Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers

Last updated
Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers
RocknRollwiththeModernLovers.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 1977
Recorded1977
Studio CBS, San Francisco
Genre Rock 'n' roll
Length31:24
Label Beserkley
Producer Matthew King Kaufman, Glen Kolotkin
Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers chronology
Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
(1976)
Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers
(1977)
Back in Your Life
(1979)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]
Christgau's Record Guide B+ [2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
The New Rolling Stone Record Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 8/10 [6]

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. [7] [8]

Contents

The album reached No. 50 in the UK Albums Chart. [9] The song "Egyptian Reggae" was a hit in Europe. [10]

Critical reception

Dave Marsh, in The New Rolling Stone Record Guide , wrote that Richman "lost his vision and became once more a teenage twerp ... Now you know why everybody picked on that kid in high school." [5] Greil Marcus, in The Village Voice , called the album "the purest rock and roll album I've heard this year, rooted as it is in the idea that as long as you keep a good beat, rock and roll is what you can get away with." [11] Trouser Press wrote: "Mixing traditional folk songs and lullabies with originals that would do Mister Rogers proud ('Ice Cream Man,' 'Rockin' Rockin' Leprechaun'), the ironically titled album stretched the ability of his adult fans to join in the fun." [12]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Jonathan Richman, except where noted.

Side one
  1. "Sweeping Wind (Kwa Ti Feng)" (traditional) – 1:59
  2. "Ice Cream Man" – 3:01
  3. "Rockin' Rockin' Leprechauns" – 2:09
  4. "Summer Morning" – 3:49
  5. "Afternoon" – 2:45
  6. "Fly into the Mystery" – 3:19
Side two
  1. "South American Folk Song" (traditional) – 2:34
  2. "Roller Coaster by the Sea" – 2:05
  3. "Dodge Veg-O-Matic" – 3:45
  4. "Egyptian Reggae" – 2:34
  5. "Coomyah" (Desmond Dekker) – 2:08
  6. "Wheels on the Bus" (traditional) – 2:26
  7. "Angels Watching over Me" (traditional) – 1:50
2004 CD bonus track
  1. "Dodge Veg-O-Matic (Extended Version)" – 4:12

Personnel

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers

Technical

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Richman</span> American singer, songwriter and guitarist

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 now plays only acoustic to protect his hearing. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Modern Lovers</span> American rock group

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.

<i>Black and Blue</i> 1976 studio album by The Rolling Stones

Black and Blue is the 13th British and 15th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 23 April 1976 by Rolling Stones Records.

Andrew Douglas Paley is an American songwriter, record producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist who formed the Paley Brothers, a 1970s power pop duo, with his brother Jonathan Paley. Following their disbandment, Andy was a staff producer at Sire Records, producing albums for artists such as Brian Wilson, Jonathan Richman, NRBQ, John Wesley Harding, the Greenberry Woods, and Jerry Lee Lewis. He has also worked in film and television, composing scores and writing songs mostly for cartoons such as The Ren & Stimpy Show, Digimon, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Camp Lazlo.

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.

<i>The Modern Lovers</i> (album) 1976 studio album by the Modern Lovers

The Modern Lovers is the debut studio album by American rock band the Modern Lovers. It was released on Beserkley Records in 1976, although, bar "Hospital", the original tracks had been recorded in 1972. Six of the original tracks were produced by John Cale.

<i>Helen of Troy</i> (album) 1975 studio album by John Cale

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roadrunner (Jonathan Richman song)</span> Song by Jonathan Richman

"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.

<i>Envy</i> (Ambitious Lovers album) 1984 studio album by Ambitious Lovers

Envy is the debut album by Ambitious Lovers. It was released in 1984 through E.G. Records. The album marked the first entry in what, at one point, was supposed to be a seven-album series on the seven deadly sins.

<i>Rockin and Romance</i> 1985 studio album by Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers

Rockin' and Romance is the fifth album by American rock band Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, released in 1985 as part of a two-album deal for Richman with Geoff Travis's Rough Trade Records label in the UK. Originally planned for release in the U.S. by Sire Records, it was issued there by Twin/Tone Records.

<i>Jonathan Sings!</i> 1983 studio album by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers

Jonathan Sings! is the fourth album by American rock band Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, released in 1983 by Sire Records.

<i>Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper</i> (album) 1985 studio album by Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper

Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper is the debut album of Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper, released in 1985.

<i>Flamingo</i> (Flamin Groovies album) 1970 studio album by The Flamin Groovies

Flamingo is the second studio album by the rock band the Flamin' Groovies. It was released in 1970. Following the group's departure from the Epic record label, it was the first of their two albums for Kama Sutra Records.

<i>The Backyard</i> (EP) 1984 EP by Miracle Legion

The Backyard is the second release by the American alternative rock band Miracle Legion, released in 1984 on Rough Trade Records.

<i>Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers</i> (album) 1976 studio album by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers

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.

None Shall Escape the Judgement is a 1973 song by Jamaican musician Earl Zero. It has spawned numerous cover versions.

<i>Back in Your Life</i> (Jonathan Richman album) 1979 studio album by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers

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.

<i>Having a Party with Jonathan Richman</i> 1991 studio album by Jonathan Richman

Having a Party with Jonathan Richman is an album by the American musician Jonathan Richman, released in 1991. Richman supported the album with a North American tour.

<i>Modern Lovers 88</i> 1987 album by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers

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.

Surrender to Jonathan! is an album by the American musician Jonathan Richman, released in 1996. Richman was the first musician signed to Neil Young's Vapor Records. Richman supported the album by touring with a full band.

References

  1. "Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers". AllMusic . Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: R". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved March 10, 2019 via robertchristgau.com.
  3. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7. MUZE. p. 15.
  4. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 942.
  5. 1 2 The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1983. p. 423.
  6. Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 257.
  7. "Jonathan Richman | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  8. The Rough Guide to Rock (2 ed.). Rough Guides Ltd. 1999. p. 825.
  9. "MODERN LOVERS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.
  10. "Jonathan Richman". MTV News.
  11. "'Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers' (07/25/77)". October 17, 2014.
  12. "Jonathan Richman (and the Modern Lovers)". Trouser Press. Retrieved 28 December 2020.