R.I.P. Alex Chilton

Just found out today that Alex Chilton died yesterday of an apparent heart attack at age 59. Many of you probably don't know who he is, and the sad thing is, if it wasn't for a stroke of pure luck, I wouldn't know who he is either, and that would be a shame.

One day I was perusing the Web and stumbled onto AllMusic.com. Their "Album of the Day" was something I've never seen before. The album cover was a neon sign depicting a star with the word "big" inside. Intrigued, I clicked through and found out it was Big Star's first album, #1 Record. After reading the glowing review and researching the band, I realized I had to hear what they sounded like, so I got #1 Record, along with their second album, Radio City. I read that discovering Big Star's music is a life-changing event - you will forever date your musical tastes as being pre-Big Star and post-Big Star - and after hearing both albums, I have to agree.

Big Star is the great lost American rock band. Formed by Chilton and Chris Bell in Memphis, they set out to become the next Lennon-McCartney, recording music that, as AllMusic.com said, was both out of date and ahead of its time. Chilton was already soured on the music industry, having been the lead singer of the Box Tops and seeing how the industry used the band for its own purposes. Unfortunately, nothing in the history of Big Star would change his mind - both Big Star records, while critically acclaimed, were held back due to record industry issues and never reached the audience they deserved. The band broke up after two albums, with a third being issued much later - the songs were recorded but the album never completed. You can do the research on your own, but they're pretty much one of the best bands that almost were.

Chilton's music was paradoxically brilliant. It was sad yet hopeful, simple yet poignant, and it was all wrapped up in a style that was the complete opposite of the type of big, arena-rock sound that was prevalent at the time. Bands like R.E.M. and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cite Big Star as an influence. I implore anyone who's intrigued by Big Star to pick up #1 Record and Radio City. You won't regret it.

Rest in peace, Alex. I'll be blasting #1 Record through my headphones at work today, just for you.

(NOTE: The picture I added on top is one I found somewhere on the Internet. I liked it because he's playing the exact same model of guitar I own, except mine's black. I don't know where I got it. I'm not trying to infringe on copyrights, so I'm going to assume it's OK to use.)