Formed in Boston in 1970 by a teenage Jonathan Richman, The Modern Lovers were awkward, obsessive, romantic — and completely ahead of their time.
While glam rock glittered and arena rock swelled, The Modern Lovers stripped it all down. Two chords. Nervous devotion. Deadpan sincerity. Songs about highways, hospitals, and Pablo Picasso.
Though the band dissolved by 1974, their recordings — released in 1976 — would quietly blueprint punk and indie rock before those labels even settled. Future members included Jerry Harrison (later of Talking Heads) and David Robinson (later of The Cars), but the heartbeat was always Richman’s wide-eyed intensity.
