PUNK ROCK DRESS CODE IS AN OXYMORON

Gads! I was getting my hair cut yesterday in my buddy's garage. He used to be in punk bands so talk generally falls on the subject at some point. Yesterday in the course of our conversation I found out that he had never heard the Modern Lovers or the Saints (above). What? We can't be having that. So, these suckers have been posted before but it's clear there's work to do.

Here's a couple from both bands. Note: If you dig them and want to go a step further, start with their first albums especially in the case of the Modern Lovers. Anything after their first album is done by a different band, that pales in comparison.

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Listen:
The Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso mp3 at Internet Archive
The Modern Lovers - She Cracked mp3 at Rising Storm
The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner mp3 at Waking Up To
The Saints - (I'm) Stranded mp3 at Internet Archive
The Saints - This Perfect Day mp3 at Internet Archive

WELL, HE IS NOW.

I almost always have multiple books going. One in the car, one in the alley, and so on. One of the books I'm in the middle of is Life With Picasso by Françoise Gilot, one of his mistresses (effectively his common law wife). I'm only a third of the way through it and, though Gilot doesn't come right out and say it, it pretty much makes it seem like Picasso was indeed an asshole.



I felt like hearing the Modern Lovers' "Pablo Picasso" again. I've posted it a few times in the past. I've got the CD and the vinyl, but it was easier to look for it here. This wasn't meant to be a repost, I really was going to just listen to it. Guess what? All of the old links were dead. Well, I wouldn't be doing my job if there isn't a functioning link to the Modern Lovers' "Pablo Picasso" here, would I? Gotta have it. Whatever. There's a few other Modern Lovers things down there too, including that link to Aquarium Drunkard that has an old live show, circa 1970/71.

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Listen:
The Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso mp3 at Internet Archive
The Modern Lovers - She Cracked mp3 at Rising Storm
The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner mp3 at Waking Up To
The live thing:
The Modern Lovers - Live at Stonehenge Club at Aquarium Drinkard Two sets in one zip. 1970-71 Ipswich, MA.

YOU SHOULD HAVE THIS

Over at Facebook a friend dragged me into a thing where you post the cover of one of your top ten favorite LPs every day for ten days. The catch is that they have to still be in your regular rotation. Today was day three and it was the LP above, the only good Modern Lovers LP. The best stuff on it was produced by John Cale. Here's two of them.

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Listen:
Modern Lovers - She Cracked mp3 at The Rising Storm
Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso mp3 at Sutros (?)

THE IMPOSSIBLE COVER

Jeez, has anyone ever covered the Modern Lovers' "Roadrunner" and even come close to the feel of the original? I've yet to hear a really good one. Joan Jett got the song on national TV, bless her heart, but even her version might have been better left undone. Yo la Tengo's version has a nice guitar freakout, but the rest is pretty bland as far as covers go. How hard can it be? It's a simple song. Just turn it up and go at it! And don't let John Lydon get anywhere near you.

He's had sufficient time to learn this one.

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Listen:
The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner mp3 at Waking Up To
Yo la Tengo - Roadrunner (streaming) at YouTube
Video:
Joan Jett - Roadrunner at YouTube Live on Letterman
Visit:
Past Modern Lovers posts Scroll down the page, a lot of good stuff.

TURN IT DOWN? UH, NO.

Yep, these guys have been here before and it's really all on the strength of one LP, their debut. It was pieced together from multiple sessions, but holds together well; it is a great album. If it was all you were exposed to, you would, like I was, be licking your chops for round two. Take a listen to "She Cracked" or "Pablo Picasso" (below) and you'll see why. Having just the one album to go on, you'd assume they were really badass. I did. To further blur things, the only image of the band on the cover was lifted from the poster above. Not very telling, but still registering as somewhere left of tame.

Then the second LP came out, with a different band and a telling title. It was credited to Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers. (Raised eyebrow.) It wasn't bad, but it wasn't even the same type of music, not even close. It was practically a kids record. After hearing it and subsequent albums, you, like me, would finally come to the conclusion that he's never going back, and that the first LP was one of those freak albums. Credit has to be given John Cale, who produced the first session that included the best songs on the record. He wrangled something out of them that no one else did. Enough so that a second session with him was aborted because Richman wanted to take it down a notch.

Felice, far left. Smiling fool Richman, center

Here's a few cuts from that first LP, and another 1971 live cut with John Felice, later of the Real Kids, playing with them. He was only in the band for about two months. You fiends may want to check out the recently posted collection of live cuts, dating from  1978 to 1984 at Big O Zine, plus a bonus alternate version of "Modern World" produced by Kim Fowley. And there's also another link to two live sets at Aquarium Drunkard, from 1970 and '71.

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Listen:
Modern Lovers - She Cracked mp3 at The Rising Storm
Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso mp3 at DJNoDJ
Modern Lovers - Roadrunner mp3 at BlahblahblahScience
Modern Lovers - I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu Bonus cut on reissue
Modern Lovers, with John Felice - Wake Up Sleepyhead (Live '71) at Still in Rock
More early live:
The Modern Lovers - Live at Stonhenge Club at Aquarium Drunkard Two sets in one zip. 1970-71 Ipswich, MA.
The Modern Lovers - Various live cuts, '74 - '80, at Big O Zine Plus an alternative version of "Modern World", produced by Kim Fowley.
Video:
Jonathan Richman - That Summer Feeling at YouTube Followed by interview, with John Cale and, briefly, Jello Biafra. After the second album, sappiness in effect.
From the same show:
John Cale and Jonathan Richman interview part 1 at YouTube Cale sings
John Cale and Jonathan Richman interview part 2 at YouTube
Visit:
The Modern Lovers - Extensive profile at Rock In Boston
The Modern Lovers - Album entry at Wikipedia

TO FALSE STARTS

If ever there was a band that put out one great LP and subsequently took a shit, it was the Modern Lovers. Their first LP is great, from beginning to end. It's hard to believe that it was intended as demos. Recorded in 1971 and 1972, the sessions for all but one of the songs were funded by two labels that hoping to sign them, with one of the sessions produced by John Cale. After taking roughly a year to make a decision about which label to sign with, they decided on Warners, and went back in the studio with Cale for a proper recording session. This is right about the moment they took a shit. Sometime during the course of that year between sessions, Jonathan Richman went kinda goofy, as in not crazy, but literally goofy. He didn't want the band to sound as they did, and was leaning towards lighter weight stuff, songs like "Abominable Snowman in the Market", "Hey There Little Insect", and "Here Come the Martian Martians". The rest of the band, the label, and Cale had a collective "WTF?" moment. Things for the original Modern Lovers were over, and everyone went their own way. Richman got his mellow cake, and the other members would end up in the Talking Heads (Jerry Harrison, keyboards), DMZ and the Cars (David Robinson, drums), the Neccessaries (Ernie Brooks, bass) and the Real Kids (intermittent part time member John Felice, guitar).

You can read a lot more about the the history of the Modern Lovers at Rock In Boston (excellent), and Wikipedia and such. The one tidbit I found interesting was that at the time of the aborted recording sessions, Richman was friends with Gram Parsons. They shared the same manager, Matthew Kaufman, and were his only two clients. Good enough friends that they were playing miniature golf together the day before Parsons died. They had reportedly also discussed working together. Had that happened, would Parsons had cleaned up? Shunned Keith Richards? Would he have lived? Would he have gone the direction of Richman, and put out his own childrens records for adults? A whole chapter of the lexicon of cool would have to be rewritten. The horror.

If you're already familiar with the first LP and dig it, you need to check the live thing at Aquarium Drinkard, two sets from 1971 and '72. It may not surface again.

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Listen:
Modern Lovers - She Cracked mp3 at The Rising Storm
Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso mp3 at DJNoDJ
Modern Lovers - Roadrunner mp3 at BlahblahblahScience
Modern Lovers - I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu Bonus cut on reissue
Very early live:
The Modern Lovers - Live at Stonhenge Club at Aquarium Drinkard Two sets in one zip. 1970-71 Ipswich, MA.
Visit:
The Modern Lovers - Extensive profile at Rock In Boston
The Modern Lovers - Album entry at Wikipedia

NEVER THOUGHT I'D HEAR THIS

I don't have to have everything. Still, I marvel at what slowly creeps out over the years. Take this sucker for instance. A couple of Modern Lovers sets from two different nights, by the classic line up (Jonathan Richman, Ernie Brooks, Jerry Harrison and David Robinson). It's bootleg quality, but if you like their first LP (you had better know that one), it's worth a listen. These are from 1970-71, and the Cale produced stuff on that first LP was done in 1972, just as a reference point. In any case, if you don't know the band at all, you may want to sample the single songs below. If you're still not interested, there's still another live set by the Velvet Underground at the another post. This is what I mean. So much stuff has crept out over the years, that a Velvet Underground live tape has started to become a ho-hum moment.

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Listen:
Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso mp3 at DJNoDJ
Modern Lovers - She Cracked mp3 at The Rising Storm  
Modern Lovers - I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
The Live Stuff:
The Modern Lovers - Live at Stonhenge Club at Aquarium Drinkard Two sets in one zip. 1970-71 Ipswich, MA.
The Velvet Underground - Live at the Boston Tea Party at Aquarium Drunkard 1969

UNLIKE PICASSO, IGGY WAS

The five piece Modern Lovers, with John Felice rejoining, lasted for two months (post-first LP)

Boy, oh boy, talk about running to a safe harbor. I ran into a cover of the Modern Lovers' "Pablo Picasso," by Iggy Pop. Four word appraisal: it flat out sucks. If it were the early Stooges doing it, I might be typing something different. I suppose it might appeal to Iggy Pop completists, but I'm by no means one of them. I had no choice. Had to hear me some of the good ol' repetitive, plodding sounds of the original version, with a slight detour through some other early Modern Lovers songs. Do yourself a favor, just get the first Modern Lovers LP. Though now watered down by a sub-par bonus cuts, the original nine cuts are still there, so in lieu of having the original LP (which is undoubtedly available by now in it's original version on vinyl), you can always reconstruct it digitally. Nine songs. Far and away, the best stuff Jonathan Richman ever did.

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Listen:
Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso mp3 at DJNoDJ (Rad guitar at 1;34)
Modern Lovers - Roadrunner mp3 at BlahblahblahScience
Modern Lovers - She Cracked mp3 at The Rising Storm
Modern Lovers - Girlfriend mp3 at 4Shared.com
One of the added cuts:
Modern Lovers - I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Warning Will Robinson!:
Iggy Pop - Pablo Picasso mp3 at Berkelet Place
Video:
Jonathan Richman talks about "Girlfriend" (while rocking Cosby sweater) at YouTube Note: starts at 1:00
Jonathan Richman - Live, Oct 21,2011 at JojoBlob
Visit:
Modern Lovers at Wikipedia

TAKE THAT, ARENA ROCKERS!

In 1976, before punk rock really took off (at least in the states), the first Modern Lovers album was pretty much required listening to anyone growing dissatisfied with what is now known as classic rock. The only proper Modern Lovers album with the original line up (which included Jonathan Richman, a future member of the Talking Heads and a future member of...yikes, the Cars), it loosely updated the repetitive Velvet Underground vibe, with understated organ and some amazingly fuzzy guitar parts (listen to Pablo Picasso). Though later repackaged with alternative takes and demos, the original version with nine songs was, and still is, one of the most influential proto-punk albums ever. It's pretty amazing stuff, especially when you consider that some of the songs date back as far as 1970.

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The Modern Lovers - Someone I Care About mp3 (right click to save) at Electric Adolescence
The Modern Lovers - She Cracked mp3 (right click to save) at Recidivism.org
The Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso mp3 (right click to save) at Letters Have No Arms
The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner mp3 (right click to save) at One Sweet Song

WORLD'S LONGEST SOPHMORE SLUMP CONTINUES

"Well this sure sucks." That's what ran through my head the first time I heard the second Modern Lovers album. Actually, the second album was credited to "Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers." That should have been a tip-off.

.

Not that the second one wasn't entertaining. It was, as were all of Richman's subsequent records (in various solo and Modern Lovers incarnations). But the first one had a mood, a droning vibe that just plodded along, Velvet Underground style, and was both brooding and personal. In comparison, the second sounded almost like a children's album.

.

Richman's been at it for over thirty years now and has yet to come close to the overall feel of the debut album. It's all there on that first one. Jerry Harrison's organ, sometimes haunting, is always lurking. The pace of the album is steady, some songs more uptempo but all have this...feel. The guitar work, the most underrated ingredient, was amazing without being flashy or, technically, too good. (If you're gonna mention the John Cale connection, I think we can assume that it's common knowledge. Though, with thirty years, he's had plenty of time to rope Cale in for a second go, if he really wanted it.)

.

Everything after his first album is just goofy shit, if you ask me. Songs about chewing gum wrappers, abominable snowmen, martians, and now a recent ditty about cell phones. While admittedly clever, it's oh-so-close to a final nail (the lyrics of which I agree with 100%, though.). The one thing that saves it? Who else would write a song about not needing a cell phone? Therein lies the appeal of Jonathan Richman. But, still, I'm running low on patience.

.

From the first album:

The Modern Lovers - Old World mp3 at Siblingshot on the Bleachers

The Modern Lovers - Hospital mp3 at You Ain't No Picasso

The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner mp3 at You Ain't No Picasso

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After the first album:

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers - That Summer Feeling mp3 at Tsururadio

Jonathan Richman - You Can Have a Cell Phone, That's Okay, But Not Me mp3 at Monkey X