Marshall Crenshaw Biography

Marshall Crenshaw ( born Marshall Howard Crenshaw) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as “Someday, Someway,” a US Top 40 hit in 1982, and “Whenever You’re on My Mind.” His music has roots in classic soul music and Buddy Holly—the latter to whom Crenshaw was often compared in the early days of his career, and whom he portrayed in the 1987 film La Bamba.

A quote from Trouser Press summed up Marshall Crenshaw’s early career: “Although he was seen as a latter-day Buddy Holly at the outset, he soon proved too talented and original to be anyone but himself.”

Marshall Crenshaw Age

Marshall Howard Crenshaw was born in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. on November 11, 1953. He is 65 years as of 2018.

Marshall Crenshaw Family

Crenshaw was born in Detroit, Michigan, he brought up in the northern suburb of Berkley. He graduated from Berkley High School in June 1971.

He began playing guitar at age ten. During and after High School he led the band Astigfa (an acronym for “a splendid time is guaranteed for all”, a lyric from The Beatles’ “Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite”). He got his first break in 1978, playing John Lennon in the musical Beatlemania, as an understudy in New York, then in the West Coast company, then in a national touring company. He left the show on February 1980.

Marshall Crenshaw Wife

He is a married man. He tied the knot with Ione Crenshaw in 1978.

Marshall Crenshaw Career

After launching a trio in New York (with his brother Robert on drums, and Chris Donato on bass), he recorded “Something’s Gonna Happen”, for Alan Betrock’s Shake Records, after which he was signed to Warner Bros. Records.

In 1981, Robert Gordon took Crenshaw’s “Someday, Someway” to #76, and Crenshaw’s own version made #36 the next year; it would be his only solo Billboard Top 40 ‘Pop’ hit. On the Cash Box magazine chart, the song fared slightly better, reaching #31. Its biggest reception was at AOR (Album Oriented Rock) radio, reaching #25 on Billboard’s Rock Tracks chart.

His first album included the U.S. hit, “Someday, Someway”. His second album, Field Day, was released on June 1983, sporting a somewhat heavier sound, as evidenced on “Whenever You’re On My Mind,” that reportedly displeased a few listeners, but which is regarded by many critics as Crenshaw’s best, and one of the classic power pop statements.

Although Crenshaw’s work, somewhat like the late Alex Chilton’s, transcends the genre. Although the song did not reach the Top 40 on Billboard’s Pop Charts, “Whenever You’re On My Mind” reached # 23 on Billboard’s Rock Tracks chart.

In 1986, he and his band made a feature appearance in Francis Ford Coppola’s film, Peggy Sue Got Married. Later that same year Crenshaw portrayed Buddy Holly in La Bamba and was featured on the soundtrack album. The album reached #1 on Billboard and was certified double-platinum.

In 1989, he compiled a collection of Capitol Records country performers of the 1950s and ’60s called Hillbilly Music…Thank God, Vol. 1, which was extremely well received. Again in 1993, he made an appearance in the cult TV show The Adventures of Pete and Pete, in the role of a guitar-playing meter reader. In 1994, he published a book, Hollywood Rock: A Guide to Rock ‘n’ Roll in the Movies.

He continued to record in the 1990s and 2000s. “Better Back Off”, a song from the album Life’s Too Short, reached # 17 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs Chart. In 1999, Crenshaw released the critically acclaimed #447. In the 2000s, he played guitar as a special guest with the reunited members of the MC5. He continued to perform at about 40-50 concerts a year, most of them within driving distance of his family home. Crenshaw himself has dubbed these shows part of “the NPR singer-songwriter circuit.”

In 1996, Crenshaw co-wrote “Til I Hear It From You”, with Jesse Valenzuela, and Robin Wilson of the Gin Blossoms, for the soundtrack of cult-film Empire Records.

The song began receiving radio airplay on August 1995, appearing that year on the Adult Contemporary chart in Billboard magazine – with a December peak of #5. Also, it appeared on both the magazine’s Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks in with respective chart peaks of #4 and #5 in September.

In 1995 or early 1996, the track did not appear on the Billboard Hot 100 due to the track not originally being available in a format then eligible for Hot 100 ranking. In Canada “Til I Hear It from You” reached #1 on the singles chart dated September 25, 1995. The track became Canada’s longest-running #1 hit of 1995, its #1 tenure being six weeks.

From the 2007 film, Crenshaw penned the title track Walk Hard starring John C. Reilly; the song, as sung by Reilly, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and a Grammy.

Jaggedland was released on June 2009 on his 429 Records. In 2011, Crenshaw began hosting a radio show called The Bottomless Pit on WFUV in New York, featuring his vast collection of recorded music. In 2014, he was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.

Again on October 23, 2015, Crenshaw played at the Adler Theater in Davenport, Iowa, at a campaign event for Bernie Sanders, Democratic candidate for president, which also featured Wayne Kramer and numerous other performers.

In the summer of 2018, after the December 2017 death of Pat DiNizio, lead singer of the Smithereens, he began performing with the group on an occasional basis, alternating with Robin Wilson of the Gin Blossoms and other guest lead vocalists in taking DiNizio’s place in the band. On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Marshall Crenshaw among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire

Marshall Crenshaw Net Worth

Crenshaw is an American musician, singer. He gets his wealth from his musical career. However, his estimated net worth is still under review but will be updated as soon as it is clear.

Marshall Crenshaw Discography

Singles

• 1981: Something’s Gonna Happen
  : Someday, Someway
• 1982: Cynical Girl”
  : There She Goes Again
• 1983: Whenever You’re On My Mind
  : Our Town
• 1985: Little Wild One (No. 5)
  : Blues is King
• 1986: The Distance Between
• 1987: Mary Jean
  : This Is Easy
• 1989: Some Hearts
• 1991: Better Back Off

Studio albums

• Marshall Crenshaw (1982) – US #50, SWE #42
• Field Day (1983) – US #52, SWE #49
• Downtown (1985) – US #110
• Mary Jean & 9 Others (1987)
• Good Evening (1989)
• Life’s Too Short (1991)
• Miracle of Science (1996)
• #447 (1999)
• What’s In The Bag? (2003)
• Jaggedland (2009)

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