Radio City (album)

Radio City
Studio album by
Big Star
ReleasedFebruary 20, 1974[1]
RecordedFall 1973
StudioArdent Studios, Memphis
GenrePower pop
Length36:14
LabelArdent
ProducerJohn Fry and Big Star
Big Star chronology
#1 Record
(1972) 		Radio City
(1974) 		Third/Sister Lovers
(1978)
Singles from Radio City
  1. "O My Soul" / "Morpha Too" / "I'm in Love With a Girl"
    Released: April 1974
  2. "September Gurls" / "Mod Lang"
    Released: May 1974

Radio City is the second studio album by the American rock group Big Star. Released February 20, 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.[2] Eggleston was a close friend of band member Alex Chilton.

Some of the outtakes from the album include "I Got Kinda Lost", "Gone with the Light", "Motel Blues", and "There Was a Life" (an early version of "There Was a Light" from Chris Bell's I Am the Cosmos CD). The singles released from the album were "O My Soul" and "September Gurls".

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."

It was voted number 319 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[3] In 2003 and 2012, the album was ranked number 405 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[4][5] and at number 359 in the 2020 edition.[6] Rolling Stone magazine also ranked the song "September Gurls" as number 178 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[7] Sound & Vision ranked it number 43 on its Top 50 Albums of All Time list.[8]

  1. ^ Big Star. "It was 50 years ago today". Facebook. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  2. ^ Jovanovic, p. 132.
  3. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 130. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  4. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. May 31, 2012. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2017. #403 - Radio City
  5. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. May 31, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  6. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  7. ^ "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. April 7, 2011. Archived from the original on November 29, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  8. ^ "The Top 50 Albums of All Time Page 4". Sound & Vision. November 5, 2008. Archived from the original on June 15, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2017.