Even if you've only once heard a Marshall Crenshaw masterwork such as ""Someday, Someway” or ""Mary Anne,” it probably remains in your subconscious. He stands as the king of '80s pop, pop that wasn't heard by the masses. And his three-minute slices of pop perfection from those days still have legs.

        Mr. Crenshaw came to the Southgate House Saturday night on a solo tour. The show, just over an hour, was in line with his pop sensibilities. It didn't last nearly long enough for him to wear out his welcome.

        In the quick set of 18 songs he managed to hit upon most every one of his gems a fan could hope to hear, and he threw in a half dozen interesting covers nobody could have seen coming.

        On his records he has backup, so the solo presentation of him and his acoustic guitar was different. The show certainly would have been better had he been rocking with a band, but he doesn't tour very often so it was a case of take-him-as-is. Anyway, 90 percent of the crowd seemed to be hanging on his every word.

        His is a body of work that colors all the hues of the rock 'n' roll heart, and more often than not the colors of choice are shades of lonesome blue. He started the night with a breakup song (""Television Light”) and from there went to pining for the girl right now (""Dime a Dozen Guy”) as well as the one that may or may not even be (""Cynical Girl”).

        By way of cover song, he took the unlucky-at-love bit into the realm of death, doing Jody Reynolds' ""Endless Sleep” and Lee Hazlewood's ""A Girl on Death Row.” Mr. Crenshaw told the audience he discovered the former song — a tale of a man who follows the call of his lover into the ocean of her death — during his childhood. The fact that it stuck with him this long says something about his penchant for heartache rock.

        Elsewhere he covered the Beatles' ""I'm Only Sleeping” and Dave Alvin's ""Wanda and Duane,” which sort of sets the parameters for a pop-meister/singer-songwriter such as he. And of course there were those songs no Marshall Crenshaw show would be complete without, the aforementioned “Someday, Someway” and “Mary Anne” plus ""What Do You Dream Of?,” ""Downtown,” ""You're My Favorite Waste of Time,” ""Little Wild One,” and more.

        Local guy Rob Fetters opened the show with a set highlighting his different musical endeavors such as the Bears and the Psychodots. The presentation, however, was personalized with song introductions of various humor and/or poignancy, making for an engaging 40 minutes. And he hit his high notes to boot.

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