Big Star – September Gurls

Song

"September Gurls" is a song by the rock band Big Star. Written by Alex Chilton, it was featured on the group's second studio album Radio City. The track was released in 1974.

Background

"September Gurls" was also released as a single. While it never was a big seller, it is considered a classic song by publications such as Rolling Stone and Allmusic.

The track was rated #180 by Rolling Stone in the magazine's top 500 songs of all time, and is described as a "power pop classic".

Jason Ankeny of Allmusic describes the song as "sweetly gorgeous sound that's both familiar and novel; poignantly ragged and breathlessly reckless..." and says it "reveals a surprising tenderness, tempering its venom with achingly lovely vocals and sun-kissed harmonies".

Novelist Michael Chabon calls the song "the pocket history of power pop" and claims that it is "the greatest number-one song that never charted".

Album

Radio City is the second album by the American rock group Big Star. Released in 1974, Radio City was recorded during 1973 at Memphis' Ardent Studios. Though not a commercial success at the time, it is now recognized as a milestone album in the history of power pop music.

Critically acclaimed upon its release, the record sold poorly, partly due to a lack of promotion and the distribution problems of the band's struggling record label, Ardent Records. The album included "September Gurls" and "Back of a Car", which remain among the most famous Big Star songs; both the Searchers and the Bangles have covered "September Gurls".

The original Ardent Records LP featured record-jacket photographs by noted photographer William Eggleston, including The Red Ceiling on the cover. Eggleston was a close friend of band member Alex Chilton.

Radio City's reputation has grown since its release, with many critics and listeners of the opinion that it is not only the definitive power pop album but one of the finest rock-music albums. As writer Richard Meltzer told an interviewer, "Big Star...is the means through which most bands today who are influenced by the Beatles get their dose of the British Invasion."

Radio City è il secondo album in studio del gruppo power pop statunitense Big Star, pubblicato nel febbraio del 1974.

Il gruppo ridotto ad un trio (Chris Bell aveva lasciato la band per una propria carriera solistica) pubblica un altro album ottimamente accolto dalla critica musicale.

Artist

Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens, and Andy Hummel. The group broke up in early 1975, and reorganized with a new lineup 18 years later following a reunion concert at the University of Missouri.

In its first era, the band's musical style drew on the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Byrds. Big Star produced a style that foreshadowed the alternative rock of the 1980s and 1990s.

Before it broke up, Big Star created a "seminal body of work that never stopped inspiring succeeding generations," in the words of Rolling Stone, as the "quintessential American power pop band," and "one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll".

I Big Star sono un gruppo statunitense indicato come progenitore del power pop.

La loro musica univa le armonie vocali dei Beatles e dei Beach Boys con le melodie e gli arpeggi di chitarra dei Byrds, il tutto filtrato attraverso un'energia rock che, solo a posteriori, i critici e gli storici definiranno come power pop.

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