SONG OF THE DAY

“Someday, Someway” by Marshall Crenshaw (Marshall Crenshaw, Warner Brothers Records, 1982). Written by Marshall Crenshaw.

INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)

– The song reached #36 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in the summer of 1982, as well as #31 on the Cash Box Singles chart. The album spent over six months on the chart, peaking at #50, and eventually sold close to 400,000 copies in the United States.

– Born in Detroit, Michigan, he grew up in the northern suburb of Berkley, Michigan. Marshall graduated from Berkley High School in June of 1971. [Holla back, Berkley!]

– He got his first break playing John Lennon in the off-Broadway company of the musical Beatlemania.

– While in New York, he recorded a single, “Something’s Gonna Happen”, for Alan Betrock’s Shake Records, after which he was signed to Warner Bros. Records.

– Retro rocker Robert Gordon took Crenshaw’s “Someday, Someway” to #76 in 1981, and Crenshaw’s own version made #36 the next year; it would be his only Billboard Top 40 ‘Pop’ hit.

– Throughout the rest of the decade Marshall enjoyed considerable airplay on AOR (Album-Oriented Rock) stations nationwide with many tracks and became very well known in his native Michigan. [Which is why I’ve discovered the song at all, 30 years later!]

– Crenshaw’s eponymous first album, which included the nationwide hit “Someday, Someway” was acclaimed as a pop masterpiece upon release, proving him a first-rate songwriter, singer and guitarist.

– His second album, Field Day, released in early 1983 sported a somewhat heavier sound that displeased some listeners, as evidenced on “Whenever You’re On My Mind”. This album is regarded by many critics as Crenshaw’s best, and one of the classic power pop statements, although Crenshaw’s work, like Alex Chilton’s, transcends the genre. “Some of the stuff I’ve done you could call power pop,” he told an interviewer, “but the term does have sort of a dodgy connotation.”

– Although Marshall Crenshaw has never sold enormous numbers of records, he enjoys a reputation as one of the finest songwriters of the era, with roots in classic soul music, British Invasion songcraft, Burt Bacharach and Buddy Holly—to whom Crenshaw was often compared in the early days of his career, and whom he portrayed in the 1987 film La Bamba.

– In 1989, he compiled a collection of Capitol Records country performers of the 1950s and ’60s called Hillbilly Music…Thank God, Vol. 1, which was extremely well-received.

– In 1993, he made an appearance in the cult TV show The Adventures of Pete and Pete, in the role of a guitar-playing meter reader.[MY FAVORITE SHOW!!! I HAVE ALL THE SEASONS ON DVD!!!]

– In 1994, he published a book, Hollywood Rock: A Guide to Rock ‘n’ Roll in the Movies.

– He continued to record in the 1990s and 2000s, and, in 1999, released the critically acclaimed #447.

– In the 2000s, Crenshaw played guitar as a special guest with the reunited members of the MC5.

– Crenshaw penned the title track from the 2007 film Walk Hard starring John C. Reilly; the song, as sung by Reilly, was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

VIDEO OF THE DAY