RIP Alex Chilton

Shit, I'm sorry, I know I've been AWOL for awhile. Been very busy doing all sorts of things but I had to jot down something about Alex Chilton passing. That was a bummer. I got turned onto Big Star by Jennifer Dopson back in 94 when we were desperately trying to not date each other and failing miserably at it. I was big into the Replacements and she couldn't believe I'd never heard of 'em. "You know that song Alex Chilton, it's a real person, silly." I didn't know shit from Shine-ola and she had toured with Sebadoh, so I took her word on it and it was a pretty profound discovery.

We went to see him at The Variety Playhouse in Little 5 Points one night,..fucker didn't play ONE Big Star song. What a gyp!? Anyway, 'Radio City/#1 Record' became a bible to me. I even liked their second album "You and Your Sister", weird as it was to my musical palette at the time.

Big Star was supposed to play at SXSW this year and it was SO devastating for fans like me who were even excited they they were playing at ALL, even if we couldn't actually be there. I was SUPPOSED to see them this last fall but everyone involved, dropped that ball. Westerberg wrote a great op-ed in the New York Times about him, which is fitting because that guy rarely even speaks to anyone apparently, so you know it had to be a semi-smartass eulogy, and it was that, but you could tell tears were hitting the page as he wrote, or typed or whatever. Look it up, I'm too lazy to link.

Thanks for those records, Alex. I hope you are rockin' out up there somewhere. I'll never travel far without you either.