The Modern Lovers
| The Modern Lovers | |
|---|---|
 Front man Jonathan Richman |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Boston , United States |
| Genre (s) | Garage rock , protopunk , art rock |
| founding | 1970, 1976 |
| resolution | 1974, 1988 |
| Founding members | |
| Jonathan Richman | |
| Jerry Harrison (until 1974) | |
| Ernie Brooks (until 1974) | |
| David Robinson (until 1974, 1976) | |
| Last occupation | |
| Jonathan Richman | |
| Leroy Radcliffe | |
| Greg Keranen | |
| D. Smart | |
The Modern Lovers was an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman , which was founded in Boston in 1970 . Although the Modern Lovers are considered to be the forerunners of punk , Richman saw himself more in the tradition of rock 'n' roll . After the re-establishment in 1976 he performed with his backing band under the name Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers .
history
Jonathan Richman began writing his own songs as a teenager and, after performing for the first time in his hometown of Boston, moved to New York in 1969 to get in touch with his idols from The Velvet Underground . Nobody wanted to listen to his own songs there, so he returned to Boston in 1970 and founded Modern Lovers. The original line-up included keyboardist Jerry Harrison, who was to become a member of the Talking Heads in 1975 , bassist Ernie Brooks and drummer David Robinson. Between September 1971 and October 1973, the band played their first studio album, which was only released in 1976 under the title The Modern Lovers on the Beserkley label. In the meantime, the Modern Lovers had disbanded in February 1974. The first work was produced by John Cale , the single Roadrunner was a success.
1976 Richman formed the band again, Robinson returned briefly as a drummer, but switched to the group The Cars in the same year . The first album with a new line-up was released in July 1976. In December 1977, Richman and the Modern Lovers had another hit with the instrumental piece Egyptian Reggae ; it reached number 5 in the British charts. Between 1976 and 1988, Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers released several studio albums on which Richman focused more on his influences from rock 'n' roll and doo wop of the 1950s and more on pop oriented. The texts are deliberately childlike, juvenile or eccentric. In 1981 the album The Original Modern Lovers was released , which only contains archive recordings from 1973. In 1988 Richman dissolved his backing band, from 1989 he only appeared as a soloist.
Aftermath
With their minimalist songs, such as the two- chord- based Roadrunner , the Modern Lovers inspired subsequent American and British punk and rock bands . The Sex Pistols recorded a cover version of the song in 1975 . In the 1980s, Echo & the Bunnymen and Siouxsie and the Banshees covered Richmans She Cracked from their first album, The Modern Lovers . The debut is widely regarded as the band's masterpiece and has been included in the best album selection of all time by music magazines Rolling Stone and New Musical Express . The second-established in the original cast album The Original Modern Lovers is on the wire list The Wire's "100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One What Listening)" listed. The song Pablo Picasso was covered by David Bowie , Iggy Pop , John Cale , Simple Minds and Jack White , among others . Current indie rock musicians like Mac DeMarco and Courtney Barnett also name Richman as an influence. Egyptian Reggae is featured on the soundtracks of the films Lammbock (2001) and Baby Driver (2017), Roadrunner on that of School of Rock (2003).
Discography
The Modern Lovers
Studio albums:
- 1976: The Modern Lovers (recorded 1971-73)
- 1981: The Original Modern Lovers (recorded in 1973)
Live albums:
- 1994: Precise Modern Lovers Order
- 1998: Live at the Longbranch and More
- 2011: 96 tears
Singles:
- 1976: Roadrunner / Pablo Picasso
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
Studio albums:
- 1976: Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers
- 1977: Rock 'n' Roll with The Modern Lovers
- 1979: Back in Your Life
- 1983: Jonathan Sings!
- 1985: Rockin 'and Romance
- 1986: It's Time For ...
- 1988: Modern Lovers 88
Live albums:
- 1979: Modern Lovers 'Live'
Singles:
- 1977: Roadrunner (Once) / Roadrunner (Twice)
- 1977: Back in the USA / New England
- 1977: South American Folk Song / Ice Cream Man
- 1977: New England / Here Come the Martian Martians
- 1977: Egyptian Reggae / Roller Coaster by the Sea
- 1978: The Morning of Our Lives / Roadrunner (Thrice)
- 1978: My Little Kookenhaken / Roadrunner Thrice
- 1978: Abdul & Cleopatra / Oh Carol
- 1978: Buzz Buzz Buzz / Hospital (Live)
- 1978: New England / Astral Plane (Live)
- 1979: Lydia / Important in Your Life
- 1984: That Summer Feeling / This Kind of Music
- 1985: I'm Just Beginning to Live / Circle 1
- 1986: Me Siento Mal / It's You
- 1988: California Desert Party / When Harpo Played His Harp
Web links
- The Modern Lovers at Allmusic (English)
- The Modern Lovers at Allmusic (English)
- The Modern Lovers at Discogs (English)
- The Modern Lovers in Rate Your Music (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Artist Biography by Uncle Dave Lewis on allmusic.com (accessed April 29, 2018)
- ^ A b Buckley, Peter (ed.): Rock Rough Guide, 2nd edition, Verlag JB Metzler Stuttgart / Weimar 2004, p. 672.
- ↑ Schmidt-Joos, Siegfried u. Kampmann, Wolf (Ed.): Rock-Lexikon 1, 2nd edition, Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag Hamburg 2009, p. 1490.
- ↑ The Modern Lovers: AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine on allmusic.com (accessed April 29, 2018)
- ↑ 500 Greatest Albums of All Time on rollingstone.com (accessed April 29, 2018)
- ↑ The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time on nme.com (accessed April 29, 2018)
- ↑ Pablo Picasso: Cover versions on whosampled.com (accessed April 29, 2018)
- ↑ Jack White Covered the Modern Lovers' “Pablo Picasso” on spin.com (accessed April 29, 2018)
- ↑ Songwriting sets Grammy nominee Courtney Barnett apart on chicagotribune.com (accessed April 29, 2018)