Marshall Crenshaw was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1953. He grew up in a musical family who lived in the northern suburb of Berkley, Michigan. Crenshaw listened to a lot of 1960’s AM radio and rockabilly and began playing guitar at the age of six.
He was the lead singer of a band called Astigafa from 1968-1971. The name of the band is an acronym of the lyric, "a splendid time is guaranteed for all" from The Beatles song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite". He graduated from Berkley High School in June 1971. After graduation he played in numerous cover bands before moving to Los Angeles. Once in L.A. he got the role of John Lennon in the off-Broadway touring company of the musical Beatlemania.
He performed in Beatlemania for two years and moved to New York in 1980. He began playing gigs around the city, and got some notice for his original music and solid musicianship.
In New York he recorded the single "Something’s Gonna Happen" for Shake Records and was later signed to Warner Brothers Records. He released his self-titled first album to much acclaim. It included his 1982 hit song "Someday, Someway. It went to #36 on the charts and was his only Billboard Top 40 Pop hit.
In 1983 he released his second album, Field Day, which included the hit "Whenever You’re on My Mind"
Crenshaw has written songs that have been recorded by numerous artists such as Bette Midler, Freedy Johnston, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and The Gin Blossoms.
He appeared in the 1986 movie "Peggy Sue Got Married". In 1987 he portrayed Buddy Holly in the biographical movie about singer Ritchie Valens "La Bamba" , which starred Lou Diamond Phillips.
In 1993 he played a guitar-playing meter reader in the cult TV show "The Adventures of Pete and Pete".
Crenshaw turned down the lead role in the London stage production of Buddy (about Buddy Holly). In 1994 he oversaw and wrote reviews for a book called, "Hollywood Rock: A Guide to Rock ‘n’ Roll in the Movies" along with other pop-culture buffs.
He continued recording into the 1990’s and 2000’s. In 1996 he produced his album, Miracle of Science, in his home studio. The album includes original songs as well as covers of songs by Ray Price, Billy Fury, Dobie Gray, and ex-Husker Du drummer Grant Hart. He also wrote the theme song to the 1996 U.S. sitcom, Men Behaving Badly, starring Saturday Night Live alum Rob Schneider.
In 2007 he wrote the title track for the movie "Walk Hard" starring John C. Reilly. The song was sung by Reilly and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
In 2011 Crenshaw began hosting a radio on WFUV in New York called The Bottomless Pit, on which he features songs from his vast collection of recorded music.
Lyrics:
I can't stand to see you sad
I can't bear to hear you cryIf you can't tell me what you need
All I can do is wonder why
Someday, someway, yeah now
Someday, someway
Maybe I'll understand you
All I really want to do
Is take the love you brought my way
And give it all right back to you
Someday, someway
Someday, someway yeah yeahSomeday, someway
Maybe you'll understand me
I've taken everything from you
I'll love you for my whole life through
Now after all you've done for me
All I really want to do
Is take the love you brought my way
And give it all right back to you
Someday, someway, yeah now
Someday, someway maybe you'll understand me
You've taken everything from me
I'll love you for my whole life through
I can't stand to see you sad
I can't bear to hear you cry
If you can't tell me what you need
All I can do is wonder why
Someday, someway, yeah yeah
Someday, someway
Maybe I'll understand you
Someday, someway, yeah yeah
Someday, someway
Maybe you'll understand me
Someday, someway oh!
Someday, someway, yeah nowSomeday, someway
Maybe I'll understand you
This song is a straight Buddy Holly lift. It's a classic that reminds me of Nick Lowe's best stuff in that regardless of whether it has aged or not it still works perfectly. I remember when this record came out listening to this song three straight times one night, which is something I don't often do. Sort of, once to enjoy it, once to try to figure out how it all worked, and a third time to marvel at the cleverness of it. I do that now with Guided By Voices songs sometimes. The Buddy Holly comparisons helped Crenshaw's early visibility but hurt him pretty quickly as he developed as an artist, the comparisons didn't work anymore and people sort of held that against him -- which was just stupid. He was still doing lots of good work.
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