8 Comments
User's avatar
Matthew Dobbins's avatar

What a beautiful balance of intellect and heart. Thank you for Another Great Piece.

Expand full comment
Glenn's avatar

Your comment about some of the horse shit music being made in the early 80s when Marshall was also recording: I remember going to Grad Night at Disney World in 1983. All my friends went to see Night Ranger perform. I went to see Marshall Crenshaw to a small crowd. But I danced and sang and it was amazing.

I’ll never forget the way people danced at our friends’ Michael and Amy’s wedding as our band Doc Wiso played Cynical Girl. If ever there were moments in life to capture forever and bottle it, that song and experience was it.

Finally, I also love Whenever You’re on My Mind!

Thanks for writing Paul. Life is better when you write. More please…

Expand full comment
Kira Thomsen-Cheek's avatar

Dang. A beautifully written piece, as always. And I had always wondered what happened to Crenshaw. Thank you!

Expand full comment
Marylyn Coffey's avatar

I really appreciate the way you write about this music. You make observations that invoke much beyond the actual music, with an extra ingredient (probably your emotional response) that reminds me of the revelations I had when I first read "Crawdaddy" magazine. Like this: "The tunes Crenshaw wrote rode a wave of starry-eyed lyrics, although the romanticism was more often than not undercut by an Elvis Costello-like strain of barbed sarcasm. He had trouble writing completely committed “love” songs, and the fissure was both amusing and fascinating." I had not ever listened to Crenshaw before, so thanks! The story about the wedding was interesting, too, and kinda bittersweet.

Expand full comment
Paul Tatara's avatar

Thank you, Marylyn. I'm glad you're enjoying them. And I'm glad I could introduce you to the record!

Expand full comment
The Blockhead Chronicles's avatar

Much to my surprise, this is still online: https://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/25/marshall.crenshaw/index.html

Expand full comment
The Blockhead Chronicles's avatar

Love the ending!

Expand full comment
Chris Collins's avatar

You're not exaggerating. This album is perfect. It's a full on bullseye

Expand full comment