The Modern Lovers “The Modern Lovers” 1976. Beserkley Records. Today, May 16th, is Modern Lovers singer/songwriter/guitarist Jonathan Richman’s birthday (b. 1951). A proto-punk, stripped down garage album recorded in ‘72 and produced by John Cale, Modern Lovers was released after the band’s original lineup dissolution (Jerry Harrison went on to the Talking Heads and David Robinson went to the Cars). The LP “strips rock & roll to its core and establishes the rock tradition of the geeky, awkward social outcast venting his [Richman’s] frustrations.”

A raw classic album with two of the Modern Lover’s most famous tracks: the two-chord “Roadrunner” when Richman declares his love for the modern world; “Pablo Picasso” where Richman hilariously sneers:

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