The Modern Lovers | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Singer/songwriter Jonathan Richman is sufficiently well-established as a solo artist, and its easy to overlook the fact that the moniker sometimes used for his backing band, the Modern Lovers, was once connected to a coherent group of which Richman was a member. The Boston-based group the Modern Lovers is of such significance to American underground rock that they deserve separate consideration from Richmans own body of work, although many of the songs they recorded carried over into Richmans solo career and were used as the flagstones on which it was built. After graduating from high school in 1969, Jonathan Richman relocated to New York City. Totally infatuated with the sound of the Velvet Underground, Richman made his entrée to New York with a couple of weeks sleeping on Velvets manager Steve Sesnicks sofa, and afterward moved into the rodent-infested Hotel Albert. After nine months in New York, Richman decided hed had enough and moved back to his native Boston, but with the intention of forming a rock band modeled after what hed learned from observing the Velvets. Back home, Richman swiftly organized a band with childhood friend John Felice as guitarist, David Robinson on drums, and Rolfe Anderson on bass. The Modern Lovers played their first date in September 1970, barely a month after Richmans return. In early 1971 Anderson and Felice departed, although Felice would rejoin the group later down the road. Anderson was replaced by bassist Ernie Brooks, and keyboardist Jerry Harrison would also come into the band at this point, completing the classic lineup of the Modern Lovers. The group proved popular at live gigs in Boston, and word about them spread. In the fall of 1971 the Modern Lovers got their first nibble from a label -- Stuart Love of Warner Bros. came calling, and organized the bands first multi-track session at Intermedia Studio in Boston. The recording of the song "Hospital" on the Beserkley album The Modern Lovers originates from this session. This demo tape generated some buzz in the industry, and pretty soon A&M; was interested in the Modern Lovers as well. So in April 1972 the band traveled to Los Angeles to make their best, and most representative, recordings in the form of two multi-song demos, the first being a date with John Cale producing for Warner Bros. and another with Alan Mason at the controls for A&M.; These two sessions comprise the balance of the posthumous album The Modern Lovers, although tape copies of the Cale session circulated widely before it was released, even to the U.K. In June 1972 producer Kim Fowley decided he wanted a piece of their action and traveled to Boston to produce some poor-quality demos that were ultimately released in 1981 on an album misleadingly titled The Original Modern Lovers. The Modern Lovers success as a live act continued unhindered, but as far as getting a record deal was concerned, the band was always a bridesmaid, never a bride. A second session held in Los Angeles in September 1973 with Cale producing went badly, producing nothing usable in terms of recordings. Fowley took them into Gold Star Studios shortly afterward with much better luck than hed had in Boston, but by this time the band was on its last legs, and Richman had already decided to quit. By December 1973 the Modern Lovers were a done deal, and Richman was recording demos on his own. Jerry Harrison ultimately joined Talking Heads, David Robinson became drummer for the Cars, John Felice formed the Real Kids, and Ernie Brooks ended up with David Johansen. Richman retained use of the band name "the Modern Lovers" but often performs solo, prefers acoustic instruments, and has no plans to undertake another group like them. In 1975 Richman moved to California to begin his association with Beserkley Records. Beserkley collected the various demos they could access of Richmans earlier group and pulled them together into the album The Modern Lovers, which was released on Beserkleys Home of the Hits subsidiary in 1976. Given the piecemeal nature of its assemblage, Richman does not recognize it as his "first album," awarding that distinction instead to 1977s Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers, an album with a wholly different band, vibe, and approach. But The Modern Lovers was instantly recognized as a classic, and still came out in enough time to strongly influence aspiring punk rock musicians on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Sex Pistols, whose cover version of "Road Runner" is one of the high points in their otherwise largely dismal sophomore effort, The Great Rock n Roll Swindle. It is not out of merely idle adulation that Trouser Press critic Ira Robbins once dubbed the Modern Lovers "one of the truly great art rock albums of all time." The Modern Lovers was at one time the hottest unsigned live act in America, and their surviving work forms a pivotal link between the Velvet Underground and the punk rock movement that was yet to emerge. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 6 Title: The Modern Lovers Released: 1976-08 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:02:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Roadrunner (04:06) 2 Astral Plane (03:00) 3 Old World (04:00) 4 Pablo Picasso (04:21) 5 She Cracked (02:55) 6 Hospital (05:32) 7 Someone I Care About (03:40) 8 Girl Friend (03:55) 9 Modern World (03:42) 10 Dignified and Old (02:29) 11 I’m Straight (04:18) 12 Government Center (02:03) 13 I Wanna Sleep in Your Arms (02:32) 14 Dance With Me (04:27) 15 Someone I Care About (alternative version) (02:58) 16 Modern World (alternative version) (03:16) 17 Roadrunner (alternative version) (04:55) |
| The Modern Lovers : Allmusic album Review : Compiled of demos the band recorded with John Cale in 1973, The Modern Lovers is one of the great proto-punk albums of all time, capturing an angst-ridden adolescent geekiness which is married to a stripped-down, minimalistic rock & roll derived from the art punk of the Velvet Underground. While the sound is in debt to the primal three-chord pounding of early Velvet Underground, the attitude of Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers is a million miles away from Lou Reeds jaded urban nightmares. As he says in the classic two-chord anthem "Roadrunner," Richman is in love with the modern world and rock & roll. Hes still a teenager at heart, which means hes not only in love with girls he cant have, but also radios, suburbs, and fast food, and it also means hell crack jokes like "Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole...not like you." "Pablo Picasso" is the classic sneer, but "She Cracked" and "Im Straight" are just as nasty, made all the more edgy by the Modern Lovers amateurish, minimalist drive. But beneath his adolescent posturing, Richman is also nakedly emotional, pleading for a lover on "Someone I Care About" and "Girl Friend," or romanticizing the future on "Dignified and Old." That combination of musical simplicity, driving rock & roll, and gawky emotional confessions makes The Modern Lovers one of the most startling proto-punk records -- it strips rock & roll to its core and establishes the rock tradition of the geeky, awkward social outcast venting his frustrations. More importantly, the music is just as raw and exciting now as when it was recorded in 1973, or when it was belatedly released in 1976. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 6 Title: Rock n Roll With The Modern Lovers Released: 1977 Tracks: 14 Duration: 40:42 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Sweeping Wind (Kwa Ti Feng) (02:01) 2 Ice Cream Man (03:02) 3 Rockin Rockin Leprechauns (02:12) 4 Summer Morning (03:50) 5 Afternoon (02:49) 6 Fly Into the Mystery (03:17) 7 South American Folk Song (02:37) 8 Roller Coaster by the Sea (02:07) 9 Dodge Veg-O-Matic (03:49) 10 Egyptian Reggae (02:37) 11 Coomyah (02:10) 12 The Wheels on the Bus (02:29) 13 Angels Watching Over Me (01:54) 14 Dodge Veg-O-Matic (extended) (05:42) |
| Rock 'n' Roll With The Modern Lovers : Allmusic album Review : Rock N Roll with the Modern Lovers. Richman branches out to Japanese music, a "South American Folk Song," and even "Egyptian Reggae" (the last earning him a UK Top 5 hit), but the real highlight on Rock N Roll with the Modern Lovers is that ode to a totaled car, "Dodge Veg-O-Matic." | ||
 | Album: 3 of 6 Title: Modern Lovers Live Released: 1977 Tracks: 9 Duration: 34:13 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Im a Little Airplane (03:37) 2 Hey There Little Insect (02:49) 3 Egyptian Reggae (02:38) 4 Ice Cream Man (08:11) 5 Im a Little Dinosaur (02:07) 6 My Little Kookenhaken (03:31) 7 South American Folk Song (03:19) 8 New England (02:32) 9 The Morning of Our Lives (05:26) |
 | Album: 4 of 6 Title: The Original Modern Lovers Released: 1981 Tracks: 9 Duration: 28:47 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Road Runner #1 (04:37) 2 She Cracked (02:41) 3 Astral Plain (02:44) 4 Walk Up the Street (03:12) 5 I Wanna Sleep in Your Arms (02:32) 6 Dont Let Our Youth Go to Waste (01:39) 7 Dance With Me (04:27) 8 Girlfren (04:03) 9 Road Runner #2 (02:52) |
| The Original Modern Lovers : Allmusic album Review : Long before his lyrics celebrated abominable snowmen and ice cream truck drivers, Jonathan Richman was positioning himself as rocks poet of the ordinary. Ex-Velvet Underground co-founder John Cale and larger-than-life songwriter Kim Fowley translated the Richman vision with varying success, but the band dissolved when it couldnt agree on a direction. Beserkley Records issued the Cale sessions as The Modern Lovers in 1976, while Bomp followed suit with Fowleys rougher and readier handiwork in 1981, which is now recycled again onto compact disc. (Several bootlegs also contain songs not released on either album.) Bomps repackaging dates the Fowley tapes to the spring of 1972, which Richmans liner notes sharply dispute. Curiously, the CD booklet doesnt address his point, despite two takes of "Roadrunner" -- one of rocks greatest drive-all-night songs -- that distinctly differ in performance. Richman also questions the discs title, since bassist Ernie Brooks and keyboardist Jerry Harrison werent in the bands inaugural lineup, which did include drummer David Robinson. (The latter trio made respective marks in the Necessaries, Talking Heads, and the Cars.) The sessions showcase a rudimentary, yet spirited outfit that knew how to emphasize its strengths. Richmans nonstop guitar chug lends depth to his elementary arrangements, which are further buoyed by Robinsons insistent drumming, and Harrisons fuzzed-out roller-rink organ, which is the primary instrumental voice here. Still, Richmans songs are the main interest: "She Cracked" slaps at a 70s rock scene fueled by laid-back decadence, while "Girlfrien" pleads for intimacy during a trip to the local art museum. "Walk up the Street" critiques a society that widens peoples isolation while continuing to tempt them with an ever-growing array of modern conveniences and distractions. Given its thin sound, and a length that stops just shy of a meager 30 minutes, this disc is best appreciated as a documentary of an underdog band trying to harness its energies into a coherent product. At best, The Original Modern Lovers is a tangent to The Modern Lovers, which remains the definitive showcase of Richmans earliest creations. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 6 Title: Precise Modern Lovers Order: Live in Berkeley and Boston Released: 1994 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:16:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Someone I Care About (04:01) 2 Dance With Me (05:56) 3 She Cracked (04:18) 4 Hospital (06:37) 5 Womanhood (02:47) 6 Dignified and Old (02:52) 7 Girlfriend (04:09) 8 Foggy Notion (03:05) 9 Ride On Down the Highway (03:11) 10 Pablo Picasso (05:06) 11 A Plea for Tenderness (07:12) 12 Walk Up the Street (05:23) 13 Fly Into the Mystery (03:51) 14 Im Straight (06:28) 15 The Mixer (Men and Women Together) (04:33) 16 Dont Let Our Youth Go to Waste (01:50) 17 Roadrunner (04:55) |
 | Album: 6 of 6 Title: Live at the Longbranch and More Released: 1998-08-25 Tracks: 17 Duration: 28:35 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Someone I Care About (04:01) 2 Dance With Me (05:54) 3 She Cracked (04:18) 4 Hospital (?) 5 Girl Friend (?) 6 Foggy Notion (?) 7 Ride On Down the Highway (?) 8 Pablo Picasso (?) 9 Plea for Tenderness (07:09) 10 Walk Up the Street (?) 11 Modern World (?) 12 Old World (?) 13 96 Tears (02:45) 14 Im Straight (?) 15 Wake Up Sleepyheads (02:47) 16 Dont Let Our Youth Go to Waste (01:41) 17 Roadrunner (?) |