The 11 Best Songs By Big Star

I know I'm a couple weeks behind on this news. I was out of town...and wanted to give it some time before jumping on the bandwagon.

Alex Chilton may be more famous for being the name of a Replacements song rather than the lead singer of the 70s rock band, Big Star. A band whose infamy was bigger than their fame or fortune. Despite being praised by the likes of R.E.M., The Replacements, Elliott Smith, and Beck...Big Star was better known by musicians than by the people who listened to music. In fact, when TV producers selected a Big Star song (In the Street) to be the the theme song to the sit-com, That 70s Show, they chose to have the song re-recorded by Cheap Trick over using the original track. Like many obscure influential artists before him, Alex's gift to the world of music can be felt more than heard.

What I think is most profound about Alex's death is that it occured the same week as the 2010 induction to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. An institution that has inducted those Alex has influenced...but never recognized his contributions. Maybe it was the knowledge that ABBA was getting in before him is what killed him...

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Big Star:

1. Thirteen (Number 1 Record)
2. I'm In Love With A Girl (Radio City)
3. September Gurls (Radio City)
4. Thank You Friends (Third/Sister Lovers)
5. My Life Is Right (Number 1 Record)
6. Holocaust (Third/Sister Lovers)
7. Kangaroo (Third/Sister Lovers)
8. You Get What You Deserve (Radio City)
9. In the Street (Number One Record)
10. Til The End Of The Day (Third/Sister Lovers)
11. The Ballad of Goodo (Number 1 Record)

Buy Big Star's albums here.