Prix was an American

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, an ...

band formed in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former

Big Star Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton (vocals, guiar), Chris Bell (vocals, guitar), Jody Stephens (drums), and Andy Hummel (bass). The group broke up in early 1975, and reorganized with a ne ...

member Chris Bell, who also played guitar and sang backup vocals. Prix is also famous of

Banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

playing.

Alex Chilton William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950 – March 17, 2010) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s ...

also participated in the recordings, along with session drummer

Hilly Michaels Hilly Michaels, also known as Hilly Boy Michaels, is an American drummer and musician who is best known for playing drums with Sparks in the 1970s. Then a New York-based session drummer, he performed on Sparks' 1976 album ''Big Beat'', which was ...

. Although the group generated some major record label interest—notably from

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it ...

and Columbia/CBS Records—it ultimately only released a double A-side single on Ork Records in 1977 and a single on Miracle Records in 1978. Its only live performance came at a CBS Records showcase in 1976. In 1977, just as Ork Records released the first single and booked the group at

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

, Prix broke up due both to Hoehn's unwillingness to remain in New York and to creative differences. In 1978, two of the songs recorded during the Prix sessions were included on ''Losing You to Sleep'', Hoehn's major label solo debut on

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. In 2002, the Japanese label Air Mail Music released ''Historix'', a CD-only collection of all eleven songs recorded by Prix, plus four alternate versions.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, oc ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

described the songs as "11 sparkling, diamond-hard pop gems that will prove to be irresistible to power pop fanatics." In 2015, six of the songs were released on the compilation Ork Records: New York, New York. In 2016,

HoZac Records HoZac Records is a record label formed in Chicago, Illinois, United States in late 2006 by Todd Killings and Brett Cross after the demise of ''Horizontal Action Magazine'' (1997–2005). Concentrating on releasing records from musicians of the ...

re-released ''Historix'' on vinyl and CD.

Discography

Singles *''Girl / Everytime I Close My Eyes / Zero'' ( Ork Records, 1977) *''Love You Tonight'' (Miracle Records, 1978) Compilations *''Historix'' (Air Mail Records, 2002; re-released,

, 2016) *'' Ork Records: New York, New York'' (Numero Records, 2015)

References

{{reflist American power pop groups Musical groups established in 1975 Musical groups disestablished in 1977 Musical groups from Memphis, Tennessee Rock music groups from Tennessee