The Jonathan Richman / Modern Lovers Thread

[u2popmofo]

I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody
Every great song by the Beach Boys
All the underground hits
All the Modern Lovers tracks
~ 'Losing My Edge' - LCD Soundsystem

I admittedly only got into The Modern Lovers in the last year. When I saw The Shins play last year, they covered a song I'd never heard before. A couple guys in the crowd by us went insane when they heard it. I asked them what it was, and they said 'Someone I Care About' by The Modern Lovers.

I went home and downloaded the track from iTunes and then spent months trying to find the album. Lucky for me, Sanctuary Records reissued it (here's a 9.2 rating for you hipsters).

I humorously enough didn't realize for months that The Modern Lovers were led by Jonathan Richman, who most people know as the singer/narrator from Something About Mary. I had been introduced to Jonathan when he used to perform on Conan in the '90's. As he has a lot of unique ticks, I remember seeing him and thinking, "Who the crap is this guy, this is awesome?!"

12 years later I finally pieced it all together and have been enjoying his music this last year or so.

So, any other fans (looking at you, Martha)? What are your favorite albums/songs?

Here are some humorous and entertaining vids of him I've found on Youtube:
I'm So Confused
Abdul & Cleopatra

 

[LemonMelon]

Their debut is on my list of albums to check out. All I know is Roadrunner.

 

[martha]

I love Jonathan Richman. I don't have all the albums, but I have enough for right now. I'll most likely be getting more due to this thread. I've had the pleasure of seeing him live twice. The first time was when he was touring as an acoustic act with a stand-up bass and a drummer. I think the drummer may have only had one drum. (This was more than 18 years ago.) At one point, Jonathan was crawling around the stage as the other man were playing. Suddenly the bassplayer yelped. Jonathan had bitten him on the calf.

mofo, I noticed you bought I, Jonathan recently. That's a good one. I also like Modern Lovers Live.

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

Ice Cream Man!

(that's all I've got )

 

[martha]

Several summers ago, Kohl's used Ice Cream Man in their TV ads. For once I wasn't screaming at the TV for co-opting a song. I was glad Jonathan was getting the $ and the exposure.

 

[u2popmofo]

All I know is Roadrunner.

Roadrunner once, roadrunner twice
I'm in love with rock and roll and I'll be out all night

 

[blueeyedgirl]

Pablo Picasso is such an asshole

 

[If you shout...]

I never understood the fuss, but I'm eternally grateful for Jerry Harrison (of Talking Heads) getting his break with these guys. A flower from a pot of very important and canonical dirt. "Girlfriend" is one of the more embarrassing tracks I've ever heard, and my reaction to it sums up pretty well my feelings about The Modern Lovers, less a bit of vitriol (I think that a few tracks sound good, too--I don't think they suck, I just don't like them and find many tracks a bit grating).

 

[IWasBored]

i like big d & the kids table's cover of "new england" better than the original. now i'm sure mofo is going to tell me to shut up and that i would like their version better because i'm a liar and a card cheat.

 

[u2popmofo]

i'm sure mofo is going to tell me to shut up and that i would like their version better because i'm a liar and a card cheat.

Yes, these things are ALL true.

I'm trying to talk myself into going to see him this Thursday at a little hole in the wall (it's essentially a shed) venue. Martha, please talk me into it, I need an extra push. How are his live shows?

 

[martha]

I'm trying to talk myself into going to see him this Thursday at a little hole in the wall (it's essentially a shed) venue. Martha, please talk me into it, I need an extra push. How are his live shows?

DOOOOOOOOOOOO it.


His live shows are wonderful. Everyone loves him, and he loves everyone. The songs are even better live, and the whole experience is happy and fun and cheerful. There's a rapport between him and his audiences that's hard to find anywhere else. The smaller the venue, the better. You NEED to go. Your soul needs it. Everybody's does.

 

[martha]

Well. Any decisions made?

 

[u2popmofo]

Well. Any decisions made?

The show's tomorrow. I'm planning on going (I don't have tickets, so hopefully they still have them available at the show). I feel weird because I only have one of his actual solo albums and I know the Modern Lovers stuff far better, so I'm not going to know most of the material. Regardless, I don't want to kick myself for missing it. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[martha]

 

[u2popmofo]

Just bought my ticket online, only a few more hours. Woo!

Here's a humorous performance of Egyptian Reggae I found on Last FM:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3ZfGz9v89g

 

[u2popmofo]

Glad you talked me into going, Martha. It was a lot of fun, and surprisingly it seemed like essentially no one else knew the vast majority of the songs either. He played a lot of what seemed like new songs, one was a song about Jonathan's anti-cell phone status (this song was quite hilarious). The highlights for me were the afore mentioned cell phone song, I Was Dancing at the Lesbian Bar, Egyptian Reggae, Let Her Go Into the Darkness, and him throwing some lines from the Modern Lovers' song Old World into a song.

Another interesting part of the night for me was Jonathan touching me...the list of musicians who have touched my back or shoulder to climb on stage seems to keep growing and growing.


I also found a couple more Jonathan video treasures, 2 separate early '90's performances on Conan O'Brien that I mentioned in my first post of the thread:

I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar
Let Her Go Into the Darkness

 

[martha]

:jealous:

 

[martha]

I had to freaking search Google for this thread.


Anyway, I'm going to see Jonathan in December. I was going to go to the LA show, but it's a school night and the venue's kinda too big. I went ahead and got tickets for Ventura on December 5th, a Friday, although I haven't been to the venue before. I'm going to take the day off and have a nice time up the coast. Ventura is a nice town (it's where we had lunch, mofo), and I'll need a break again by then.

 

[u2popmofo]

Search on here really sucks sometimes....

Let me know if he does the cell phone song at your show, I'm still sad that it wasn't included on the new album! Speaking of which, I'd catch up on that. The vast majority of what he played here was from the new album. Of course, that was 7 months ago, so it could be a completely different show by now.

 

[martha]

By new album, do you mean Because her Beauty...?

 

[u2popmofo]

Yes'm.

 

[u2popmofo]

I had to freaking search Google for this thread.

Search still wouldn't find this thread for me.

He's playing here in early July.

 

[martha]

I didn't even post how much fun he was in December, but if I do it now, I won't get any taquitos for dinner.

 

[martha]

So, a few taquitos and a walk down the pier later, I can now reveal how much fun Jonathan was.

There were maybe 150 people in the audience, if you counted some people twice. Jonathan would go to the back of the stage so his drummer could take a solo now and then. The audience worshipped him, and he did I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar, so we were all happy.