Sometimes it’s the simplest pleasures that are the best. Often,
\nthis is true of music and Marshall Crenshaw is one writer where
\nthis definitely applies. Rhino Records has recently re-released
\nCrenshaw’s first album (which originally came out in 1982) with the
\nusual remastering and addition of bonus tracks.<\/p>\n
There is absolutely nothing fancy about this album and that is
\npart of its charm. This is simply a collection of short, catchy
\ntunes that are played well. One of the ideas behind the new wave
\nscene was that rock had lost its roots and it needed to get back to
\nthe straight and narrow. Crenshaw’s back to basic approach fit this
\nidea to a tee.<\/p>\n
Because Crenshaw makes it all seem so easy, I can see where
\npeople can take him for granted. And that is the only reason I can
\nthink of that the songs off this album weren’t all over the radio.
\nIn all fairness, the first single, which was the ultra-hooky
\n“Someday, Someway”, did crack the Top 40, but just barely.<\/p>\n
But that song only scratches the surface. There’s also the
\nclever second single, “Cynical Girl”, the bouncy “Rockin’ Around In
\nNYC”, the light, the old school R&B feel of “Brand New Lover”,
\nand even an anthem in the song “Girls…”. Crenshaw may tackle them
\nall with ease, but if it was so easy to come up so many wonderful
\nsongs, more people would be doing it.<\/p>\n
I know it wasn’t the retro feel of
\nMarshall Crenshaw<\/i> that turned people off, or else how do you
\nexplain the success at that time of the Stray Cats? Then again,
\nCrenshaw’s retro feel here is a lot more subtle. There is
\ndefinitely a Buddy Holly vibe throughout
\nMarshall Crenshaw<\/i>, but he has a way with a song that is
\nuniquely his own. The one exception might be his faithful rendition
\nof an old chestnut called “Soldier Of Love”.<\/p>\n
Country music could have made a hit out of “The Usual Thing”,
\nwhich was definitely a nod to the Everly Brothers in their glory.
\nOh yeah, but country music was going through one of its “slick”
\nphases at the time this album came out.<\/p>\n
Leave it to Rhino to add some great bonus tracks, which include
\nthe B Sides from this albums’ two singles, songs that could have
\nbeen potential hits in their own right. In fact, “You’re My
\nFavorite Waste Of Time” has been covered by quite a few artists,
\nmost notably Bette Midler.<\/p>\n
There are quite a few live tracks included, and they are all
\ngems.Buddy Holly’s “Rave On” is an obvious choice, but its
\nCrenshaw’s soulful side on display in fantastic covers of “Stop Her
\nOn Sight (S.O.S)” and “Look At What I Almost Missed” that are the
\nhighlights.<\/p>\n
The bottom line is if you love pop oriented rock, then either
\nMarshall Crenshaw<\/i> or his greatest hits package,
\nThis Is Easy: The Best Of Marshall Crenshaw<\/i>, are absolutely
\nessential. Crenshaw is just another example of the satisfaction of
\nsimple pleasures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":26211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6252],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-37432","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-marshall-crenshaw","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37432"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37432"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}