The cover of Big Star’s “#1 Record” album.
White Eagle Hall in Jersey City will present “Don’t Lie to Me! Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Big Star’s #1 Record,” on Dec. 4. Performers will include Big Star drummer Jody Stephens along with Mike Mills of R.E.M., Chris Stamey of The dB’s, Jon Auer of The Posies and Pat Sansone of Wilco. For tickets, visit whiteeaglehalljc.com.
Big Star had little commercial success with its three ’70s albums but became legendary after it broke up, and has been extremely influential on many indie-rock musicians from the ’80s on.
#1 Record was Big Star’s first album. Its best known song is “In the Street,” which, in cover versions by Todd Griffin and Cheap Trick, became the theme song of the sitcom, “That ’70s Show.”
The Memphis-based band was a quartet at the time of #1 Record and Stephens is the only surviving member. Singer-guitarist Chris Bell died in 1978. Singer-guitarist Alex Chilton, previously of the group The Box Tops (“The Letter,” “Cry Like a Baby,” “Soul Deep”) and later a renowned solo artist, died in 2010, as did bassist Andy Hummel.
Stephens, Chilton, Auer and Ken Stringfellow took part in various Big Star reunion projects from 1993 to 2010.
Listen here to the #1 Record track, “Don’t Lie to Me”:
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