Ok, so this ground has been covered a million times but listening to Big Star the other night I was once again taken aback at how far his influence spread far and wide. The track that triggered this was For You from the album Third/Sister Lovers. It just struck me again how this track would fit very happily on Bandwagonesque by Teenage Fanclub. Again, I know this line of influence has been covered before but it just hit me afresh. Especially the verse – it’s somehow a mix of several tracks off Bandwagonesque at the same time. That simple verse somehow embodies the whole theme of Bandwagonesque. In my head anyway.

Another man influenced greatly by Chilton was Paul Westerberg (a big, big fav of mine). Westerberg even wrote a song called Alex Chilton when in The Replacements. No hiding his admiration for Chilton’s song writing ability:

“Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes ’round
They sing “I’m in love. What’s that song?
I’m in love with that song.”

Westerberg was no slouch in the song-writing department himself, in fact to these ears, one of the best.

And to take this full circle. Art Brut recently wrote a song called, The Replacements:

“Some of them are nearly the same age as my parents
I can’t believe I’ve only just discovered the Replacements”

Where is this post going. I have no idea but I love how influences seep from band to band to band and how a band from the early 70s is indirectly influencing a band in the the 20-10s. Any thoughts on who else Chilton has influenced or who anyone has influenced for that matter please do share them with us!