp), quite firmly in the Memphis (not British) tradition. While Chilton produced and shepherded the project, it's also fully and completely a 'band' record, inconceivable to reproduce without any of the four members, all of whom are crucial as both musicians, songwriters, and singers. All the songs are co-credited to all four members, except as noted below (although I'm going to arbitrarily discuss them below attributed to their likely main author(s)). Andy Hummel told me recently that In Space sounded to his ears like a logical follow-up to the original records, and I'd wholeheartedly agree. It's also likely to be quite controversial among those Big Star fans who didn't go on to cherish Chilton's solo catalogue. Because if there's one thing you can say up front, it is that it does NOT sound like a Christopher Bell record. Songs were recorded in a couple of week-long blocks of time, with the album's proviso being that they would write and record in the studio, and try to get a song a day done (which they very nearly did). While this method of recording might seem anathema to fans of #1 Record (recorded over a year-long period, via endless overdubs), it must be noted that in the early sessions for Radio City while Bell was still involved, this is exactly the way they recorded: cut a track live in the studio with the 4-piece band, then sweeten it via vocal overdubs, additional instruments, etc. So right up front, for those that will most surely criticize this album for 'not sounding like the old Big Star,' bear in mind that Radio City was recorded the same wayas this album was; the only difference is that on Radio City most (not all) of the songs had been written in advance. But some of Radio City (like "Mod Lang" and "Morpha Too") was written and recorded JUST like In Space. So if you think this one's 'different' than the 'classic' Big Star, you're perhaps a bit misguided. Different styles to the front, but different in any deep intrinsic way? Not really.

The opening track "Dony" is being used promotionally to preview the album to fans, via inclusion on a Q sampler and as a download, which is probably a mistake on Ryko's part as it's one of the album's songs that most nearly sounds like a Chilton solo track, and the least like an old Big Star track; that will put some newbie fans off. The track opens with a tugging riff from Chilton in the left channel, an off-mic 'aowhh', and then Auer enters on the right channel (their guitars stay separated that way for the entire album). A simple modern Chilton boy/girl song, elevated to something vastly superior to his similar solo work by the massed group backing vocals and sharp instrumental work. Solid, but not outstanding, a good warm-up track. It's grown on me tremendously, though, and gets better with every spin.

Auer's "Lady Sweet" should've probably been the track with which to 'preview' the album, as it's the most overtly referential to Bell. We've always known that the Posies contingent in the band would ensure that the album would, at least in spots, sound very much like the Big Star of old, and this one could easily have been a Bell contribution to Radio City. It's gorgeous, stirring, and manages to evoke in favorable way songs like "Thirteen" and "The Ballad of El Goodo." It's also one of Auer's career best songs. And when those lovely stacked vocals kick in near the end, it's very clear that no matter what skins they now wear, Big Star is back.

Next up is Jody Stephens' "Best Chance We've Ever Had." On first listen, I mistook it for an excellent Chilton song, but it's Stephens singing with Auer adding harmonies. His voice has a wonderful, charming vulnerability that Chilton has mostly lost (or is likely to hide behind a smirk), and in a perfect world, would make a big teen heartthrob out of Stephens. And this song is another unqualified home run. From the opening jangly Chilton guitar on one channel, to the acoustic strum on the other, with Stephens playing tribute to great British Invasion drummers in an inspired rhythmic performance, this one would be a prime candidate for the lead-off single. It's also the best song mainly written by a drummer since "Everybody Hurts."

Stringfellow sings another single-release candidate "Turn My Back On The Sun." It's so blatantly placed smack dab in the middle of Chilton's much-beloved Beach Boys circa '65-66 that they tack the opening to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (a song Chilton often performed live in the '70s) onto the beginning. It's one of the very best Beach Boys-derived tracks of recent years, while at the same time sounding very fresh and original. It definitely makes me wish the album had been released in June (release date on the promo is stated as "Aug. 30" although Jody told me yesterday he thinks it's shifted back to Sept. 27).

"Love Revolution" is the album's surest flashpoint for those who think they know better than Chilton what a Big Star record should sound like. Opening with a skewed take on the riff from "Hey Bulldog" before Auer chimes in with an archetypal Stax riff (think "Shaft") and a song that replicates the feel of Archie Bell and the Drells "Tighten Up" or any number of Rufus Thomas songs. It falls somewhere in between Manning's 1969 piss-take, "Trashy Dog," and "Big Bird." The horn section, saxophonist Jim Spake (familiar to Chilton fans from his appearances on solo albums, Panther Burn albums, and Box Top reunion albums) and trumpeter Nokie Taylor (ditto), are given songwriting credits here. Now, this song is sure to puzzle some of the latter-day Big Star fans. They'll be asking, 'Is he serious? Is this meant to be a joke?' You'd have to ask Chilton that. Ever since "Boogie Shoes" appeared on the European pressing of 1979's "Like Flies on Sherbert," an example of this type of up-tempo dance/funk song has appeared on virtually all of Chilton's solo works. One would have to assume by now that he just loves playing this kind of music. Speaking objectively, I'd submit that this particular track, bolstered immeasurably by his Big Star bandmates' performance, is probably the best single post-Stax/Volt Memphis dance music track from the last 5-10 years. And let us not forget that Chilton has ALWAYS put songs on albums that were at least partially intended to subvert expectations and get in the audience's face. "Don't Lie to Me," "Mod Lang," and "Kizza Me" for example. This might be seen as merely another facet of that. It's also a really fine track in its own right, and it if didn't appear on a 'Big Star' album, most listeners might agree. But you may be assured there will be many 'fans' who stridently criticize this album just because of this track's inclusion. And don't rule out that Chilton wanted those people to have exactly that reaction. "In your face" is a phrase that could've been coined to describe Chilton's perverse streak.

Stephens' "February's Quiet" reels us back in to more familiar Big Star territory. Again sung by Stephens with Auer harmonizing behind him (a wonderful sound, that), it's yet another candidate for a single. It's going to come as quite a shock to many longtime fans just how strong his contributions to this album are. Sure, "Way Out West" (written by Hummel, sung by Stephens) was one of Radio City's best songs. And "Fireplace" (which is what Chilton always called Stephens' "For You", and I picked up calling it that from him) on Sister Lovers is easily one of the strongest tracks on that album, too, certainly it's the best pop song. But with Chilton, Auer, and Stringfellow, three of the finest all-around musicians you could hope to have backing you, Stephens has hit another one out of the park. And the album's only half over.

"Mine Exclusively" is a track written by Shirlie Mae Matthews, about whom I know nothing (although the song was a regional 1966 hit by The Olympics), and it's a personal candidate for favorite song off the album. An uptempo stomper with a terrific arrangement, it hits like a cannonball, with Auer channeling Steve Cropper hammering out a tough as nails riff, Chilton nailing the lead vocals with effortless magnificence (it's his finest moment on the album), and a Hollies 1966 vocal touch to the chorus. A masterpiece. Chilton might've recorded this song earlier with Teenage Fanclub in an obscure European release, but as I'm writing this the day after getting this new CD, I haven't had time to dig around and see if I have that or not to see if it's the same song.

"A Whole New Thing" is Chilton being Mr. Ironic again. A rather average song that sounds like it wouldn't have been a highlight of a recent Chilton solo album, it survives mainly on some wonderfully droll backing vocals, and on its tongue-in-cheek wit. It would seem to reflect Chilton's long-standing love for the Beach Boys' 1977 album Love You (which is a really divisive album among BBs fans, love or hate it). Personally, I lean more towards the 'love it' side with Love You, but would find it hard to defend against detractors. Still, this song has a really undeniable chugging, post-Chuck Berry riff, and with marvelously arranged backing vocals, and Chilton's sheer enthusiasm selling the track, it's become another car fave of mine. And hearing the way Alex says 'yeah' in the song just kills me every time. Chilton's fond of spontaneity, and the band hadn't played the song enough to know where the changes were (hence a rather hilarious but totally charming fluff by the drummer early in the song -- I've heard Ringo do the same thing during an early performance of "Get Back," by the way -- fluffing and recovering nicely).

Georg Muffat was a German/French composer circa the beginning of the 1700s, who Chilton dug up somewhere. Along with the dance/funk song, every Chilton solo album for the last 20 years has included a quiet, rather charming little guitar workout of some obscure Italian-sounding instrumental, and this fulfills that function here. It does come off better than many of his previous forays into such music simply because Auer duets with him, and the fine rhythm section offers their support, too. I must say, though, that "Boplexity" is my personal favorite of these numbers he's assayed (and he wrote that one). One can only imagine Chilton saying to himself 'see what you missed by not buying my solo albums.' Quaint, amusing, but inconsequential.

"Hung Up With Summer" is another terrific Chilton song. Added to the quartet's songwriting credits this time is Bill Cunningham, who in his long career once played in Chris Bell's 1965 band The Jynx and was an original Box Top with Chilton. This is an excellent, bittersweet song, anchored by what sounds like Chilton's first use of a 12-string, Byrdish guitar sound in 30 years (or doing a good imitation of one on a six, can't decide).

"Do You Want To Make It" sounds to these ears for all the world like a Dennis Wilson-sung Beach Boys song circa 1965 (think "Do You Wanna Dance"). Pure lightweight fun.

"Makeover" is the nod to Sister Lovers. Chilton opens with a riff straight out of Rhinoceros' "Apricot Brandy" while rapping "...dial 1-800-666-6666 wwwwwwwww..." as Auer and Chilton start guitar dueling that takes up where the fade on "Helter Skelter" left off, Stringfellow madly racing up and down the neck of his bass, sounding like a song-length Entwistle solo, with Auer and Stephens holding down the fort while Chilton's visits The Negative Zone. Tongue in cheek, and great fun for all.

So, then, this new Big Star is a new ride with its wheels firmly planted in history. Rick Nelson summed it up best: "If memories are all I played, I'd rather drive a truck." Chilton couldn't have said it any better. It's really your call as listeners whether you want to be on this particular bus or not. As for me, count me in big time. And an open letter to Alex: next time, how about getting at least some token involvement by Andy Hummel, Terry Manning, and Jim Dickinson. You've proved you can make a great record with the 'new' band, so now you're finally free to go wherever the music takes you, but why not include all the people who made those original three albums great?!

When I hosted a Big Star panel at SXSW in 2004, someone asked me what I, as a fan, wanted from a new Big Star record. And that question stumped me. Because I really didn't know. I knew I didn't want them to sound like a Big Star copy band. I knew I didn't want them to write teen-oriented songs and pretend to be teenagers. I knew I didn't want Chilton to be in the dark personal space that produced Sister Lovers again just for my/our enjoyment. But really, in reflection, the answer should've been simple. All I wanted was a good Big Star record. And they gave us a great one.

Most exciting of all is that there's no reason why this band can't go on as an adjunct to Chilton's more experimental and roots-oriented solo career, Stringfellow & Auer's careers both solo and the Posies, and Stephens day job as the Ardent Studios manager, and occasional producer. It'll be great fun seeing them play these songs live, and you know what? Based on the evidence here and their stellar live performances, they just might have another masterpiece left in 'em, too, boring old farts or not. And major props to Rykodisc for having the courage to let them make this album, exactly as they wanted it made. <<

Wow, heck of a review. Then, anything that cites Ricky Nelson is aces by me.

Can't wait.

D.

Saw Chilton twice.

1989, at TT The Bear's in Boston -- a space so tiny, when I laughed after Alex announced he was about to play "Juan Tanamera," he glared at me and asked, "Why is that funny?" He played mostly solo stuff, and whatever songs by other songwriters happened to be on his mind that week.

2004, on Randall's Island, Little Steven's Underground Festival -- Alex played and sang backup, mostly. He had some kid singing lead. Apparently, Alex's range was suffering that day. All days, nowadays?

FYI -- Raspberries in reunion recently did have a guy and a woman singing backup and adding additional guitar: The Overdubs, who played the parts that were overdubbed on the albums whenever the two guitarists were otherwise occupied. They DID support Eric and Wally on vocals here and there, but I watched carefully. Eric and Wally hit every single note.

FYI re BADFINGER -- also saw New York Dolls at Little Steven's festival last year. Not much left, but David and Sylvain were just great. "I keep telling Sylvain, that stuff that happened back in the '70s -- it wasn't 'GAY'." Of the entire puzzled audience, I believe I was the only one who cheered. None of the dead members appeared, yet still the show was terrific.

FYI re NEW YORK DOLLS -- going out to Sayreville, NJ to see them tonight. Okay, okay, really we're going to see Tsar open for them.

I am going to see TSAR.

Dreeeeamy.

Apparently, it's just Joey Molland. "Joey Molland's Badfinger" will tour.

I bought a "Best Of Badfinger" CD from the $1.99 bin at Sam Goody's a few years ago. At the time, I didn't notice the "All-new digital recordings featuring Joey Molland" subtitle.

Hoo-whee that was bad.

I realize the guy's gotta eat, but a $2 bait-and-switch can't be raking in THAT much, can it?

I know Mark Lindsay (from Paul Revere & the Raiders) did the same thing, and Roy Orbison actually released his new-recordings-of-the-greatest-hits on a major label.

Any other bad surprises you've encountered like this?