DVD of Live Performance at World Cafe Available Soon

MARSHALL CRENSHAW - ON STAGE AT WORLD CAFE LIVE, which was filmed at the Philadelphia venue and features fourteen sensational songs, will be available for sale this June on the website of Wienerworld, a UK company that specializes in CDs and music DVDs: www.wienerworld.com

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Marshall, on Heels of Writing Title track for WALK HARD, Has Song in BABY MAMA

Also, WALK HARD DVD hits the streets

A song by Marshall Crenshaw titled "This Street" is featured in Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's new movie, Baby Mama. According to Crenshaw, "I was really pleased that somebody found this one from the deepest recesses of my catalog. It's got a nice beat, a great riff, and I can't wait to see how it works in the film."

In a comedy that brings together some of today's sharpest talent, Fey and Poehler team with writer/director Michael McCullers and producer Lorne Michaels and John Goldwyn to tell the story of two women, one apartment, and nine months that will change their lives.

The movie has received rave reviews. Gene Shalit on "Today" said, "Baby Mama is filled with surprises and laughter." Pete Hammond in Hollywood.com added, "Baby Mama delivers the laughs non-stop. A warm and engaging comedy you are guaranteed to fall in love with." And the Chicago Sun-Times' Bill Zwecker exclaimed, "Oh Baby! Hands down – this is the funniest comedy I've seen this year!"

More information on Baby Mama may be found at http://www.babymamamovie.net

In other news, the DVD to Walk Hard starring John C. Reilly became available on April 8, featuring Crenshaw's widely acclaimed title track. The rockabilly-tinged song, penned by Crenshaw at the request of director Jake Kasdan and producer Judd Apatow, is heard repeatedly throughout the movie.

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Marshall Writes Title Track for WALK HARD, Earns Golden Globe Nomination

John C. Reilly performs Crenshaw composition in story of '50s rock 'n' roll singer

When the producers of the forthcoming movie Walk Hard needed a strong title track for the film about a fictional hard-living '50s rock 'n' roll singer, they turned to one of the most acclaimed real singer/songwriters around — Marshall Crenshaw. The film's star, John C. Reilly, performs the song in the movie, which will open December 21 in most U.S. markets.

The song and songwriter have been nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the "Best Song" category.

Walk Hard, a parody of the biopic genre, features Reilly as a fictional musician named Dewey Cox, and Jenna Fischer as his backup singer and wife, Darlene. The story follows Dewey as he eventually gets caught up in the fame of rock 'n' roll: he sleeps with 411 women, marries three times, has 22 kids, 14 step kids, and gets addicted to — and kicks — every drug known to man. Jake Kasdan directed the movie, and Kasdan and Judd Apatow were co-writers.

The Walk Hard soundtrack CD, due to hit the streets on December 4 on Columbia Records, leads off with Crenshaw's title tune and includes compositions by such writers as Dan Bern, Charlie Wadhams, Michael Andrews and Mike Viola. Soundtrack producers were Manish Raval and Tom Wolfe.

According to Crenshaw, "I got such a kick out of the script that the song pretty much wrote itself."

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See the band back in the day

Marshall says: My brother Robert has a page at robertcrenshawmusic. On his blog page he's written in detail about our band's early history. He's got a great memory and an engaging writing style. Anybody interested in us during this time period will get a kick out of this stuff. AND on his photo page he has about 100 shots from our "Field Day" tour (1983) where you can see how skinny and pretty we all were back in the day . . .

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Marshall quoted in Voice of America story on "Sgt. Pepper"'s 40th anniversary
Category: Music

Voice of America

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SEE MARSHALL ON PBS THIS SUMMER
Category: Music

Marshall appears part of a 13-episode music series, On Stage at World Café Live, which features an array of pop, rock and jazz artists, each in a half-hour show filmed before a live audience at the renowned Philadelphia venue. The series, hosted by WXPN radio personality David Dye of NPR's "World Café," also includes interviews with the artists by XPN's Michaela Majoun. DVDs of the series (other performers range from Living Colour to the Knack to Rita Coolidge) are available through the web site below or by calling (888) 286-9499.

In the Philly market, On Stage at World Café Live has been running since May 6 on WHYY, with Marshall's appearance set for Sunday, July 1 at 11 p.m. For additional station schedules, and for more information about the series, visit worldcafelive

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IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME AGAIN AS THE dB’s RELEASE EVER-EVOLVING HOLIDAY ALBUM

Collection Features Big Star, Whiskeytown, Marshall Crenshaw, Alex Chilton, Don Dixon, Chris Stamey, Thad Cockrell, Peter Holsapple, Roman Candle and others

Due out on Collectors' Choice Music on November 21

LOS ANGELES -- Indie rock can anticipate another evolution of The dB's' Christmas album with the arrival of The dB's & Friends' Christmas Time Again, which will hit the streets on November 21. Or allow us to clarify: Originally released as a seven-song LP on Coyote Records in 1986 and as a 17-song CD in 1993, this Chris Stamey-conceived holiday classic, now in its third edition, will be reborn on Collectors Choice Music with six new tracks.

Since its last incarnation, the collection has added Peter Holsapple's "Home for the Holidays," performed by The dB's (with special guest Caitlin Cary); "Christmas Time Is Here" by Thad Cockrell and Roman Candle; "Lonely Christmas" by Marshall Crenshaw; two tracks by R.E.M. producer Don Dixon ("I Saw Three Ships" and "Christmas Is Saturday"); and an unreleased track by Ryan Adams & Whiskeytown titled "Houses on the Hill."

The new additions augment an already formidable collection featuring Big Star (Jesus Christ), Alex Chilton ("The Christmas Song"), The dB's ("Christmas Time," "Holiday Spirit" and "Feliz Navidad"); Ted Lyons ("The Only Law That Santa Claus Understood," "Santa's Moonlit Sleighride"), Chris Stamey ("It's a Wonderful Life"), Chris Stamey & Cathy Harrington ("You're What I Want for Christmas"), Chris Stamey & Mary Mac ("Snow Is Falling"), Cathy Harrington ("Sha La La"), Wes lachot ("Christmas Is the Only Time"), Peter Holsapple ("O Holy Night"), Brent Lambert ("Silent Nocturne") and Keegan DeWitt & the Sparrows ("Christmas Light").

Most of the tracks were recorded specifically for the record. Marshall Crenshaw contributed the authentic-sounding '50s doo-wop classic "Lonely Christmas" to the collection this year, and high lonesome tenor Thad Cockrell and pop wunderkind Roman Candle joined forces for the future classic "Christmas Time Is Here."

Don Dixon and The dB's' Stamey and Holsapple collaborated for a new take on Dixon's "Christmas is Saturday." Also included is Dixons stellar live version of "I Saw Three Ships." Up-and-coming New York singer/writer Keegan DeWitt chimed in with the incandescent Christmas Light.

Stamey, executive producer of the project, reports that Home for the Holidays is the theme here. "This is the soundtrack of my guest-list for dream holiday party: I can close my eyes and imagine the cast grabbing the mic, one after another, as the mistletoe swings in the breeze and the Yule log crackles and sparks."

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HI READERS:

My publicist and good buddy Cary Baker suggested that I should have a page on MySpace. I never would've thought to do it myself, but he knows his stuff, so here we are.. Thanks for checking it out.
I'm pleased to have been joined here by "friends" like Mitch Easter, The Bangles, et. al. I haven't seen Mitch in about 12 years but I do actually consider him a friend...
In career-related news, let me see..: There's a movie coming out this month with Edward Burns, called "The Groomsmen" that has my song "Someday Someway" on the soundtrack (and the soiundtrack album). I'm pleased about that, of course, and love the fact that the song (and record) is having such a long and active life. Also, I got a fax last week from Rhino Records; they're planning a second Best-Of collection of my stuff, to be released this fall. There are some details yet to be nailed down, but I think the title will be "Marshall Crenshaw: The Definitive Collection" (sounds classy..), and it'll be a 2-CD, 30 track job, running the whole gamut from "Something's Gonna Happen" to "What's In The Bag?" I'm very jazzed about this.
I'm also getting some new stuff together, working with a producer this time, the great Stewart Lerman. It's been slow, 'cause I'm dealing with what you might call "writer's block" (I hate to use that phrase...). This occurs when 1) You can't keep the external world from drowning out the internal one (something like that), and 2) Part of you doesn't really want to be doing it! I'm strugging with both of those things. As far as number 2 goes, it's true that part of me doesn't want to stick my neck out, but I also realize that making records and writing songs are two of the things that I live for, and that I'm way too young to retire. Hopefully I'll get on a roll at some point. Amidst all that, I've written two songs that I think are really beautiful, one called "Sunday Blues" (which I've been doing at my gigs lately), and another called "Long Hard Road". By the titles you might assume that these are downcast lamenting kinds of songs, but they have humor and resolve in them I think.. As soon as we get them recorded (which will be by the end of this month) we'll post them here on the page; then you can check them out for yourself if you like. The other thing I'm hoping to post here, if it's do-able, is my radio show "The Bottomless Pit". I've been doing a 1 hour show, Wednesday nights at 9 PM, on WKZE (it's at , but I've never been able to get their streaming thing to work...) for about 13 months, and really love doing it. I bring in records from home, play them, run my mouth, etc.... Anyway, I just bookmarked my MySpace page this morning so we'll see what happens. Thanks again to Cary Baker and his wife Sharon for causing this page to exist..
MC

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A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

MY FAVORITE BOOKS INCLUDE:
The Last Opium Den by Nick Tosches
Why Sinatra Matters by Pete Hamill
Maximum City by Suketu Mehta
Louie Louie by Dave Marsh
The Politics of War by Walter Karp
I Married a Communist by Philip Roth
Rambiln' Rose by Jonny Whiteside (Rose Maddox bio)

FAVORITE MAGAZINES:
Harper's
The New Yorker
Mojo

FAVORITE TV SHOWS:
the Yankee game
Jon Stewart
Keith Olberman
Stephen Colbert
Washington Journal (C-Span)
Seinfeld reruns (especially the one where Kramer finds the old Merv Griffin set in the garbage; I never get tired of that one...)

FAVORITE SONGWRITERS INCLUDE:
Johnny Mercer
Percy Mayfield
Hank Thompson
Bo Diddley
(Actually, it's hard for me to narrow down musical choices. During the 13 months that I've been doing my 1 hour radio show I've probably played about 500 records. It's a diverse bunch, and I have a strong emotional connection to probably 85f them..)

MOST RECENT CD PURCHASE:
"St. Elsewhere" by Gnarls Barkley, and I love it...

FAVORITE FILMS INCLUDE:
"Greed" (2 1/2 hr. version; I hate the 4 hr. version with all the still photos inserted.)
"The Wind" (with Lillian Gish)
"The President's Analyst"
"The Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner"
"The Big Carnival" (Billy Wilder)

6:24 AM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment