There He Goes Again: Marshall Crenshaw Launches New EP Subscription Service

Marshall Crenshaw has marched to the beat of his own drum (metaphorically speaking!) since making a splash with his self-titled 1982 major label debut.  Though he hasn’t exactly been away, the power pop hero has returned this week with the official release of I Don’t See You Laughing Now, a new 3-track vinyl EP that also happens to mark Crenshaw’s launch of a new music subscription series.  With shifts in the music landscape occurring on what seems like a day-to-day basis, Crenshaw’s new model just might be worthy of your attention.

I Don’t See You Laughing Now is the first of six scheduled 10-inch 45 RPM vinyl EPs which Crenshaw plans to release over a two-year period.  Each EP contains one new composition, one cover version and one reinterpretation of a Crenshaw favorite.  As an added extra, a download card is also included with the purchase of each EP.  The EP series was originally developed by the artist through Kickstarter, and the first EP was previewed at Record Store Day’s Black Friday event. Fans pledged over $33,000.00 to the Kickstarter campaign, exceeding the artist’s original goal.  A subscription to the series is available now at Crenshaw’s website.  $26.00 nets the purchaser the first year’s worth of EPs (three in all), with the second scheduled for release in April and the third in summer or fall.

What will you find on the new EP?  Hit the jump for that, and more!

Black Friday 2012: Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa Lead Off Packed Slate of RSD Exclusives

Here in the U. S. of A., Black Friday is almost upon us: that unusual date following the prior day of giving thanks, in which consumers make a mad dash to the local big-box store, mall or shopping center to procure bargains for the holiday season ahead.  Retailers are controversially beginning Black Friday “festivities” even earlier than usual this year, with many sales starting on Thanksgiving Day itself and not even at midnight but in the early part of the evening.  For a number of recent years, music buyers have had our own Black Friday, that day in April known as Record Store Day in which the aisles of our independent retailers are filled with hunters of collectible vinyl and CD releases.  Record Store Day has in the past sponsored a mini-RSD event on Black Friday, but this year, the titles on offer are as enticing and nearly as plentiful as those on the main RSD itself.  For some, this will be a source of frustration, for others, excitement.

This year’s line-up for Record Store Day – Black Friday brings titles from some of the biggest names in rock including The Beach Boys, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Nirvana, plus cult favorites like Leonard Cohen, Lee Hazlewood and Frank Zappa, and country-and-western legends such as Wanda Jackson and Buck Owens.

After the jump and without further ado, we’ll fill you in on the crème of the reissued crop come this Black Friday!  Just click for your full list of the catalogue releases to watch!

Friday Feature: “Night Shift”

Fate works in mysterious ways.  Dionne Warwick was home one evening, half-asleep while the 1982 film Night Shift played on her television set.  “I didn’t really pay attention to the names that were going up on the credits,” Warwick recounted, “but I knew that was Burt Bacharach’s melody.  There was no way in the world it could be anybody else’s.”  She was speaking of “That’s What Friends Are For,” an all-but-forgotten song written for the 1982 film Night Shift, Ron Howard’s major big screen directorial debut.  “Friends” set lyrics to Bacharach’s main love theme for the film, and was performed by Rod Stewart.

Warwick had recently reconciled with Bacharach after a decade-plus of estrangement; the catalyst was producer Aaron Spelling, who wished to have a Bacharach/Warwick collaboration as the theme to his 1984 television drama Finder of Lost Loves.  The very next day after hearing “Friends,” Warwick phoned Bacharach and his then-wife and principal lyricist, Carole Bayer Sager.  She let them know that she wished to cut the song herself.  “And they were thrilled,” said Warwick.  “They figured that nobody had heard the song, except the two of them – and Rod Stewart!”  Warwick then hit upon the idea of inviting some of her famous friends to join the recording sessions, and a groundbreaking No. 1 record (both pop and R&B!) was born.  “That’s What Friends Are For” by Dionne and Friends (Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder) would be the biggest hit of Warwick’s career, a feather in the cap for Bacharach and Sager, and perhaps most importantly, a major rallying cry and fundraiser for AIDS awareness.  Arista Records, the artists, producers, publishers and respective unions all donated their proceeds to the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AMFAR).  When Rhino Records included the song on its 1998 box set The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection, Rhino followed suit.

“That’s What Friends Are For” is the major musical legacy of Night Shift.  The original soundtrack version remains a hidden gem in Rod Stewart’s deep catalogue.  But for today’s Friday Feature, we look not only at the original “Friends,” but the soundtrack contributions from Quarterflash, Al Jarreau, The Pointer Sisters, Marshall Crenshaw, Talk Talk and more!  Hit the jump to join Henry Winkler, Michael Keaton and Shelley Long on the night shift!