"Big Star / Alex Chilton" Unisex T-Shirt

Inducted into the Amp'd Apparel Rock Hall of Fame.

Memphis, 1971. Alex Chilton and Chris Bell formed Big Star and made three albums that almost nobody bought.

Then something happened. Slowly, over years, the people who did find those records — #1 Record, Radio City, Sister Lovers — started bands of their own. R.E.M. covered them. The Replacements wrote a song called "Alex Chilton." Teenage Fanclub named their sound after them. Elliott Smith, Wilco, Cheap Trick, Primal Scream — the list of artists who cite Big Star as a formative influence reads like a hall of fame in itself.

Chilton had already been famous once — he sang "The Letter" with the Box Tops at 16, one of the biggest hits of 1967. Then he walked away from commercial success and made the music he actually wanted to make. The world wasn't ready. It caught up eventually.

Big Star never had a hit. They had something better: they changed the people who changed music.

This shirt is for the people who found the records.

Details

• Premium unisex tee — 100% combed cotton, pre-shrunk, unisex retail fit
• Cover stitched sleeves, shoulder-to-shoulder taping, side seams
• Made to order — printed and crafted just for you
• Please allow approximately one week for production; tracking sent as soon as it ships