It always seemed that Marshall Crenshaw was genetically engineered to be a cult hero. Even though his very first single, the utterly wonderful “Someday, Someway,” made it into the Billboard Top 40, it was hardly a thunderous success, peaking at #36. That seems simultaneously appropriate and a little tragic. Crenshaw created songs that were made for the radio, albeit maybe a different era than the one he was in. This was the early nineteen-eighties, when new wave was ascendent, punk was morphing from broad-ranging alternative to almost myopic jackhammer anger, and electronic was still trying to find its footing in … Continue reading One for Friday: Marshall Crenshaw, “You’re My Favorite Waste of Time”

When I was a college radio kid, heading off to New York City for the annual CMJ Music Marathon was a pure pipe dream. We simply didn’t have the sort of money for that sort of thing, and our different advisors and on-campus advocates decided, probably accurately, that it was a bit of a boondoggle, not worth fighting for. When dryer, more professionally respectable student-oriented broadcasting conferences cropped up more regionally conducive locations, they made university funding available to us. Again, they were probably correct to do so. Considering the sort of shenanigans we got up to in our posh … Continue reading One for Friday: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?”