video for Roadrunner by the MODERN LOVERS Jonathan Richman, Jerry Harrison, Ernie Brooks, and David Robinson originally recorded 1972, released on Beserkley records 1976.
@kelechi_77 I'm from Boston and worked at the Rat, knew Jonathan very well, he made 3 versions in "72" I was lucky enough to get a copy of the rock version, he had about 20 of them, the recording before the final release, I should have explained more I guess.
@@strexusagreed. I like modern lovers but sister Ray and the Velvet Underground are just the best. VU is honestly under appreciated. Their influence is everywhere, they influenced Sonic Youth, most alternative bands, Nirvana, etc… meanwhile “musicians” like Taylor Swift Bieber, Bieber, Katy Perry have made millions. I know it’s not the same genre… but The VU never made as much money even though they can actually make music, and so creative, it saddens me really. But at least people like us know about them! Most people I have spoken to have no clue who they are.
More, Wikipedia, - Critic Greil Marcus described it as "the most obvious song in the world, and the strangest".[1] Rolling Stone ranked it No. 269 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 and No. 77 in 2021. It charted at no.11 on the UK chart in 1977.[2] Origins of the song edit 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 brief uses of E) rather than "Sister Ray"'s three (which are G, F, and C), but they share the same persistent throbbing rhythm, and lyrics which in performance were largely improvised around a central theme. 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."[3]
Here thanks to Anthony bourdain ! RIP to somes great theacher of Thrill seeking and the joy,pleasure,adventure and openess towards of life . something that he left but didn't lack on teaching us on how to pursue with our own sensibility
I will NEVER forget the first time I heard this song - in my mates bedroom in a council house in Burton on Trent (England) It FILLED THE ROOM - AWESOME!!
I come back to listen to this every so often. It is wonderful. There are very few songs that have an effect on me the way this one does. It's hypnotic, repetitive but constantly changing. I love it. I'm now pondering whether to have it played at my funeral.
Brings back a lot of memories of my youth riding 128 listening to the AM radio in my cousin Donny s road runner or his brother 55 Chevy. Actually the RR belonged to my aunt who I'm convinced was the og little ole lady from Pasadena. She would roll up to you at a red light looking to race
Huge hit in the UK during the Punk explosion in the UK it peaked at No11 in July 77 on UK singles chart, the follow up single Egyptian Reggae was a bigger hit in the UK reaching No5, my brother had both 7” singles at the time, I preferred Roadrunner at the age of 6 and still do now! 👍🏻
this music video is like something out of a museum -- can't believe how much boston has changed since, but to see that someone captured the city in all of its former glory is a beautiful thing.
This song is a celebration of suburban development as seen through cruising to your favorite tunes. New innocence and excitement that doesn’t exist today!
Awesome!, We used to cruise 128 in our 68 and 70 roadrunners jammin to this song , Menino was drooling at the dinner table thats why he never heard it, STATE SONG!! Hell YES!
You know your from Boston when you recognize almost all of those streets they drove around on. : ) Loved this song growing up along with WRKO then WBCN growing up in Dorchester!
I'm from California, and hell, I recognized a lot of those streets! My visit to Boston was one of the most memorable trips of my life so now it's probably my favorite city in America
Not all of it is Boston. Opening shot has a sign marking the exit ramp to I-91 South, which follows the Connecticut river and is nowhere near Boston. In fact, it looks like that shot has got to be in Connecticut! Where the 84 and 91 cross. Map of exit 54 on the 84: www.google.com/maps/place/I-84/@41.7665395,-72.6537664,17.58z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89dd154b4d9fdcbb:0x9f09d539fcda2e1a!8m2!3d41.5478839!4d-73.7436049
Classic Tune! Thank God I was in my in my late teens living in Boston starting in 1979 when it was affordable and there was a thriving music scene then. WBCN played this song frequently as did the college stations!
I saw these guys many times. One memorable show at Uncle Sam's, Nantasket Beach. Kids nowadays have no idea what they missed. Boston was on the cutting edge of rock in those days.Great memories!
I'm in love with Rt. 128 when the radio's on!!!!! LOVE THIS! Moved to Texas, 12 years now, still visit family i Massachusett!!!! Radio on! "i s! and Recognize all places, Farrelly Brothers have my friends, tatty. Mone and DR. G, DR. R in parts. love yall from misplaced Texans. 'Roadrunner, Roadrunner, going by the Stop and Shop'. RADIO ON '
BoredinNewYork Seriously. Just discovered the song by accident myself. First of the song covered by Sex Pistols at the Brixton live show (the video I meant :P)
I've always said Jonathan Richman songs are very "Regional" songs that become "Universal". Yes, many people experience the thrill of driving down a highway - but it's us Bostonians/New Englanders that will pass a "Stop & Shop" ;)
This is the version form 76. This was being played on WBCN for a couple of years before at least, especially by Maxanne. The version they played mentioned passing the gas tank. THAT was the original as far as I'm concerned.
The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970 to 1974 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks with drummer David Robinson (later of The Cars) and keyboardist Jerry Harrison (later of Talking Heads). The sound of the band owed a great deal to the influence of the Velvet Underground, and is now sometimes classified as "proto-punk".
I might remark that a demo tape was obtained by WBCN and the song became familiar - tho not commercially available well ahead of 1976. But thanks for the outline and details.
@@thebrazilianatlantis165 Hmmm , Roadrunner's more like 60's garage rock, like the Nuggets ' collection which by coincidence (or _not_ ..) came out in the same year. In the beginning, that stuff was coined garage-punk
Crazy to think all that John has done. Velvet underground, producing this, the first stooges album, the first Patti smith album, made the music to America Psycho etc
I moved to Boston in January 1980 at 19 years old. I lived there for 5 years right by Fenway Pahk on Peterborough St. I had never heard this song before . This was the theme song of Boston , on the radio daily , complete with the "Stawp An' Shawp" . This tune IS Boston. I miss this tune and Boston.
This track and band were WAY ahead of their time. This song could have come out yesterday by some garage band in Cambridge. Also, the film is great, lots of great Boston/Cambridge landmarks.
Have a family friend, who used to have a '68 Hemi/4spd Roadrunner, who used to tear up the South Shore (Rte 3 mostly), for top end/racing, who always listened to this while driving it. Thanks for the memories!
One of the greatest rock songs of all time. I've seen all four members live, including Jonathan Richman solo at a TINY club. He did not play any ML songs, of course. When someone in the crowd shouted "Roadrunner" he just looked down and mumbled. "no, I don't think so". Not long after, Jerry Harrison rolled into town with a band that included Alex Weir and Bernie Worrel from the expanded Talking Heads live line-up ...and Ernie fucking Brooks. They DID play "Roadrunner" , and it was glorious!
"Bernie Worrell" doing the organ for Roadrunner sounds like a fucking trip. I presume he was using a moog? But Jonathan has always struck me as someone I probably wouldn't want to have a beer with. I feel like he's either incredibly deep and intelligent or the opposite, just dumb as rocks. And every time I read more about his bio, I lean towards the latter.
Growing up in Mass I was aware of the Modern Lovers, but I was always under the impression that the Modern Lovers were just Jonathan Richman's back up band. I was in my 50's before I Googled Modern Lovers and discovered they were not a simple garage band but a Supergroup containing future superstars Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and David Robinson of the Cars.
Apparently during my time in Boston (late 70's, early 80's) Jonathan Richmond was playing as "Jonathan Richmond and the Modern Lovers" - a different entity from the early 70's "Modern Lovers" except that Jonathan was the frontman for both...
I remember hearing this song for the first time while attending MIT engineering school in the 1970s..Although this song was about listening to a 50 kW AM (medium wave) radio station while driving alone at night, I heard it on WBCN FM.
Beginning of the film was taken in 1965 - at 0:23 you can see 6 Bowdoin Square (New England Telephone Building) with the JFK Building under construction behind it. It was completed and occupied in 1966.
modern lovers, stooges and velvet underground...three of the best bands ever. this kind of proto-punk sound of them is one of the things i most love in music. the simple structures, minimalistic drums and guitars, the different style of singing, the repetitiveness you feel through the songs. sure stooges is a little bit heavier, but i think we can put these bands together
marcelo This is that kind of song you can just close your eyes, sway side to side , and clap your hands in the air, just letting yourself go in tune to the beat :)
Emilie's friend, Beth Harrington was a back=up singer with Ellie as the backup to the Modern Lovers. Beth has been trying for ages to convince the powers that be that they should make this MA's state song! Beth is a film maker now.
I had to get this mail order in '75 from Beserkeley Home of the Hits. It blew my mind. I knew Ernie Brooks. I drove everyone listening to this. It made absolute perfect sense.
The 2008 song "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. pays homage to this song by including lyrics from Roadrunner. Then again, Paper Planes also uses a sample from "Straight to Hell" from the Clash. So the Modern Lovers are in good company.
@@RandallFlaggNY ,Me Randall,i'm from the Charlestown section of Boston.Don't know about Massholes living there.A lot of criminals though.When i grew up there in the 50's & 60's the Chucktown Irish were at war with Whitey's South Boston Irish for control of the many illicit affairs.Me,got the heck out of there and joined the Navy.Good times had by all.Be good Randall.
Saw these guys on a ball field in Hingham when I was 13 . After having consumed a diet of folk and rock and roll this turned me upside down. Lols coulda been the peyote too.
I was Jerry Harrison's next door neighbor in 1975, right after Jonathan fired him & the other Modern Lovers. He took me to the Garage in Harvard Square to buy my first electric guitar ('67 Telecaster, $265)
I love how these big, slow gas guzzlers are moved so fast. Really shows how people like Jonathan Richman and his ilk were so ahead of their time and made music for us to hear in order to speed us
When I hear this songs it takes me to driving on 128 in 1960 and feeling the energy and the modern world. and all those tech start ups that changed the world.
I’d have to say Radio Birdman would be my first choice for first punk band or MC5 but that said, I love this song also. It’s so easy to listen to it over and over. It can be rockin or mesmerizing depending on your mood and where your at in your own head at the time your listening to it. I, like many others who won’t admit to it,came to know this song because of Johnny trying to sing it on greatest Rock and Roll Swindle. I still get roadrunner roadrunner and who killed Bambi stuck in my head when ever I think about that album. “Go on….. I don’t know the words”
I remember I kid i knew his parents were scottish wen't to visit his relatives and when hecame back he told me that road runner was popular all over Europe. So I thought about french girls listening to a song about a stop and shop i used to walk past. Then I had an older guy get me a six pack cause the drinking age was 18.
I used to listen to this on WMMS back when it was THE premier rock station to listen to. Excellent! Kid Leo, Denny Sanders, Betty Corbin...ah, the good memories!
