Jules Shear

Jules Shear is an artist I have identified with throughout the years: idiosyncratic, creative and with moments of brilliance. He's from Pittsburgh, born in 1952, and is a hard working musician who consistently puts out thoughful, well-crafted work.

You have probably heard his "hits:" the recording by Cyndi Lauper of "All Through the Night" reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984, and The Bangles, whose recording of "If She Knew What She Wants" reached number 29 in 1986.

Jules led a band, Jules and the Polar Bears, for a time. As a solo act, his song "Steady" reached number 56 on the US charts in 1985; he has recorded almost twenty albums to date.

Check the top quality sidemen he chooses: for example, guitarist Elliot Easton on the cd "Healing Bones," which features Rod Argent on keyboards and co-producer duties. I recently bought the record and it's a gem.

Back in the day, Shear had a relationship with Aimee Mann (Til Tuesday's lead singer/songwriter at the time) for awhile and that had to be a great thing, as showbiz stuff goes. When it was good, it was probably great; when it wasn't so good it provided material and inspiration for great tunes, probably for many years later.

But Shear got over it and married singer/songwriter Pal Shazar.