Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers: “Rock ‘N’ Roll With The Modern Lovers” (1977/2022) CD Review

I can always count on Jonathan Richman to raise my spirits, and it seems these days we could all use a bit of that. Well, this year saw the re-issues of several Jonathan Richman albums including the 1977 album Rock ‘N’ Roll With The Modern Lovers. This album features mostly original material, along with some interesting choices of covers. “The Wheels On The Bus”? Sure, why not? The Modern Lovers were fearless when it came to the musical directions they wished to take, and whatever they did seemed to work beautifully. If basically any other band had made some of the same choices these guys did, the results would have been a laughable disaster. But Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers somehow thrived in this strange little land they created, a land we can now revisit thanks to these re-issues.

This album opens with one of the covers, “The Sweeping Wind (Kwa Ti Feng).” This is an instrumental piece that is identified in the disc’s scant liner notes as a Chinese folk song. Like I said, these guys took chances. And of course they put their own spin on it. That’s followed by the beloved and notorious “Ice Cream Man,” one of those delightful original numbers that Jonathan Richman is so good at delivering. This studio version does have one false ending, with Jonathan than saying, “One more time.” A live recording of this song was included on Live, also released in 1977 (and also re-issued this year), and that version has several false endings.

0n the self-titled 1976 album from Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers, there are Martians and an abominable snowman. Well, on this one, there are leprechauns. So there. In “Rockin’ Rockin’ Leprechauns,” Jonathan tells us the leprechauns “have come back to rock and roll.” Wait, where had they gone? Well, no matter. What is important is that they are grooving and rocking and enjoying themselves in the park (“hark hark”). “They’re wobbling and wiggling/And they’re fumbling and giggling/Oh, they’re here to rock and roll.” This is a fun, goofy and endearing tune, one that only The Modern Lovers could deliver. I love that moment when Jonathan starts to shout out the lyrics with a great punk energy. That’s followed by “Summer Morning,” a song that Jonathan Richman co-wrote with Leroy Radcliffe. This song feels improvised, particularly its first half. It’s like he is riffing and somehow stumbles into a song. It feels like we’re in his house while Jonathan and his mates are rehearsing, and we happen to catch this magical moment. A song that ends up being rather beautiful. And what song should follow “Summer Morning”? Well, “Afternoon,” of course. This one eases in, then soon develops a catchy groove.

Jonathan introduces “Fly Into The Mystery” as a slow dance, adding that it’s “Ladies’ choice.” Like a lot of his material, this song takes place in Boston: “See now, it’s eight o’clock in Boston/And Filene’s has just locked up/It’s so good to see the sky clear up this way/There’s the stars, we haven’t lost ‘em/It’s time to fly into life’s mystery/It’s time to go somewhere we’ve never seen.” I think Filene’s is now gone. Same is true of Bradlees, The Fair, Caldor, Jordan Marsh, and Lechmere. Crazy, isn’t it? Anyway, this is a song that I love more each time I hear it. It’s followed by “South America Folk Song” one of the disc’s covers, and another that is an instrumental, and then “Roller Coaster By The Sea.” This playful number actually takes place in California rather than somewhere in New England. “Hey, roller coaster by the sea/Thank you for helping me/And roller coaster by the water/You made me feel more as I ought to.”

“Dodge Veg-O-Matic” is another playful song, this one about a car that might not get him anywhere, but which he enjoys nonetheless. “You know I like to watch it rot.” Yup, it’s a song to celebrate the lemon. I’ve always loved this song. It was included on that compilation of his work, The Beserkely Years: The Best Of Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers. That’s followed by “Egyptian Reggae,” an instrumental tune, but this one an original composition. That in turn is followed by “Coomyah,” which feels like a perfect choice, as it has a reggae vibe.

Then we get “The Wheels On The Bus.” Yes, the children’s song. My friend Ryan and I worked on a children’s video with this title, and so we heard this song a whole lot, more than anyone might wish to. As an interesting side note, Roger Daltrey provided the voice of the bus driver on that show, so there’s that. So why did Jonathan Richman decide to cover it?  I don’t know, but perhaps it was some kind of challenge, to see if he could take a song like this and make it cool. If so, he basically succeeded. The Modern Lovers seem to be having a good time with this song, opening it with some strange animal sounds, but then delivering it more or less earnestly, though adding a verse about a monster on the bus. And why not? “And the monster on the bus says I’m going to scare you/I’m going to scare you, I’m going to scare you/The monster on the bus says I’m going to scare you/All through the town.”  The track ends with a bit of joking about getting the monster off the bus. The album then concludes with another cover, “Angels Watching Over Me,” which is delivered a cappella, with just some finger snaps. Of course, Jonathan Richman makes the song his own, singing, “I can feel it, I can feel it, that there are angels watching over me/But how could that be so, I mean how could that be/That angels really watch over me/That all day and all night angels watch over me.”

CD Track List

1. The Sweeping Wind (Kwa Ti Feng)
2. Ice Cream Man
3. Rockin’ Rockin’ Leprechauns
4. Summer Morning
5. Afternoon
6. Fly Into The Mystery
7. South American Folk Song
8. Roller Coaster By The Sea
9. Dodge Veg-O-Matic
10. Egyptian Reggae
11. Coomyah
12. The Wheels On The Bus
13. Angels Watching Over Me

This re-issue of Rock ‘N’ Roll With The Modern Lovers was released on September 16, 2022 through Omnivore Recordings.