Marshall Crenshaw


Literally the only thing i know about Marshall Crenshaw is that he's from Detroit. I replaced the alternator and battery in my Chevy Silverado today, so that's a better reason for picking this album than most. 


I don't know about you, but the cover is giving me definite Elvis Costello combined with Huey Lewis vibes. I was 2 when he recorded it, it's 3 months older than my younger sister and 3 years older than Back to the Future, that's a fun coincidence. Is that an actual electric ukulele on the back? I'm expecting the kind of 80s Pop-Rock where if there were music videos for all the songs, those videos would be him exactly as depicted here singing them at the waitress as she refills his coffee. Press play...

... yeah, it's Pop Rock, but highly enjoyable. There She Goes Again is totally And The News, Someday Someway is straight out of the 50s, it's all great. Less Elvis Costello, more Buddy Holly. I can't believe for a second this is a random fluke record that went nowhere. He totally did a bunch of big stuff, i just don't personally know about any of it. A wikipeding we go...

... exactly. He was literally Buddy Holly to Lou Diamond Phillips's Ritchie Valens. He helped finish the music for that Gin Blossoms song 'Til I Hear It From You. 9 more albums, almost certainly just as good. He looks really familiar. Gimme a moment to wander my mind palace...

... OH OH OH OH OH OH OH! I knew one of those pictures looked really familiar. He was the meter reader guy in The Adventures of Pete and Pete and he played guitar in that episode where little Pete formed a garage band and they did a whole night of call in requests to earn enough money to pay the electric bill. Told you he was a big time superstar. Check the cast list to make sure i'm not totally crazy. Nope, i was right. Man, i've got a lot of stuff in my head. 

This is a great self-titled debut. Hi, i'm just a dude named Marshall Crenshaw and here are some songs i wrote. Hope you like 'em.

I do, Marshall. I like them a lot. Future you has a bit part in one of my favorite shows as a kid. Here's hoping future me stumbles across more of your records 'cause you're great.

There's one more record to go, Skip, but you're 0 for 4 on this attempt at intentional sabotage. This batch might actually be the most fun collection yet. I think the real question is why, when we're all the imaginary fragments of my own imagination, are my heartiest minions so much better at picking out random records than me? I certainly don't know, so join me tomorrow night when A Giant Crab Comes Forth. I expect it will blow all of our collective minds. Until then, the Marshall Crenshaw album is definitely on youtube and if the awesome side of the 80s version of 50s Rock and Roll doesn't make you do a little office chair mambo, you might want to check your own pulse and have the defibrillator close at hand.

A Giant Crab

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