Yours truly’s a bit late on getting this review completed. Reissued this summer, MARSHALL CRENSHAW’s Field Day has come out in a new edition with interesting bonus tracks and an explosive sound that’s nowhere near as bombastic as some said it was back in the day.
I don’t remember the furor being as big as is stated in the notes to this new 40th anniversary CD (also out on vinyl), but apparently it left enough of a mark that Marshall says in this edition’s booklet, “I think that all the criticism it got back then was completely lame.” Before we dig in to that, let’s just say now that Field Day is packed with some of Crenshaw’s best songs and sounds real good this far out from 1983. Producer Steve Lillywhite was a young, hot shot British producer then who was known – like fellow compatriot producer Hugh Padgham – as one who liked to use a ton of gated snare drum in his mixes. (You know the sound I’m talking about?! It was on a crazy number of hit records in the ’80s…) The critics thought that would ruin Crenshaw’s momentum, or uniqueness, or something. I was so hot for MC’s first record that I could barely wait for the followup, and when I heard that he was recording it with Lillywhite, I thought it was a great idea. Field Day arrived and I loved it right outta the… ummm… gate. After Richard Gottehrer’s bright, snappy production on Marshall Crenshaw, I figured this guy was gonna give us a sort of modern take on the Phil Spector wall-of-sound. The moment lead-off track and single “Whenever You’re on My Mind” broke into full instrumentation, I thought I was right. Mostly, I am.
Field Day’s not only filled to its jingle-jangle gills with power pop hooks galore, like on “Try” and “One Day with You,” it’s got a brilliant take of a somewhat obscure early ’60s tune called “What Time Is It” that was seemingly purpose-built for Crenshaw’s merry band of popsters AND the production style Lillywhite would bring to the mixing board. Yes, that big gated snare really stands out on the LP’s final cut, “Hold It,” though it’s used more as a sound effect than for its humongous song-propulsion capabilities. 
Now, when you get to the bonus tracks, the instrumental “TV track” of “Our Town” definitely suffers from mega-gate, but this was meant to be a backing track for the band to sing and mime to on television (Lillywhite insisted they mix these; not sure why there’s not one for “Whenever You’re on My Mind,” which was the only single released from the album). Anyway, the inclusion of this and “Monday Morning Rock (TV Track)” don’t really support Crenshaw’s “lame” comment, since these two tracks weren’t publicly available back in ’83. I suppose hindsight – and 40 years of rock ’n’ roll – softens the, ummm, blow of Gategate.
Speaking of bonus tracks, I really enjoy the covers of “Jungle Rock” and the live version of “Little Sister.” Not sure I like the new album cover artwork, but that shouldn’t prevent me or you from digging this disc. Altogether, this release of Field Day shows us how the talented Mr. Crenshaw was both ahead of his time and woefully behind it at the same time… in a good way. – Marsh Gooch
3/5 (Yep Roc YEP-3058X, 2023)
NuDisc 