Pub Jojo
Jonathan Richman: Hopeless romantic
Michael Felci
The Desert Sun
February 12, 2005
Since the inception of the original Modern Lovers in the early '70s, songwriter/frontman/guitarist/mastermind Jonathan Richman has enjoyed a unique status as unlikely proto-punk pioneer.
Yet at his innermost core, the former Velvet Underground devotee has remained a hopeless romantic (not unlike Rimbaud) who's precious music refuses to be bound by the popular trends of the day.
All of Richman's legendary eccentricities were on proud display Thursday at Pappy & Harriet's in Pioneertown, as he (and an accompanying drummer) doused the appreciative crowd with a canon of classics - all done, of course, in the key of Richman.
Sounding like a stripped-down acoustic version of the White Stripes, the duo opened with a strange spiritual hymn, titled "He Gave Us The Wine to Taste."
Repetitive and sparse, the song's instrumental breaks provided an opportunity for Richman to showcase his more than capable rhythm guitar sensibilities.
The pair then slipped effortlessly into "Pablo Picasso," a fan favorite since the early days of the Modern Lovers back in Massachusetts.
Chronicling the Spanish painter's unparalleled luck with ladies, the track beamed with nonsensical lines like, "Though he was only 5 feet 3, girls could not resist his stare... Pablo Picasso never got called a..."
Shaking wildly, face contorted and fingers moving fast as ever, Richman then moved onto elongated versions of "I Was Dancing In A Lesbian Bar" and "Let Her Go" before tackling several cuts from his 1993 Spanish-language album, "Jonathan, Te Vas a Emocionar!"
Finally and perhaps strangest (which is saying something) was "Give Paris One More Chance," in which the spastic singer recalls only enjoying the city of love the second time around. (No word yet on whether the the French Bureau of Tourism plans on using the track as part any advertising campaigns.)
Conspicuously absent from the set were more well-known numbers like "Ice Cream Man" and the seminal pop-punk classic "Roadrunner."
However, when it was all sung and done, the people had gotten what they wanted - the real Jonathan Richman.
adam, i really enjoyed reading this
Thanks adam for sharing...
interesting that this reviewer (michael Felci) thinks that Jonathan might still sing "ice cream man" and "roadrunner" and is surprised by the inclusion of "paris" in the set list.. I am losing my last illusions concerning some journalists professionalism.
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