modern lovers - my hometown heroes.
my friend's friend Jonathan Richman to his Thanks giving last year. According to my friend who spend several hours with him, Jonathan Richman has no idea how has affected music. He was very shy guy, who didn't really want to talk about music and when he did, he minimized his contribution. It must have been weird having him at the dinner table. I bet he ate with gusto damn you bet!
I can't imagine the existence of punk as we know it without 'Roadrunner' and 'Modern World'. The Modern Lovers were the antithesis of everything that had become bad about rock and roll in the mid 70's. In the midst of the overbloated egos, odd song structures, and heavy drugs use, came these straight, slightly nerdy, suburban Boston kids who played real rock and roll. The Ramones are credited with stripping rock and roll back the basics, but the Modern Lovers did it first.