Roadrunner - Music
Roadrunner by The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers
Artist Biography For The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers Were An American Rock Band Led By Jonathan Richman In The 1970s And 1980s. The Original Band Billed Simply As "The Modern Lovers" Existed From 1970–74 But Their Recordings Were Not Released Until 1976 Or Later. It Featured Jonathan Richman And Bassist Ernie Brooks With Drummer David Robinson Later Of The Cars And Keyboardist Jerry Harrison Later Of Talking Heads . The Sound Of The Band Owed A Great Deal To The Influence Of The Velvet Underground And Is Now Considered One Of The Leading Bands Of The "proto-Punk" Scene. It Pointed The Way Towards Much Of The Punk New Wave And Indie Rock Music Of Later Decades. Their Only Album The Eponymous The Modern Lovers Contained Stylistically Unprecedented Citation Needed Songs About Dating Awkwardness Growing Up In Massachusetts And Love Of Life And The USA. After Recording Several Tracks In 1972 And '73 Including "I'm Straight" Referring Here To Abstaining From Drug Use And "Government Center" Richman Wanted To Scrap The Tracks That Were Recorded And Start Over With A Mellower More Lyrical Sound. The Rest Of The Band While Not Opposed To Such A Shift Later Insisted At The Time That They Record As They Already Sounded. They Continued And Eventually The First Album Was Released In 1976. Long Before Its Release However Creative Differences Split The Band Apart. Later Richman Used The Name Modern Lovers For A Variety Of Backing Bands Always Billed As "Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers." These Bands Were Quieter And Featured More Low-Key Often Near-Childlike Songs As Richman Drew On Folk-Rock And Other Genres. Out Of Richman's Original Bandmates Only Robinson Was Part Of Any Of The Other Modern Lovers Incarnations.
Frogtoon Music - Song Info: Roadrunner
The-Modern-Lovers - The Modern Lovers
"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.
Critic Greil Marcus Described It As "the Most Obvious Song In The World And The Strangest".Rolling Stone Ranked It #269 On Their List Of The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time. As A Teenager Richman Saw The The Velvet Underground Perform Many Times And The Format Of “Roadrunner” Is Derived Directly From The Velvets’ Song “Sister Ray”. “Roadrunner” Is Based On Two Chords D And A Rather Than “Sister Ray”’s Three But They Share The Same Persistent Throbbing Rhythm And Lyrics Which In Performance Were Largely Improvised Around A Central Theme.
However In Contrast To Lou Reed’s Morally Detached Saga Of Debauchery And Decay Richman’s Lyrics Are Passionate And Candid Dealing With The Freedom Of Driving Alone And The Beauty Of The Modern Urban Environment Specifically The Suburbs Of Boston Massachusetts. The Introductory Countoff "one - Two - Three - Four - Five - Six!" And Lyrics About "going Faster Miles An Hour" With The "radio On" Have Endeared The Song To Many Critics And Listeners Since It Was First Released.
Richman Wrote The Song By 1970 When He Began Performing It In Public Aged 19. Former Bandmate John Felice Recalled That As Teenagers He And Richman "used To Get In The Car And Just Drive Up And Down Route 128 And The Turnpike. We'd Come Up Over A Hill And He’d See The Radio Towers The Beacons Flashing And He Would Get Almost Teary-Eyed. He'd See All This Beauty In Things Where Other People Just Wouldn’t See It." 2 In July 2007 Journalist Laura Barton Wrote An Essay Published In The Guardian Newspaper On Her Attempt To Visit All The Places Mentioned In Richman's Recorded Versions Of The Song Including The Stop & Shop At Natick Massachusetts The Howard Johnson's Restaurant The Prudential Tower Quincy Cohasset Deer Island Route 128 And Interstate 90. Barton Described "Roadrunner" As "one Of The Most Magical Songs In Existence".
50 Similar Tracks:
The Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso The Modern Lovers - Hospital New York Dolls - Personality Crisis New York Dolls - Trash Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers - The New Teller Patti Smith - Gloria: In Excelsis Deo The Stooges - Down On The Street MC5 - Kick Out The Jams The Stooges - Search And Destroy The Velvet Underground - I'm Waiting For The Man Television - Marquee Moon Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner Once The Dictators - Master Race Rock Patti Smith - Poppies Richard Hell And The Voidoids - Blank Generation MC5 - Borderline Iggy Pop - China Girl Television - Venus The Velvet Underground - What Goes On The Dictators - Teengenerate Radio Birdman - Monday Morning Gunk Dead Boys - Sonic Reducer The Undertones - Teenage Kicks Iggy Pop - The Passenger Johnny Thunders - Dead Or Alive The Damned - New Rose Lou Reed - Hangin' 'Round Buzzcocks - What Do I Get? Neu! - Hero Johnny Thunders - Little Bit Of Whore live Italy 86 Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love With Someone You Shouldn't've ? The Monks - Higgle-Dy-Piggle-Dy The Damned - Neat Neat Neat Lou Reed - Andy's Chest The Monks - I Hate You X-Ray Spex - Identity Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action Flamin' Groovies - Comin' After Me Roxy Music - Editions Of You Big Star - Big Black Car Big Star - Night Time The Saints - I'm Stranded Wire - It's So Obvious Wire - Surgeon's Girl Radio Birdman - Descent Into The Maelstrom The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet The Heartbreakers - Born To Lose The Saints - Wild About You Dead Boys - All This And More X-Ray Spex - I Am A Poseur
POPULAR
TRACKS
MIXES
ALBUMS
Video 1 : 50
Music Tags for The Modern Lovers:
Biography - The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers Were An American Rock Band Led By Jonathan Richman In The 1970s And 1980s. The Original Band Billed Simply As "The Modern Lovers" Existed From 1970–74 But Their Recordings Were Not Released Until 1976 Or Later. It Featured Jonathan Richman And Bassist Ernie Brooks With Drummer David Robinson Later Of The Cars And Keyboardist Jerry Harrison Later Of Talking Heads . The Sound Of The Band Owed A Great Deal To The Influence Of The Velvet Underground And Is Now Considered One Of The Leading Bands Of The "proto-Punk" Scene. It Pointed The Way Towards Much Of The Punk New Wave And Indie Rock Music Of Later Decades. Their Only Album The Eponymous The Modern Lovers Contained Stylistically Unprecedented Citation Needed Songs About Dating Awkwardness Growing Up In Massachusetts And Love Of Life And The USA. After Recording Several Tracks In 1972 And '73 Including "I'm Straight" Referring Here To Abstaining From Drug Use And "Government Center" Richman Wanted To Scrap The Tracks That Were Recorded And Start Over With A Mellower More Lyrical Sound. The Rest Of The Band While Not Opposed To Such A Shift Later Insisted At The Time That They Record As They Already Sounded. They Continued And Eventually The First Album Was Released In 1976. Long Before Its Release However Creative Differences Split The Band Apart. Later Richman Used The Name Modern Lovers For A Variety Of Backing Bands Always Billed As "Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers." These Bands Were Quieter And Featured More Low-Key Often Near-Childlike Songs As Richman Drew On Folk-Rock And Other Genres. Out Of Richman's Original Bandmates Only Robinson Was Part Of Any Of The Other Modern Lovers Incarnations.
read less
read more
16 Similar Artists To The Modern Lovers - Frogtoon Music
Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers Jonathan Richman Richard Hell And The Voidoids The Stooges Television New York Dolls Flamin' Groovies MC5 John Cale Big Star Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers The Sonics The Velvet Underground Alex Chilton Lou Reed The Dictators.
"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.
Critic Greil Marcus described it as "the most obvious song in the world, and the strangest".Rolling Stone ranked it #269 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
As a teenager Richman saw the The Velvet Underground perform many times, and the format of “Roadrunner” is derived directly from the Velvets’ song “Sister Ray”. “Roadrunner” is based on two chords (D and A) rather than “Sister Ray”’s three, but they share the same persistent throbbing rhythm, and lyrics which in performance were largely improvised around a central theme.
However, in contrast to Lou Reed’s morally detached saga of debauchery and decay, Richman’s lyrics are passionate and candid, dealing with the freedom of driving alone and the beauty of the modern urban environment, specifically the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. The introductory countoff, "one - two - three - four - five - six!", and lyrics about "going faster miles an hour" with the "radio on" have endeared the song to many critics and listeners since it was first released.
Richman wrote the song by 1970, when he began performing it in public, aged 19. Former bandmate John Felice recalled that as teenagers he and Richman "used to get in the car and just drive up and down Route 128 and the Turnpike. We'd come up over a hill and he’d see the radio towers, the beacons flashing, and he would get almost teary-eyed. He'd see all this beauty in things where other people just wouldn’t see it."[2]
In July 2007, journalist Laura Barton wrote an essay published in the Guardian newspaper on her attempt to visit all the places mentioned in Richman's recorded versions of the song, including the Stop & Shop at Natick, Massachusetts, the Howard Johnson's restaurant, the Prudential Tower, Quincy, Cohasset, Deer Island, Route 128, and Interstate 90. Barton described "Roadrunner" as "one of the most magical songs in existence". Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.