June 16, 2009 Earworm

Today saw the release of the remastered Big Star albums, "#1 Record" and "Radio City", two legendary albums - everybody has heard of them, even if they've never heard them - that still have not reached gold or platinum status after thiry-seven and thirty-five (respective) years. As with the last cd re-issue, the two albums are combined on one disc, this time with two single mixes added for good measure.

"#1 Record" was released in 1972 just as the band's label, Ardent, was in a dispute with it's distributing label, Stax, guaranteeing that every one who read the unanimous praise from the musical taste makers would be unable to buy a copy. "Radio City" was released in 1974 just as Stax was in a dispute with its distributor, Columbia, and the same fate would befall it. A third album, shelved by the all labels for lack of commercial appeal, wouldn't see the light of day until four years later when its release followed a double album repackaging of the first two. One year and a second hand copy later, "The Ballad of El Goodo" allowed me to finally understand why everyone slammed The Knack for not being true power-pop. It's a simple song of desperate determination mercifully devoid of romanticized machismo usually running rampant on the range of The Eagles. And if, over the years, people have come to the conclusion that the lyrics are too simple, well... those were simpler times, I guess.

With all due respect and apologies to Wilco, The Bangles, Elliot Smith, and The Loud Family (to name just a few) and absolutely no respect or apologies to Counting Crows, I am not impressed with covers of any Big Star songs. The exception to that being "Holocaust" and "Kanga-Roo" by This Mortal Coil (it's This Mortal Coil for heaven's sake!) and "Thirteen" as it appeared, tucked away on the "b-side" of "Push It" by Garbage. It's easy for me to imagine Shirley Manson as the recipient of Big Star's version, a girl in a hand me down halter smoking a crumbled cigarette pilfered from her mother's purse, callously singing borrowed words to her next conquest, completely aware of her impact but not yet aware of the damage it may cause. Or, the starter version of the predator we met in "Queer".