Actually teared up watching Big Star play
-
Artist:
So my wife is so cool, she got us Big Star tickets for my birthday. (She actually got us Big Star tickets AND Doug Stanhope tickets, if you're wondering, so you REALLY know she's hip). I'm pretty sure she didn't even know who they were, since when I expressed surprise (did anyone else know Alex Chilton was gigging with Big Star? Not me...) she just said "Oh I heard you talking about them the other day, and saw they were doing a show." I love my wife. I told her they did the original version of the theme song to That 70's Show and it clicked a little better for her...
I guess I knew that they were gigging with Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer from The Posies, I mean, as in since the 90s, but I guess I had also forgotten... Seeing and hearing Chilton and Jody Stephens pounding out all those tunes we've all listened to so many times, now, so many years later, "The Ballad of El Goodo," "Feel," "Don't Lie To Me," "September Girls," man, it just got to me. I mean, I put those records on when I want to feel 16, like I'm a kid again, when I want to escape this day, right now. So to hear it happening right in front of me was something else, kind of a mind-f*ck actually.
While it did make me feel old, it also made me realize that even when it all seems too late and too long ago, it can still all be worthwhile. Talk about getting derailed, the Big Star story is one that could keep just about anyone from going into the music business. When you combine the bad luck, presonal trouble, and craven corporate jackassery that plagued The Star pretty much from square 1, to realize that the material can still feel fresh and relevant is proof and a testament to music's enduring power, and the weight of the meaning it gives to people.
Chilton was clearly having a ball onstage, all of them were, the crowd was just eating it up, I was grinning and clapping, and I realized you can make it feel the same as it did back then. It's never too late. I am encouraged and gratified, thanks babe, happy birthday to me.
Locating MOG account...
Comments (11)
That is sweet! I would have been nervous about seeing a hero, but it is so great when it works out. My wife is talking about taking us to the Fela B'Way show. Happy Birthday, man..many props to the missus, yours and all of 'em.
I honestly have never heard of them. At all............
Now I am intrigued and will go a hunting later tonight at home.
(Gets all giddy with a fresh trail to sniff out)
Oh dude. If you like the Beatles, Cheap Trick, The Cars, Replacements, etc etc, it's right up that alley. Very 70s, but somehow timeless also...
Hey ghost, look up scotfree's post on Big Star..it is classic
http://mog.com/scotfree/blog/117859
After all Chilton has been through, it's good to know that he's still capable of finding the joy....
Well I gave them a shot, and they are not for me. But I will say this...
If I was told to listen to this bands music, especially the Sisters album (#3), I would have placed it mid 80's obscure or early 90's indie.
So yes, their sound was ahead of its time.
Another group I'm not familiar with, and NO MP3 to illustrate what makes them worth writing about? From YouTube:
Big Star in 1993 via YouTube:
I remember when there were no MP3's at all in this MOG...good times.
Thanks for posting peoples. I am still having my Big Star moment all weekend.
great post, i was there with a huge grin on my face as well and recenlty posted about the show on my mog
ghost in you, sisters is not the album to dig into if you're just being introduced to big star
get #1 record/radio city and you'll get the idea