Marshall Crenshaw – Mary Anne

Marshall reminds me of Nick Lowe a little because they make every song sound like a potential hit in a good way. It’s a kind of song that makes everything feel alright for three minutes. It’s one of those perfect power pop songs. 

He got his first break playing John Lennon in the off-Broadway touring company of the musical Beatlemania between 1978-1980. Crenshaw said: “In the beginning, I was bothered by it, as an egotistical young person, maybe because I had just gotten out of Beatlemania, and I was sick of any kind of heavy association with some other figure.”

He later played Buddy Holly in La Bamba in 1987. “I’ve been a Buddy Holly fan all my life. The joy still comes across in his music. It’s really got its own je ne sais quoi. It really stands apart from a lot of ’50s rock, because it conveys a sense of intimacy. I think it’s because it was made in this little building on the side of a highway late at night with this isolated group of people.”

Marshall Crenshaw’s 1982 self-titled debut is a rare bird in the rock canon, a flawless record that never seems to age. On the album with the jangle of Someday, Someway and the Buddy Holly bop of Cynical Girl, Mary Anne is the track that quietly steals the show. That chorus. It just opens up like sunshine bursting through the clouds. “Mary Anne, you’re not alone,” Crenshaw assures her, and suddenly you’re not alone either. 

The arrangement is a masterclass in restraint. The chiming guitars are pure Rickenbacker, and the bassline has a McCartney-esque melody. No frills, no tricks, just three minutes of songcraft that feels like it could’ve been pulled from AM radio in 1966. In the endless search for a great pop song, Mary Anne is the kind of track that makes you stop searching for a while. 

Marshall Crenshaw peaked at #50 on the Billboard album charts in 1982. As the old phrase goes…it’s got more hooks than a tackle box.

Mary Anne

It isn’t such a crimeIt isn’t such a shameIt happens all the timeYou shouldn’t take the blameGo on and have a laughGo have a laugh on meGo on and have a laughAt all your misery

Mary Anne, Mary Anne (don’t cry Mary Anne)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary AnneI’m thinking of youMary Anne, Mary Anne (don’t cry Mary Anne)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne, Mary Anne

You take a look aroundAnd all you seem to seeIs bringing you downAs down as you can beGo on and have a laughGo have a laugh on meGo on and have a laughAt how bad it can be

Mary Anne, Mary Anne (you’ll be all right)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary AnneI’m thinking of youMary Anne, Mary Anne (you’ll be all right)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne, Mary Anne

Mary Anne, Mary Anne (goodnight Mary Anne)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary AnneI’m thinking of you Mary Anne, Mary Anne (goodnight Mary Anne)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne, Mary Anne

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

36 thoughts on “Marshall Crenshaw – Mary Anne”

  1. Certainly has a way with catchy tunes. If you’ve never heard his song “Radio Girl”, check it out. I think it’s one of his best.

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    1. Listening to it now….I love it…of course I do though. I haven’t heard a song by him I didn’t like. He has a way of writing a catchy song.

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  5. Love this song. Why he isn’t more popular I have no idea. Interesting you made the Lowe comparison. Maybe that’s why I like him so much! It was my musician older brother that introduced me to Crenshaw, glad he did!

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    1. Every song he does sounds worthy…even the odd album track is catchy. I can’t believe his debut album didn’t catch fire and become a massive hit.

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  6. Solid power pop that went the same route as much of the rest of the ’80s power pop goodies…straight off the charts. I like most of what I’ve heard by him

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    1. This debut album was great. I just totally don’t get why this album wasn’t huge. I think some of the answer is his album is timeless…it didn’t sound like the time period he recorded it in. Great for now but probably not then.

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      1. I think possibly – only possibly – it might have worked commercially in the ’90s alongside bands like Gin Blossoms and Goo Goo Dolls but think. it would fall even flatter now than then , unfortunately. If you dare, turn on a top 40 station now and listen for half an hour.(Don’t say I didn’t warn you). Nothing sounds like this. But, it’s like the Smithereens or several others we’ve talked about… the music was great but it didn’t fit the radio formats well enough and didn’t get a lot of promotion.

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      2. Oh NOTHING good…to me…gets played now on mainstream. Everything would fail now. I do like the alternative bands like that band I saw with Willie and the bands that Christian has on Saturdays but they are not top 40 bands….although once in a while a band like The Decemberist will sneak in there with songs LIKE this one….but it’s not common.

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  7. Pingback: Marshall Crenshaw – Mary Anne – MobsterTiger

    1. I’ve been listening to two of the best debut albums recently…Prine and Crenshaw…absolutely materpieces to me….totally different but great in their own way.

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    1. Yes I agree. His music is so catchy but in a good way. It has a timeless sound, it didn’t sound like others at that time.

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  12. I really dig Marshall Crenshaw…and I agree, his first album is his best, but they’re all pretty great. Crenshaw most definitely influenced the band Weezer.

    You’ve been highlighting some great music while I stepped away. Little Feat, Johnny Cash…of course The Who…can’t go wrong there.

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  14. I never followed him or knew much about his career, but I do dig this tune. As you say, it could have been a hit on 1966 AM radio. ( long sigh ) I don’t have a lot of hope for today’s music, it’s gone from Rap and Gangster Rap to Sabrina Carpenter, Good Lord, what has happened? Hopelessly lost in the back in the day syndrome.

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    1. The only music I like of today is some alternative music which the general public hardly hears of course.

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  15. It’s funny that you compare Marshall to Nick on a post about Marshall’s “Mary Anne.” Nick uses the same guitar riff in his his “My Heart Hurts!” I love them both.

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  16. Thanks for the flashback! I was a fan of his back in the day, but he was one of those artists that I couldn’t find in our local record stores and we didn’t have cable TV to catch MTV, so it was only by luck I’d catch him on college radio every now and again.

    To be honest, I’d completely forgotten about him. Shame on me!! I’m going need to go search more out from his discography, he’s a true gem!!

    Thanks again Max!

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