What's the first thing you think of when the name Michael Penn is mentioned?
"Hey, Sean Penn's brother!"
True, Michael is, in fact, the older brother of actor Sean Penn, who first came to prominence playing the role of Jeff Spicoli in the 1982 movie "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" before turning in a series of dramatic roles ("Bad Boys", "The Falcon & The Snowman" and "At Close Range") that showed his range as an actor and brought him much industry acclaim, but also saddled the elder Penn with the tag "Sean's brother" at a time when he, himself, was attempting to establish himself in the music industry in L.A..
"He's married to Aimee Mann!"
Again, true. Penn appeared on Mann's 1995 Geffen debut I'm With Stupid, during which time the pair began dating and, by 1997, were married.
Considering that this writer has yet to hear anyone refer to Aimee Mann as "The wife of Sean Penn's brother", it is safe to say that, by marrying Mann, Penn again was relegated to second fiddle in the public's eye, which is a staggering shame because, for a time, Penn was on the cusp of breakout stardom himself.
The year was 1989 and, after having successfully waged an uphill battle to escape the shadow of his famous brother, Penn's debut album March was released by RCA Records, a label that hadn't successfully broken a rock act since Hall & Oates.
Against all odds, Penn's debut single "No Myth" arrived to much critical acclaim and then surprisingly found a home on MTV's rotation, helping the song gain traction at pop and Top 40 radio before methodically winding its way into the Top 20.
By the time Penn and musical partner Patrick Warren appeared on "Late Night With David Letterman" to perform their hit with The World's Most Dangerous Band, one almost got the feeling that it wouldn't be long before Sean Penn got tired of being asked if he was Michael's brother, but then the planets fell back into alignment and, commercially speaking, the elder Penn was never heard from again.
That's not to say that he stopped releasing music, but that, for all intents and purposes, his career as a Top 20 hit maker was over.
With a doubt, the blame for this unceremonious fall from grace must be laid at the feet of RCA Records, who suddenly proved incapable of promoting any Michael Penn single, much less one with the word "HIT" written all over it ("Seen The Doctor" from his second album Free-for-All, which failed to chart).
In hindsight, it is fair to say that there was a noticeable disdain for pop singer/songwriters after Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten decimated the musical landscape. Even so, the release of Free-for-All seemed almost perfunctory.
Penn was reportedly so livid over his treatment by the label that he refused to record a third album for the label, who refused to release him from his contract for another four years.
By then, he had been plucked from relative inactivity by film director Paul Thomas Anderson to contribute music to the film "Boogie Nights", which led to a new deal with Epic Records and the release of that long-awaited third album, Resigned.
Released by an older, more jaded Penn, the album's title held a double-meaning that was not lost on those of us who considered ourselves fans.
Was Penn celebrating having been "resigned" to a new label after parting ways with RCA or merely "resigned" to his place as a critically-acclaimed singer/songwriter whose music no longer warranted commercial consideration?
Despite a landmark "long take" video for the single "Try" that was directed by Anderson and featured members of the cast from "Boogie Nights" (including Philip Seymour Hoffman as a roadie), MTV wouldn't touch the video with a ten-foot pole, thereby sealing the album's fate and answering the question on Penn's behalf once and for all.
Three years later, Penn released MP4: Days Since A Lost Time Accident, seemingly conveying his hopes for the album not by title, but by a cover shot of the singer mid-facepalm.
While Penn has remained impressively active as of late contributing music to the HBO series "Girls", one can't help feel a certain amount of disdain for the music industry's complete disinterest in promoting the likes of Penn, Jon Brion, Jason Falkner, Andy Sturmer, Roger Manning and others for attempting to bring a literary and, at times, cinematic flair to pop music.
Tags:
hits and myths