I'm actually in a pretty good mood. On a trip to the library yesterday, I discovered they were selling off tons o' stuff, including something called The Encyclopedia Of Stanley Kubrick (which, based on a quick perusal, seems not only factually reliable but downright authoritative) and CDs including Rodney Crowell's The Houston Kid and Marti Jones' Any Kind Of Lie. All of this for only a buck each!
I was familiar with Jones' late eighties album Used Guitars, but I admit I think of her mostly as the husband of--and here's how my thought process works--Don Dixon, who produced a lot of great albums for REM and The Smithereens...but to me, Dixon is best known as the co-writer of one of my favorite songs, Marshall Crenshaw's (Calling Out For Love At) Crying Time, which reminded me I have a couple of live Crenshaw DVDs I hadn't watched in awhile, which resulted in a Marshall-riffic evening of viewing and listening.
I don't know how to upload video onto the computer, or else you'd be watching the whole concerts right now. (You'd also get a lot of Steve Earle, Peter Sellers and about a million clips from Vincente Minnelli pictures.) But here's a clip I found of The Man Himself covering Buddy Holly's Cryin' Waitin' Hopin':
I love how he just casually fires off that awesome, Marshall-tastic guitar solo in the middle of the song, and yes, Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe were onstage. Crenshaw was a guest on MTV's New Years Eve countdown party one year, which featured a Rockpile reunion. There was a time when MTV didn't suck, apparently.
Here's the very funny video for Yo La Tengo's Tom Courtenay, featuring a hilarious cameo from A Very Special Guest:
My mom told me when I was an infant I watched the Hullabaloo knock-off Where The Action Is, shaking my head and keeping time to the music. In which case, I would have seen The Left Banke doing this lovely, aching, unbelievably depressing song, one frequently covered in concert by Mr. Crenshaw:
Crenshaw has actually recorded covers of both of the songs Bobby Fuller lip-synched on yet another goofy sixties music show, Shivaree. Choreography!
And here's the real deal again, with one of his very best, albeit poorly shot and recorded. Hopefully, some day I'll find my own Cynical Girl, but until then, I've got Marshall Crenshaw to inspire me:
