Alex Chilton by The Replacements

When the Replacements’ Paul Westerberg wrote this song in 1986, it was a case of one cult hero saluting another. At the time, the Replacements were the noble misfits of underground rock: Their live shows could be pure magic, pure shambles, or some combination of the two. They usually played the snotty, out-of-tune shows when big-time music honchos were watching; put them in a small club with true fans and they’d hit the heights.

Westerberg wrote a bunch of songs about his band’s love-hate relationship with the music business, and “Alex Chilton” was one of the best. Chilton himself was a teenaged pop star (he sang the Box Tops’ 1967 hit “The Letter”) who later formed the much-acclaimed (but commercially unsuccessful) Big Star; and was launching another comeback when this tune was written. To Westerberg, Chilton was the kind of guy who made the right music for the right reasons.

Alex Chilton was once asked what he thought of “Alex Chilton.” He replied, “I think it was one of their better songs.”

Nothing too left-field here, except for the bridge that can take you by surprise. Play more forcefully here if you’re drumming; it’s where the cowbell comes in.

The Replacements broke up in 1992, and Westerberg is now a maverick solo artist. Bassist Tommy Stinson, who joined the Replacements at the tender age of 12, surprised a lot of fans by becoming a long-term member of Guns 'N Roses. As for Alex Chilton, he finally had a big hit: The theme of television’s “That 70’s Show” was a rewrite of an old Big Star song, “In the Street.”