Jonathan Michael Richman is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970, he founded the Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key acoustic and electric backing. He is known for his wide-eyed, unaffected, and childlike outlook, and music that, while rooted in rock and roll, is influenced by music from around the world.
The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970 to 1974 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks with drummer David Robinson and keyboardist Jerry Harrison. The sound of the band owed a great deal to the influence of the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, and is now sometimes classified as "proto-punk". It pointed the way towards much of the punk rock, new wave, alternative and indie rock music of later decades. Their only album, the eponymous The Modern Lovers, contained idiosyncratic songs about dating awkwardness, growing up in Massachusetts, love of life, and the USA.
Not to be confused with Talking Heads '77
Kim Vincent Fowley was an American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed The Runaways in the 1970s. He has been described as "one of the most colorful characters in the annals of rock & roll", as well as "a shadowy cult figure well outside the margins of the mainstream".
The GTOs were an all-girl group from the Los Angeles area, specifically the Sunset Strip scene. The group was active for two and a half years (1968–1970), followed by one reunion performance in 1974. Their only album, Permanent Damage, was produced by Frank Zappa and released in 1969.
Beserkley Records was an American independent record label based in Berkeley, California, from 1973 to 1984. Beserkley is usually regarded as a power pop and rock and roll label. During the 1970s, the label released albums by Earth Quake, Greg Kihn, Jonathan Richman, and The Modern Lovers, the Rubinoos, and the Tyla Gang. Several other artists appeared on singles, or on compilation albums. From 1980 to its dissolution in 1984, Beserkley was a one-artist label, the artist being Greg Kihn.
"Pablo Picasso" is a song written by Jonathan Richman for the proto punk group the Modern Lovers. The song was recorded in 1972 at Whitney Studios in Los Angeles, and produced by John Cale, but was not released until 1976, on the Modern Lovers' self-titled debut album. The recording featured Richman, Ernie Brooks, Jerry Harrison (bass) and David Robinson (drums), with Cale playing the repetitive hammered piano part.
Helen of Troy is the sixth solo studio album by the Welsh rock musician John Cale, released in November 1975. It was the last of his three studio albums for Island Records.
"Roadrunner" is a song written by Jonathan Richman and recorded in various versions by Richman and his band, in most cases credited as the Modern Lovers. Richman has described it as an ode to Massachusetts Route 128.
The Rubinoos are an American power pop band that formed in 1970 in Berkeley, California. They are perhaps best known for their singles "I Think We're Alone Now", "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (1979), and for the theme song to the 1984 film Revenge of the Nerds. Although "I Think We're Alone Now" has been their highest charting hit, reaching No.45 in 1977, the group has a significant enduring cult following among fans of the power pop genre.
Matthew "King" Kaufman is an American record producer who was the owner of leading independent label Beserkley Records in Berkeley, California from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, successfully producing records by Jonathan Richman, Greg Kihn and others.
Earth Quake is an American power pop band, formed in the San Francisco area in 1966, who released several albums in the 1970s, mostly on Beserkley Records, a company which they were involved in setting up.
Sean Tyla was an English rock guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter, sometimes known as the "Godfather of Boogie". Best known for his work with Ducks Deluxe and Tyla Gang, he also played with Help Yourself, Joan Jett, and Deke Leonard, and appeared solo.
Kenneth Benjamin Laguna is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician, best known for his work with Joan Jett.
Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers is the first album by American rock band Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, released by Beserkley Records in July 1976.
Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers is the second album by American rock band Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, released by Beserkley Records in 1977.
The Original Modern Lovers is an album of songs recorded by American rock band the Modern Lovers. The sessions were produced by Kim Fowley in 1973 and first released in 1981 by Fowley's short-lived Mohawk Records label, a subsidiary of Bomp! Records.
Allan Mason is an American record producer and A&R executive.
Back in Your Life is the third album by American rock band Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, released in February 1979 by Beserkley Records. Despite being credited to Richman and his backing band, the album only features the backing band on half of the album.
Modern Lovers 88 is a studio album by American singer-songwriter Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers. Recorded and released in late 1987, it became Richman's final recording alongside a backing band credited as the Modern Lovers. After a period of frequent switches from one record company to another, he released Modern Lovers 88 through Rounder Records, where he remained until the mid-1990s.
