Nakia
Background information
Birth name	Nakia Reynoso
Born	(1975-02-20) February 20, 1975 (age 37)
Origin	Virginia Beach, Virginia
Genres	Soul, blues, Rock, Folk, Americana
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Recording Artist, Actor
Instruments	vocals, piano, organ
Years active	1998 – present
Website	www.nakia.net

Nakia Reynoso (born February 20, 1975), known professionally as Nakia, is an American musician, singer-songwriter and actor living in Austin, Texas. He is a native of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Professional background[link]

Nakia moved to Austin in 2002 from Chicago, where he had been working as an intern for Aware Records. After arriving in Austin, Nakia began to pursue a solo career but was first noticed by Fastball guitarist and co-founder, Miles Zuniga. Zuniga recruited Nakia to join his rock and roll lounge act side project, The Small Stars.

Each member of The Small Stars had an alter-ego and complete back story. Nakia created the character, "Vic Odin", who was described as a sleazy, double-crossing, British manager. He left the band in 2006.

In 2006, Nakia performed in theatrical productions of The Music Man and Rocky Horror Show. He also had a role in the independent film Lone Star Blues.^[1] Nakia soon became a featured singer at many local Austin venues and a favorite among many Austin music critics.^[2]

Recording background[link]

Playing the Cards

In winter 2007, Nakia released the EP Playing The Cards. He formed the band Southern Cousins and the band began receiving positive reviews of their live shows.^[3] The band would go on to share stages with Willie Nelson^[4] and BB King^[5] and perform at events such as South Padre International Music Festival and Austin City Limits Music Festival.

Water to Wine

On April 14, 2009, Nakia release his first full-length album, Water To Wine. Produced by Mac McNabb, the album features songs written by Nakia, Michael Fracasso, and Monte Warden. The album was well-received by local and national media.^[6][7]

Street Songs of Love

In November 2009, Alejandro Escovedo invited Nakia to participate in his "Sessions On South Congress" performances at the Continental Club in Austin, Texas. Nakia went on to record backing vocals for Street Songs of Love, featuring songs that were originally presented during the Continental Club sessions. This collaborative effort provided an opportunity for Nakia to work with rock producer Tony Visconti. The album was released in June 2010.^[8]

Media appearances[link]

In April 2011, Nakia announced that he had auditioned for the American edition of The Voice, NBC's new singing competition. This was confirmed when NBC released two separate commercials featuring Nakia's "Blind Audition."^[9][10] Nakia's hope in auditioning for the series was to be able to pay back his partner for supporting his music career.^[11] Nakia chose Cee Lo Green to be his coach after singing his song, Forget You. Nakia also moved on from the Battle Rounds to the Live Shows after beating Tje Austin. Cee Lo chose him to be a quarter-finalist. On June 22, 2011, Nakia was voted off the show, coming in 7th place after being beaten by Vicci Martinez in the semi-finals. On Tuesday,June 28, 2011 Nakia was a guest on Kevin Smith's Plus One Per Diem internet radio show.

Discography[link]

• 2007: Playing the Cards
• 2009: Water to Wine
• 2010: Street Songs of Love (collaboration with Alejandro Escovedo)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Quiet Company is a rock band hailing from Austin, Texas, led by Taylor Muse. They have released 3 full length albums, an EP, a live DVD, and a Christmas single. They are the first band signed by Grooveshark in the Artist Development Program and recently released their 3rd record, We Are All Where We Belong.

Biography[link]

Muse was on the leading lines of the East Texas indie music boom with his bands Uncle Andrew and Neckpunch. He also lended a helping hand to create songs on Eisley's debut for Warner Bros. Records, as well as giving them their first name, Moss Eisley. He parted ways from the family formed group after playing bass guitar in live shows in order to focus on other projects. Taylor played drums and guitar in early incarnations of The Lonely Hearts (a.k.a. Holland, a.k.a. Somerset) but opted not to make the trek away from East Texas to join them in Nashville, TN, where they are based to this day.

After moving his then band, The Connotations, to Nashville, TN for a year and then to Austin, TX, Muse disbanded the group and started recording the first Quiet Company full length, Shine Honesty. The record was picked up by boutique label, Northern Records, and distributed online. Northern Records encouraged Muse to reform a band and begin touring, so he did. Thomas Blank joined the band in late 2005 after answering a Craig's List ad. Muse and Blank played with several different drummers and bass players but ultimately could not find permanent members. After a couple years of constant touring, the band recorded their second record with Charlie Vela and Louie Lino called Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon. The band opted out of their record deal with Northern shortly before the recording of Everyone and began releasing albums independently. Jeff Weathers joined Quiet Company in 2009 after the break up of his long time band, Ethan Durelle. Months after that, Matt Parmenter answered another Craig's list ad and found himself among Quiet Company's ranks.

The band shot a music video for the song "On Modern Men" and put out an open casting call for extras in early 2010. One of the people who showed up was Cody Ackors. Once it became known that Ackors was allegedly a great trombone player, Muse invited him to play on the EP, Songs For Staying In.

The band headlined a show at The Parish in Austin, TX, shortly after and invited Ackors to join them. This was the first night the band wore suits to play in, which quickly became their M.O. Muse fell in love with the sound of horns in their songs and Ackors became a regular fixture at Quiet Company shows. With the release of the third album, We Are All Where We Belong, Ackors has climbed his way into full band member status with horns featuring on almost every song.

Shine Honesty[link]

Several of the tracks on Quiet Company's debut album, Shine Honesty, were arranged and composed while Muse was fronting The Connotations. After some soul searching, The Connotations decided to part ways after their only official release, Trouble by The Truckloads from Mono Vs Stereo's The Revolution Will Begin In The Blink Of An Eye compilation. Muse took a handful of the songs that they had demoed and recorded Shine Honesty with Alex Bhore in May 2005. With the record completed, Muse began auditioning band mates to play his newly forged tunes.

Muse self-packaged CD-R copies of the new album with black & white covers and began to pass them around amongst friends and sold them at shows in Texas. Northern Records heard the unmastered version and invited Taylor Muse and Quiet Company to find a home with them. Andy Prickett lended his own brand of expertise in the mixing and mastering of the album and on March 23, 2006, Northern Records released Shine Honesty.

In October 2007 they completed their first music video for the song "Fashionabel", from Shine Honesty. The video was shot in Nashville, TN by New Valiant Productions and directed by American film maker Cameron McCasland. The video was released on YouTube on October 30, 2007. The video was picked up by MTV Canada and is currently playing in rotation and on demand.

Recent Activity[link]

Quiet Company recorded "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for the 2007 release of Peace on Earth: A Holiday Album. The album was made available for download directly from the web. All proceeds from sales went to the Toys for Tots charity.

In 2009, they released a new album called Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon produced by Charlie Vela, and Louie Lino, of Nada Surf fame. In its first month of release, the record saw, roughly, twice as many sales as Shine Honesty had in its first year and a half and was met with critical acclaim.

The band lent their song "On Modern Men" to local charity organization "Music For The City" for their first compilation, for which the profits went to Safeplace.

Quiet Company released a homemade, stop-motion animation video for the song "It's Better To Spend Money Like There's No Tomorrow, Than Spend Tonight Like There's No Money," which is available online and on ME Television.

They also partnered with local filmmaker, Justin Kirchhoff, to make a video for "On Modern Men," which is also available online and on ME Television.

In 2010, Quiet Company released Songs for Staying In, a 6 song EP, produced by Quiet Company and recorded by bass player Matt Parmenter in his apartment studio, Ice Cream Factory Studios.

Songs from Everyone You Love... and "Songs For Staying In" have been featured heavily on television programs such as My Generation, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Real World, and Married To Rock. Quiet Company also had a walk on role on ABC's My Generation, but the show was, unfortunately, cancelled before their episode was aired.

The song "How Do You Do It?" from Songs for Staying In was added to rotation on 3 of Austin, TX's rock radio stations, KGSR, KUT, and KROX. Quiet Company is the first unsigned local band to ever achieve rotation on all three.

In January 2011, Quiet Company were nominated for The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards under the Pop/Rock Song category for "It’s Better To Spend Money Like There’s No Tomorrow Than Spend Tonight Like There’s No Money".^[1]

Quiet Company released their third full length album, We Are All Where We Belong, on October 4, 2011.^[2]

In 2012, Quiet Company and its members won several (10) awards for the Austin Chronicle's 30th Annual Austin Music Awards.^[3]

• The band was voted 2011-2012 Band of the Year, Best Indie Band, and Best Rock Band; Album of the Year for We Are All Where We Belong; and Song of the Year for "You, Me & the Boatman".
• Taylor Muse was voted Musician of the Year, Best Male Vocals, and Best Songwriter, and Jeff Weathers was voted Best Drums.
• Matt Parmenter was voted Best Producer for his work on We Are All Where We Belong.

Touring[link]

Quiet Company has done several national tours but plays predominantly in and around their home state, Texas. They have played with many notable acts, such as: The Toadies, Bob Schneider, Rooney, Evan Dando, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Deadbeat Darling, Eisley, Alpha Rev, Old 97's, and Dear and the Headlights.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Shine Honesty – March 23, 2006
• Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon – March 10, 2009
• Songs for Staying In – May 11, 2010
• We Are All Where We Belong – October 4, 2011

Compilations[link]

• Scene But Not Herd - Unsigned Band Compilation #3 – 2001
• Peace on Earth: A Holiday Album – 2007
• Music For The City, Vol. 1 - 2009

Videography[link]

Music Videos[link]

• "Fashionabel" (2007) (Directed By Cameron McCasland)
• "On Modern Men" (2010) (Directed by Justin Kirchhoff)
• "Fear & Fallacy, Sitting In A Tree" (2011) (Directed by Justin Kirchhoff)

Members[link]

• Taylor Muse - vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, baritone guitar, piano, drums, glockenspiel, harmonica, synthesizers, electric piano, trumpet, banjo, percussion, and organ.
• Thomas Blank - acoustic and electric guitars, electric piano, singing, piano, glockenspiel, melodica, and organ.
• Matthew Parmenter - bass, singing, piano, banjo, percussion, stylophone, and organ.
• Jeff Weathers - drums and percussion.
• Cody Ackors - trombone, vocals, bass, piano, and electric guitar.

Often joined by:

• Leah Muse - vocals, and wife of Taylor.
• Betsy Aune - vocals, and wife of Thomas.
• Paul Osbon - vocals, and manager of Quiet Company.

Former members[link]

• Alex Bhore (record)
• Jesse Garcia (drums)
• Tim Robbins (drums)
• Michael Delaney (drums)

See also[link]

• Eisley
• The Lonely Hearts
• Northern Records
• Velvet Blue
• Mono Vs Stereo

References[link]

External links[link]

• Quiet Company official myspace page
• Quiet Company official website
• Northern Records Bio Page
• Quiet Company Music Video For Fashionable

Sources[link]

• http://hoppingintopuddles.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/quiet-company-a-band-you-must-know-about/
• http://www.theblackandwhitemag.com/reviews.asp?cid=q
• http://www.northernrecords.com/news.php?nid=35
• http://www.logoncafe.net/music2.php?artist=Quiet%20Company&id=279
• http://www.discrevolt.com/groups/view/258
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisley
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_lonely_hearts
• http://thecameraaspen.blogspot.com/2006/05/quiet-company.html
• http://velvetbluemusic.com/
• http://alistlauren.austin360blogs.com/archive.aspx?y=2007&m=9
• http://highvoltagemagazine.com/index.html
• http://www.dallasobserver.com/2007-01-11/music/red-monroe-new-frontiers-quiet-company-manchester-orchestra/
• http://speedofdark-web.blogspot.com/2007/11/peace-on-earth-what-deal.html
• http://hardtofindafriend.blogspot.com/2007/11/buy-peace-on-earth-holiday-album.html
• http://www.mtv.ca/search/video.jhtml?input=quiet%20company

Alex Chilton
Live in France, 2004.
Background information
Birth name	William Alexander Chilton
Born	(1950-12-28)December 28, 1950 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	March 17, 2010(2010-03-17) (aged 59) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.[1]
Genres	Rock 'n' roll, power pop, proto-punk, hard rock, blue-eyed soul, indie rock
Occupations	Musician, singer, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1966–2010[1]
Associated acts	Box Tops, Big Star, Tav Falco's Panther Burns

William Alexander "Alex" Chilton (December 28, 1950 – March 17, 2010) was an American songwriter, guitarist, singer and producer, best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star.^[2] Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops was not repeated in later years with Big Star and in his indie music solo career on small labels, but he drew a loyal following in the indie and alternative music fields, and is often cited as an influence by many mainstream rock artists and bands.

Early life and career[link]

Chilton grew up in a musical family; his father, Sidney Chilton, was a jazz musician. A local band recruited the teenager in 1966 as their lead singer after learning of the popularity of his vocal performance at a talent show at Memphis' Central High School; this band was The Devilles, later renamed Box Tops. The new group recorded with Chips Moman and producer/songwriter Dan Penn at American Sound Studio and Muscle Shoals' FAME Studios.

As lead singer for the Box Tops, Chilton enjoyed at the age of 16 a number-one international hit, "The Letter." The Box Tops went on to have several other major chart hits, including "Neon Rainbow" (1967), "Cry Like a Baby" (1968), "Sweet Cream Ladies, Forward March" (1969) and "Soul Deep" (1969). Aside from the hits "The Letter", "Neon Rainbow" and "Soul Deep", all written by Wayne Carson Thompson, many of the group's songs were written by Penn, Moman, Spooner Oldham and other top area songwriters, with Chilton occasionally contributing a song. By late 1969, only Chilton and guitarist Gary Talley remained from the original group, and newer additions replaced the members who had departed. The group decided to disband and pursue independent careers in February 1970.

Chilton then began performing as a solo artist, maintaining a working relationship with Penn for demos. During this period he began learning guitar by studying the styles of guitarists like Stax Records great Steve Cropper, recording his own material in 1970 at Ardent Studios with local musicians like producer Terry Manning and drummer Richard Rosebrough, and producing a few local blues-rock acts. His 1970 recordings and productions from that time frame were released years later in the 1980s and 1990s on albums like Lost Decade (New Rose Records) and 1970 (Ardent Records).

1970s career[link]

After a period in New York City, during which Chilton worked on his guitar technique and singing style (some of which was believed to have been influenced by a chance meeting with Roger McGuinn at a friend's apartment in New York, when Chilton was impressed with McGuinn's singing and playing), Chilton returned to Memphis in 1971 and co-founded the power-pop group Big Star, with Chris Bell, recording at engineer John Fry's Ardent Studios. Chilton and Bell co-wrote "In The Street" for Big Star's first album #1 Record, a track later known as the theme song of That '70s Show.

The group's recordings met little commercial success but established Chilton's reputation as a rock singer and songwriter; later alternative music bands like R.E.M. and The Posies would praise the group as a major influence. During this period he also occasionally recorded with Rosebrough as a group they called The Dolby Fuckers; some of their studio experimentation was included on Big Star's album Radio City, including the recording of "Mod Lang." Rosebrough would occasionally work with Chilton on later recordings, including Big Star's Third album and Chilton's 1975 solo record Bach's Bottom.

Moving back to New York in 1977, Chilton performed as "Alex Chilton and the Cossacks" with a lineup that included Chris Stamey (later of The dB's) and Richard Lloyd of Television at venues like CBGB, releasing an influential solo single, "Bangkok" (b/w a cover of the Seeds' "Can't Seem to Make You Mine"), in 1978. This period learning from the New York CBGB scene marked the beginning of a key change for Chilton's personal musical interests away from multi-layered pop studio recording standards toward a looser, animated punk performance style often recorded in one take and featuring fewer overdubs. There he made the acquaintance of punk rockabilly band the Cramps. He brought them to Memphis, where he produced the songs that would appear on their Gravest Hits EP and their Songs the Lord Taught Us LP.

In 1979, Chilton released, in a limited edition of 500 copies, an album called Like Flies on Sherbert, produced by Chilton with Jim Dickinson at Phillips Recording and Ardent Studios, which featured his own interpretations of songs by artists as disparate as the Carter Family, Jimmy C. Newman, Ernest Tubb, and KC and the Sunshine Band, along with several originals. While criticized by some as a druggy mess, this album is considered by many to be a lo-fi masterpiece. Sherbert, which included backing work by Memphis musicians including Rosebrough, Memphis drummer Ross Johnson, and Lesa Aldridge, has since been reissued several times. Beginning in 1979 Chilton also co-founded, played guitar with, and produced some albums for Tav Falco's Panther Burns, which began as an offbeat rock-and-roll group deconstructing blues, country, and rockabilly music.

1980s onwards[link]

Chilton moved to New Orleans in the early 1980s, while also touring regularly with Panther Burns and occasionally as a solo artist, as documented in his poorly received 1982 solo release Live in London. After a six month span of working outside music at tree-trimming and dishwashing jobs in New Orleans, he resumed playing with Panther Burns in 1983. His new association with New Orleans jazz musicians (including bassist René Coman) marked a period in which he began playing guitar in a less raucous style and moved toward a cooler, more restrained approach, as heard in Panther Burns' 1984 Sugar Ditch Revisited album, produced by Jim Dickinson.

Immediately upon completing the recording in mid-1984, Chilton returned his focus to his own solo career. He stopped playing regular gigs with Panther Burns and took with him the group's bassist, Coman. Chilton then formed a trio with Coman and Memphis jazz drummer Doug Garrison. The trio immediately began touring intensely and recording at Ardent Studios, releasing in 1985 an EP, Feudalist Tarts, that featured his versions of songs by Carla Thomas, Slim Harpo, and Willie Tee, and releasing in 1986 No Sex. The latter EP contained three originals, including the extended mood piece, "Wild Kingdom," a song highlighting Coman's jazz-oriented, improvisational bass interplay with Chilton.

During this period, in his recordings Chilton began frequently to use a horn section consisting of Memphis veteran jazz performers Fred Ford, Jim Spake, and Nokie Taylor to imbue the soul-oriented pieces among his repertoire with a postmodern, minimalist jazz feel that distinguished his interpretative approach from that of a simple soul revivalist style. Chilton forged a new direction for his solo work, eschewing effects and blending soul, jazz, country, rockabilly and pop. Coman left Chilton's solo trio at the end of 1986 to pursue other projects, forming (with Garrison) The Iguanas, three years later, with other New Orleans musicians; both would record occasionally with Chilton after departing.

Chilton was the subject of the song "Alex Chilton" by American rock band The Replacements on their 1987 album Pleased to Meet Me, on which Chilton was a guest musician playing guitar on the song "Can't Hardly Wait".^[3]

Chilton included on 1987's High Priest a cover of "Raunchy," his instrumental salute to Sun Records guitarist Sid Manker, a friend of his father from whom he'd once taken a guitar lesson; this song was also a standard in his early Panther Burns repertoire. Along with four upbeat originals, High Priest also included other covers like "Nobody's Fool," a song originally written and recorded in 1973 by his old mentor Dan Penn. His EP Black List contained a cover of Ronny & the Daytonas' "Little GTO," along with an original song, "Guantanamerika." He also produced albums by several artists beginning in the 1980s, including the Detroit group The Gories, occasionally producing Panther Burns albums well into the 1990s.

Touring and recording as a solo artist from the late-1980s through the 1990s with bassist Ron Easley and eventually drummer Richard Dworkin, Chilton gained a reputation for his eclectic taste in cover versions, guitar work, and laconic stage presence. Chilton recorded an acoustic solo record of jazz standards in New Orleans' Chez Flames studio with producer Keith Keller, entitled Cliches, and continued with a live CD released in 2004, Live in Anvers.

From the mid-1990s on, he added to his schedule concerts and recordings with the reunited Box Tops and a version of Big Star. In 1997, Chilton and original Box Tops Danny Smythe, John Evans, Bill Cunningham and Gary Talley regrouped in Memphis at Easley Studios to record Tear Off, the last Box Tops album, which was only released in Europe. Chilton subsequently toured with the original group annually. Chilton also reformed Big Star, with a line-up that included two members of The Posies, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. A new Big Star album, entitled In Space, with songs penned by this lineup, was released September 27, 2005, on Rykodisc. Chilton was present at his home in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and evacuated on September 4, 2005.^[4]

Death[link]

Chilton was taken to the hospital in New Orleans on March 17, 2010, complaining of health problems, and died the same day of a heart attack.^[5] He is survived by his wife, Laura, a son, Timothee, and a sister, Cecelia.^[1][6] He had been scheduled to play a concert with Big Star at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas on March 20; the show instead took place as a tribute to Chilton, with guests Curt Kirkwood, Chris Stamey, M. Ward, Mike Mills, John Doe, Sondre Lerche, Chuck Prophet, Evan Dando and original member Andy Hummel (who died 3 months later) joining the other members of Big Star.^[7]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• One Day in New York - (Trio, 1978, reissued 1991 on Art Union Records)
• Like Flies on Sherbert - (Peabody, 1979; Aura, 1980 UK)
• Bach's Bottom - (Line, 1981, remixed & reissued 1993 on Razor & Tie)
• Live in London - (Aura, 1982 UK)
• High Priest - (New Rose/Big Time, 1987; reissued 1994 on Razor & Tie)
• Clichés - (Ardent, 1994)
• A Man Called Destruction - (Ardent, 1995)
• 1970 - (Ardent, 1996) (recorded between his tenures with the Box Tops and Big Star, but unreleased until 1996)
• Cubist Blues, with Ben Vaughn and Alan Vega - (Discovery, 1997, reissued by Last Call in 2006 with an extra disc recorded live)
• Loose Shoes and Tight Pussy - (Last Call, 1999)
• Set (Bar/None, 2000) (U.S. release of Loose Shoes LP)
• Live in Anvers - (Last Call, 2004)
• Free Again: The "1970" Sessions - (Omnivore OVCD-13, 2011)

Singles and EPs[link]

• Singer Not the Song (EP) - (Ork, 1977)
• "Bangkok" / "Can't Seem to Make You Mine" - (Fun, 1978)
• "Hey Little Child" / "No More the Moon Shines on Lorena" - (Aura 1980 UK)
• Feudalist Tarts (EP) - (New Rose/Big Time, 1985; reissued 1994 on Razor & Tie)
• No Sex (EP) - (New Rose/Big Time, 1986; reissued 1994 on Razor & Tie)
• Black List (EP) - (New Rose, 1989; reissued 1994 on Razor & Tie)

Compilations[link]

• Lost Decade - (Fan Club, 1985)
• Document - (Aura, 1985)
• Stuff - (New Rose, 1987)
• Best of Alex Chilton - (New Rose, 1991)
• 19 Years: A Collection of Alex Chilton - (Rhino, 1991)
• Top 30 - (Last Call, 1997)

Appears On[link]

• It'll End in Tears - (This Mortal Coil, 1984)
• Medium Cool - (New Routes, 1991), Chet Baker tribute^[8]
• Downtown Does The Beatles Live At The Knitting Factory 1992 — (Knitting Factory Works, 1992)
• The Weedkiller's Daughter — (John & Mary, 1993)
• See My Friends — (Ray Davies, 2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Last Call Records artist page
• Box Tops official band website
• Alex Chilton Biography at Bar/None Records
• Big Star site from Rykodisc
• Jeff the Joker's Alex Chilton, Big Star & the Box Tops: Interviews & Reviews (Archived 2009-3-13)
• Alex Chilton discography at MusicBrainz
• Rolling Stone Interview 2/2000
• Alex Chilton: The Gibson Interview
• Alex Chilton - Daily Telegraph obituary

Big Star
Big Star on stage at Hyde Park, London, UK in 2009. From left to right: Jon Auer, Ken Stringfellow, and Jody Stephens.
Background information
Origin	Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Genres	Rock, power pop
Years active	1971–1974, 1993–2010
Associated acts	The Box Tops, The Posies
Website	bigstarband.com
Past members
Alex Chilton Jody Stephens Andy Hummel Chris Bell John Lightman Jon Auer Ken Stringfellow

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 1974, but reorganized with a new line-up nearly 20 years later. In its first era, the band's musical style drew on the work of British Invasion groups including The Beatles and The Kinks, as well as The Byrds, The Beach Boys, and other US acts. To the resulting power pop, Big Star added dark, nihilistic themes, and 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,^[1] as the "quintessential American power pop band" and "one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll".^[2]

Big Star's first album—1972's #1 Record—was met by enthusiastic reviews, but ineffective marketing by Stax Records and limited distribution stunted its commercial success. Frustration took its toll on band relations, and by the time a second album was completed in January 1974 both Bell and Hummel had left the group. Like #1 Record, Radio City received excellent reviews, but label issues again thwarted sales—Columbia Records, which had assumed control of the Stax catalog, likewise effectively vetoed its distribution. After a third album was deemed non-commercially viable and shelved before receiving a title, the band broke up late in 1974. Four years later, the first two Big Star LPs were released together as a double album. The band's third album was finally issued soon afterward; entitled Third/Sister Lovers, it found limited commercial success. Shortly thereafter, Chris Bell was tragically killed in a car accident at the age of 27.

The Big Star discography drew renewed attention in the 1980s when R.E.M. and other popular bands cited the group as an influence. In 1992, interest was further stimulated by Rykodisc's reissues of the band's albums, complemented by a collection of Bell's solo work.^[3] In 1993, Chilton and Stephens reformed Big Star with recruits Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies, and gave a concert at the University of Missouri.^[4] The band remained active, performing tours in Europe and Japan,^[5] and released a new studio album, In Space, in 2005. Chilton died on March 17, 2010 after being admitted to a New Orleans hospital with heart problems.^[6] Hummel, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, died on July 19, 2010.^[7] These deaths left Stephens as the sole surviving founding member.

First era: 1971 to 1974[link]

Formation of the band[link]

Alex Chilton was the lead singer for the blue-eyed soul group The Box Tops from 1967 to 1970 when the band had a #1 hit with the song "The Letter". At the age of sixteen, Alex Chilton recorded a solo studio album.^[8] He was offered the role of lead vocalist for Blood, Sweat & Tears, but turned the offer down as "too commercial".^[8] Chilton had known Chris Bell for some time: both lived in Memphis, each had spent time recording music at Ardent Studios,^[9] and each, when aged 13, had been struck by the music of The Beatles during the band's 1964 debut US tour.^[10] A song Chilton wrote nearly six years after he first witnessed a Beatles performance, "Thirteen", referred to the event with the line "Rock 'n' roll is here to stay".^[11] Chilton asked Bell to work with him as a duo modeled on Simon & Garfunkel; Bell declined, but invited Chilton to a performance by his own band, Icewater,^[8] comprising Bell, drummer Jody Stephens, and bassist Andy Hummel. Attracted by Icewater's music, Chilton showed the three his new song "Watch The Sunrise", and was asked to join the band.^[8] Both "Watch the Sunrise" and "Thirteen" were subsequently included on Big Star's first album, #1 Record. The now four-piece band adopted the name Big Star when one member was given the idea from a grocery store often visited for snacks during recording sessions.^[12] One of many Big Star Markets outlets in the Memphis region at the time, it had a logo consisting of a five-pointed star enclosing the words "Big Star"; as well as the store's name, the band used its logo but without the word "Star" to avoid infringing copyright.^[12]

[edit] #1 Record

Although all four members contributed to songwriting and vocals on the first album, Chilton and Bell dominated as a duo intentionally modeled on John Lennon and Paul McCartney.^[13][14] The album was recorded by Ardent founder John Fry, with Terry Manning contributing occasional backing vocals and keyboards. The title #1 Record was decided towards the end of the recording sessions and evinced, albeit as a playful hope rather than a serious expectation, the chart position to be achieved by a big star.^[13] Although Fry—at the band's insistence—was credited as "executive producer", publicly he insisted that "the band themselves really produced these records".^[13] Fry recalled how Ardent, one of the first recording studios to use a sixteen-track tape machine, worked experimentally with the band members: "We started recording the songs with the intent that if it turned out OK we'd put it out [...] I wound up being the one that primarily worked on it: I recorded all the tracks and then they would often come late at night and do overdubs. One by one, they all learned enough engineering."^[8]

	"The Ballad of el Goodo" noicon Sample of "The Ballad of el Goodo" from #1 Record (1972). The song is an example of a "luminous, melancholy ballad", contrasting with the rock and power pop that also pervade #1 Record and Radio City.
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Describing the mix of musical styles present on #1 Record, Rolling Stone's Bud Scoppa notes that the album includes "reflective and acoustic" numbers, saying that "even the prettiest tunes have tension and subtle energy to them, and the rockers reverberate with power". Scoppa finds that in each mode, "the guitar sound is sharp-edged and full".^[15]#1 Record was released in June 1972, and quickly received strong reviews. Billboard went as far as to say, "Every cut could be a single". Rolling Stone judged the album "exceptionally good", while Cashbox stated, "This album is one of those red-letter days when everything falls together as a total sound", and called it "an important record that should go to the top with proper handling".^[16] Proper handling, however, was not forthcoming: Stax Records proved unable to either promote or distribute the record with any degree of success, and even when the band's own efforts to get airplay generated interest, fans were unable to buy it as Stax could not make it available in many stores.^[17] Stax, in an effort to improve its catalog's availability, signed a deal with Columbia Records, already successful distributors in the US, making Columbia responsible for the entire Stax catalog. But Columbia had no interest in dealing with the independent distributors previously used by Stax and removed even the existing copies of #1 Record from the stores.^[18]

[edit] Radio City

The frustration at #1 Record's obstructed sales contributed to tension within the band. There was physical fighting between members:^[19] Bell, after being punched in the face by Hummel, retaliated by smashing Hummel's new bass guitar to pieces against the wall.^[19] Hummel took revenge at a later date: finding Bell's acoustic guitar in the latter's unattended car, he repeatedly punched it with a screwdriver.^[19] In November 1972, Bell quit the band. When work continued on songs for a second album, Bell rejoined, but further conflict soon erupted. A master tape of the new songs inexplicably went missing, and Bell, whose heavy drug intake was affecting his judgment, attacked Fry's parked car.^[19] In late 1972, struggling with severe depression, Bell quit the band once more,^[19] and by the end of the year Big Star disbanded.^[19]

	"September Gurls" noicon Sample of "September Gurls" from Radio City (1974). Like #1 Record, the album contains a mix of rock, power pop and acoustic reflection, but is more pop-oriented than either #1 Record or Third. This song is an example of the band's power pop at its best.
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After a few months Chilton, Stephens and Hummel decided to reform Big Star, and the three resumed work on the second album.^[20] The title chosen, Radio City, continued the play on the theme of a big star's popularity and success, expressing what biographer Robert Gordon calls the band's "romantic expectation".^[21] As Hummel put it,

This was probably pretty lame, but in those days putting any word in front of the noun "city" to sort of emphasize the totality and pervasiveness of it was just a way of talking people had. If someone suggested going to a store but you had gotten a bad deal there you might say, "Oh no, that place is 'rip off city'." Calling an LP Radio City would be kind of wishful thinking. I mean we hoped it would be played on the radio a lot, making it "radio city". Of course it didn't pan out that way...^[22]

Stephens recalled: "Radio City, for me, was just an amazing record. Being a three-piece really opened things up for me in terms of playing drums. Drums take on a different role in a three-piece band, so it was a lot of fun. [...] Radio City was really more spontaneous, and the performances were pretty close to live performances."^[20]

Although uncredited, Bell contributed to the writing of some of the album's songs, including "O My Soul" and "Back of a Car".^[20] Shortly before the album's release, Hummel left the band: judging that it would not last, and in his final year at college, he elected to concentrate on his studies and live a more normal life.^[23]

Rolling Stone's Ken Barnes, describing the musical style of Radio City, opens by noting as a backdrop that the band's debut, #1 Record, established it as "one of the leading new American bands working in the mid-Sixties pop and rock vein". Radio City, Barnes finds, has "plenty of shimmering pop delights", although "the opening tune, 'O My Soul,' is a foreboding, sprawling funk affair"; Barnes concludes that "Sometimes they sound like the Byrds, sometimes like the early Who, but usually like their own indescribable selves".^[15] Radio City was released in January 1974 and, like #1 Record, received excellent reviews. Record World reported, "The sound is stimulating, the musicianship superb, and the result is tight and rollickingly rhythmic."^[24] Billboard judged it "a highly commercial set".^[24] Rolling Stone's Bud Scoppa, then with Phonograph Record, affirmed, "Alex Chilton has now emerged as a major talent, and he'll be heard from again".^[24] Cashbox called it "a collection of excellent material that hopefully will break this deserving band in a big way".^[24] But just as #1 Record had fallen victim to poor marketing, so too did Radio City. Columbia, now in complete control of the Stax catalog, refused to process it following a disagreement. Without a distributor, sales of Radio City, though far greater than those of #1 Record, were minimal at only around 20,000 copies.^[24]

[edit] Third/Sister Lovers

In September 1974, eight months after the release of Radio City, the two remaining members of Big Star returned to Ardent Studios to work on a third album.^[25] Chilton and Stephens were assisted by producer Jim Dickinson and an assortment of musicians including drummer Richard Rosebrough,^[25] and Lesa Aldridge, Chilton's girlfriend, who contributed on vocals.^[25] The sessions and mixing were completed in early 1975,^[26] and 250 copies of the album were pressed with plain labels for promotional use.^[27]

Parke Putterbaugh of Rolling Stone described Third/Sister Lovers as "extraordinary". It is, he wrote, "Chilton's untidy masterpiece. [...] beautiful and disturbing"; "vehemently original"; of "haunting brilliance":

To listen to it is to be "plunged into a maelstrom of conflicting emotions. Songs are drenched in strings and sweet sentiment one minute, starkly played and downcast the next. No pop song has ever bottomed out more than "Holocaust", an anguished plaint sung at a snail's pace over discordant slide-guitar fragments and moaning cello [...] On the up side, there's the delicious pop minuet "Stroke It Noel," the anticipatory magic of "Nightime" ("Caught a glance in your eyes and fell through the skies," Chilton rhapsodizes) [...] Big Star's baroque, guitar-driven pop reaches its apotheosis on songs like "Kizza Me," "Thank You Friends" and "O, Dana". [...] Without question, Third is one of the most idiosyncratic, deeply felt and fully realized albums in the pop idiom.^[28]

"Holocaust" noicon Sample of "Holocaust" from Third/Sister Lovers (recorded 1974; released 1978). Third is quite unlike Big Star's first two albums, and "Holocaust" is an example of its slower, darker songs; "Alex Chilton at his haunting best". "Thank You Friends" noicon Sample of "Thank You Friends" from Third/Sister Lovers (recorded 1974; released 1978). Although containing a number of slow, dark songs, the album also contains material with "the undeniable hooks of the earlier albums", which this song exemplifies.

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Fry and Dickinson flew to New York with promotional copies and met employees of a number of record labels, but could not generate interest in the album.^[27] When a similar promotion attempt failed in California, the album was shelved as it was considered not commercial enough for release.^[27] Fry recalled, "We'd go in and play it and these guys would look at us like we were crazy".^[27] In late 1974, before the album was even named, the band broke up, bringing Big Star's first era to its end.^[27] Dickinson later said that he was "nailed for indulging Alex on Big Star Third, but I think it is important that the artist is enabled to perform with integrity. What I did for Alex was literally remove the yoke of oppressive production that he had been under since the first time he ever uttered a word into a microphone, for good or ill.^[29]

Since quitting the band in 1972, Bell had spent time in several different countries trying to develop his solo career.^[27] In 1978, after his return to Memphis, the first two Big Star albums were released together in the UK as a double album, drawing enthusiastic reviews and interest from fans.^[30] Soon afterwards Big Star's recognition grew further when, four years after its completion, the third album too was released in both the US and the UK.^[30] By now, the hitherto untitled Third/Sister Lovers had become known by several unofficial names including Third (reflecting its position in the discography), Beale Street Green (acknowledging the legendary site nearby, once a focal point for Memphis blues musicians) and Sister Lovers (because during the album's recording sessions, Chilton and Stephens were dating sisters Lesa and Holliday Aldridge).^[21][31]

Not long after the release of Third/Sister Lovers, Bell died in a car accident.^[32] He apparently lost control of his car while driving alone and was killed when he struck a lamp post after hitting the curb a hundred feet before.^[32] A blood test found that he was not drunk at the time, and no drugs were found on him other than a bottle of vitamins.^[32] Bell is believed to have either fallen asleep at the wheel or become distracted.^[32]

Second era: 1993 to 2011[link]

Big Star returned in 1993 with a new line-up when guitarist Jon Auer and bassist Ken Stringfellow joined Chilton and Stephens. Auer and Stringfellow remain members of The Posies, founded by the pair in 1986. Stringfellow is also known for his work with R.E.M. and The Minus 5. First-era material dominates Big Star's performances, with the occasional addition of a song from the 2005 album In Space; Stringfellow recalled that during the 1990s, "We were working out the set list and we went to this little cafe. Little did I know we'd be playing that set for the next ten years".^[5] The resurrected band made its debut at the 1993 University of Missouri spring music festival.^[4] A recording of the performance was issued on CD by Zoo Records as Columbia: Live at Missouri University.^[5] The concert was followed by tours of Europe and Japan,^[5] as well as an appearance on The Tonight Show.^[1]

Alex Chilton in 2009 during a Big Star performance at Hyde Park

In Space was released on September 27, 2005 on the Rykodisc label. Recorded during 2004, the album consists of new material mostly co-written by Chilton, Stephens, Auer and Stringfellow. Reviewing In Space, Rolling Stone's David Fricke first points out the context for its release: "a world expecting that American Beatles ideal all over again" from a band that "achieved its power-pop perfection when no one else was looking".^[33] In Fricke's estimation, the seemingly unrealistic expectation is in part met: "It's here—in the jangly longing and ice-wall harmonies of 'Lady Sweet'"; Fricke finds though that such songs are interleaved with "the eccentric R&B and demo-quality glam rock that have made Chilton's solo records a mixed blessing", and that "'A Whole New Thing' starts out like old T.Rex, then goes nowhere special".^[33] Warming nevertheless to "the rough sunshine" of "Best Chance", Fricke says in conclusion: "In Space is no #1 Record, but at its brightest, it is Big Star in every way".^[33]

The band appeared at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium on October 20, 2007. San Francisco-based band Oranger, performed as opening act.^[34] Big Star performed at the 2008 Rhythm Festival, staged from 29–31 August in Bedfordshire, UK. On June 16, 2009, the #1 Record/Radio City double album was reissued in remastered form.^[35] The same month, it was announced that a film of Big Star's history, based on biographer Rob Jovanovic's book Big Star: The Story of Rock's Forgotten Band, is in pre-production.^[36] On July 1, 2009, Big Star performed at a concert in Hyde Park, London, UK.^[37] On September 15, 2009, Rhino Records issued a four-CD box set containing 98 recordings made between 1968 and 1975. Keep An Eye On The Sky includes live and demo versions of Big Star songs, solo work, and material from Bell's earlier bands Rock City and Icewater.^[36]

Chilton died on March 17, 2010 after being admitted to hospital with heart problems.^[6] He had been scheduled to perform with Big Star in Memphis, Tennessee three days later. The remaining members, joined by special guests original bassist Andy Hummel, M. Ward, Evan Dando, R.E.M.'s Mike Mills, and Chris Stamey, staged the concert as a tribute to him.^[38] Hummel, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, died on July 19, 2010. Asked about the band's future plans, Stephens told Billboard, "It's music we all really love to play, and we love to play it together, so we're trying to figure out a way forward where we can keep doing it."^[7]

After the EP Live Tribute to Alex Chilton was released in June 2011, Stephens wrote on the Ardent blog that the tribute performance in May 2010 was the last performance for Big Star as a band.^[39]

Musical style and influences[link]

Bell took up guitar when twelve or thirteen, but only on hearing the first Beatles records was he motivated to play the instrument regularly.^[40] He acted as lead and rhythm guitarist and vocalist for a sequence of bands, performing songs by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Zombies and The Animals.^[40] Chilton's first awareness of music came at the age of six when his brother repeatedly played a record by The Coasters.^[41] His father's liking for jazz then exposed him over the next few years to the music of Glenn Miller, Ray Charles and Dave Brubeck.^[41] Chilton's enthusiasm for music took hold when at age thirteen he first heard Beatles records; he recalled having known of 1950s rock and roll but "by 1959 Elvis was syrup and Jerry Lee was pretty much gone, and the rockabilly thing was sort of over so I didn't get really caught up in the rock scene until the Beatles came along".^[42]

Jody Stephens in 2009 during a Big Star performance at Hyde Park

Chilton took up electric guitar at thirteen, playing along with Beatles songs, later saying, "I really loved the mid-sixties British pop music [...] all two and a half minutes or three minutes long, really appealing songs. So I've always aspired to that same format, that's what I like. Not to mention the rhythm and blues and the Stax stuff, too".^[43] Chilton abandoned his guitar-playing when with The Box Tops, then took up the instrument again; he met Roger McGuinn, guitarist for The Byrds, and developed particular interest in electric guitar and acoustic folk.^[44] Stephens enjoyed the music of Otis Redding, The Isley Brothers, The Who, The Kinks and, in particular, The Beatles.^[40] He first played drums at home with his brother, then with a handful of bands in the years before Big Star formed.^[40] Hummel likewise was a member of more than one band during his early musical years, again influenced by The Beatles and other British Invasion acts.^[40] The bassist also played acoustic guitar for personal enjoyment, following the styles of Simon & Garfunkel and Joni Mitchell and using finger-picking techniques to play folk and bluegrass.^[40] Most songs on the first three albums are credited to either Bell/Chilton or Chilton, but some credit Hummel, Stephens and others, as either writer or co-writer. At the only seven live performances in the original era, the last of which took place before the second album's release, all four members contributed vocally.^[45]

While primarily inspired by the music of The Beatles and other British Invasion bands, acknowledging too the jangle pop and power pop of the period, Big Star also incorporated dark, nihilistic themes to produce a striking blend of musical and lyrical styles.^[46][47] The body of work resulting from the first era was a precursor of the alternative rock of the 1980s and 1990s,^[48] at the same time yielding material today considered an outstanding example of power pop.^[3][49] The stylistic range is evident from modern day critiques. Bogdanov et al., commenting on #1 Record in their All Music Guide to Rock, perceive in "The Ballad of El Goodo" a "luminous, melancholy ballad",^[14] whereas John Borack's Ultimate Power Pop Guide singles out Radio City's "September Gurls" as a "glorious, glittering jewel" of power pop.^[49] Borack notes too that Third/Sister Lovers is "slower, darker and a good deal weirder" than the first two albums, identifying "Holocaust" as "Alex Chilton at his haunting best", yet finds "Thank You Friends" exemplifying "left-field gems" also present in which "the hooks are every bit as undeniable" as before.^[50] Jovanovic writes that when recording what Peter Buckley in his Rough Guide to Rock terms the "snarling guitar rock"^[51] of the first album's "Don't Lie To Me", the band, deeming conventional instruments inadequate for the task, wheeled two Norton Commando motorcycles into the studio and gunned the engines to intensify the song's bridge.^[52] Bogdanov et al. reserve "snarl" for a Radio City song, "Mod Lang";^[14] here Buckley writes that "the power of the performance and the erratic mix gave a sense of chaos which only added to the thrill".^[53]

Legacy and influence[link]

Although Big Star's first era came to an end in 1974, the band acquired a cult following in the 1980s when new acts began to acknowledge the early material's significance.^[54] R.E.M.'s Peter Buck admitted, "We've sort of flirted with greatness, but we've yet to make a record as good as Revolver or Highway 61 Revisited or Exile on Main Street or Big Star's Third. I don't know what it'll take to push us on to that level, but I think we've got it in us."^[55] Chilton, however, told an interviewer in 1992, "I'm constantly surprised that people fall for Big Star the way they do... People say Big Star made some of the best rock 'n roll albums ever. And I say they're wrong."^[56]

Today, critics cite Big Star's first three albums as a profound influence on subsequent musicians. Rolling Stone notes that Big Star "created a seminal body of work that never stopped inspiring succeeding generations of rockers, from the power-pop revivalists of the late 1970s to alternative rockers at the end of the century to the indie rock nation in the new millennium".^[1] Jason Ankeny, music critic for Allmusic, identifies Big Star as "one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll", whose "impact on subsequent generations of indie bands on both sides of the Atlantic is surpassed only by that of the Velvet Underground".^[2] Ankeny describes Big Star's second album, Radio City, as "their masterpiece—ragged and raw guitar-pop infused with remarkable intensity and spontaneity".^[2]

In 1992, Rykodisc generated further interest in the band when it reissued Third/Sister Lovers and released a posthumous compilation of Bell's solo material, I Am The Cosmos.^[3] In his 2007 book Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide, John Borack ranks the #1 Record/Radio City double album at #2 in his chart "The 200 Greatest Power Pop Albums".^[49] Rolling Stone includes #1 Record, Radio City and Third/Sister Lovers in The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time^[57][58][59] and "September Gurls" and "Thirteen" in The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[60][61] In addition to R.E.M.,^[62] artists including Teenage Fanclub,^[1][63][64] The Replacements,^[65] Primal Scream,^[53] the Posies,^[5] and Bill Lloyd and the dB's^[66] cite Big Star as an inspiration, and the band's influence on Game Theory, Matthew Sweet and Velvet Crush is also acknowledged.^[67]

Big Star's "I'm In Love With A Girl" from Radio City features in the soundtrack of the 2009 film "Adventureland".^[68] The 2006 tribute album Big Star, Small World includes Big Star covers by The Posies, Teenage Fanclub, Gin Blossoms, Wilco, Afghan Whigs, Whiskeytown and others.^[69] The 1987 tribute song "Alex Chilton", co-written by three members of The Replacements, was released as a single from the album Pleased to Meet Me and contains the lyric "I never travel far without a little Big Star".^[70] In 1998, an ad hoc, shortened version of #1 Record's "In the Street" (recorded by Todd Griffin) was used as the theme song for the sitcom That '70s Show,^[11] and in 1999, a new version titled "That '70s Song (In the Street)" was recorded by Cheap Trick also specifically for the show.^[11][71] "That '70s Song" and Big Star's own "September Gurls" are included on the 1999 album That '70s Album (Rockin') released by the television program's producers.^[72] "September Gurls", Borack says, "was and is the sine qua non of power pop, a glorious, glittering jewel with every facet cut and shined to absolute perfection. [...] a peerless, aching distillation of love and longing. 'September Gurls' may not actually be the greatest song ever recorded, but for the duration of its 2:47 running time, you can be forgiven for believing it is."^[3]

Personnel[link]

• Alex Chilton – guitars, piano, vocals (1971–1974, 1993–2010)
• Jody Stephens – drums, vocals (1971–1974, 1993–2010)
• Chris Bell – guitars, vocals (1971–1972)
• Andy Hummel – bass, vocals (1971–1973)
• John Lightman – bass, backing vocals (1974)
• Jon Auer – guitar, vocals (1993–2010)
• Ken Stringfellow – bass, vocals (1993–2010)

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• #1 Record (Ardent/Stax, 1972)
• Radio City (Ardent/Stax, 1974)
• Third/Sister Lovers (PVC, 1978)
• In Space (Rykodisc, 2005)
• Third [Test Pressing Edition] (Omnivore Recordings, 2011)

Live albums

• Live (Rykodisc, 1992)
• Columbia: Live at Missouri University 4/25/93 (Zoo, 1993)
• Nobody Can Dance (Norton, 1999) – rehearsals and live recordings
• Live Tribute at the Levitt Shell (Ardent, 2011) – Big Star with John Davis

Compilations

• Biggest (Line Records, 1994) – greatest hits
• The Best Of (Ace Records, 1999) – greatest hits
• Big Star Story (Rykodisc, 2003) – greatest hits with one new track
• Keep an Eye on the Sky (Rhino, 2009) – box set with a live disc

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Ankeny, Jason. Big Star Biography. Allmusic.com. Accessed June 29, 2009.
• Bogdanov, Vladimir, Woodstra, Chris, Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul. Backbeat Books, 2002. ISBN 978-0-87930-653-3.
• Borack, John M. Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide. Shake Some Action — PowerPop, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9797714-0-8.
• Buckley, Peter. The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides, 2003. ISBN 978-1-84353-105-0.
• Eaton, Bruce. Big Star's "Radio City" (33 1/3). Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8264-2898-1.
• Gordon, Robert. It Came From Memphis. New York: Pocket Books, 1995. ISBN 0-7434-1045-9.
• Jovanovic, Rob. Big Star: The Story of Rock's Forgotten Band. London: Fourth Estate, 2004. ISBN 0-00-714908-5.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Big Star

• Official site

Nakia Burrise (born October 21, 1974) is an American singer and actress known for her role as Tanya Sloan on the television series Power Rangers from 1996-1997.

Burrise was born in San Diego, California, the daughter of Deborah and Cornell Burrise. She attended Thomas Alva Edison Senior High School in Stockton, California (1989–1992) and UCLA's School of Theater.

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

• This Space Between Us (2000) .... VeeJay
• Under Wraps (1997) (TV) .... Paige
• Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997) ....Tanya Sloan/Yellow Turbo Ranger
• Barbie in A Mermaid Tale (2010) .... Fallon
• Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2 (2012) .... Fallon

TV work[link]

• Melissa & Joey ... Erica (2011)
• Bones ...Wife Episode "Foot in the Foreclosure" (2009)
• Samantha Who?
  • "Pilot" (2007) .... Dr. Kerry Hall^[1]
• Boston Legal
  • "Legal Deficits" (2005) .... Liz
• Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
  • "Finally!" (2001) .... Female Patron
• Moesha
  • "D-Money Loses His Patience" (2000) .... Joy
  • "The Robbing Hood" (2000) .... Joy
  • "Gimme a Break" (2000) .... Joy
• Nash Bridges
  • "Superstition" (1999) TV Episode .... Candace
  • "Lady Killer" (1998) TV Episode (as Nakia Ra'Shay Burrise) .... Clerk
  • "Born Free"
  • "Gift of Love" (1998) TV Episode .... Ngjensani
• Smart Guy
  • "Book Smart" (1997) .... Sarina
• Power Rangers Turbo (1997) TV Series .... Tanya Sloan/Yellow Turbo Ranger #1
  • "Shadow Rangers" (1997) (voice) .... Yellow Shadow Ranger
• Power Rangers Zeo (1996) TV Series .... Tanya Sloan/Yellow Zeo Ranger
  • "It Came from Angel Grove" (1996) .... Bride of Hackensack
• Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
  • "Hogday Afternoon: Parts 1 and 2" (1996) .... Tanya Sloan

References[link]

External links[link]

• Nakia Burrise at AllRovi

This article relating to Power Rangers is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article about a United States film and television actor or actress born in the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e