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| From | "Billy G. Spradlin" <bgspradlin@cablelynx.com> |
| Subject | Re: Big Star and Rosetta Stones |
| Date | Fri, 22 Aug 2003 18:30:51 -0500 |
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>> 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.
The biggest influence in all those bands you mention was The Beatles, but I
hear a LOT of Big Star's influence in the Scruffs - because they were from
Memphis. Cheap Trick even recorded some early demos at Ardent Studios, Dwight
Twilley & Phil Seymour also made a early pilgamage to Memphis to cut demos -
proably out of thier Elvis and Sun Rockabilly worship -- but who knows if they
knew anything about Big Star.
I remember seeing "#1 Record" and "Radio City" in cutout bins all through the
70's but never bought it. The first time I heard "September Gurls" (which I do
think is a Rosetta Stone) was (how appropriate) The Searchers "Loves Melodies"
album in 1981. So someone out there knew about Big Star, but I agree it wasnt
until the "Southern Pop" explosion of the mid 80's that the
alternative/mainstream media and college radio (via import re-releases) caught
on.
>Still, you had folks like Marshall Crenshaw and other who were immune from
any
>Big Star mojo.
I barely remember one review that compared one of Marshall's early albums to
Alex's solo work. Thier influences are VERY close (Sun-Rockablily - British
Invasion, though Marshall grew up a huge Motown fan, while Alex loved Southern
Soul).
Billy G. Spradlin
http://listen.to/jangleradio
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