 Fry and Dickinson flew to New York with promotional copies and met employees of a number of record labels , but could not generate interest in the album . When a similar promotion attempt failed in California , the album was shelved as it was considered not commercial enough for release . Fry recalled , " We 'd go in and play it and these guys would look at us like we were crazy " . In late 1974 , before the album was even named , the band broke up , bringing Big Star 's first era to its end . Dickinson later said that he was " nailed for indulging Alex on Big Star Third , but I think it is important that the artist is enabled to perform with integrity . What I did for Alex was literally remove the yoke of oppressive production that he had been under since the first time he ever uttered a word into a microphone , for good or ill . " 
