Led by Jonathan Richman, the protopunk band The Modern Lovers came out of Massachusetts in the early 1970s. Their classic debut album, the eponymous The Modern Lovers contained heartfelt songs about dating awkwardness, growing up in Massachusetts, and love of life. Many feel their best work is the first album and the outtakes from those sessions. The sound of the band owed a great deal to the influence of The Velvet Underground, but also pointed the way towards much of the punk, New Wave and indie rock of the following decades. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Modern Lovers is a 1976 album by The Modern Lovers. ... Natick is a town located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Protopunk is a term used to describe a number of performers who were important precursors of punk rock, or who have been cited by early punk rockers as influential. ... Punk Rock is an anti-establishment music movement that began about 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified by The Ramones,the Misfits, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... Alternative rock (also called alternative music or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Warner Bros. ... Beserkley Records was an independent record label based in Berkeley, California. ... Rhino Entertainment is a specialty record label originally known for releasing retrospectives of famous comedy performers, including Stan Freberg, Tom Lehrer, and Spike Jones. ... Jonathan Richman (born 16 May 1951) is an American proto-punk icon and one of the progenitors of indie rock. ... Jonathan Richman (born 16 May 1951) is an American proto-punk icon and one of the progenitors of indie rock. ... David Robinson (born April 2, 1953) was a drummer for the Massachusetts bands The Modern Lovers and The Cars. ... Jerry Harrison (born February 21, 1949) was the keyboardist and guitarist for the influential New Wave group Talking Heads. ... Andy Paley is a person who worked on The Spongebob Squarepants Movie(soundtrack). ... Jonathan Richman (born 16 May 1951) is an American proto-punk icon and one of the progenitors of indie rock. ... Protopunk is a term used to describe a number of performers who were important precursors of punk rock, or who have been cited by early punk rockers as influential. ... Official language(s) English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Area  Ranked 44th  - Total 10,555 sq mi (27,360 km²)  - Width 183 miles (295 km)  - Length 113 miles (182 km)  - % water 13. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... An album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. ... The Modern Lovers is a 1976 album by The Modern Lovers. ... This article is about the American rock band. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... The New Wave was a movement in American, Australian and British popular music, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, growing out of the New York City musical scene centered around the club CBGB. The term itself is a source of much confusion. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ...

Richman became enamored with the Velvet Underground while he was still in high school, and after graduating in 1969, he moved to New York City where he became personally acquainted with the band. Richman spent a couple of weeks sleeping on Velvets manager Steve Sesnick's sofa before moving into the Hotel Albert, a residence known for its poor conditions. After nine months in New York, Richman moved back to his native Boston and organized a band modeled after the Velvets. Christening themselves "the Modern Lovers," the group included Richman's 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 Richman's return to Boston. By this time their setlist already included such classic Richman songs as "Roadrunner", "She Cracked" and "Hospital". New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Nickname: Location in Massachusetts, USA Coordinates: , Country United States State Massachusetts County Suffolk County Settled 1630 Incorporated (city) 1822 Government  - Mayor Thomas M. Menino (D) Area  - City  89. ... David Robinson (born April 2, 1953) was a drummer for the Massachusetts bands The Modern Lovers and The Cars. ... Roadrunner is a song written by Jonathan Richman and recorded in various versions by Richman and his band, in most cases credited as The Modern Lovers. ...

In early 1971 Anderson and Felice departed; they were replaced by bassist Ernie Brooks, and keyboardist Jerry Harrison, completing the classic lineup of the Modern Lovers. This new configuration became very popular in the Boston area, and by the fall of 1971, enthusiastic word-of-mouth led to the Modern Lovers' first exposure to a major label when Stuart Love of Warner Bros. Records contacted them and organized the band's first multi-track session at Intermedia Studio in Boston. The demo produced from this session generated more attention from the industry, and soon A&M Records was interested in the band as well. ||/ | @___oo / / / (__,,,,| ) /^) ^/ _) ) /^/ _) ) _ / / _) / )// || | )_) < > |(,,) )__) || / )___) | ____( )___) )___ ______(_______;;; __;;; A bassist is not a musician, so much as a guy or girl trying to play an instrument with four strings and a long neck. ... A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. ... Jerry Harrison (born February 21, 1949) was the keyboardist and guitarist for the influential New Wave group Talking Heads. ... Warner Bros. ... A&M Records is an American record label, owned and operated by Universal Music Group. ...

In April 1972, the Modern Lovers traveled to Los Angeles where they held two demo sessions; the first was produced by the Velvet Underground's John Cale for Warner Bros. while the second was produced by Alan Mason for A&M. In June 1972 producer Kim Fowley also courted the band, traveling to Boston to produce some poor-quality demos. A later session in 1973 with Fowley was later released in 1981 on an album misleadingly titled The Original Modern Lovers" (reissued on CD by Bomp Records in 2000). Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... John Davies Cale (born March 9, 1942) is a Welsh musician, songwriter and record producer. ... Kim Fowley (born 1942) is an American pop and rock singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known for helping record the 1966 novelty record Theyre Coming to Take me Away, Ha Ha, recorded by Jerry Samuels under the name of Napoleon XIV. The B-side consisted of the A...

Despite their continued success as a live act, the Modern Lovers had a difficult time securing a record deal. Cale produced another session for the band in Los Angeles in September 1973, but nothing usable was recorded. Soon after, Fowley produced yet another sessions with the band, this time at Gold Star Studios with much better results than he'd had in Boston, but by this time Richman was pushing for a drastic, new direction. Richman wanted to scrap all of the tracks they had recorded and start over with a mellower, more lyrical sound. The rest of the band, while not opposed to such a shift later, insisted that they record as they sounded now. These issues stymied efforts to complete a debut album, and, eventually, led to the band's breakup in February 1974. Gold Star Studios was a major independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California. ...

Richman continued recording on his own, eventually moving to California in 1975 to begin working with Beserkley Records. While Richman never returned to the Velvets-inspired sound of the original Modern Lovers, the demo recordings made with that group eventually surfaced in various formats. The first of these releases came in 1976 when Beserkley compiled a posthumous LP from the first demo two sessions produced by Cale and Mason; issued on Beserkley's Home of the Hits subsidiary, the album was simply titled The Modern Lovers and included celebrated tracks such as "Roadrunner", "She Cracked", and "Pablo Picasso". Richman did not recognize this compilation as his "first album," preferring to recognize his debut as 1977's Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers, an album pursuing the lighter, softer direction he had in mind with a completely different band. However, The Modern Lovers was given an enthusiastic, critical reception, with critic Ira Robbins hailing it as "one of the truly great art rock albums of all time," and it influenced numerous aspiring punk rock musicians on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Sex Pistols (who covered "Roadrunner" on The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle). Beserkley Records was an independent record label based in Berkeley, California. ... The Modern Lovers is a 1976 album by The Modern Lovers. ... Pablo Picasso is a song written by Jonathan Richman for his proto punk group The Modern Lovers. ... The Sex Pistols were an iconic and highly influential English punk rock band, formed in London in 1975. ... The Great Rock n Roll Swindle (1980) is a fictional documentary (a mockumentary) film directed by Julien Temple about the seminal British punk rock band Sex Pistols. ...

Despite the original group's premature break-up, many of its members found considerable success elsewhere: founding member John Felice formed the seminal Real Kids, Jerry Harrison later joined Talking Heads, David Robinson co-founded the Cars, and Ernie Brooks would later work with David Johansen, Elliott Murphy, and Gary Lucas. Talking Heads were an American rock band existing between 1974 and 1991, composed of David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison. ... The Cars were an American rock band, fronted by Ric Ocasek, that emerged from the early punk scene in the late 1970s. ... David Johansen on the cover of his 1987 eponymous debut as Buster Poindexter David Johansen (born January 9, 1950, Staten Island, NY) is an American rock, punk, blues and pop singer, songwriter and actor. ... Elliott James Murphy (born March 16, 1949 in New York, Long Island, New York) is an American rock singer-songwriter, novelist, producer and journalist living in Paris. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ...

In early 1976, Richman put together a new version of the Modern Lovers, with Leroy Radcliffe (guitar), Greg "Curly" Keranen (bass) and the returning David Robinson (drums). Keranen had previously played with The Rubinoos, and Radcliffe with Todd Rundgren. They recorded the album Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers, but Robinson again left after Richman persisted in reducing the size and volume of his drum kit, and was replaced by D. Sharpe. Keranen also left and was replaced by Asa Brebner. This band recorded the album Rock and Roll with the Modern Lovers, and toured, but finally split up at the end of a UK tour in 1978. In 1980 Richman again formed a new Modern Lovers, with Keranen, drummer Michael Guardabascio and backing singers Ellie Marshall and Beth Harrington. This group ended in 1984, and the final version of the Modern Lovers, with Andy Paley, Brennan Totten and (initially) Asa Brebner again, toured and recorded between 1985 and 1988. The Rubinoos are an American power pop band, first formed in the 1970s and then reformed in 1999. ... Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948 in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, USA), is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. ... Andy Paley is a person who worked on The Spongebob Squarepants Movie(soundtrack). ...

Richman continues to perform, often solo and preferring acoustic instruments, and currently has no plans to undertake another group like his original band. A tribute album comprised primarily of Modern Lovers songs, If I Were a Richman: a Tribute to the Music of Jonathan Richman, was released by Wampus Multimedia in 2001. Wampus Multimedia is an American record label founded in 2001 by artist and producer Mark Doyon. ...

External links

• Simes' Jonathan Richman Pages includes a comprehensive Modern Lovers Discography.
• Website for Greg Keranen aka "João Dilberto"

Key source

• Tim Mitchell, "There's Something About Jonathan", published 1999, ISBN 0-7206-1076-1