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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Dave Seaman <seamand@upmc.edu> |
| Subject | Big star shines dimly |
| Date | Wed, 28 Sep 2005 14:05:08 -0400 |
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<<< to be fair to Chilton, a great deal of the stuff he wrote for Big Star
doesn't resemble "September Gurls" in any way, shape, or form. That's one of
the reasons why I like Big Star more than almost all of the bands they
influenced that followed in their wake. >>>
Okay, let me commit power pop heresy here. I was recently talking music
with a friend of mine who happens to be a fellow aud list member, and he
told me that he would probably be flamed by the list for admitting it, but
he never "got" Big Star. I told him I like Big Star, but not to the extent
that most on the list do.
Which got me thinking, I really can't explain what it is about them that
most everybody here loves. Maybe you have to love them to be able to
explain it. But, I don't know, there are groups I don't love, but can
understand why others do -- for instance, I don't love Dylan's work outside
of a few songs, but have a lot of respect for it. I don't love love pre-72
Elton John, but understand why others do. Ditto Marc Bolan, post 82
Springsteen, Loud Family, Robin Hitchcock, and the list goes on and on. Like
them all, don't love them, but understand why lots of folks go gaga over it.
I guess I feel I "get" them, but my tastes are different.
But, then there's Big Star. I have all of their albums, and listen to them
occasionally (very occasionally, like, say, a few times a year maybe?) But
I don't see the extreme attraction that they hold. I like them, but I don't
swoon over their lyrics, I don't strongly identify with their attitude, I
don't get chills and goose bumps over their melodies, I don't hum their
songs or play them in my head while I'm on the street, I don't feel like
they are singing just to me, I don't frequently desire to pull their CD out
of the stack and into the player, I don't them in the top echelon of classic
early 70s rock/power pop artists (IMO Badfinger, Raspberries, Cheap Trick,
Todd Rundgren, and maybe a few others) -- I guess I DON'T "get" them.
I mean, I want to love them, but so far I just can't. Ya know, it seems
there have been words written about the artists that I DO love, that
encapsulate what it is I love about them. Certainly the best thing to do is
just LISTEN to the music, but sometimes reading a good write-up on the music
can help illuminate, help get me to listen to an artist in a different light
and develop a deeper appreciation. Can anyone out there tell me what it is
about Big Star that makes you think they are/were one of the best? Or point
me to something that's already been written about them, that might lead me
to the light?
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