“The Lost Boys: Hard-To-Find ’80s Albums” gives you exactly what the title implies: a rare or out-of-print album from the ’80s in its entirety. Some will be from CD, but most will have been lovingly transferred from pristine vinyl culled directly from the Analog Kid’s vast collection. Whatever album I choose, it will be one that you can’t easily find a physical copy for sale on Amazon or in your local record store (if you even have one anymore). Death…by stereo!
Marshall Crenshaw’s 1983 album Field Day is pure pop perfection to my ears, but for some reason it seems to get a bad rap. The knock I hear most often is that Steve Lillywhite’s production is too reverb-laden, and that the extra noise masks the quality songs underneath. Put simply, that’s just pure bullshit. Have these so-called critics ever listened to a Phil Spector record? Subtlety has its time and place, but sometimes bigger is better– and it doesn’t get any better than “Whenever You’re On My Mind.” It’s an all-time Top 10 song for me, and the rest of Field Day almost matches the impossible standard set by the first song on side one.
When you consider that Field Day was released just one year after the amazing Marshall Crenshaw, it seems utterly ridiculous that Crenshaw didn’t become a huge star. He still makes great records to this day, and still tours frequently. The Analog Kid has a signed copy of Marshall Crenshaw on his wall right next to a Neil Finn-signed copy of Crowded House– a fitting pairing for two of the best true pop artists of past thirty years.
Marshall Crenshaw: Field Day
Warner Brothers Records, 1983
1. “Whenever You’re On My Mind” (Crenshaw/Teeley)
2. “Our Town” (Crenshaw)
3. “One More Reason” (Crenshaw)
4. “Try” (Crenshaw)
5. “One Day With You” (Crenshaw)
6. “For Her Love” (Crenshaw)
7. “Monday Morning Rock” (Crenshaw/Weiss)
8. “All I Know Right Now” (Crenshaw)
9. “What Time Is It?” (Feldman/Gottehrer/Goldstein)
10. “Hold It” (Crenshaw)
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Bonus Tracks!
The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.
Marhsall Crenshaw: “Someday, Someway” (Crenshaw)
From the album Marshall Crenshaw
Warner Brothers Records, 1982
Marshall Crenshaw: “Cynical Girl” (Crenshaw)
From the album Marshall Crenshaw
Warner Brothers Records, 1982
Crowded House: “Recurring Dream” (Neil Finn)
B-side of the 7″ single Now We’re Getting Somewhere
Capitol Records, 1986
The Analog Kid 
I’m surprised by how similar are our tastes in music. Our band used to perform “Someday, Someway” and I eventually discovered the rest of Marshall Crenshaws catalog. He was a truly unappreciated talent.
Going through your blog, I’m surprised I haven’t seen anything on Split Enz and Crowded House (yet). Surely, they must be in your playlist.
I WORSHIP Crowded House, but you already kinda figured that out! 🙂
Thanks mate for this awesome LP.
I have this on LP but in mp3 nah.
Cheers