Vinyl Re-Issues For Big Star’s ‘#1 Record’ And ‘Radio City’ Albums

Craft Recordings is excited to re-issue Big Star’s acclaimed first two albums on 180-gram vinyl. Set for a January 24^th 2020 release date and available for pre-order now, ‘#1 Record’ and ‘Radio City’ feature all-analog mastering by Jeff Powell at Memphis’ Take Out Vinyl, and also manufactured locally—in Big Star’s hometown—at Memphis Record Pressing.

Though they both failed to strike commercial success at the time of their releases, 1972’s ‘#1 Record’ and 1974’s ‘Radio City’ are now considered to be milestones in the history of Rock by critics and musicians alike. Heavily influenced by the British Invasion, yet markedly original—with their jangly pop, driving guitars, sweet harmonies, and wistful melancholia—Big Star offered a distinctly new sound when they first emerged in the early ‘70s, and are counted among the founders of Power Pop—a genre which wouldn’t truly take off until later in the decade.

Nevertheless, Big Star would become an underground favorite, influencing some the biggest alt-rock artists of the ’80s, ’90s and beyond, including R.E.M., Teenage Fanclub, Wilco, and The Replacements (who famously penned the song “Alex Chilton” as an ode to the band’s frontman).