The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner

I've mentioned before that a co-worker got me into a lot of music, mostly by introducing me to bands I'd heard of but not heard. But also some bands I'd never heard of nor heard.

One of the was The Modern Lovers. I'd heard a snippet of the Sex Pistols partial cover of Roadrunner, but not the original.

So I got to borrow the original Modern Lovers album. Here is Roadrunner, the first track:



The whole album is good. Two of the band members went on to much larger bands - Jerry Harrison took his keyboard skills to Talking Heads, and David Robinson co-founded The Cars.

Jonathan Richman went on to learn Spanish and sing quirky but amazing songs about vampires and girls and ice cream and dancing, some in English and some in Spanish. Also, he's the singer that has a very prominent role in There's Something About Mary, alongside his drummer Tommy Larkins. I remember watching that with a friend, hearing his voice and saying, "Hey, that's Jonathan Richman. HEY THERE HE IS!" as the camera pans across him at the opening.

I saw those two - Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkins - at The Court Tavern in New Brunswick, NJ, years back. It was a great show, and it's a very small setting. As soon as the show ended, Jonathan was just standing there directly in front of me. So I stuck out my hand and said, "Great show, Jonathan." He shook my hand and said, "Thanks!"

Great venue, great show. And Jonathan Richman is rock-and-roll to his very soul. If you get a chance, go see him live.

God Save the Queen

Thanks to WFUV for reminding me, with this song, that it's the Queen's birthday day.

Some songs change your life. This is one. I remember hearing it playing from my sister's room when I was a young teenager. I snuck into her room when she wasn't home (sorry, sibling - but also, thank you) and looked for the album with the song on it. I found The Great Rock and Roll Swindle and listened to that, but it wasn't what I was looking for. Eventually I'd get my own copy of Never Mind the Bollocks and listen to it (and many tapes of it) repeatedly. To this day, this song gets me going. I blast it, I play it once and then again a second time. I crank the radio all the way up. I sing loudly along with it, because there's no future for you, no future for me. We're the flowers in the dustbin, we're the poison in your human machine.

Enjoy, but enjoy LOUD.