Backseat Sandbar

Jonathan Richman, the mastmind of one of my all-time favorite bands, the Modern Lovers, is coming to Newport, Kentucky’s Southgate House on October 24th in support of Because Her Beauty Is Raw & Wild (sample)! Influencing both the post punk scene that they started in, and the new wave scene that followed, The Modern Lovers debut album is widely hailed as the definitive Modern Lovers album, ranked by Rolling Stone in 2003 among the top 500 albums of all time (although at 381, much lower than it should have been). Jonathan has been covered by everyone from the Sex Pistols to Joan Jett to John Cale (of the Velvet Underground), and is reportedly the reason John Flansburgh (of They Might Be Giants) began playing music in the first place. If by some cruel twist of fate you don’t actually know the Modern Lovers, I highly suggest learning them in the next few months before Jonathan comes to town, but if you like bands like Violent Femmes, then you’re going to love the Modern Lovers.  My strongest recommendation would have to be Hospital, or the track added for the re-release, Dignified & Old, although it’s safe to say that Roadrunner is viewed as their most famous song.

Granted, most everything I’ve said is about the Modern Lovers rather than Jonathan’s solo stuff. While I won’t go nearly so far as to say it’s just as good, if you like one you can at least appreciate and enjoy the other. Tracks like “Abominable Snowman in the Supermarket”, while a little more goofy, are impossible to resist. If you can’t wait until October, Jonathan is also coming to Nashville on August 1st.

The Modern Lovers – Dignified & Old
The Modern Lovers – Roadrunner (alternate version)
The Modern Lovers – Roadrunner

For the full schedule,

Wed  10/01/08    Austin, TX
Thu 10/02/08  Denton, TX
Fri 10/03/08  Memphis, TN
Sat 10/04/08  Huntsville, AL
Sun 10/05/08  Pensacola, FL
Mon 10/06/08  Gainesville, FL
Thu 10/09/08  Charlotte, NC
Fri 10/10/08  Chapel Hill, NC
Sun 10/12/08  Philadelphia, PA
Tue 10/14/08  New York, NY
Wed 10/15/08  Great Barrington, MA
Thu 10/16/08  Northampton, MA
Sat 10/18/08  Portland, ME
Sun 10/19/08  Albany, NY
Tue 10/21/08  Rochester, NY
Wed 10/22/08  Pittsburgh, PA
Thu 10/23/08  Athens, OH
Fri 10/24/08  Newport, KY
Sat 10/25/08  Champaign, IL
Sun 10/26/08  Saint Louis, MO
Mon 10/27/08  Iowa City, IA
Tue 10/28/08  Ames, IA
Wed 10/29/08  Lawrence, KS