Marshall Crenshaw, Where Have You Been All My Life?!

It never ceases to amaze me the number of amazing artists I seamlessly find myself chancing upon every once in awhile. I remember a discussion I once had with a friend which pretty much had my explaining why the music produced decades ago will always be far superior to anything produced today or in the past decade. And then, she shot me with a conundrum.

"What's gonna happen when you run out of old bands?", or something like that. I can't bring myself to remember what exactly she said to me, but that's pretty much the gyst of it.

Back then, I was stumped, I did wonder what would happen. And the thought did scare me.

Of course, in the years since we've had that pretty heated talk, I've been able to prove her wrong time and time again. Two months ago, it was the discovery of the Smithereens, and as of this afternoon, its Marshall Crenshaw.

(Photo Courtesy of: Last.Fm)

Now, the name Marshal Crenshaw's a name I've encountered quite a few times before. I had know him as the Meter Man from The Adventures of Pete & Pete, who joined Little Pete Wrigley in his quest to find his favorite song through Little Pete's garage band The Blowholes, that also featured Radio Free Pop favorite, Syd Straw. Marshall's name also came to through the Gin Blossoms, as he co-wrote their 1995 hit, "Until I Hear It From You".

It wasn't until last night, upon watching The Adventures of Pete & Pete season one episode, "A Hard Day's Pete", that I decided to look up Marshall Crenshaw. I came across a live cut of one his first singles, "There She Goes Again".

Long story short, the moment I heard this song I fell in love with it and the moment I did, I knew that this was a song that I couldn't ignore. Like each new discovery, I had to hear more. And not long after, I was blessed with Marshall Crenshaw's self-titled debut album which made some pretty strong waves at the time of its release in 1982.

The album is amazing blend of power-pop (akin to that of the genre's maestro, Alex Chilton) and rockabilly with a touch of the jangle that marked the landscape of 80's college rock (the genre that's blatantly refereed today as "Indie"). The songs woven wonderfully with a lyrical matter that always seems to affect idealistic young men like myself: girls.

Marshall even takes a shot at tackling a rare gem from 1962 in "Soldier of Love". His cover turns the song into a hell of riot, while maintaining all the right emotional qualities that belonged to Arthur Alexander's original take.

If there's anyone I can compare Marshall Crenshaw to at the moment, it would have to be Elvis Costello. Those two took their love for 50's Rock'n Roll and 60's soul and ran off with it and created something of their own entirely.

It's music like this that makes me wish that I was born a decade earlier. How I would have love to have been a teenager in the eighties, with all these amazing artists around me. I'm talkin' about R.E.M., The Replacements, The Church, The Meat Puppets, 10,000 Maniacs, Syd Straw, Hüsker Dü, Elvis Costello, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Del Fuegos, and the Violent Femmes. Throw in other amazing bands like Fishbone, the Specials, The English Beat, the solo stuff Pete Townshend did during the era; hell, I'll even throw Big Country somewhere in there.

I guess I'm trying to convey two points here. The first is that Marshall Crenshaw is my new favorite artists. And two, why settle for the crap being produced today when there are literally hundreds of thousands of old gems floating around the world, being played somewhere, just waiting to be discovered again! And one of them is Marshall Crenshaw, who's self-titled first album has instantly become one of the few albums that I can listen to over and over again full (believe you me, I've been playing it non-stop since I got it earlier this afternoon). I can't imagine skipping a track on this album, there are no cheap fillers here. Every song is a wonderfully crafted work of power-pop and its an album that continues to stand the test of time... It's one of the few lucky LP's that's managed to remain in print for the past thirty years.

As an aspiring songwriter, I can tell that Marshall Crenshaw's music is going to have a huge impact on me, so much so that as early as now, I find myself being influenced by him. There's a lot to learn in the sense that he can take all these different subjects, related to girls, and write wonderful lyrics to it, while at the same time, keeping the songs light and fun.

If you can listen with open ears, I warmly invite you to listen to Marshall Crenshaw. And if by chance, Marshall Crenshaw happens to read this one day, I ask him this, "Where has your music been all my life?!".