Name-Droppers: Alex Chilton

The Replacements: Alex Chilton

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Whenever I listen to an '80s album from a great rock band like the Replacements, I can't help but wonder what it might have sounded like had it been recorded in some other decade--any other decade, really. The major-label '80s production on Pleased to Meet Me takes some of the excitement out of the band. But for for 1987, it rocks.

The album was recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, where Alex Chilton's second important band, Big Star recorded, and it was produced by legendary producer Jim Dickinson, who helmed Bg Star's 3rd album, so it's pretty safe to say that Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg was a fan. That admiration came to full fruition on his ode to the Box Tops/Big Star singer (who actually played guitar on a different track on the album).