The Modern Lovers
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The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s.
The original band, billed simply as “The Modern Lovers”, existed from 1970–74 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks with drummer David Robinson (later of The Cars) and keyboardist Jerry Harrison (later of Talking Heads). The sound of the band owed a great deal to the influence of The Velvet Underground, and is now considered one of the leading bands of the “proto-punk” scene. It pointed the way towards much of the Punk, New Wave and Indie rock music of later decades. Their only album, the eponymous The Modern Lovers, contained stylistically unprecedented songs about dating awkwardness, growing up in Massachusetts, and love of life and the USA.
After recording several tracks in 1972 and ‘73, including “I’m Straight” (referring here to abstaining from drug use), and “Government Center”, Richman wanted to scrap the tracks that were recorded and start over with a mellower, more lyrical sound. The rest of the band, while not opposed to such a shift later, insisted at the time that they record as they already sounded. They continued and eventually, the first album was released in 1976. Long before its release, however, creative differences split the band apart.
The original band, billed simply as “The Modern Lovers”, existed from 1970–74 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks with drummer David Robinson (later of The Cars) and keyboardist Jerry Harrison (later of Talking Heads). The sound of the band owed a great deal to the influence of The Velvet Underground, and is now considered one of the leading bands of the “proto-punk” scene. It pointed the way towards much of the Punk, New Wave and Indie rock music of later decades. Their only album, the eponymous The Modern Lovers, contained stylistically unprecedented songs about dating awkwardness, growing up in Massachusetts, and love of life and the USA.
After recording several tracks in 1972 and ‘73, including “I’m Straight” (referring here to abstaining from drug use), and “Government Center”, Richman wanted to scrap the tracks that were recorded and start over with a mellower, more lyrical sound. The rest of the band, while not opposed to such a shift later, insisted at the time that they record as they already sounded. They continued and eventually, the first album was released in 1976. Long before its release, however, creative differences split the band apart.
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The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers
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Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $6.99
- 7digital $9.99
- iTunes $9.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $10.86
- eBay Search
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Precise Modern Lovers Order
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Live At The Longbranch And More
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Shoutbox
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LockeColeX wrote:
I could drink up everything you have.
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zakoshanskiy wrote:
вокал алкашский, заебись
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Dekkul wrote:
@genghis: Actually it sounds more like VU, but you have a point.
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Nakkinak wrote:
Jonathan, be my Girlfren
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Nakkinak wrote:
I'M IN LOVE WITH ROCK AND ROLL
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genghisjhuan wrote:
It sound like The Doors with Iggy Pop singing instead of Morrison
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NicDowse wrote:
M O D E R N . W O R L D
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TA11en42 wrote:
last.fm plays some amazing live cuts by the modern lovers on the radio station. check them out when you get some time!
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francostagni wrote:
Does anyone know from where this version of "A Plea for Tenderness" comes from?? : http://youtu.be/87eocBt4PtA
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annaphallactic wrote:
Photos of the Modern Lovers always crack me up. Richman sticks out like a sore thumb. Love this band more than my own life.
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monsieurcheeks wrote:
Hippie Jaawnny
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KPtheCoolCat wrote:
fuck hippie johnny...
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gertski wrote:
I'm in love with Rock n Roll!
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staywaivy wrote:
I'm certainly not stoned, like hippie Johnny is.[2]
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iamholgerczukay wrote:
I'm glad to see the irony was noted a few times by previous "shouters."
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iamholgerczukay wrote:
I love that they are tagged: proto-punk, punk, and post-punk. I'm new to them, but impressed that they can be the past, present, and future of punk.
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IAJP wrote:
old world and modern world are two absolute classic tracks. hospital though admittedly is one of the strongest things richman has ever done, really powerful.
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Tapiocahead wrote:
1-2-3-4-5-6
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TheRollingBones wrote:
Hospital makes me tear up every time I listen to it. It's just gorgeous.
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otsukaretimu wrote:
Any track where the intro is him talking is solid gold.
Videos
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The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner…
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Jonathan Richman & The Modern…
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The Shins - Someone I Care About
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Recent Activity
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andizc22, o0I88I0o, Technodick and 16 other people added The Modern Lovers to their libraries. yesterday evening
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dev_artrosis tagged The Modern Lovers with hameryka and garage rock. last week
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CrimsonKing895 added The Modern Lovers to CrimsonKing895’s library. last week
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ModsMomoko tagged The Modern Lovers with rock, post-punk, punk and 2 other tags. last week
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ModsMomoko, janadin, conkey1 and 18 other people added The Modern Lovers to their libraries. last week
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beyondwithin wrote about The Modern Lovers in The Prefab Messiahs - garage/post-punk/psych oddity w/ new 12" of 1982-83 recordings!. last month
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lanastasija, Pokerkid10, run_on_sentence and 9 other people added The Modern Lovers to their libraries. last month
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RockinKurta added The Modern Lovers to RockinKurta’s library. last month
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RockinKurta tagged The Modern Lovers with ‘proto-punk’. last month
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Andrey_Romanov tagged The Modern Lovers with ‘proto-punk’. last month
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