R.E.M. News

Four discs' worth of unreleased demos, alternate takes, rarities and live cuts are on tap for fans of cult rock act Big Star later this year.

On September 15, Rhino will release "Keep an Eye on the Sky," a collection of 98 tracks culled from 1968-75, and including pre-Big Star bands Rock City and Icewater, solo work from band members Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, and unreleased material from the "#1 Record," "Radio City" and "Third/Sister Lover" sessions.

Memphis-based Big Star struggled with success commercially, but their early-'70s power-pop sound is often cited as a key influence on bands like Cheap Trick, R.E.M. and the Replacements. Big Star's music is undergoing a resurgence, and its songs have been used in several TV shows, including the Cheap Trick version of "In the Street" as the theme song to "That '70s Show." A film reportedly is in the works, based on Rob Jovanovic's biography, "Big Star: The Story of Rock's Forgotten Band."

"Just when you're thinking everything has been released, apparently it hasn't," Big Star drummer Jody Stephens told Billboard.com. "Adam Hill is an engineer here at Ardent (the Memphis studio where the band recorded) -- and the Big Star tape vault aficionado. He's the guy who's been digging through stuff, figuring out when stuff was done."

Numerous demos have been unearthed from the first two discs, but Stephens doesn't recall the band using a demo process that often. "With the first album ("#1 Record), I don't really remember 'demoing' things per se," he said. "I do remember sitting down with the material for the first album, and have the material unfold as the rehearsal went on. It was a pretty remarkable time."

The fourth disc in "Keep an Eye on the Sky" is a selection of live material from three nights in January 1973. The band was booked as the opening act for soul pioneers Archie Bell & the Drells at the Lafayette Music Room in Memphis. Stephens recalled those performances being rather difficult.

"Not exactly our crowd," Stephens said. "After our performances you can hear one person clap. Not a lot of energy coming back from the audience. The good thing about that particular recording is that there were mics set up in the room. It wasn't a board feed, where those can be kind of dry."

During those performances, in addition to Big Star material from "#1 Record," the band tackled the Flying Burrito Brothers' "Hot Burrito # 2," The Kinks' "Come on Now" and T. Rex's "Baby Strange."

"It's an interesting snapshot of what we were doing while we were trying to make our way," Stephens said of the live material.

In related news, Rhino will re-release Chris Bell's solo record, "I Am the Cosmos," as a deluxe edition this fall.

Big Star still plays the occasional gig and will join Tindersticks on July 1 at London's Hyde Park.

"I'm always glad people are interested," Stephens said of the band's work. "It'll be fun to sit down and drive around Memphis with this. There's much I haven't heard."

(Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)