the Common Place

(Still dealing with post-flu lassitude, not up to much intellectual effort, but here’s a roundup of some Jonathan Richman artifacts for the common place book.)

Though my husband, the Bicycle Repairman, accuses Richman of being “Raffi for adults, ” he definitely has a place in the secret history of the 20th century. He’s been called a proto-punk for his his first album with the original Modern Lovers: The classic “Roadrunner” from that album is supposedly the first punk song, and it’s been covered by everyone, including the Sex Pistols. Though what Sid and Johnny were doing singing  about driving by the Stop’n’ Shop on a suburban highway late at night with the AM radio on, I’ll never know.

Here’s an extended tribute to Roadrunner  by Laura Barton in the UK Guardian: The car, the radio, the night - and rock’s most thrilling song.

I especially wanted to preserve this item in my commonplace book: Jonathan’s letter to Creem magazine in December 1973.

(letter via rockcritics.com )

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