THE ORIGINAL MODERN LOVERS
Self titled (Bomp!)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

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Which came first: Cale or Fowley? That's the chicken and the egg question of Jonathan Richman's rock and roll fairy tale. Which infamous session came first: the more popular John Cale record or the rougher Kim Fowley album? And since the question being asked pertains to perhaps the most influential album of the seventies, it may deserve an answer. Taking his cue from the Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop, Jonathan Richman was creating a rough lo-fi pop sound that pulsed with tension, passion, humour and confusion. It may have been the precursor to punk and indie rock, but at the time, was disrespectfully and unanimously ignored. Nobody cared for the session tapes, which lay dormant for years. When Richman's songs were finally released they created, as the VU before, quite a stir. And it still stands up today. Next to the more polished Rhino (originally on Beserkley) record, The Original Modern Lovers on Bomp! offers a more spontaneous, lively listen, and numbers not found elsewhere. As for the big question at hand, Jonathan himself tries to clear the matter up in the liner notes. He denies the claim that these are spring of '72 sessions, claiming that there was only a summer of '72 session, and the other half of the record was recorded later, coming after the John Cale session. So there you go, nothing answered, but everything gained, cuz the music is indeed, grand. Hearing Jonathan count off 1-2-3-4-5-6..., and changing the face of music is still a thrill.

© 2001 - John Sekerka