SHEAR TALENT : The Name Might Not Be Familiar, but Jules Shear Is a Sought-After Songwriter

Jules Shear is one of those “does-that-ring-a-bell?” names that even avid pop fans may not be able to place. But millions of listeners would readily recognize his work.

The Pittsburgh native wrote two fetching Top 10 pop hits of the mid-’80s, Cyndi Lauper’s ballad, “All Through the Night,” and the Bangles’ wistful harmony showcase, “If She Knew What She Wants.” Former Byrds leader Roger McGuinn chose “If We Never Meet Again,” Shear’s moving elegy to a friendship that transcends separation and death, as the closing track on his high-profile 1991 comeback album, “Back From Rio.”

Shear’s reputation as a songwriter has made him a sought-after collaborator. Among those he’s written with are Jimmy Webb, Rick Danko of the Band, Matthew Sweet, Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Shear’s former flame, Aimee Mann of ‘Til Tuesday. A few years ago, Ian Matthews, the former Fairport Convention and Matthews Southern Comfort singer, recorded an entire album of Shear’s material.

Shear is no writer-in-a-garrett type. Since the mid-’70s, he’s been in there taking his own swings at pop fame, though a cult following is all he has achieved.

He surfaced in 1976 with the Funky Kings, a Los Angeles band that also featured singer-guitarist Richard Stekol, of the locally popular Orange County band, Honk.

After the rock-loving masses neglected to crown the Kings, Shear moved on to front his own band, Jules and the Polar Bears. The band’s two late-’70s albums showed eclectic influences, ranging from “Highway 61”-period Dylan to Hall & Oates-style R&B; to a New Wave pop approach that echoed the Cars.

In those days, Shear favored a high, strained nasal yelp that sounded like a cross between Jonathan Richman and the Cure’s Robert Smith. Since then, he has moved to a more comfortable range. Although he’s not gifted with a great voice, Shear is a pliant enough singer to negotiate his ambitious melodies--including songs that pay homage to Roy Orbison and Brian Wilson’s grand falsetto style.

After the Polar Bears, Shear turned to a solo career. Since 1983 he has turned out five solo albums and a Peter Gabriel-produced EP, plus a 1988 album as front man of the short-lived band Reckless Sleepers. He also appeared in 1989 as the original host of MTV’s “Unplugged” series, presiding over a show that allowed for discussion and mix-and-match collaborations between guests (“Unplugged” subsequently turned toward a less imaginative acoustic concert format).

Shear’s current album, “The Great Puzzle,” finds him joining his proven craftsmanship to a deepening philosophical cast.

He has a Dylanesque knack for enigmatic but resonant aphorisms. Trying to make sense out of life and its disappointments, he concludes in the album’s title track, “It’s a great puzzle, but you got to like games.”

Shear doesn’t get so bound up in chasing the meaning of life (or writing potential hits like “The Sad Sound of the Wind,” an elegiac, Tom Petty-ready anthem to lost love) that he can’t fall in lust. There are plenty of crude or cliched ways to depict the moment of arousal; it takes an exceptional songwriter to put it like this (as Shear does on “Much Too Much”): “She’s got the machine that turns rhythm into blood.”

Shear’s solo show this weekend could have elements of a collaborative reunion. Opening is Stekol, his old associate from the Funky Kings. “I was very influenced by Richard in those days,” Shear said in a recent interview. “He, more than anyone, encouraged me to work harder on the lyrics I was writing.” The association continues, with Stekol contributing a good deal of the guitar work on “The Great Puzzle.”

Last year, Stekol, who lives in Laguna Beach, released his first solo album. Its literate lyrics, tunefulness and wistful cast put him in much the same ballpark as Shear.

Shear, by the way, is scheduled to return to the Coach House on June 4 as part of the second “In Their Own Words” touring package, in which a panel of singer-songwriters talk about their craft and swap some of their favorite songs. Also featured will be Marshall Crenshaw, James McMurtry, Don Dixon and David Halley.

Who: Jules Shear.

When: Saturday, May 9, at 9 p.m. With Richard Stekol.

Where: The Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano.

Whereabouts: San Diego Freeway to the San Juan Creek Road exit. Left onto Camino Capistrano. The Coach House is in the Esplanade Plaza.

Wherewithal: $16.50.

Where to call: (714) 496-8930.