Saturday, June 9, 2012

Marshall Crenshaw - Whenever You're On My Mind

For people who don't believe that a pop song can be a well-crafted work of art, we'd like to present Marshall Crenshaw.  He wrote a truckload of great pop songs, and his first two albums, 1982's self-titled debut and 1983's Field Day are chock full of them.  It is just short of criminal that he is an official one hit wonder, as only 1982's "Someday, Someway" broke the top 40.

In retrospect, we think Crenshaw may have been hurt by the video music revolution as much as any artist -- he released a couple of performance videos in 1982, but "Whenever ..." was his first 'real' video.  My guess is that he wasn't into the whole music video thing at the time.  Additionally, his 60's influenced pop songs may have been seen as a bit dated in the early 1980s.  Looking back on them now, however, reinforces the timeless nature of his songs.

"Whenever You're On My Mind" is a great example of his work.  On its surface, it is a love song, but the catchy hook and thoughtful lyrics make it one of the better love songs written in the decade.  Plus, you have to love a songwriter who uses the word reverie (go ahead, you can look it up if you like ... I'll wait).  Amazingly, neither the song, nor the album (Field Day) even charted upon their release in 1983.

The video was played a little back in the day, and then seems to have been forgotten.  In fact, it was hard to find even today.  For folks who like it, we suggest listening to samples from his first two albums -- there are a lot of pop classics there.


Cool trivia fact:  Crenshaw co-wrote the Gin Blossom's 1995 hit "Til I Hear It from You," which peaked at #11 in 1996 (the highest charting song that Marshall Crenshaw wrote).  The guitar intro, in particular, sounds a lot like a Crenshaw lick.

12 comments:

  1. One of my favorite albums (Flag Day). Wow! Brings back memories of my first apartment and college days in Atlanta/Decatur GA '83/84! Thanks for the video post!

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    1. Glad that you liked it. It is amazing how songs can bring us back to a specific time and place, even years later.

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  2. I've always wondered who the actress is in this classic video.

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    1. No idea, but will leave this here in case any of our reader(s) know.

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  3. I was just wondering where it was filmed in England?

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  4. Looks like Lincoln, England, but not quite sure.

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  5. Anyone know where the video was filmed?

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    1. Someone commented on YouTube: “ I can tell you where this video was filmed because I'm in it! - just outside Kingsbridge (South Devon, UK) The bicycle scene by the church is Sherford and the beach is Hope Cove. The pub and village hall dance scene is West Charleton. I was lucky to live there back in the 80's when this was filmed. All us local kids were asked to do the dancing for the vid. Im the spotty lad in grey top doing my best moves next to gorgeous girl. They paid my brother £20 to use his racing bike she rode when meeting Marshall. They were all nice people. Fond memories and the scenery is still the same to this day.”

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  6. I've been wondering who the girl is for years. The band probably knows. This song takes me back to my senior year of high school.

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    1. I’ve searched high and low, everywhere, trying to find out who the girl is. In fact, that’s what led me to here.

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