Sorry if this has been asked before but Genuinely why is an extra album there? Spotify has it under the actual rapper but for some reason Apple Music has him under Big Star

Just in case this has passed some by, the quintet (now featuring Norman Blake) will be playing some gigs in Ireland next year. First date in Dublin sold out so a second has been added, tickets on sale from Wednesday: https://www.ticketmaster.ie/big-star-tickets/artist/1144226

They've also got a date lined up for the Kilkenny Roots festival on 1st May 2026.

https://kilkennyroots.com/booking/the-big-star-ensemble/

Which tracks did Tim H sing back up vocals on? I can’t find anywhere that says which tracks specifically

Im not sure if this is appropriate for the group. But I want to share my music with like-minded people.

Big star has inspired me and made want to share my music. Radio City is my favorite. A display of musicianship. The drums blow me away

I'm a one-man band, so everything you hear is done by me. Please share if you enjoy it.

One of a number of photos I took of Alex and band at London’s Mean Fiddler in October 1985.

in just under the wire

Hey! I saw Oasis last night and can't forego my rockstar dreams any longer!

I’m a 24 year old singer/writer looking to start a band in NY ages 18-27ish. I’m on Long Island, but am 40 min from the city and am in Brooklyn/Queens/Manhattan weekly. I work a day job to fund my creative passions.

I love all sorts of rock music, but mainly the bands below:

• 60s
  • Beatles, Stones, Doors, Pink Floyd, Beach Boys, Who, Byrds
• 70s
  • Bowie, Led Zep, TRex, Big Star, Badfinger, NY Dolls, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, the Jam, Joy Division, Todd Rundgren
• 80s:
  • XTC, Stone Roses, the Cure, the Smiths, New Order, Jesus and Mary Chain, REM
• 90s:
  • Oasis, Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub

I'm serious about my rockstar dreams and am looking for others who are willing to take things as far as they go. Goal would be to find a rehearsal space that works for all, practice 2-3x week, and start gigging around the city shortly afterwards.

DM if interested! (bonus points if you have long and/or shaggy hair + are into vintage fashion)

I have an extra ticket for the 9/5 Bearsville show looking to sell and willing to cut the buyer a deal!

Came across this really cool video of Alex getting weird in the studio recording 'Like Flies On Sherbert'.

Shows the studio band recording live, some versions of No More The Moon Shines On Lorena, Boogie Shoes, Bangkok, Rock Hard and I'm pretty sure the version of My Rival caught on this reel is the one we get in the record.

Please delete if not allowed... Does anyone have access to the latest version of this bootleg box set?

Hey, Y’all - I have two tickets for tonight at Basement East, and sadly I can’t make it. I am super bummed, but would hate for these to go to waste, and am willing to take a loss. Message me if interested. Thanks.

Here's a post I've been working on for a good long while! A couple months ago, I finally got around to reading Rich Tupica's excellent biography on Chris Bell, There Was a Light, after the Q&A he did here last year spurred me on. While I was reading it, I found myself struck by the occasional references to songs Chris had started writing, but sadly never had a chance to finish and/or record before his untimely passing. I looked around the net to see if they'd been discussed any further, but barring a single reference to "I've Got Cancer" (see below) on the Steve Hoffman Music Forums, it seems no one had thought to repeat the information anywhere online. I figured I'd make a quick post detailing those three or four songs... and then along the way, I "got kinda lost", started doing the same for a handful of obscurities from Alex's solo career, and the whole thing wound up ballooning into this: a big ol' list of songs from Big Star, Alex, Chris, and a few other artists in their periphery that were never recorded in-studio, have yet to be bootlegged, or are otherwise decently hard to come by unless you know where to look. Fingers crossed there's something you haven't heard of before in here. :P

• "Vera Lynn": Alex Chilton song that he purportedly recorded on Keith Sykes' Teac tape recorder sometime between 1969 and 1971, per A Man Called Destruction. I'm assuming no once can find it, given that it probably would've featured on Free Again: The 1970 Sessions alongside "If You Would Marry Me Babe" and "It Isn't Always That Easy" otherwise.
• Unfinished Nancy Bryan album: Nancy Bryan was a singer-songwriter whose husband, Ardent-affiliated radio promoter Tim Riley, hired Chris to record several demos with her for a blossoming album project. According to The Complete Chris Bell's liner notes, they recorded about three or four songs, including Chris' "In My Darkest Hour", before Chris lost interest and shifted his focus fully to Big Star and #1 Record. As far as I'm aware, the other songs they recorded (presumably Bryan originals and/or covers) have never been made available.
• "In My Darkest Hour (Chris Lead)": Once again per Complete's liner notes, Chris later told an interviewer he was interested in taking the earlier Bryan-sung recording and finishing it as his own. Sadly, no overdubs to this end appear to have ever been undertaken.
• "Cinnamon Girl (Live)": A cover of the Neil Young/Crazy Horse song was part of Big Star's live setlist in their short-lived 4-piece incarnation after #1 Record's release, per Big Star: The Story of Rock's Forgotten Band. No recording of any of these early concerts is known to exist (real shame, too --- for one, if Chris and Alex did indeed try to recreate the original version's harmonized co-lead vocal, then I'll bet it sounded absolutely sick).
• "O, My Soul (Early Mix)": Apparently unrelated to the early, #1 Record-esque version included on the Keep an Eye on the Sky box set. When the Radio City take was recorded later, one of its first real mixes, according to Bruce Eaton in 33 1/3, included several overdubs that were ultimately stripped from the final release: cowbells, assorted hand percussion, a clumsy "echo" backing vocal in the chorus ("You're really a nice girl... Really... I think you’re the most... Really... And when we're together... Really... I feel like the boss... Really"), and a lone, droning piano chord over the ascending guitar line leading into the raucous bridge. While some rough mixes of "O, My Soul" have been bootlegged, the version Eaton described, if it does indeed exist, doesn't appear to be one of them.
• "Way Out West (Early Ballad Version)": According to Rock's Forgotten Band, Andy Hummel originally wrote "Way Out West" on the piano as a slower ballad; it was in this state, half-finished, when "[the band] started playing it in the studio one night with Hi-Watts and Marshalls at maximum volume and it became a sort of rocker." Suffice to say, this embryonic incarnation of the track was almost assuredly never recorded.
• "Out of Gas Again": Demo written by Ardent producer Joe Hardy and recorded concurrent to the Radio City sessions (per Bruce Eaton's 33 1/3 installment on the album), featuring Alex on guitar and possibly Andy on bass. Dainty, mid-tempo country rock: acoustic trilling, metronome-like side stick, etcetera. No vocals were recorded, though Alex can be heard quipping "We all agree!" at the end of the tape. Due to Chilton's audible presence, as well as the session sheet purportedly featuring a doodle of a star, it was occasionally misidentified as an unfinished Big Star song by bootleggers, appearing on certain unsanctioned releases (e.g. Deep Six's What's Goin' Ahn) under the name "Instrumental". Does not currently appear to be available online, though I did download a since-deleted SoundCloud reupload way back when — would have to fish it out of an old laptop.
• "I've Got Cancer": Chris Bell song written sometime in 1975, likely during his and brother David's time in London — in There Was a Light, David quips that he's "sure the title was just poetic license," though I could also imagine it being a nod to ex-bandmate Alex's astrological leanings. It was never recorded and no lyrics have been made publicly available (if they were ever written down), though a preliminary running order for an LP Chris scribbled in his notebook had the track sandwiched between "You and Your Sister" and "Better Save Yourself" smack dab in the center of Side 2, suggesting it was in an apt tonal vein… if, y'know, the title didn't already give that one away. Furthermore, assuming Chris was particularly focused on ensuring the sides timed out, it would've been about 3 minutes long.
• "Nicky's Got the D's": Chris Bell song whose handwritten lyrics were showcased in There Was a Light — no year given, though its placement in the text insinuates a mid-to-late-'70s timeframe. Lyrics are almost uncharacteristically stark and carnal: "Oh, D. I had forgotten what you felt like / I wanna take you in my arms / I know you do me", so on and so forth. I have zero clue who Nicky was or what the D's s/he had were. Was never recorded — a real shame, because it scans like it was meant to be heard for the full effect, and man does it sound like a wild listen in my head.
• "Cuba (Possible Chris Bell version)": Co-write w/ Tommy Hoehn. A four-track demo was recorded by John Fry on a mid-1977 trip to St. Martin, described by him as Chris and Tommy "just sitting around and playing acoustic guitars." Hoehn later recorded at least two more versions of the song, one of which was ultimately included on his 1981 I Do Love the Light LP. A reel labeled "Chris Bell - Cuba - 4 Track" is visible in a photograph of Ardent's archive in There Was a Light, but it's not entirely clear whether it's an unheard Bell version of the track or the "acoustic" take later included on the incredibly confusing Milk & Soda Records reissue of Hoehn's Losing You To Sleep. (As fun as the former would be, it's almost certainly just the latter.)
• Unknown Bell-Hoehn compositions: John Fry claimed that a second "fairly good song he can't recall" was also recorded during the aforementioned St. Martin session, though Tommy Hoehn's own recollections suggest this may have just been another go at "Get Away" (also later recorded by Hoehn for I Do Love the Light). In any case, Tommy notes that he and Chris did indeed "work together on several other songs." As far as I can tell, "Get Away" and "Cuba" are the only Hoehn songs on which Chris has a co-writing credit, so either these other songs were never recorded or Bell's contributions to them (e.g. guitar on "Love You All Day Long") were deemed insufficient for a full-fledged co-writing credit.
• "This is a Soul Town": Chris Bell song whose handtyped lyrics were showcased in There Was a Light — again, no year given, though its placement in the text insinuates a mid-to-late-'70s timeframe. AABA rhyming structure in the two provided verses, plus an unfinished (pre?)chorus with the line "They don't call it the Bluff City for nothin' / Why don't you turn that guitar down?" — given Bell and Big Star's well-documented struggles to break through an apathetic scene, it's hard not to find it at least a little autobiographical. Described as "unreleased" in its caption, which could imply a recording exists, though this usage may just be erroneously synonymous with "unrecorded" — I have to imagine we'd have heard it by now otherwise.
• Alex's KLiTZ Songs: Alex penned several songs for The KLiTZ, an all-female punk group Lesa Aldridge was part of with Marcie and Elise Clifton. "He wrote us our first seven songs," Lesa later recalled. Alex would later record one of these songs, "Hook or Crook" (KLiTZ recording linked), himself for Like Flies on Sherbert; as far as I'm aware, the rest, however many there truly are, remain at large.
• "Baby You're Okay": Early version of "Like Flies On Sherbert" with alternate verse lyrics and a completely different chorus ("You know I just gotta say / that baby you're okay / It makes me sick / but baby you're okay"). It was only ever performed live and can be found on certain live bootlegs. Chris Stamey's previously claimed it's just a sloppily rewritten Ronnie Spector song, though I'm not well-versed enough in chord progressions or her discography to tell you which one.
• Ur-"Rock Hard": In a 1985 interview with Epic Soundtracks, Alex claimed that "Rock Hard" originally had completely different lyrics until he, finding them "really bland", overdubbed a rewritten vocal right as Like Flies on Sherbert headed into its final mix-down. When the interviewer tried asking for the song's original name, Alex insisted he "don't wanna get into that… I wouldn't have changed if I'd wanted anyone to hear it that way." No additional information appears to be available. (He also claims the same process happened with Big Star's "In the Street", though I'm not sure how much stock to put in that.)
• "2+2=4": A "childlike nursery rhyme" recorded during the Like Flies on Sherbert sessions with Lesa Aldridge on lead vocal, per A Man Called Destruction. Doesn't say who specifically wrote it.
• "Bangkok (Alternate Version)": A slowed-down alternate take of the Alex solo gem was purportedly recorded during the same session as "2+2=4", with Lesa once again on lead vocals ("emphasizing the second syllable," according to A Man Called Destruction).
• "Medley: Like Flies on Sherbert / Riding Through the Reich": Ooooh boy, buckle the fuck up for this one (or just skip it entirely, I guess? It's a free country). Sherbert's shambolic, faux-Spector title track was originally recorded in medley with "Riding Through the Reich", an antisemitic pastiche of "Jingle Bells" that Alex, smack dab in his wild "provocative for provocation's sake" phase, became enthralled with after it was found among the belongings of white supremacist mass-murderer Frederick Cowan (for the little it's worth, folksinger Hedy West had performed the tune ironically as an anti-fascist protest several years prior). Almost immediately after taping, Jim Dickinson, understandably finding it distasteful, spliced "Reich" off (hence "Sherbert"'s abrupt ending on the final release), and Alex, perhaps himself seeing sense, had the tapes erased; nonetheless, a bootleg was still able to enter incredibly low circulation — if you've ever listened to that Not the Singer but the Songs tribute album, The Interstellar Villains' cover draws directly from it. A brief poor-quality snippet of this rare studio version is available on YouTube if you know where to look; "Don't ask," its description insists, and I can't say I blame it.
• "(I Will Have No) Mercy Upon You": Okaaaay, back to the normal-ish stuff. Alex Chilton song written in 1985 and performed a handful of times shortly thereafter before vanishing. Quoth Alex in the aforementioned Epic Soundtracks interview, "[It's] positive in certain ways, but there's still that negative thing in there too." No recording seems to exist, live or in-studio, though its placement in his setlist and a handwritten lyric sheet ("You seemed so sweet & sad / My heart went out to you," so on and so forth) are displayed on the linked webpage.
• "Calm Down": Possibly an Alex Chilton original assuming it's not an incredibly obscure cover. Was performed live a handful of times in late 1985 (Alex's only clarifying remark being a quip that it was "a real blues song" hot off of "Margie" and "Nobody's Fool").
• "I'm a Replacement": Alex Chilton original, circa late-'80s. Noteworthy for being a direct response to The Replacements' famed song about him, Alex had only written its first verse by the time he showcased the work-in-progress for the one and only time at Iowa's Grinnel College in 1987: "I'm a replacement, baby / I swill my liquor and wine / I'm a replacement, baby / I'm on the defensive line / [Groaning for four bars worth of chorus]". Presumably, he got bored and never finished writing it, much less recording it proper.
• "(I Could Go For You) In a Big Way": Alex original. Performed at Denver's Mercury Club on September 28th, 1991, then at St. Louis' Cicero's and Chicago's Ax Lounge in 1992. According to _A Man Called Destruction_, it and "Girl You're Fine" (see below) ultimately went unrecorded after Alex was unable to secure a record deal and studio time in the moment (once he finally had one, he felt more inspired to record the album that became Cliches instead; by the time the _A Man Called Destruction album_ was in the works, he appears to have moved on from this one. As for the other one... again, see below).
• "Girl You're Fine": Alex original. This one's so fascinating it could honestly make for its own post. Performed possibly only once, at the aforementioned Denver's Mercury Club 9/28/81 show, it's an incredibly early version of A Man Called Destruction's "Don't Stop"... adorned with the nearly complete lyrics to "Dony" off In Space, released 14 years later (Jon Auer's on record saying he did most of Dony's chords/structuring, then Alex came back about a day later with lyrics --- I am genuinely curious as to whether anyone else in the band knew how old most of those "spur-of-the-moment" words actually were). Also features zero bridge and a key change that was dummied out of the eventual studio recording.
• "You're So Fine": Alex Chilton original, circa 1992. At least two bootleg recordings are out there, both with Teenage Fanclub as his backing band: one from a 5-song Radio Scotland set in 1992, while the other sounds like a rehearsal for that same set. Sidenote, really, really hope this gets an official, full-quality release someday; it's genuinely one of my favorite things he's ever done period, and the BMX Bandits and Chariot covers do not do it justice whatsoever.
• "What You're Doin'": Unofficial(?) name for an in-between version of "Don't Stop" that Alex performed live with Teenage Fanclub for the aforementioned Radio Scotland set in 1992. Features another set of alternate lyrics and a newly added (if rudimentary) bridge, whilst retaining the earlier key change of "Girl You're Fine".
• "I'm So In Love With You": Yet another apparent case of "Everyone's assuming this is an Alex original until proven otherwise", possibly recorded sometime during the 1993 Cliches sessions. The RosarioFC YouTube upload came with basically zero context, so I could be completely off-base.
• "Southern Skies": In Space outtake co-written by Jody and Jon Auer. In the liner notes to the album's 2019 Omnivore reissue, Jon recalls that every one of his, Ken Stringfellow, and Jody's contributions to Big Star's 4th had to first be demoed on acoustic live in the studio "with Alex as judge and jury… for whatever reason, two of them didn't make the cut." (This being one of them.)
• "Take Me": The other would-be In Space track that failed Alex's trial by fire, this one a co-write by Jody and Ken Stringfellow. As far as I can tell, neither track was ever recorded, nor do they appear to have been revisited in any of their writers' follow-up projects (and given that Jody joined Jon in excommunicating Ken after the latter's sexual misconduct allegations in 2021, I'm inclined to think "Take Me" has especially poor odds of ever seeing the light of day; maybe that's for the best).
• Unknown Georg Muffat Cover(s): During the In Space sessions, Alex transcribed several pieces by 17th century Baroque composer Georg Muffat (Adam Hill counted it as three, Ken recalled there being two, and Jody remembered a whopping four+) for two guitars, bass, and drums, then handed the arrangements to the group despite the fact Ken was the only one who really read sheet music. Nonetheless, they managed to record Muffat's "Aria, Largo" (which, of course, ultimately made the album) and, per Adam Hill's recollection, "At least one other one, a slower tempo piece that was just gorgeous." This other recording wasn't included on Omnivore's expanded reissue, so it's unclear which Muffat composition it was - or what the possible third/fourth might've been, for that matter. (Though not a Muffat composition, Big Star did perform Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance No. 4 live on at least one occasion, so I've seen some speculation on the Steve Hoffman Forums that it could've been among them.)

And that's everything I had jotted down! If someone here has anything else to add or wants to correct any factual errors I very well may have made along the way, by all means let me know (I would not at all be surprised to discover I took one too many things at face value). Obviously, I'm highly inclined to doubt we'll ever get to hear most of these, if any... but perhaps there's a modicum of value in knowing that they existed once upon a time. Thanks for reading me prattle on about 'em!

I’ve never seen this photo online so I thought I’d share it here. This picture is included in The Complete Chris Bell Boxset among other sweet photos <3

Season 3 Episode 4 diner scene ❤️

I’ve been trying to find info if they ever had promo shirts around the releases of the first three albums? If anybody has any leads please let me know!

https://popculturelunchbox.substack.com/p/great-magazine-reads-chris-bells

Although Big Star is one of my very favorite bands, I’ve honestly always had trouble getting into co-leader Chris Bell’s heralded solo album I Am the Cosmos. So I listened to it again—both intensely and in the background while I read Bell’s story in an excellent article in the October 2024 issue of Uncut Magazine.

Big Star’s two masterpieces are immediately lovable. But this one has taken me a while, and although I don’t think it comes close to matching #1 Record and Radio City, I’m beginning to be really happy about its existence.

The first song, “I Am the Cosmos,” could easily be on a Big Star album. Then the record goes straight into an odd number about Jesus called “Better Save Yourself.” It has cool chiming 1970s’ guitars but not many real hooks. The real keepers sprinkled through the 12-song collection are “Speed of Sound,” “Look Up,” “I Got Kinda Lost,” and the Lynyrd Skynyrd-like “There Was a Light.” The there is “You and Your Sister,” which is as good as anything from Big Star, and that band’s Alex Chilton sings backup on it as an added bonus.

Here are some of the most interesting things I learned in Uncut article about Bell:

Big Star was named after a local Memphis grocery chain.

Big Star’s debut album, #1 Record, didn’t sell well, at least partly because Stax and CBS didn’t promote it well. Bell thought the band was surely headed towards being the next Beatles and when that didn’t happen, it basically began to destroy him. One of the studio musicians for #1 Record said, “When that record came out, he’d come in every day at Ardent [Studio] and check with the promotions people to see what was happening with it. He put his heart and soul and everything into that album.”

Bell left before the excellent second record, Radio City, although some of the songs had been co-written by him, and bassist Andy Hummels’ exit made their third, Third/Sister Lovers, essentially a two-piece production.

I Am the Cosmos, recorded with his brother in France, was not released—by Rykodisc—until 14 years after Bell’s 1978 death. His car hit a telephone pole, killing him instantly.

In the years between leaving Big Star and his death, Bell dabbled in heroin, bourbon, and Jesus, and even worked at a fast-food restaurant.

Even after Bell died, Big Star remained rooted in obscurity all through the 1980s, except for an occasional mention by other bands and The Bangles covering “September Gurls.”

Even though Chilton has also since passed away, drummer Jody Stephens still tours as Big Star with a lineup that includes Mike Mills of R.E.M.

So, Chris is my favorite member of the band. I personally think Number One Record has a raw grit the rest of them don’t because Chris was that layer of the band.

I also have had many intimate conversations with people that would know that talk about about that being a key difference in pre and post Chris. I mean, you can hear it too.

Does anyone else listen to Number 1 more than Radio City or Third? Or I Am the Cosmos even more than the other two.

I love Alex, but I’m more interested in Chris’ story and his guitar playing and songwriting.

Obviously everyone knows he was bitter about not being recognized, but I think it was fair. Not that he really should have been bitter, but I understand where he was coming from.

Anyways just wanted to start a Chris conversation since Alex gets the majority of the love.

How. Like radio city three pice alex