Michael Penn (born August 1, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the son of the late actor/director Leo Penn and actress Eileen Ryan, and the brother of actors Sean Penn and Chris Penn.

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Career

Prior to the release of his 1989 debut album March , Penn was a member of the Los Angeles band Doll Congress, and had appeared as an extra on a few television series, including St. Elsewhere.

March , particularly the first single, "No Myth," brought Penn attention, as well as the 1990 MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist. Penn's follow-up albums Free-for-All (1992), Resigned (1997) and MP4: Days Since a Lost Time Accident (2000 ) weren't able to match the commercial success of March , although critics praised his songcraft.

It was with Free-for-All that Penn faced the specter of the one-hit wonder. The album, while praised by critics, was not as successful as Penn's debut, though it had more than its share of supporters. Rolling Stone called it "stunning" ^[1] and CMJ wrote that the album "exhausts any doubts" about whether "March was a fluke, adding "Although still somewhat of a novice, it would not be unreasonable to compare Penn's skills to other meta-pop contemporaries who own worn-out copies of Revolver , like Matthew Sweet or even Crowded House's Neil Finn." ^[2]

In Vox magazine, critic Gary Leboff acknowledged that Penn could be "pig-headedly uncommercial," but, he conceded, "the payoff is sublime". Leboff continues, "His freeform songwriting creates tracks of startling shape and originality, offering literate reflections on the human condition..."

Penn collaborated with the renowned surrealist animators The Brothers Quay on "Long Way Down (Look What The Cat Drug In)," which found a home not on MTV but in film festivals around the country, winning awards along the way.

Penn met fellow singer-songwriter Aimee Mann in the late 1980s, and during the recording of her album I'm With Stupid (to which Penn contributed), the two struck up a friendship, which blossomed into romance and their 1997 marriage. Together with manager Michael Hausman they formed United Musicians, an anti-file-sharing, pro-strict-copyright-law organization also interested in helping artists with the promotion and distribution of their work. Penn and Mann live in Los Angeles. Penn also has a son, Liam, from a previous marriage.

He has worked extensively creating original music for film; among his first work in this field (if not the first) was for 1993's Tales From The Vienna Woods . He scored two movies released by Paul Thomas Anderson in 1997, Hard Eight and Boogie Nights ; he also appears in the latter playing Nick, a recording engineer. During the editing of the film, Anderson directed a music video with Penn for "Try" from Resigned (the video can be found on the Boogie Nights DVD). Other films scored by Penn include Alan Cumming's first two directorial efforts, The Anniversary Party and Suffering Man's Charity ; ^[3] American Teen , Sunshine Cleaning ; ^[4], the documentary The Comedians of Comedy ; and The Last Kiss . In 2003, he was nominated for a DVDX Award for Best Original Score in a DVD Premiere Movie for Melvin Goes to Dinner ^[5]

In August 2005, Penn released Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947 on his own Mimeograph Records label. Its songs are set against the background of post-World War II Los Angeles; Penn said he chose the year because of several notable events that took place then, including the passage of the National Security Act and the invention of the transistor. ^[6] The album was reissued by Legacy Recordings in April 2007 with bonus tracks from a KCRW session. ^[7]

The reissue came in conjunction with Legacy's release of Palms and Runes, Tarot and Tea: A Michael Penn Collection , a compilation that includes several alternate versions and previously unreleased songs. Penn said his goal in compiling, ordering tracks for and producing Palms and Runes was to "make it feel like an album" in its own right.

In July 2009, Patrick Warren (keyboards) stated that he and Michael have been "Kinda noodling around again in the studio". The working title for the new album (expected in 2010) is "Implausible Deniability". Two leaked titles for the album are, "I've Got Enough Rope", and "The Only Thing I Thought You Think I See". The latter is a duet with Penn's wife, Aimee Mann.

A cover of the Queen song "Drowse" has been recorded, albeit with an acoustic and slightly slower arrangement. If included on the upcoming release, it would prove to be the first 'Cover Song' released by Michael Penn on a recorded album. This song is thought to be shortened and merged as an introduction to a song titled "That's What I Said".

Discography

Solo Albums

• March (1989)
• Free-For-All (1992)
• Resigned (1997)
• MP4: Days Since a Lost Time Accident (2000)
• Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947 (independent release) (2005)
• Cinemascope (2005)
• Palms and Runes, Tarot and Tea: A Michael Penn Collection (2007)
• Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947 (Legacy reissue) (2007)

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions			Album
		US Hot 100	US Modern Rock	UK
1989	"No Myth"	13	4	-	March
1990	"This & That"	53	10	-
	"Brave New World"	-	20	-
1992	"Long Way Down (Look What the Cat Drug In)"	-	14	-	Free-For-All
	"Seen the Doctor"	-	5	-

With Gabriele Morgan and Doll Congress/Doll Congress

• Buried Treasure (5-song EP) (1981)
• Doll Congress 12" (1983)
• "Give Up Your Ghost" (sung by Morgan) and "I Will Be Around" (sung by Penn) appear on the soundtrack to Welcome to 18 (1986)

Appearances

• "Retribution" (guitar solo) on Randell Kirsch, LuAnn Olson and Chris Hickey's Show Of Hands (I.R.S. 1989)
• "Body and Soul?" (backing vocals) on Thelonious Monster's Beautiful Mess (1992)
• "It's Not Safe" (guitar, solo guitar) on Aimee Mann's I'm With Stupid (1995)
• "Christmastime", with Aimee Mann on Just Say Noel (1996)
• "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love", with Mark Mothersbaugh on Moog Cookbook's Ye Olde Space Bande: Plays Classic Rock Hits (1997)
• "Reason to Believe", with Aimee Mann on Badlands: A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska (2000)
• "How Am I Different", "Susan" (backing vocals) on Aimee Mann's Bachelor No. 2 (2000)
• "Red Vines" (slide guitar) on Aimee Mann's Bachelor No. 2 (2000)
• "Satellite" (guitar feedback, backing vocals) on Aimee Mann's Bachelor No. 2 (2000)
• "Driving Sideways" (electric guitar, backing vocals) on Aimee Mann's Bachelor No. 2 (2000)
• "Susan" (guitar), on Aimee Mann's Bachelor No. 2 (2000)
• Co-produced The Wallflowers' (Breach) (2000)
• "Two of Us", with Aimee Mann on I Am Sam (2001)
• "It's Sweet", "Little Digger" (produced, recorded by, guitar, bass) on Liz Phair's self-titled fourth album (2003)
• "Red Light Fever", "Take A Look", "Friend Of Mine" (produced, recorded by, guitar) on Liz Phair (2003)

Film Scores

• Tales From The Vienna Woods (1993)
• Hard Eight (originally titled Sydney ), with Jon Brion (1996)
• Boogie Nights (1997)
• The Anniversary Party (2001)
• Melvin Goes to Dinner (2003)
• The Comedians of Comedy (2005)
• The Last Kiss (2006)
• Suffering Man's Charity (2007)
• American Teen (2008)
• Sunshine Cleaning (2008)

Acting

• St. Elsewhere (playing a lab technician, as an extra) (1985)
• Boogie Nights (Nick, an engineer) (1997)

References

1. ''No. 4 and counting Critically acclaimed, commercially snubbed, Michael Penn tries again'', CNN Interactive
2. ''Michael Penn: Free-For-All'', ''CMJ Review''
3. Glucksman, Mary. Five new films in postproduction, ''Filmmaker Magazine''. Spring 2006.
4. Michael Penn Filmography, ''Yahoo! Movies''.
5. DVD Exclusive Awards: 2003, IMDB.
6. Michael Penn's Much Anticipated ''Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947'' in Stores August 2, press release. 2005-05-04.
7. Michael Penn, ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'', KCRW. 2005-10-07.