September Gurls

"September Gurls" is a song by the American rock band Big Star, written by frontman Alex Chilton and featured on their second studio album, '' Radio City'', released in February 1974. It was also released as a single in August of that year. The song was covered by the Bangles in 1986, among other bands.

Background

The song was named in tribute to the Beach Boys' "California Girls". It was inspired by three of the women in Chilton's life who he was thinking about at the time, including his ex-wife, having birthdays in September. According to Big Star bassist Andy Hummel, Chilton "was going through a lot of different girls that he was having relationships with, kind of simultaneously, and a lot of what's in those songs ncluding "September Gurls"is him really just telling of his experiences with them and how he felt about them."

Producer John Fry recorded "September Gurls" on a six-track recording set. The instrumentation includes rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums, with some guitar fills and a guitar solo on a mando-guitar.

Reception

While "September Gurls" was never a big seller, it is considered a classic song by publications such as ''Rolling Stone'' and Allmusic, as well as by music journalist John M. Borack. Borack wrote:

The track was rated #180 by ''Rolling Stone'' in the magazine's top 500 songs of all time, and is described as a "power pop classic".

In his contemporary review of ''Radio City'', ''Rolling Stone'' critic Ken Barnes described the song as "a virtually perfect pop number." In another contemporary review of ''Radio City'', ''The Sun'' critic Daniel Cotter described it as an "irresistible cut." ''The Commercial Appeal'' critic Walter Dawson considered it one of the "better cuts" on the album and particularly praised Jody Stephens' drumming. ''The Sacramento Bee'' critic Gene Sculatti described it as being "achingly plaintive" and called it "the very essence of purest American pop, distilled of sentiments and riffs that could only have sprung from stateside music."

Jason Ankeny of Allmusic described the song as "sweetly gorgeous sound that's both familiar and novel; poignantly ragged and breathlessly reckless..." and says it "reveals a surprising tenderness, tempering its venom with achingly lovely vocals and sun-kissed harmonies".

Chilton biographer Holly George-Warren called the song a "pop masterpiece" and "a three minute burst of euphoric, chiming guitars, kicked off with the mando-guitar, accompanied by yearning vocals singing lyrics both heartfelt and snide: 'I love you, well, nevermind / I've been crying all the time.'"

''Classic Rock History'' critic Brian Kachejian rated it as Big Star's best song, saying that "The song's swing and swaying groove sounds so good and stands as that perfect late summer or early fall song" and that "It’s one of those songs you can’t get out of your head."
Novelist Michael Chabon called the song "the pocket history of power pop" and claims that it is "the greatest number-one song that never charted". '' Far Out'' rated it as the 89th most underrated song of the 1970s, saying that it "bristles with much of the same simultaneous melodic pleasantries and yet paradoxical cutting edge that the Fab Four propagated before them."

Chilton was less kind describing the song, saying:

Covers

The Bangles released a cover of this song on their 1986 album ''Different Light''. Kachejian called their version "great'. Other bands who have recorded the song include Superdrag and The Searchers.

Tributes

The title of Katy Perry's 2010 number one hit "California Gurls" was spelled thus as a tribute to Chilton and Big Star. Perry's manager is a fan of the band, and asked her to spell "girls" with a "u".

References

Further reading

* Klosterman, Chuck. (2016) '' But What If We're Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past'' Penguin Publishing Group.

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1974 songs
Songs written by Alex Chilton
Big Star songs
Ardent Records singles
Musical tributes to the Beach Boys
Jangle pop songs
Power pop songs
1974 singles