Stupefied: The Holly George-Warren Playlist

We have a special treat today in the form of a new Stupefied playlist from one of my favorite writers, Holly George-Warren. As you hopefully know by now, her latest book, A Man Called Destruction, gives the bio treatment to Alex Chilton - songwriter extraordinaire, rock star at 16 with the Box Tops, and leading light of Big Star. And of course, I'd be remiss not to mention that the cover photo is by none other than our pal, Godlis. 

Already at work on her next book (a Janis Joplin bio), all things Holly can be tracked at HollyGeorgeWarren.com including some appearances this weekend in Carrboro, NC, and next month in Nashville, TN, and Brooklyn, NY. The paperback edition of AMCD will be available in 2015.

Alex Chilton & Holly George Warren by Dan Howell

Big thanks to Holly for the list!

1. Box Tops - The Letter
2. Box Tops - Neon Rainbow
3. Box Tops - Cry Like a Baby
4. Box Tops - I Shall Be Released
5. Box Tops - Soul Deep
6. Alex Chilton - The EMI Song
7. Alex Chilton - Free Again
8. Big Star - Thirteen
9. Big Star - Ballad of El Goodo
10. Big Star - September Gurls
11. Big Star - I’m in Love With a Girl
12. Big Star - Kangaroo
13. Big Star - Holocaust
14. Alex Chilton - Bangkok
15. Alex Chilton - Can’t Seem to Make You Mine
16. Alex Chilton - Hey Little Child
17. Alex Chilton - Alligator Man
18. Alex Chilton - Take It Off
19. Alex Chilton - Dalai Lama
20. Alex Chilton - Thing for You
21. Alex Chilton - Thank You John
22. Alex Chilton - Guantanamerika
23. Alex Chilton - Devil Girl
24. Alex Chilton - Dark End of the Street (with Teenage Fanclub)
25. Alex Chilton - Never Found a Girl
26. Alex Chilton - Never Found a Girl (with Teenage Fanclub)
27. Alex Chilton - You Can Bet Your Heart on Me (Electricity by Candlelight)
28. Big Star - Hot Thing

A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, From Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man

A biography about Alex Chilton 

+ writing by Holly George Warren 

+ cover photography by Godlis 

= GREAT 

Order here

Facebook page

New documentaries of note: Big Star and Wax Trax Records

I'm definitely late to the game posting this, but that doesn't make it any less deserving. I've been hearing great things about it.

Official Website

Read a great piece about the band & the film by Chris Morris over at the Oxford American: "My first encounter with Big Star was in the mid-’70s, when I worked as a disc jockey at an FM station in Madison, Wisconsin. In the manner of the day, it was a completely “free-from” outlet—its official handle was “Radio Free Madison”—and its programming was wide open. There was no playlist and just one basic rule, almost laughably righteous in the face of Top 40 radio’s constant repetition: if a song was played by one jock, another jock could not repeat it during a subsequent shift that day. To police this policy, each of the seven thousand or so LPs in the station library contained a log sheet; when a DJ played a track, they had to note the date on the log so that others wouldn’t spin the cut within the same 24-hour period." Continued here.

Also of note is a new doc about influential record store (in Denver), then record label (in Chicago), Wax Trax. It looks like it may be pretty good although I was never a disciple of their entire catalog. They definitely have their place though, and perhaps the story is interesting enough for a film. We'll see (hopefully)!

Official website

Wax Trax Chicago

Get more details over at Slicing Up Eyeballs.

Charles Ball RIP

DNA "You & You"

Robin Crutchfield, ex-member of DNA and Dark Day, just posted the following news on Facebook, and from the names involved, I'm inclined to believe its true:

Alex Chilton "Bangkok" - Cover shot by Godlis

I just received word from Andy Schwartz, old editor of New York Rocker, who received word from writer Roy Trakin, that Charles Ball died of a heart attack last night in St. Petersberg, Fla. I am passing the word along. It's too bad Charles didn't receive his proper due in his lifetime. His contributions to the DYI culture are massive in importance. --Robin

Implog - Holland Tunnel Dive

Charles' New York-based label, Lust/Unlust, was responsible for some extremely underground but influential releases in the late 70's. These include a DNA 7", a couple of releases from Crutchfield's Dark Day, and one from Alex Chilton (pictured above right). As a music publisher, Charles was also responsible for the excellent 12" release from Implog, the Holland Tunnel Dive EP (pictured left).

Ben Vaughn remembers Alex Chilton

Our friend Lindsay, over at the Next Big Thing, has posted Ben Vaughn's remembrance of Alex Chilton. It's a nice companion piece to the Westerberg piece that ran in the NY Times a few days ago.

"I met Alex Chilton in the early Eighties in New York City. We were introduced by our mutual friend Mike. I was just starting my music career and Alex was the guy who produced the Cramps and I needed a producer so I handed him a demo of my songs. He took it, examined it from all angles as if he’d never seen a cassette tape before, looked me in the eye and asked, “Is this original material?” I nodded yes and in a very blasé voice he said, “great” and put it in his pocket. My friend Mike and I shrugged at each other. We assumed the tape would be tossed." Continued here.

Here's a track from the vastly overlooked album recorded by Vaughn, Chilton & Alan Vega in the mid 90's, Cubist Blues, and released by the Thirsty Ear label.

Just Kids, Sunday reading

I can't recommend Patti Smith's Just Kidshighly enough. I finished it last night and absolutely fell in love. I have too many thoughts about it to get into here, but I will say that it touched me in many ways. And I've never been the biggest Patti Smith fan, but whenever I've given her the time, I don't regret it. For anyone interested in a post-Exploding Plastic Inevitable/pre-CBGB New York City this is a must-read.





I also wanted to point out several good articles that appear in today's edition of the NY Times:

- The T.A.M.I. Show is finally available legally again this Tuesday, and here's why you should make an effort to see it.
- Paul Westerberg shares a laugh with Alex Chilton.
- Charlie Gillett's obituary.

Godlis remembers Alex Chilton, so does the US Congress

Chilton hanging out with the Cramps, 1977, by Godlis

Obviously the response to Alex Chilton's death has been overwhelming. I hope it's some sort of comfort to his family. Like yesterday's Charlie Gillett remembrance by Paul Gorman, I'm happy to link to Godlis' memories of hanging out with Alex Chilton. His famous shot of Chilton taken on a rainy Bowery, with a drop of water on the lense, is the one being used most often (uncredited) with online posts about Chilton's death:

"We didn't talk a lot about music on most nights. We talked a lot about photography. His friend William Eggleston's color show at MOMA had just shaken up the photography world. Alex, who was working with the Cramps was well aware of my low-light photography style, and made me do a shot of him and the Cramps by candlelight - a nearly impossible task that amused him to no end." Continued here.

Also, a somewhat surprising event was the short memorialization of Chilton on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives by Tennessee's Steve Cohen. Very nice. I'm happy to see that some sensible events do take place in that institution.

Alex Chilton RIP

Alex Chilton - RIP. Wow...enough already! It's been a bad day.

“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.'"

Photo by Godlis. Lyrics by Paul Westerberg.