(video) Jonathan Richman (269th Greatest Song of All Time) Modern Lovers' Roadrunner Danced by Hot British Legs & Co.

<p>Legs & Co. Dance Modern Lovers Roadrunner (Twice) Video Timeline from Limbs AndThings on Vimeo.</p><p>Posted via email from Dogmeat post.ly/sLCp</p>

 

...and this is my fourth try to get it to upload... FINALLY!  I was so excited to find this"

Legs & Co. Dance Modern Lovers 'Roadrunner' AND DON'T MISS THESE TWO NEW ONES:

Legs & Co. Dance Elvis and Morricone http://whatgetsmehot.posterous.com/leg-co-chi-maiennio-morriconeavimp4-6-mb-canc  Limbs AndThings said...
Legs & Co. Dance Elvis and Morricone

by Limbs Andthings (videos)

2:04

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 Velvet Underground perform many times, and the format of “Roadrunner” is derived directly from the Velvets’ song “Sister Ray”. “Roadrunner” mainly uses two chords (D and A, and only two bars of E) 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".

Richman’s band The Modern Lovers first recorded “Roadrunner” with producer John Cale  (previously of the Velvet Underground) in 1972. This version was first released as single and in 1976 on The Modern Lovers' long-delayed but highly acclaimed debut album (originally Home of the Hits HH019).

Later in 1972, the group recorded two more versions with Kim Fowley, which were released in 1981 on the album, The Original Modern Lovers (Bomp BLP 4021). A live version from 1973 was also later officially released on the album, Live At Longbranch Saloon.

The most commercially successful version of the song, credited to Richman as a solo artist, was recorded for Beserkley Records in late 1974, produced by label boss Matthew King Kaufman, and released at the time on a single (Beserkley B-34701) with a B-side by the band Earth Quake. Kaufman stated: "To record "Roadrunner" took the 3 minutes 35 seconds for the performance, about another 30 minutes to dump the background vocals on, and another 90 minutes to mix it".[4]

This version was reissued in 1975 on the album Beserkley Chartbusters Vol. 1(Beserkley JBZ-0044). In the UK, where Richman had received substantial and very positive publicity in the music press, it was released in 1976 as a single (Beserkley BZZ 1), known as “Roadrunner (Once)”, with the Cale-produced “Roadrunner (Twice)” on the B-side. This single reached number 11 in the UK singles chart in early 1977.

The differences among all these versions are in the lyrics, the duration, the instrumentation (electric garage rock vs. acoustic rock) and the way Jonathan sings them.

A version of "Roadrunner" was recorded by the Sex Pistols as a rough demo in 1976, this recording was then overdubbed in 1978, and released in 1979 on The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. Johnny Rotten has said that he hates all music, except for Roadrunner.[5]

Roadrunner was also recorded by Joan Jett on a 1986 single. Other versions have been recorded by The Feelies, Greg Kihn, Yo La Tengo, The Jazz Butcher, The Scrotum Poles and Gary Valentine.

The 1998 UK number one single, "Brimful of Asha" by Cornershop, was inspired by the song[citation needed]. It is also referenced in M.I.A.'s "Bamboo Banga," the lead track off of 2007's Kala.

"Roadrunner" is featured on the Motion Picture Soundtrack to Mad Magazine's 1980 movie Up the Academy, in the movie School of Rock, on the radio in the movie PCU, and an episode in Season Two of the HBO Series The Wire.

Phish opened their show on September 11, 2000 with a cover of "Roadrunner". They hadn't played it before and haven't played it again since.

The Modern Lovers 

While in Boston, Richman formed The Modern Lovers, a proto-punk garage rock band. Other notable members of the group were keyboard player Jerry Harrison and drummer David Robinson, who later joined Talking Heads and The Cars, respectively.[1] Many of the group's songs feature Boston-based topics.

In 1972 they recorded a series of demos with producer John Cale (formerly of the Velvet Underground). Among these songs were the seminal "Roadrunner" and "Pablo Picasso" which were eventually released on the group's post-breakup album, The Modern Lovers (1976).[1] The album was unique for its time, featuring Velvets-influenced basic three-chord rock ("Roadrunner" - based on just two chords - is an homage to "Sister Ray") at a time when glam and progressive rock were the norm.

Later in 1972, the group also recorded with producer Kim Fowley; these demos were eventually released in 1981 as The Original Modern Lovers. Despite playing live regularly, the Modern Lovers had a difficult time securing a recording contract. By late 1973, Richman wanted to scrap the recorded tracks and start again with a mellower, more lyrical sound, influenced by the laid-back local music he had heard when the band had a residency at the Inverurie Hotel in Bermuda earlier in the year. This stymied efforts to complete a debut album, and led to the breakup of the original Modern Lovers in February 1974.

In January 1976, Richman put together a new version of the Modern Lovers, which included original Modern Lovers drummer, David Robinson, along with former Rubinoos bassist, Greg 'Curly' Keranen and Leroy Radcliffe, on guitar. The albums produced by the new group found Richman turning away from electric rock music towards gentler acoustic textures, with a strong rooting in 1950s rock and roll (Chuck Berry's "Back in the USA" was part of his repertoire at this time), while his lyrical focus became more self-consciously childlike and naive.[citation needed]

The album, Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers, was released in May, 1976 but David Robinson left the group soon thereafter, due to frustration with Richman's quest for lower volume levels, and joined with Ric Ocasek in forming the band The Cars.

After several months as a trio, Richman found a new drummer, D. Sharpe (aka David) - an accomplished avant garde jazz player on the Boston scene, who later went on to become a member of pianist Carla Bley's band.

Drawing inspiration from such artists as the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Paul Motian and Anthony Braxton, D. Sharpe replaced the traditional rock and roll drum kit with an eclectic assortment of percussion instruments, including a large African three-legged drum covered in zebra skin; a 1947 De Soto automobile hub-cap (cum snare drum); a rack full of various pot lids and bells hanging on strings; exotic cymbals with many tonal 'imperfections'; frequent use of mallets instead of drumsticks, and brushes with which he would sometimes simply 'play the air' (i.e., without hitting anything else), as could be felt more than heard[citation needed], especially in live performances, of the song "Afternoon." [3]

Rock and Roll with the Modern Lovers was released in 1977 and, just as this record began to climb the charts in Europe, Keranen left the group (to attend college). A subsequent live album, Modern Lovers Live was released in 1978, featuring Asa Brebner on bass.[1]

In the United Kingdom, Richman was recognised as a progenitor of the punk rock scene, and several of his singles became hits. "Roadrunner" reached Number 11 in the UK Singles Chart, and its follow-up, the instrumental "Egyptian Reggae", made Number 5 in late 1977.[4] "Egyptian Reggae" was a version of Jamaican musician Earl Zero's reggae song "None Shall Escape the Judgment"; Zero was credited as co-writer on Richman's later versions of the track.[5][6]

Back in Your Life was released in 1979 under the "Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers" moniker, but only about half the disc featured a backup band. The rest was solo work.

Lacking either a live Jonathan or a suitable video clip, the BBC set this classic single to a dance routine from the ever-cheesy, Legs and Co"

(video) Jonathan Richman (269th Greatest Song of All Time) Modern Lovers' Roadrunner Danced by Hot British Legs & Co.

Posted via email from Dogmeat