Alex Chilton: O My Soul

Just a few weeks ago, in a note to my pal Jenny, I shared the little regard I have for American rock music. I can list dozens of British, Canadian, and Australian artists that ring my bell, but I can count my indispensable American artists on two hands. Now I realize that I left one off my short list--Big Star.

Alex Chilton, the most prominent member of Big Star, died on St. Patrick's Day of a heart attack. He was 59. By most accounts, he was a difficult and unpleasant person, but musically he was pretty special. Big Star had a very short and star-crossed career, encumbered by the bankruptcy of their record company. Yet, for the dearth of sales and hits, they were hugely influential on bands like REM and Cheap Trick, indeed rivaling The Velvet Underground as an influence on the music to come.

If the Beatles were the sound of American rock 'n' roll run through a British filter, then Big Star was the Beatles heard through an American filter. Chilton is sometimes credited with creating power pop, though he denied even knowing what power pop means.

My brother and I have a long running quest for the perfect power pop song. Big Star's "September Gurls" is in the conversation, along with several other songs from their first two albums. Wonderfully melodic and rife with hooks, it is pop for the thinking person.

I have used my iPod as my exclusive music conduit for the last 15 months. Last weekend, I realized that I hadn't heard Big Star during that period, and loaded #1 Record/Radio City onto my iPod. Talk about timing...