![]() The differences among all these versions are in the lyrics, the duration, the instrumentation (electric garage rock vs. Also in 1977, a live version titled “Roadrunner (Thrice)” lasting 8:24 was released as the B-side of the UK single "The Morning Of Our Lives" (Beserkley BZZ 7). This single reached number 11 in the UK singles chart in August 1977. In the UK, where Richman had received substantial and very positive publicity in the music press, it was released in 1977 as a single (Beserkley BZZ 1), known as “Roadrunner (Once)” and credited to Jonathan Richman, with the Cale-produced “Roadrunner (Twice)” on the B-side, credited to the Modern Lovers, and lasting approximately 4:06. This version was reissued in 1975 on the album Beserkley Chartbusters Vol. Kaufman was mistaken - this version is listed on the UK release of the single as being 4:40. 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". 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, featured Jonathan backed by The Greg Kihn Band and released at the time on a single (Beserkley B-34701) with a B-side by the band Earth Quake. ![]() A live version from 1973 was also later officially released on the album Live At Longbranch Saloon. 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). The song is considered a rock and roll standard, a garage band classic and a proto-punk anthem. This version was first released as a single and in 1976 on the Modern Lovers' long-delayed but highly acclaimed self-titled debut album (originally Home of the Hits HH019). Richman's band the Modern Lovers first recorded "Roadrunner" with producer John Cale (previously of the Velvet Underground) in 1972. He'd see all this beauty in things where other people just wouldn’t see it." Recordings by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers We'd come up over a hill and he’d see the radio towers, the beacons flashing, and he would get almost teary-eyed. 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. Richman wrote the song by 1970, when he began performing it in public, aged 19. ![]() 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. 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 suburban environment, specifically the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. "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. 77 in 2021.Īs a teenager Richman saw the Velvet Underground perform many times, and the format of "Roadrunner" is derived directly from the Velvets' song " Sister Ray". 269 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 and No. Richman has described it as an ode to Massachusetts Route 128.Ĭritic Greil Marcus described it as "the most obvious song in the world, and the strangest". " 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. ![]()
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