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Marshall Crenshaw
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Artist · chart history · #395 in indie & aaa artist polls

Marshall Crenshaw

Solo artist Detroit United States

Marshall Crenshaw is an artist from Detroit. Marshall Crenshaw has 45 chart appearances on 26 radio countdowns from 9 stations on RockLists, spanning 1989–2025. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Someday Some Way”, which appears on 21 lists with a best position of #184. The station that charted Marshall Crenshaw most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 19 appearances.

45appearances
26countdowns
7songs charted
9stations
0#1 finishes
1989–2025years

Marshall Crenshaw showed up in 1982 with a self-titled debut on Warner Bros. that sounded as if classic soul and Buddy Holly had been sharing a jukebox for years. The Detroit-born singer, songwriter and guitarist had put in time playing in the stage musical Beatlemania before that, and it shows: "Someday Some Way", a US top 40 hit that year, and "Cynical Girl" are tight, bright, jangling pop songs with nothing wasted and a hook in every corner.

The Holly comparisons followed him everywhere early on, and in 1987 he went ahead and played him, in the film La Bamba. Field Day kept the momentum going in 1983 with "Whenever You're On My Mind", but the records that came after, Good Evening in 1989 with "Valerie" and Life's Too Short in 1991 with "Better Back Off", never matched the sales of those first two.

So he found another outlet, writing for other people: singles for Kirsty MacColl, and a co-writing credit on the Gin Blossoms' "Til I Hear It from You", a '90s radio smash.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

Songs by Marshall Crenshaw on radio countdowns

#SongStrengthListsBest#1sPeak year
1 Someday Some Way
664		 21 #184 – –
2 Cynical Girl
569		 12 #225 – –
3 Whenever You're On My Mind
115		 4 #383 – –
4 Valerie
108		 4 #1459 – –
5 My Favorite Waste Of Time
84		 1 #320 – –
6 There She Goes Again
47		 1 #483 – –
7 Better Back Off
11		 1 #1811 – –

Albums with charting songs

Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.

Every countdown appearance

Year#SongCountdown
2025 723 Someday Some Way The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs
2024 438 Cynical Girl WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years
2023 1020 Someday Some Way WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023
2023 384 Whenever You're On My Mind The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s
2023 459 Someday Some Way The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s
2021 483 There She Goes Again 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s
2021 679 Whenever You're On My Mind 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s
2016 495 Someday Some Way WYEP 913 Countdown 2016
2009 225 Cynical Girl WYEP 913 Essential Songs
2008 1985 Someday Some Way CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2007 311 Someday Some Way WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time
2006 398 Artist ranking WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Artists (2006)
2005 1015 Cynical Girl CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2005 1547 Someday Some Way CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2004 1015 Cynical Girl CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2004 1547 Someday Some Way CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2003 1015 Cynical Girl CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003 1547 Someday Some Way CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2003 1025 Someday Some Way Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2003 1811 Better Back Off Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)
2002 1030 Cynical Girl CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002 1461 Valerie CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002 1543 Someday Some Way CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2001 339 Someday Some Way WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001)
2001 1030 Cynical Girl CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2001 1463 Valerie CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2001 1547 Someday Some Way CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2001 184 Someday Some Way WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time
2001 320 My Favorite Waste Of Time WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time
2001 1336 Cynical Girl WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time
2000 339 Someday Some Way WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000)
2000 1029 Cynical Girl CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
2000 1459 Valerie CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
2000 1547 Someday Some Way CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
1999 251 Someday Some Way WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999)
1999 978 Cynical Girl CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 1459 Valerie CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999 1546 Someday Some Way CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1996 355 Someday Some Way WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996)
1994 352 Someday Some Way WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994)
1991 404 Cynical Girl WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1991 444 Whenever You're On My Mind WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)
1989 316 Cynical Girl WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1989 383 Whenever You're On My Mind WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)
1989 479 Someday Some Way WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)

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