Number 1 Record

Number 1 Record

#1 Record is the debut album by the American power pop group Big Star. It was released in 1972 by Memphis-based Ardent Records. Though many critics praised the album's elegant vocal harmonies and refined songcraft (frequently drawing comparisons to the British Invasion groups of the 1960s, including The Beatles, The Kinks and The Who), #1 Record suffered from poor distribution and sold fewer than 10,000 copies. However, like Big Star's follow-up albums Radio City and Third/Sister Lovers, #1 Record has more recently attracted wider attention, and in 2003 it was ranked number 438 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Rolling Stone magazine also ranked the song "Thirteen" as number 396 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The singles released from the album were "When My Baby's Beside Me" and "Don't Lie to Me". The B-side of the former included a version of "In the Street" which until 2005 was only available on the single. It is now included on the 20 Greats from the Golden Decade of Power Pop compilation CD and the 2009 reissue of #1 Record/Radio City.

#1 Record is the only Big Star album on which group founder Chris Bell is officially credited as a member, though he did make some contributions to its follow-up, 1974's Radio City. Bell had a major hand in the record through both songwriting, vocals, and guitar work.

In 1992, Fantasy Records released #1 Record and Radio City together on a single compact disc with alternate versions of "In the Street" and "O My Soul" as bonus tracks.

A version of "In the Street" by Ben Vaughn was used as the theme song of That '70s Show, which was changed to a version by Cheap Trick (titled "That 70s Song") after the first season. "Thirteen" has also been used in several episodes of That 70's Show.