Album · Big Star
Radio City by Big Star
Radio City is an album by Big Star, released in 1974. 3 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 19 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “September Gurls”, on 17 lists with a best position of #65.
Radio City, Big Star's second album, was cut at Ardent Studios in Memphis in late 1973 and released on Ardent Records on February 20, 1974, and it's the sound of a band falling apart and making glorious noise on the way down. Chris Bell had split after #1 Record, leaving Alex Chilton, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel as a trio, and Hummel was gone once the album was finished.
What's left is ragged, jangly, heartbroken power pop, all Beatles-and-Byrds chime run through Chilton's frayed nerves. "September Gurls" is the one everybody knows, a giddy rush of ringing guitars, and "Back of a Car" isn't far behind; "O My Soul" went out as a single too. Critics loved it at the time, but the label was struggling and distribution was a mess, and it barely sold. It's since been hailed as a cornerstone of power pop. The cover, William Eggleston's photo The Red Ceiling, came from a close friend of Chilton's.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Radio City on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September Gurls | 17 | #65 | – | 2001–2026 | |
| 2 | O My Soul | 1 | #690 | – | 2024 | |
| 3 | Back Of A Car | 1 | #852 | – | 2010 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.