I feel bad for Michael Penn. Here’s a guy with great songwriting chops and a nice voice who can’t seem to buy a hit. And to top it off, his brother is one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actors and his wife (Aimee Mann), while not a big star by any means, has massive critical respect and indie cred.
On the other hand, he makes a comfortable living at a job he presumably loves so I suppose I should save my pity for somebody worthy of it.
Penn has released five albums, though most people probably lost track of him after 1989’s March. That album featured his only bona fide hit, ‘No Myth’ (featuring the line “What if I was Romeo in black jeans?”), and it was all downhill from there.
Too bad, because his second album, 1992’s Free-for-All, is actually even better than March. And 1997’s Resigned is also a strong collection of smart pop rock. In 2000, he released MP4: Days Since a Lost Time Accident, a good-not-great batch of songs that didn’t really live up to his earlier material.
Finally, 2005 saw the release of Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947, a concept album of sorts that felt way too short — several of its 12 songs are simply transitional instrumentals that bridge other tracks. But the lead-off song, ‘Walter Reed,’ hearkens back to Michael Penn’s best work — it’s smart and emotional and a little cryptic lyrically.
Like many of Penn’s songs, it deserved to be a hit. It’ll have to settle for Song of the Day.
For the 1:15
For platform and for passerby
It’s the same routine
I’m ranting while I’m raving
There’s nothing here worth saving
Tell me now, what more do you need?
Take me to Walter Reed tonight
Baby I’ve lost the will for fighting over everything
Well there’s a few things I gotta say
And make no mistake, I’m mad…
‘Cause every good thing I’ve had abandoned me
All I want to do is hide
It’s graduation day
And everything I learned inside
Didn’t seem to pay
I’ve had my fill of palm trees
And lighting up Grauman’s Chinese
Tell me now, what more do you need?
Take me to Walter Reed tonight
Baby I’ve lost the will for fighting over everything
Well there’s a few things I’ve gotta say
Make no mistake, I’m mad
‘Cause every good thing I had abandoned me
A sad and lonesome me
I’m the walking wounded
I’d say it to your face
But I can’t find my place
So tell me now, what more do you need?
Take me to Walter Reed tonight
Baby I’ve lost the will for fighting over everything
And there’s a few things I gotta say
Make no mistake, I’m mad
‘Cause every good thing I had abandoned me
A sad and lonesome me
Meet Me In Montauk 
The problem is not with Penn. The problem is with the present stae of the music industry, which really doesn’t value the singer/songwrtier as it did in the 70’s. None of this type of music is making it on the Billboard charts, and hasn’t for years. Aimee Mann may be a bit more known and perhaps more critically well received, but, when she tours, she plays in small venues, as does Rufus Wainwright, Randy Newman, Joe Jackson, Ben Folds, Ron Sexsmith, and on and on and on. Each of their albums might be considered a success if they go gold (500,000 copies). None will ever play an arena, unless they are opening for someone more commercial.
The good news is that Penn and Mann presumably have enough of a following to do what they love, and with the emergence of satellite radio with it’s Coffee House stations and the Internet, fans of this music can more readily have access to their music.. The bad news is that, with more and more pop, rap and electronica music streaming through radios and in arenas, I don’t see the pendulum swinging back any time soon to the type of popularity an artist like Penn mught have enjoyed “in the day.”
I lost track of him after his second album, which I didn’t find better than March, though I certainly appreciated it. But clearly not enough to buy albums 3 through 5. This one isn’t catching me during a first listen, but I respect your opinion enough to give it a few more listens before judging it.
As for Dana’s comment and your lament about Penn’s niche audience, I just couldn’t disagree with both of you more 🙂 Who needs these artists going platinum and filling stadiums? They would cease to be the artists they are if they suddenly started writing and recording work that was listened to by millions. It’s the same with film, television, literature.
Does it make me angry that Friday Night Lights can’t get a big enough audience to make it profitable for a studio to keep making it? Of course it does. But do I want it to become something other than what it is in order to court that audience? Nope. I’ll be satisfied with three amazing seasons. I don’t want them to start gossipgirlizing it to lure an attractive demographic.
Sure, there can be that rare Harry Potter or Bruce Springsteen or Titanic, a work of art made with integrity and no thought to “filling the seats” that still manages to break through and reach the masses. Usually, however, the things we love the most don’t have nearly that wide an appeal. Instead we cherish that they are ours and wonder why the rest of the world hasn’t gotten hip to them yet.
It’s not about NEEDING these artists to fill stadiums or go multi-platinum. It’s just that there was a time when these type of artists WOULD go multi-platinum and fill arenas. In the 70’s, artists like Elton John, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, WERE the popular music. Now, they may pack an arena, but they do so based on a multi-generational (and mostly older) fan base, and their records rarely enjoy the same level of sales as the pop groups of today. And their contemporary counteparts (Ben Folds, Rufus Wainwright, Ron Sexsmith, Michael Penn, Aimee Mann, etc) do not populate the Billboard charts or fill arenas either.
So, the lament here is simply that great quality singer-songwriting artists are not in fashion now. I don’t want those artists to change to accommodate the masses. I want the masses to appreciate this music (Just as I would like them to watch FNL over Deal or No Deal)
I think Dana’s point is that a few decades ago this sort of thing was commercially popular. Elton John’s biggest hits are no less wonderful for being hits. I think the audience and the business has changed a lot so that now this kind of thing has to be a niche.
He beat me to it. 🙂
Well, who knows? I wasn’t around to monitor the situation back then. I’d be willing to bet the numbers weren’t that different. I don’t think James Taylor was playing bigger venues in the past than he is playing now, or that Randy Newman or Lyle Lovett play now. Who would want to watch a singer songwriter on the stage of the Orange Bowl? Elton John was and is a consummate entertainer, so he could always draw audiences because he is (was?) about the spectacle as much as he is about the songs.
“Your Song” is no less a song because it broke through to the masses, but there can only be so many songs (or books, films, shows) like that. When you find one that is appreciated by rap fans, rock fans, pop fans, jazz fans, etc., you’ve found a truly extraordinary (and lucky) song.
I’m not sure why you weren’t paying attention in the 70’s, but I was. I remember being on the beach listening to WQAM, which was Top 40 back then, and Y100, and hearing songs by Elton, James Taylor, etc…in heavy rotation. Newman never really reached that level of popularity (except for Short People), but many other singer’songwriters at that time did.
And what about John Mayer or Jack Jonhson today? They are surely heard on beaches on whatever the popular radio stations are today.
Those are some good exceptions, particularly Mayer I suppose.