Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers - Rock n' Roll With The Modern Lovers

 

Jonathan Richman had a surprise hit in the UK early in 1977, jumping on the Punk Rock bandwagon with a re-release of  Roadrunner ( Once ), backed with Roundrunner ( Twice ). The paean to Massachussetts Route 128 was was immediately heralded as a classic, and the B-side was a psychedelic version, with the organ playing of Jerry Harrison, later of Talking Heads, very much to the fore, and it sounded like The Velvet Underground. I subsequently purchased the single from a store that sold ex-Jukebox records cheap, and both sides are simply called Roadrunner, so it isn't obvious which side is which !

The quirky instrumental "Egyptian Reggae" was the follow-up single, and reached number 5 in the UK charts, aided by a famously cheesy dance routine performed by Legs And Co on Top of the Pops, with a fez wearing dancing pantomime camel, snake charming and Cleopatra outfits. It's brilliant and on YouTube !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv_I-6dJ9p8&list=RDBv_I-6dJ9p8&start_radio=1

The release of this album later in 1977 was a bolt from the blue, being totally different to Roadrunner, and NME described it as Rock n' Roll for the under  Fives. 

What you see on the cover is what you get.,with an upright bass and a bargain basement drum kit. You could say Richman invented Unplugged ten years before MTV. The production left a lot to be desired, but the record was apparently recorded in one take and with one microphone, and perhaps in a toilet as one critic suggested. Another said they sound like a garage band, and it sounds like it was recorded in a garage. The phrase lo-fi could retrospectively be applied to Rock n' Roll With The Modern Lovers.

Instead there were naive children's songs, folk instrumentals from different parts of the world, gospel, ska and one humourous classic in the mode of "Roadrunner". Musically, it was a throw back to the 1950s with doo-wop rock n'roll.

Charming and stupidly fun, with ramshackle playing as the Modern Lovers followed Richman's erratic directions for the backing vocals, for which they were gratefully thanked. I thought it was terrific, but not everyone got it, and you did feel a little bit for Richman's sanity. Despite a couple of songs being duds, the rest more than made up for them though.

Side One begins with "Sweeping Wind ( Kwa Ti Feng )", an achingly tender Chinese instrumental folk song, with a sweet acoustic guitar lead over a strummed guitar, a gong and coconuts for horse hoofs sounds

The tone changes with "Ice Cream Man" which Richman introduces with "Hi there everybody, we're the Modern Lovers, and we're gonna sing about the ice cream man for you" and Richman then sings about the joys of hearing the bells of the Ice Cream van. "Ice cream man upon my street. I heard your truck today, it was a-neat, a-neat, a-neat. Ice cream man upon my block, your chimes, your chimes, they reel and rock" The song ends with Richman requesting "one more time" and the verse is played again.

"Rockin' Rockin' Leprechauns" rocks with vigour as Richman delights that the Leprechauns have come back to rock and roll, although it begs the question as to why they stopped in the first place ! There is a fabulous jive sax solo in the middle "A-dadda-dum-da-da-da-da-da-la-da. Hum-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-la.Hum-da-da-da-da-da-la. They've come back to rock 'n' roll"

The pace slows with "Summer Morning" with a spoken introduction over gentle guitar for nearly a minute and a half, and a mention of bees buzzing is followed by the guitar making a buzzing sound. Eventually it breaks into a tender song.

"Afternoon" has a Chinese style guitar intro before leading into flamenco beat. Richman's best add-lib here is "walk them home".

"Fly Into The Mystery" closes side One and is introduced by Richman as "a slow dance, ladies' choice". "It's 8 o'clock in Boston, and some boyfriend has just lost his girlfriend. Funny now, she was just here a minute ago. She must have gone away."

Side Two begins with the instrumental "South American Folk Songs" which can best be described as Richman flamenco before the doo-wop/rockabilly returns with "Roller Coaster By The Sea". When you need cheering up simply take a roller coaster. "Hey roller coaster by the sea, thank you for helping me. And roller coaster by the water, made me feel more as I oughtta"

The Chuck Berry style "Dodge Veg-O-Matic" is full of classic wit. "Well, the brakes are made of glass and the tyres made of vinyl. You want to take it back but find all sales are final, yep that's the way" and in typical Richman fashion "let's do another verse !"

"Egyptian Reggae" is a perfect description of how it sounds. There can't be many people unaware of it's bass line, and there are more horses hoofs ( or maybe Camels ! ) and gongs.

The Ska "Coomyah" is a cover of Desmond Dekker song, but "The Wheel On The Bus" is the children's song but with catchy "town now, town now" chorus. Richman also adds "the a monster on the bus says I'm gonna scare you." but at the end of the song happily boasts "we got rid of that monster, ha ha ha !"

The album finishes with the traditional gospel "Angels Watching Over Me" which is sung a cappella and accompanied with just hand-claps and finger clicks. Its fair to say its not Richman's best vocal on the album.

47 years later Rock n' Roll with the Modern Lovers still brings a smile to my face !

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Sweeping Wind ( Kwa Ti Feng )
2. Ice Cream Man
3. Rockin' Rockin' Leprechauns
4. Summer Morning
5. Afternoon
6. Fly Into The Mystery

Side Two :

1. South American Folk Songs
2. Roller Coaster By The Sea
3. Dodge Veg-O-Matic
4. Egyptian Reggae
5. Coomyah
6. The Wheels On The Bus
7. Angels Watching Over Me

Released 1977
UK Chart Position : 50

Singles :

Egyptian Reggae ( No 5 - 1977 )