How I Wrote..."Someday, Someway"

Marshall Crenshaw reveals Gene Vincent's role in his 1982 signature hit.

"I CAN KNOCK certain songs of mine for one reason or another, but not this one," Marshall Crenshaw says of "Someday, Someway," the irresistibly catchy 1982 pop-rock gem that launched the Detroit-born musician's career and is now considered his signature song by fans and critics alike. "It sounded good when I released it, and it still sounds good today. People want me to play it at every show, which is fine, because I happen to love it and I'm really proud of it."

PHONY BEATLEMANIA In February 1980, Crenshaw was in Boston for a four-week run of Beatlemania, the musical revue in which he'd portrayed John Lennon for three long years. "One night, the stage manager gave me a warning: 'You've got to try harder. Look like you're enjoying it," he recalls.

"I quit the show the next day." While in Boston, Crenshaw began writing songs in earnest, a creative binge that was sparked by listening to the city's FM rock station, WBCN. "They played a lot of punk and new wave tunes, and I found them very exciting and inspiring," he says. "I was in my hotel room and I heard the Clash's 'London Calling for the first time. Those words 'phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust' spoke to me.