Marshall Crenshaw Gets His Nerves Shaken by 'Someday, Someway'

Singer-songwriter Marshall Crenshaw can remember what the vibe was like in New York when he lived there 30 years ago. "It really opened my mind up," Crenshaw, who is from the Detroit region, tells Spinner. "The music scene in New York at that time was super vibrant. One of the first things I realized was that you could have a band and you didn't have to buy a P.A. system because all of the clubs had great P.A. systems. You just showed up and played. I felt like, 'Wow, this is exactly the place where I need to be right now.'"

The setting would prove influential on his 1982 acclaimed self-titled debut album, containing appealing tracks such as 'Mary Anne,' 'There She Goes Again,' 'Cynical Girl' and 'Someday, Someway.' Now, Crenshaw is bringing the album back to New York and performing it in full at three shows starting on April 29 at City Winery.

Crenshaw says the idea of performing his debut record live as part of a 30th anniversary spotlight wasn't his, but his manager's. He thought it was strange since the album technically will not turn 30 until next year. "It slowly sunk in on me that it would be fun," he says. "And then I remembered that the 30th anniversary of my first actual record release ['Something's Gonna Happen'] would be this year, so I said, 'OK, it's legitimate,' and it's a cool idea from a certain standpoint."

The story behind the album began when Crenshaw was involved in the production of 'Beatlemania' from March 1978 to February 1980. Crenshaw says he was first an understudy in New York and later traveled with the touring company until he gave his notice in Boston. "While I was there, I wrote 'Someday, Someway' and five or six of the other tunes on my first album," he says. "I wrote those in my hotel room. That was my next move in life, to be a recording artist. I actually had a sense of artistic direction and off I went."

'Someway, Someday' was Crenshaw's hit song from the album and peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "I was taking basic rhythmic grooves from some of my favorite old rock 'n' roll records," Crenshaw says about the song's origins. "There was a record that I really loved by Gene Vincent called 'Lotta Lovin'' that had a particular kind of beat to it. It just really did a thing to my nervous system."

Crenshaw admits that making the album was a struggle because of the expectation surrounding it. "I remember sitting in the control room when we had the first version of it together, and listening back to all the mixes," he says. "I was just sitting there thinking 'I blew it.' I was nearly ill from all the pressure. So then we re-sequenced the record and we re-cut one song and then we added another to make it 12 songs. Then I was reasonably happy with it." And so were the critics: Rolling Stone gave it four-and-a-half stars in a May 13, 1982 review and later named it one of the "100 Greatest Albums of the '80s."

"Records just have a way of sticking into people's minds," says Crenshaw. "They're markers in your life and they strike a lot of different nerves with people. I know that record is really beloved by lots of people, and I'm really pleased about that. That's something really wonderful."

As for the future, Crenshaw is now concentrating on making singles every four months, not albums. "It's possible that I'll have the first [single] out by summer," he says. "I like the idea of trying to get stuff out on a more steady basis. I think that singles is the best way for me to get new stuff out."

Marshall Crenshaw Performs 'Someday, Someway'


Download Marshall Crenshaw Songs | Buy Marshall Crenshaw Albums