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JONATHAN
RICHMAN
"I'm always going to have to know,
I'm important in your life"
- Jonathan Richman from "Important
In Your Life" 1976.
Jonathan Richman is undoubtedly the coolest
of the uncool in popular music. For three decades now Jonathan Richman
has enjoyed cult status amongst the lonely, misunderstood, sentimental
and sad romantics amongst us! A hack from the NME recently spoke of his
"service to frustrated boys everywhere". Yes, I can subscribe to that.
There's no harm in admitting that in the company of Jonathan Richman's
music. This is not the world of the manic depressive student bed-sit wastelands
inhabited by Smiths fans in the 1980's.
His anti-rock stance and lo-fi attitude
has made him an unlikely punk hero. Revered in music by the Rockingbirds
in their glowing tribute 'Jonathan Jonathan' and paid homage by the BMX
Bandits in their version of Jonathan's 'That Summer Feeling'.
His naive charm and unrelenting childlike
vision has captured the hearts of many through goofy titled tracks like
"Ice Cream Man", "Hey There Little Insect", "Abominable Snowman in the
Market" and "I'm a Little Aeroplane".
In the sleeve notes for a Berserkley retrospective
'23 great recordings by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers' released
by Castle in 1993 Jonathan puts his unusual, leftfield traits down to
his mother.
"My parents would sing little melodies
to me once in a while when I was 2 or 3 years old and the kind of melodies
that my mother liked and her sense of wit and funny rhymes have found
their way into the music I make."
His music styles have varied over the years.
From emulating his childhood heroes the Velvet Underground, flirting with
garage rock, country (captured at best on his excellent 'Jonathan Goes
Country' album), bubblegum pop, surf, latin, doo-wop to blue eyed soul.
Born May 15, 1951 in Boston (eulogised in
many of his best work such as 'New England'), Massachusetts, Richman began
playing guitar at the age of 15, and within a year was making his first
public appearances.
In 1969 he relocated to New York, the home
of the Velvet Underground and spent his first two weeks in the city sleeping
on the Velvets' manager's couch searching for a break.
You will either love of hate Jonathan Richman.
First impressions may throw many forever off the scent. The simple songs
and off beat nasal vocal tones require a lot of tender loving care before
the world of Jonathan Richman appears to be a more endearing place to
be than the one we are forever seeking to escape. If that's frustration,
I want some of that!
For no better example of how Richman has
captured the hearts of a cult following you must listen to one of the
live tracks featured on the aforementioned Castle compilation. Listening
to the endearing response of the crowd to Jonathan's 'My little kookenhaken'
you cannot help but fall in love to this special naïve charm as the
crowd breaks down with spontaneous bouts of laughter. When he sings a
silly dainty little song about a five-year-old Jonathan falling for a
five-year-old girl he knew as his little kookenhaken, the crowd full of
normal, respectable adults collapse! Just simple revel in the delights
the songs absurd lyrical imagery conjures up when Jonathan teases the
crowd with seemingly made up on the spot lyrics.
"Kookenhaken" sing the backing singers.
"Do you like that sound? I don't know what
it means!" replies Jonathan.
He moved back to Boston in 1970, where he
formed the Modern Lovers who eventually would be acknowledged as the origin
of punk by the bands who were eventually feted with that tag in the mid
seventies.
The first incarnation of the band lasted
until 1973 without releasing any records but Richman had already recorded
some of his most well known work such as 'Roadrunner' (which was finally
a hit in the UK in 1977) and the Velvets like 'Pablo Picasso' .
In 1973 John Cale produced what should have
been the debut Modern Lovers album for Warner Brothers but the album was
shelved and the band prematurely dropped.
Richman formed a new stable line up with
guitarist Leroy Radcliffe, Rubinoos bassist Greg "Curly" Keranen and drummer
David Robinson. In 1976, they debuted with 'Jonathan Richman and the Modern
Lovers' on Beserkley. The album emphasised the doo-wop flavour and wry
pop melodies that remained hallmarks of his career featuring standout
tracks 'New England', 'Important in your Life, Abominable snowman in the
market', 'Hey there little insect' . The album has since been re-issued
by Creation off shoot Rev Ola.
The same year saw the six unreleased John
Cale produced tracks plus four others released on an album simply entitled
'The Modern Lovers'. The album is cited as a punk classic featuring angst-ridden
adolescent tales married to stripped-down, minimalistic three chord pounding
rock & roll. This release has been re-issued by Rhino.
The next Beserkely release was 'Rock &
Roll with the Modern Lovers' (with D. Sharpe replacing Robinson on drums)
and the band scored a major European hit with the instrumental "Egyptian
Reggae". This third album spurned many more choice cuts such as 'Dodge
Veg-O-Matic', 'Ice Cream Man' and 'Rollercoaster by the Sea'.
A 1978 live album 'Modern Lovers Live' recorded
during a UK tour included the aforementioned 'My Little Kookenhaken' and
an bouncy eight-minute jaunt through the classic 'Ice Cream Man' as the
many highlights.
A year later, Richman released his final
Berserkley release 'Back in your life' before eventually going solo after
a period of self-imposed exile. He resurfaced in 1983 with Jonathan Sings!
A series of strong pop records followed, including 1985's Rockin' and
Romance, 1986's It's Time for Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers (recorded
with Brian Wilson song-writing partner Andy Paley), and Modern Lovers
88. In 1990, he released the self-explanatory Jonathan Goes Country.
The album features some storming Jonathan
classics such as 'Since She Started To Ride'. It's an endearing, funny
tale about a lover's obsessive preference for her horse over her frustrated
partner.
"Well I don't see her much since she started
with horses, no I don't see her much, since she started to ride" yearns
our lonesome cowboy.
"Horses, humans if she had to rank it. You'd
bet on they that canter and them that need fly spray"
These are absolutely hilarious, genius lyrics,
typical of Jonathan on his finest form.
'Another classic cut is 'You're crazy for
taking the bus' ("I'm crazy, so what's the fuss?" sings Jonathan playfully
about his preferred mode of transport!). The country-tinged flavour only
adds to the jovial mood Jonathan creates along with his backing band on
fine form.
'I, Jonathan' also features strong material
in the shape of 'That Summer Feeling', 'I Was Dancing in a Lesbian Bar'
and the tribute to his primary influence 'Velvet Underground'. Later,
he made another left turn with 1993's Jonathan, Te Vas a Emocionar!, a
collection of Latin-influenced songs performed entirely in Spanish.
He made a cameo appearance in the film 'Dumb
& Dumber' several years ago and in 1998, he was also prominently
featured in the hit film comedy There's Something About Mary. "I'm
So Confused" is his latest acclaimed solo release on Neil Young's Vapor
Records.
Jonathan Richman work is refreshingly
unique. In a rock world that often takes itself far too seriously, Jonathan
stands alone. Going against the grain but always singing with the same
passion and belief that belongs to all the musical greats. Witty, fresh,
innocent and enormously fun, a true maverick, nobody can come up with
song titles as wacky as Jonathan's or sing songs about seemingly trivial,
nonsensical subjects and sound so real.
Album Discography
Jonathan Richman albums are always difficult to find
in your local record shops despite the fact that many of the albums have
been re-issued on other labels such as Rev Ola, Rhino and Line. I have
been looking for years in vain to add JR releases to my record collection
and so far only managed to find a few albums in second hand record stores
and paid full whack for the odd one or two I have found in the bigger
record shops. Compilations are easier to find than actual albums but if
you want to avoid buying the same material over again and miss out on
the many hidden gems, stick to the original albums. Even at local record
fairs I have struggled to find even one JR related item. On-line stores
CD Now and Amazon do stock a large number of JR releases than you would
find in stock in the shops but if you are looking to complete your collection
you will have a long, hard but in the end a largely satisfying journey
to undertake.
- The Modern Lovers : The Modern
Lovers
- Jonathan Richman & The Modern
Lovers : Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
- Jonathan Richman & The Modern
Lovers : Rock'n'Roll With The Modern Lovers
- The Modern Lovers : The Modern
Lovers Live
- Jonathan Richman & The Modern
Lovers : Back in Your Life
- Jonathan Richman & The Modern
Lovers : The Jonathan Richman Songbook
- Jonathan Richman & The Modern
Lovers : Jonathan Sings!
- Jonathan Richman & The Modern
Lovers : Rockin' & Romance
- The Modern Lovers : The Original
Modern Lovers
- Jonathan Richman & The Modern
Lovers : It's Time For...
- Jonathan Richman & The Modern
Lovers : Modern Lovers 88
- Jonathan Richman & The Modern
Lovers : The Berserkley Years-The Best of Jonathan Richman & The
Modern Lovers
- Jonathan Richman : I am an American
- Jonathan Richman : Rock Myself
- Jonathan Richman : Jonathan Richman
- Jonathan Richman : Jonathan Goes
Country
- Jonathan Richman & The Modern
Lovers : 23 Great Recordings by Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
- Jonathan Richman : Having A Party
With Jonathan Richman
- Jonathan Richman : I, Jonathan
- Jonathan Richman : !Jonathan,
Te Vas A Emocionar!
- The Modern Lovers :Precise Modern
Lovers Order Live in Beserkley & Boston
- The Modern Lovers : Live at the
Long Branch Saloon
- Jonathan Richman : A Plea for
Tenderness
- Jonathan Richman : You Must Ask
the Heart
- Jonathan Richman : Surrender
To Jonathan
- Jonathan Richman: I am must be
the king
- Jonathan Richman : I'm so confused
JR Links
Here are a few Jonathan Richman related web sites
to check out:
The Abominable Lesbian Vampire Cappuccino Bar in
Cyberspace:
http://www.base.com/jonathan/jonathan.html
Vapor Records:
http://www.vaporrecords.com
Jonathan Richman Rockin' Lyrics Pages:
http://members.aol.com/gustoeater/jojo/
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Page updated: 20th February 1999
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