Big Star's Radio City Revisited

The cult band to end all cult bands, Memphis rock legends Big Star were but a brief, albeit blinding flash of white light during the early-70s, the band literally going supernova before disappearing into the darkness of obscurity. The 1978 unauthorized European release of the band's long-shelved third album (alternatively titled Third and/or Sister Lovers) would spark the flame that started the Big Star legend, while the power-pop movement of the late-70s/early-80s, which would help shape bands like the Replacements, the dB's, and R.E.M., would fuel the myth machine and make Big Star's accomplishments seem huge.

Big Star's second album, 1974's Radio City, is widely considered to be the band's magnum opus. A masterpiece of British Invasion-styled melodies, rich harmonies, jangly guitars and Southern soul, Radio City was easily a decade ahead of its time and remains one of the most influential and beloved recordings of the 1970s. Writer/musician Bruce Eaton has taken on the unenviable task of dissecting the album for Continuum's excellent 33 1/3 book series, and he delivers an admirable job of not only cementing the album's long-held status as a masterpiece, but also explaining the charms of Radio City to those who might be unfamiliar with the work.

Eaton takes a straight journalistic approach to Radio City, compiling interviews with the parties involved in the making of the album. As Eaton notes in his preface, the Big Star story is often told by people far outside of the band's personal sphere, and bandleader Alex Chilton typically remains mum, refusing to speak in interviews, when he does them, about the Big Star days that everybody is so interested in. Eaton not only speaks with Chilton – his friendship with the reluctant cult idol spurring some honest admissions – but also with fellow band members Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel, and producer John Fry, among others. In lieu of the late Chris Bell, Eaton gets a hint of the guitarist and songwriter's point of view courtesy of his brother David.

What makes Eaton's Radio City an entertaining as well as informative read, however, is his own engagement and personal relationship with the album. Not unlike a lot of the 33 1/3 series' writers, Eaton's fascination with the Radio City album borderlines on obsessive; unlike any of the other books in the series that I've read, Eaton has actually performed many of the album's songs live as a musician, playing alongside Chilton on more than one occasion. In my mind, this provides Eaton with an important edge, an insight into the creation of the album that others writing about it lack.

Eaton does a fine job of tracing the formation of Big Star in 1971, and the many influences that helped make the band what it was, including Chilton's time with the successful blue-eyed soul outfit the Boxtops during the late-60s. The opening of John Fry's Ardent Studios is discussed in length, the studio an important venue that not only helped shape the sound of Memphis rock and soul music well into the late-70s, but also providing a "hands on" learning experience for the Big Star band members who played around with the equipment and honed their instrumental and songwriting skills.

Most of all, Eaton captures the band chemistry and the emotions that went into the making of Radio City. Founding member Chris Bell had left Big Star before the album's recording in a disagreement over Chilton's growing dominance over the band, but Bell's fingerprints can be felt on songs like "September Gurls" and "Mod Lang" nonetheless. Chilton's raw vocals and fretwork are perfectly complimented by Hummel's bass and Stephen's imaginative percussion. A combination of factors went into creating the magic of Radio Star, and Eaton manages to squeeze a lot of narration about these factors out of the various players.

All in all, with 33 1/3's Radio City, Bruce Eaton captures that most elusive of qualities, "telling a stranger about rock & roll" with his loving literary account of the album, separating decades of myths and misrepresentations with the real story behind this classic band and its essential masterwork. (Continuum Books)

Want more Big Star goodness? Check out Bruce Eaton's Big Star book blog!

(Click on the book cover to buy Radio City from Amazon.com)