Ten Favorite Debut Albums: Marshall Crenshaw (#1)

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And so another countdown comes to a roaring conclusion. In this case, I've been looking at the ten debut albums that had the most musical impact on me when I first heard them. These are albums that I still love, even decades after their release. And, as a surprise to many, here's my favorite debut album. #1: Marshall Crenshaw - Marshall Crenshaw What? No Eagles? Sorry. You can partially blame an Eagle for this, though. It was a double whammy of sorts. I had bought Lou Ann Barton's album Old Enough, which was produced by Glenn Frey. One of the songs on the album was "Brand New Lover," a cover of a Marshall Crenshaw song. About the same time I heard "Someday, Someway," the debut single from the album. Yeah, this is some good music. So, I bought the album. I was wrong. This is some terrific music. Roots rock, nothing pretentious, just good ol' rock and roll with a guitar, bass, and drums. Crenshaw sang about love, both losing ("There She Goes Again," no relation to the Velvet Underground song with the same name) and finding ("Someday, Someway") it. It was the perfect album at the perfect time for me: getting bored with the pseudo-new wave "cute boys" bands (cough-cough, Duran Duran) and all the clones of FM bands (what I call "Journey-O-Styx Wagon"), here was something that wasn't punk but was as new and fresh as the punk had been. I was hooked. I still consider this one of the best albums, not just debut albums, that I own. I've seen Marshall Crenshaw four times, and I'll see him again (with Los Straitjackets this time instead of the Bottle Rockets!) next month. He's a great entertainer, singer, and songwriter who believes in keeping it simple. And simple is great. Thanks for reading. Marshall Crenshaw Recorded by Marshall Crenshaw Produced by Marshall Crenshaw and Richard Gottehrer Released on Warner Brothers Records, 1982 Favorite cuts: "Someday, Someway," "Rockin' Around in NYC," "She Can't Dance," "Cynical Girl." A friend of mine, as I've said before, calls this the "perfect pop album." I don't disagree. Here's the opening cut: