Mike,

Ok...this strikes me as more valuable than the usual hairsplitter for some
reason. As always, I'd say your points are well reasoned and strikingly
original. I give you credit there. Nevertheless I guess I find myself
disagreeing with the overarching theme of the argument. I guess the question
I'd ask is whether influence as measured by bands that mimic or ape is the
coin of the realm when it comes to enduring importance to power pop.
Obviously this sort of mimicry is rampant and often decried on this list.
Still, I'd venture that there are other bands that are considered important,
as a result of their songs more than their musical progeny. Case in point
would be the Left Banke - admittedly they're almost the ultimate in cultish
& insular, but to fans of pop music they're iconic because of the quality of
Michael Browns _unique_ songwriting, not because of the litany of bands that
point to the Left Banke influence.

I realize this places it back in the world of the subjective which might
have been just what you were trying to avoid. I'm afraid that can't really
be helped. Plus, I'm troubled in part because I think power pop would be
markedly diminished if their hadn't been a Big Star. Those songs to me
(September Gurls, Thirteen, The Ballad of El Goodo, Holocaust, In the
Street, I'm in Love with a Girl) are quintessential and unmatched for their
marriage of melodic and lyrical power (in the pop realm we enjoy). 

-craig

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Bennett [mailto:mrhonorama@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2003 10:19 AM
To: audities@smoe.org
Subject: Big Star and Rosetta Stones


  But, I wanted to discuss Big Star and where they stand in power 
pop.

...  Objectively, however, I think that Big Star's 
place in power pop history has been vastly overrated.

... due to the simple fact that Big Star's influence on the development 
of the power pop genre is negligible.