Jonathan Richman

BIOGRAPHY

Jonathan Richman founded The Modern Lovers in Natick, Massachusetts, active 1970–1974 and again 1976–1988, recording for Beserkley, Bomp!, Sire, Rough Trade, Twin/Tone, and Virgin. The band's best-known song, "Roadrunner," was recorded in April 1972 but not released until October 1976, backed with "Pablo Picasso"; it's classified as proto-punk, garage rock, and rock and roll. After the Modern Lovers' long-delayed debut album finally appeared and drew critical notice, Richman returned to the studio with songs he'd stockpiled for years. He later reworked his live approach, moving to acoustic guitar alongside drummer Tommy Larkins, and matured into a spare balladeer who sang in Spanish as well as English. He reached far wider audiences after his musical commentary appeared in the hit film There's Something About Mary, and a biography published decades into his career covers a run by then already spanning three decades.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Duke University Press devoted a full book to "Roadrunner" alone, arguing the song's cruise-down-the-highway wonder radiates far beyond the Boston beltway it namechecks. AllMusic frames Richman's arc as proto-punk bandleader turned acoustic balladeer, a hairpin evolution few of his CBGB-era peers attempted. The Point Magazine's critical read on his career notes that his decades-long, self-directed path let him look back on his youthful work with an unsparing spotlight — rare for an artist whose early songs still define him to casual listeners.

GEORGE'S PLAYS

George has played this artist 5 times.

PLAYED ON WOKE1

• That Summer Feeling2 PLAYS
• Dancin' Late At Night1 PLAY
• Velvet Underground1 PLAY