Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers "The Beserkley Years: The Best Of..." 1972-1979(orig) 1986(comp)****

Jonathan Richman (Jo-Jo to his friends) must be rock's most affable man. I've seen him play live twice and he immediately established a relaxed and intimate atmosphere, made you think you're hanging around with a friend that just happens to be a musician. Fortysomething years ago, he formed a band together with a couple of Harvard students, David Robinson (future Cars member) and Jerry Harrison (future Talking Head). They called themselves Modern Lovers and they were obviously in thrall to the revolutionary (and unpopular) sounds of the Velvet Underground. They even recorded some demos in 72-73 with VU's John Cale, but broke up soon afterwards without releasing a record. By 1976 though, the musical climate had begun to change. Those old demos were released as the Modern Lovers album and hailed as the future of rock'n'roll, next to similar bands like the Ramones,Television etc. Four songs of that album are included here and they are all essential listening: "Roadrunner" is a dynamic return to the primitive spirit of rock'n'roll and was immediately covered by the Sex Pistols (and Johnny Rotten; rock's least affable man). "Astral Plane" features some great organ by Jerry Harrison, like an imaginary jam between the Doors' Ray Manzarek, Iggy's Stooges and VU. In "Government Center" he vows to sing until he makes the secretaries that put the stamps on the letters smile. On "Pablo Picasso" (later covered by Cale and Bowie) he sings "Well some people try to pick up girls/And get called assholes/This never happened to Pablo Picasso/He could walk down your street/And girls could not resist his stare and/So Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole". Fun fact: I hear that, apart from being a great ladies man, for which the song celebrates him, old Pablo was also a decent painter. By the time the Modern Lovers album circulated, Jo-Jo had formed another band with a softer sound, encompassing folk, rock'n'roll, children's songs, doo-wop & reggae. Their debut Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers (1976) was also quite remarkable and became the blueprint for everything they made since. It included whimsical songs about lovable monsters ("Here Come The Martian Martians", "Abominable Snowman In The Market"), simple love songs ("Important In Your Life") and paeans to his homeland ("New England","Lonely Financial Zone"). From Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers (1977) we get "Afternoon", "Ice cream Man" (where he sings with childish glee about his favourite flavours) and the hilarious "Dodge Veg-O-Matic". Now, there have been thousands of love song addressed to a car, but that is certainly the only one to a car that doesn't move at all. From Modern Lovers Live (1978) we get "I'm A Little Dinosaur" and "The Morning Of Our Lives" and from Back in Your Life (1979) 4 love songs: "Back In Your Life", "My Love Is A Flower (Just Beginning To Bloom)", "Affection" and the reggae-ish "Abdul And Cleopatra". More than 20 albums followed, with varied degrees of success but always enjoyable, whimsical and touching. When it comes to Jo-Jo, I've learned there's only one way to approach him and that's become the title of one of his albums: Surrender to Jonathan and dance with abandon to his songs about romance, ufo's, ice creams, famous painters and anything else he chooses to sing about. I promise you' ll love it!

***** for Roadrunner, Astral Plane, Pablo Picasso, Dodge Veg-O-Matic

**** for Government Center, New England, Here Come The Martian Martians, Important In Your Life, Abominable Snowman In The Market, Ice Cream Man, Abdul And Cleopatra

*** for Lonely Financial Zone, Afternoon, I'm A Little Dinosaur (Live), Back In Your Life, My Love Is A Flower (Just Beginning To Bloom)

*** for The Morning Of Our Lives (Live), Affection