Today, I’m Thinking About Marshall Crenshaw.

Friday is fun because it's about music. So there's always a playlist or two. Today, I get nostalgic for the (early) music of Marshall Crenshaw. Underrated genius!

I’m often thinking about Marshall Crenshaw actually. He’s one of the underrated ones; a wonderful singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. His style is lean, his songs are clean – and maybe he’s a bit too clever, a bit too “power-pop” (a genre/label he isn’t always pleased to be so heavily associated with) for your liking, but I urge you to at least give him a go (or another go if you have heard him before – maybe it’s been a while…)

I can’t remember when I first heard him, or how I found out about him – but I’ve loved his music for a long time. And I’m so glad I found it when I did. I maybe read about him in the pages of Guitar World in the early 1990s, or perhaps I just did my own digging after hearing him on one of my favourite soundtrack albums when I was a kid.

He played Buddy Holly in the movie La Bamba, and contributed his version of Crying, Waiting, Hoping to the soundtrack – his version is so good it could almost pass off as the original (save for the production update, that’s a giveaway). Crenshaw’s been a lifelong Buddy fan (and why wouldn’t you be). His own songs have something of the same shape to them, those clean lines, economical; saying all they need to say. Winning you over on first listen.

And I guess I love that Crenshaw is such a deep music nerd too. How much of a music nerd, you ask, is he? Well, he named his high school band Astigfa – that catchy title standing for “A splendid time is guaranteed for all”; you know, just a little lyric from The Beatles’ song Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite. Obvious, right? Lol!

Marshall Crenshaw played John Lennon in the musical Beatlemania in the late 1970s.

That was his break. He started impressing straight away with these 2-3minute pop gems that he was writing on the side while treading the boards as part of a national touring theatre company. He’s like the middle ground between the Jonathan Richman of the late-stage Modern Lovers and Neil Finn’s earliest Crowded House songs. He’s like a jangle-pop, guitar version of Joe Jackson. He’s like a slightly more rockabilly-infused Elvis Costello. He’s a bit like a one-man-band version of Los Lobos too (and hey, I guess they’re connected up through La Bamba) but it isn’t so much that he sounds like Los Lobos (though they were making killer records around the same time and maybe for a crossover audience). I just think that he’s criminally underrated. And I’ll always think that about Los Lobos. Anyone that reckons they’re just a one-hit-wonder needs to dig into their amazing catalogue.

Speaking of amazing catalogues…

Marshall Crenshaw’s debut solo album, self-titled, released in 1982, is such a brilliant set of catchy, happy, lovely songs, so perfectly crafted but with some of the rough edges still visible.

I realise I arrived at these songs about a decade after they were first released. But I used to marvel at them back then. Why didn’t any of my friends also know this music? And why wasn’t this guy a goddamned household name, huh?

Like Joe Jackson a year or two before him, Crenshaw was urged to follow-up his debut with another record as quickly as he could. That was Field Day. It, too, is packed with gems. Songs that you might feel a little familiar to you as soon as you hear them for the first time. Songs that are now 40 years old and feel daisy-fresh and smell new-car clean.

Crenshaw’s first few albums are all wonderful. Almost every single song is great. I want to share them all here so you can hear them. And some of the key songs too.

And there was a classic greatest hits compilation. I had his first few on vinyl (and I probably regret selling them, but hey, I had a nice time with them – and now someone else can too).

This music is forever.

I also used to have a brilliant greatest hits compilation on CD and I’ll probably one day buy it again even though it’s there on Spotify and YouTube and the music is so close to my heart and so deeply held inside my head.

Today, I just wanted to share some of Marshall’s music with you. Put the Crenshaw name down here and see if it resonates with any of you.

Not every single song is a banger. But then again, I dunno…I’ve been listening to the first three albums again this week and I think, sometimes, he’s one of those guys who could be the very safest bet in a songwriting competition. Need someone to make a song that will make you enjoy your day a bit more, or get through it with a bit more of a smile, some extra pep in your step? Marshall’s your man. Surely.

Have a listen. Whether for the first time, or just the first time in a while, and let me know what you think. I reckon he delivered an absolute embarrassment of riches. (He also deserves a shout for calling a live album, I’ve Suffered For My Art…Now It’s Your Turn).

But, of course, if this Marshall Crenshaw caper isn’t for you, I’ve made a playlist with no Marshall Crenshaw whatsoever. Instead, it’s our regular weekly playlist of A Little Something For The Weekend. This one is Vol. 125. And it’s a bit all over the place in the very best way. I like it. And I hope you do too.

And please leave your long-weekend recommendations below. Happy listening. Thanks for reading. And have a great Matariki if you’re in New Zealand. All best to you and yours.