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Jonathan Richman

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Jonathan Richman was born May 15th 1951 to a Jewish family in Natick, Massachusetts. He began playing music and writing his own songs in the mid-1960s. In 1969 he moved to New York City, where he spent time living on the couch of The Velvet Underground’s manager and working odd jobs while trying to break in as a professional musician. Failing at this, he returned to Boston. Having moved back, he formed The Modern Lovers, a proto-punk garage rock band. Other notable members of the group were keyboard player Jerry Harrison and drummer David Robinson, who later joined Talking Heads and The Cars, respectively. In 1972 they recorded a series of songs with John Cale producing, including the seminal “Roadrunner,” which were eventually released on the group’s sole album, Modern Lovers, in 1975.

Shortly after these recordings were made, Richman broke up the band and embarked on his long and eclectic solo career. For a while he continued recording under the “Modern Lovers” name (or rather, the more telling “Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers” appellation), but all the members were different, and in the new incarnation were essentially his backing band. The sound of the new group was considerably different as well, focusing on acoustic instrumentation rather than the prior electric guitars and drums. The album Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers was released in January 1977, Rock and Roll with the Modern Lovers followed a month later, and Modern Lovers Live in 1978.

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singer-songwriter, indie, proto-punk, rock, punk
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I, Jonathan
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Top Tracks

1	Egyptian Reggae	153
2	I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar full track	145
3	That Summer Feeling full track	105
4	Velvet Underground full track	84
5	Roadrunner	67
6	Parties in the U.S.A. full track	64
7	You Can't Talk to the Dude full track	59
8	No One Was Like Vermeer	50
9	Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild	48
10	A Higher Power full track	47
10	When She Kisses Me full track	47
12	Rooming House on Venice Beach full track	46
13	The Neighbors full track	41
13	Vampire Girl full track	41
13	New England	41

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rblakeisgreat wrote:
10 days ago

modern lovers tshirt... here! -------> http://rose-blake.co.uk/shop.htm

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tigerM89 wrote:
November 2009

12 Straight Hours of Jonathan Richman On WHRB, 95.3fm in Boston. "Twice a year we have special programming called "Orgy Season" in which we play solid blocks of themed music (an artist, a record label, some more obscure theme - you can find info about them on our website: http://whrb.org/orgies.html.) This year, on Dec. 2nd, from 5am to 5pm, we're going to be doing a Jonathan Richman Orgy and playing as much of his music as we can fit straight through". It can be heard at 95.3fm in the greater Boston area, or online at whrb.org.

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hape60 wrote:
October 2009

the bern concert last monday was worth the waiting!

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kingrizla wrote:
October 2009

Ice Cream Man is 26 places lower than it should be.

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borntoitlejonet wrote:
September 2009

I WAS DANCING IN THE LESBIAN BAR AOUH AOUH

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mortytoad wrote:
September 2009

The "real" King.

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ForbittenLover wrote:
August 2009

perskeles

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austinonfire wrote:
July 2009

the most real person to have ever lived

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hape60 wrote:
July 2009

he's always giving concerts but never comes to switzerland! i saw him for the last and only time in zürich, 1987. please stop on by! hahaha

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LongLiveTheD wrote:
June 2009

jews fucking rule. [2]

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willywonka091 wrote:
June 2009

jews fucking rule.

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iFailedPE wrote:
June 2009

OMG. I just started listening to this guy and he's AMAZING. ♥

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oliversorbas wrote:
May 2009

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

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PolegaR wrote:
April 2009

oh god! how i like this guy! he's amazing! just it! fantastic.. oh shit! i would like to be in your show.

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LiamBrady80 wrote:
March 2009

Saw him live yesterday - what an experience! More than amazing!

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CouponOnMyGrave wrote:
March 2009

Any ideas how I could get into a 21+ show put on by Jonathan? Does he have an address I could send a letter to? :)

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motherknowsbest wrote:
March 2009

he must be like the coolest cat ever.

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TheVeryMost wrote:
March 2009

It's hard for me to put into words how his music makes me feel. It's amazing.

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vandaleyes wrote:
March 2009

so i'm pretty much in love with jonathan richman. if everyone listened to i, jonathan the world would be a much happier place.

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aphidsss wrote:
March 2009

great dude

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Videos

Events

Jan 24 Jonathan Richman RUBBER GLOVES, Denton, TX 76205, United States
1 shout | 8 attendees
Feb 2 Jonathan Richman The Social, Orlando FL, United States
Add shout | 10 attendees
Feb 3 Jonathan Richman Common Grounds, Gainesville, FL, United States
Add shout | 5 attendees