“September Gurls” by Big Star

Alex Chilton wrote "September Gurls" for Radio City, Big Star's second album, out on Ardent in 1974, and it's the jangly, sun-dazzled power-pop heart of the record. The title tips its hat to the Beach Boys' "California Girls", and the song came from three women in Chilton's life with birthdays in September, his ex-wife among them. Bassist Andy Hummel has said Chilton was juggling several relationships at once back then, and that these songs were him telling what happened and how it felt.

John Fry produced and engineered it on a six-track setup, and the bones are simple: Chilton's rhythm guitar, Hummel's bass and Jody Stephens's drums, with Chilton and Stephens singing. The magic is in the guitar fills and a solo played on a mando-guitar that makes the whole thing ring like a bell. It was also put out as a single that August.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.