Big Star

Well, I've played their first two albums for many of my friends, and even the more musically curious ones never showed much interest afterwards beyond being able to say that had heard the original version of That 70s show theme.
It could just be that us few fans really are the only ones, apart from the critics' elite that care for them.

Big Star had a huge impact on everyone from Cheap Trick to REM, Wilco, the Replacements, and pretty much anyone cool.

The first three albums were all great and all quite different from one another. Thirds/Sister Lovers was the most "experimental" so to speak. The song "Holocaust" is the best written song for making you feel absolutely nothing at all. I mean numb. I'm speaking in terms of whats worse than being depressed? NUMBNESS. and they accomplished making the listener feel that with the song. Quite brilliant.    Chilton and Bell were both great songwriters, but obviously not always the best partners. Big Star was one of the only if not the only white rock group to be on the Stax label. Which makes them even more cool because they shared the label with the likes of Isaac Hayes.

I have yet to hear In Space, but supposedly its pretty good. I'd believe it. A great thread, thank you!

When it comes to influencing others, one must take care. Blondie's members noted such disparate influences such as Big Star and Velvet Underground. Neither could call Blondie a copy cat act.
It seems that most musicians have a wide array of sources that contributed to their musical development. Noting one at a time, though , sometimes lends more weight to one group than if you list all of them.