Thursday, June 25, 2009

Jango Song Of The Day-Marshall Crenshaw

Artist:Marshall Crenshaw
Song:Someday, Someway
Album:The Best Of Marshall Crenshaw: This Is Easy





Though Marshall Crenshaw has never had the commercial success he deserved, he is respected today as one of the best pop craftsmen of his generation. I guess he's a true cult figure. Someday, Someway was his only top 40 hit in 1982. He was born Nov. 11, 1953 in Detroit. He led a band called ASTIGAFA from 1968-73. Crenshaw's songwriting style is influenced by 50s rock and 70s soul. He responed to an ad in Rolling Stone and wound up playing John Lennon in the touring version of the Broadway show Beatlemania. Then he started performing at New York's New Wave scene. A single on Alan Betrock's Shake label got the attention of the major labels. Crenshaw signed with Warner Bros. and his debut album was released in 1982. Though it was highly acclaimed, the album didn't sell as well as expected. Rockabilly singer Robert Gordon already had a chart hit with Someday, Someway but Crenshaw also had a top 40 hit with the song. Maybe the album was too simple. Crenshaw's great songs preformed by a trio of Crenshaw, his brother Robert Crenshaw on drums and Chris Donato on bass. Producer Richard Gottehrer didn't go overboard with musical bells and whistles. His 1983 follow up album Field Day suffered from Steve Lillywhite's overproduction and it didn't sell anyway. Crenshaw also recorded for MCA and Razor & Tie and I guess none of them ever figured out how to sell him. This Rhino comp covers his Warners recordings. You may recall seeing Crenshaw playing Buddy Holly in La Bamba and he wrote the theme for the 2005 film Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Crenshaw has a new CD called Jaggedland on 429 Records. It was released a couple of weeks ago. You need to check out Marshall Crenshaw. Here he is performing Someday. Someway in 1982.

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