#288 The Modern Lovers, 'The Modern Lovers' (1976)

Previously #382

“One, two, three, four, five, six!,” Jonathan Richman counts us in on ‘Roadrunner,’ the one and only single from the album. The band was formed when Richman was just 19 years old. By the following year he had secured the line up which included, amongst others, Jerry Harrison on keyboard and David Robinson on drums, both would subsequently go on to have successful careers with Talking Heads and The Cars, respectively. As a massive fan of Lou Reed, Richman had moved to NYC in the hopes of getting close to him. He got as close as John Cale, Lou Reed’s ex-band member in The Velvet Underground, who would produce 6 of the 9 tracks.

The album was record in 1972 but only released 4 years later. This album and The Modern Lovers in general were a massive influence on Punk, as well as New Wave and Indie Rock. ‘Pablo Picasso’ was subsequently covered by John Cale himself, as well as Iggy Pop and David Bowie. ‘Roadrunner’ was covered by Sex Pistols and Joan Jett, and ‘She Cracked’ covered by Echo & the Bunnymen and Siouxsie and the Banshees. The band broke up before the album even came out.

#rs500albums