THE MODERN LOVERS
The Modern Lovers is the debut studio album by American rock band the Modern Lovers. It was released on Beserkley Records in 1976, although the original nine tracks had been recorded in 1972 (or 1971 in the case of “Hospital”). Six of the original tracks were produced by John Cale. In 2003, the album was ranked number 381 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. (More from Wikipedia)
Getting their unique sound on record proved to be difficult, however, with John Cale, Kim Fowley and Allan Mason trying in various sessions to get some usable songs on tape in the early 1970’s. No recordings had been released until after the Modern Lovers broke up in December 1973; by the time Beserkley Records put out an album of their early recordings called simply The Modern Lovers (1976), Jonathan Richman had softened his sound and assembled a different band with a different style called Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers. Their debut album, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers came out in the same year on the same label, so it is not surprising that the original proto-punk band has largely dropped from sight.
(December 2016)
