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| From | "Michael Bennett" <mrhonorama@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Big Star and Rosetta Stones |
| Date | Fri, 22 Aug 2003 12:18:42 -0500 |
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In one of his typically erudite posts, Greg Sager referred to "September
Gurls" as "the Rosetta Stone" of power pop. I want to avoid any discussion
of the definition of power pop, as it's as pointless as reasoning with Judge
Roy Moore. But, I wanted to discuss Big Star and where they stand in power
pop.
While, if I'm explaining to some hipster the parameters of power pop, I'll
name Big Star as a power pop artist, I've never thought of them as truly
being a power pop band. Of course, that has more to do with my subjective
definition of the genre. Objectively, however, I think that Big Star's
place in power pop history has been vastly overrated.
I don't think it is possible for Big Star to have recorded any "Rosetta
Stone", due to the simple fact that Big Star's influence on the development
of the power pop genre is negligible. Big Star were contemporaries of
Badfinger and The Raspberries, and sold about 5 or 10 percent of what they
sold. They were a cult band, and that cult was very small through most of
the '70s. As the '70s went on, and more bands played power pop. And none
of them really displayed any Big Star influence -- whether it's Dwight
Twilley Band, The Scruffs, The Shoes, Cheap Trick, The Knack, 20/20,
Pezband, and a host of skinny tie bands, you can't really find any Big Star
in their music, except to the extent that any of those bands shared similar
influences.
It really wasn't until some Southern bands came up that you really began to
see more Big Star influence -- in particular, The dBs, though artists like
R.E.M. and The Windbreakers also showed some of that influence too. Still,
you had folks like Marshall Crenshaw and other who were immune from any Big
Star mojo. The only other artists I could really link to the band from that
era would be Tommy Keene, who covered a Chilton solo tune, and Game Theory.
Indeed, the Stamey-era dB's and Game Theory had the most overt Big Star
influence. And notably, both Chris Stamey and Scott Miller seemed really
taken by RADIO CITY and the quirkier side of that brilliant album.
The next wave of bands to really solidify a consistent Big Star influence
were The Replacements (though, IMO, very superficially), The Posies and
Teenage Fanclub. And, notably, all three bands really emphasized the least
challenging elements of Big Star music. No knock on "Thirteen" and
"September Gurls", but they aren't really groundbreaking songs, as opposed
to let's say "Good Vibrations" or "Go All The Way", they are simply great
(and, really, perfect) songs.
There is nothing wrong with Big Star's accessible material becoming so
influential, but the inspiration of Big Star on rock music, and specifically
power pop, if often pretty reductive. Like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and
The Velvet Underground, using just three examples, there is no signature Big
Star sound. Each album is a unique entity and many of the more difficult
elements of their music have not found their way into the vocabulary of many
of the bands who most like to fly the Big Star flag high.
However, in any discussion of the impact of their music, it must be noted
that they are an influence that got absorbed into power pop after it went
through its first one or two phases, and really only got absorbed as part of
the foundation of the music about a decade after power pop got going as
genre.
This is akin to the way that The Sonics became an extremely influential band
in garage rock many years after their hey day.
That's all --
Mike Bennett
NP: Pansy Division -- TOTAL ENTERTAINMENT!
Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com
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