Week four of my musical trip down memory lane where sometimes I don't even much like the music and the memories are odd, but hey ho let's go, as the Ramones said although they're not my letter R.
Instead, I offer you Jonathan Richman. He is one of those musicians who just seems to go and do whatever takes his fancy. This might explain why he doesn't bestride the earth like a mighty Colossus, but I don't suppose he cares. His great contribution to my musical memories is Roadrunner, which he did with his band The Modern Lovers.
Around the time it was released in 1976 I was obsessed with motorbikes and it was the perfect accompaniment to daydreaming about being on two wheels. I used to scrounge goes on friends' mopeds and motorbikes and eventually bought a motorbike of my own. It was a short-lived love affair as the big end went and my motorbike rotted away. Never mind, there's still Roadrunner.
Also-rans: Radiohead and, specifically, their single Creep. This came on the radio as I was driving to the funeral of a friend who died too young. It has absolutely nothing to do with him, but that's the way it is sometimes, the tune just sticks. Anyone thinking R would be the Rolling Stones was wrong with a capital R.
My 15 year old son is so into the Rolling Stones, I thought they were not my thing and then I realized I know ALL the lyrics ! Enjoyed the video and the song. I'm in love with rock and roll... this one was new to me http://youtu.be/KUtnSGyqpm4
ReplyDeleteThe Rolling Stones have been going so long there's pretty well something for everyone in their vast body of work. You can't help wondering if they'll ever retire.
DeleteOddly, they in fact first recorded 'Roadrunner' in 1972, but the 1976 release is the one everyone remembers, probably because of the heatwave that summer, and the fact that it collided with what Wikipedia calls, ahem, 'protopunk'. A lovely blast from the past, and not a million miles in spirit from The Kingsmen's 'Louie Louie'...
ReplyDeleteAh, the heady days of the 1976 heatwave after which, as I recall, it rained solidly for about six months.
DeleteAlthough the day the heatwave broke me and my mates from the squat we shared in Tufnell Park went for a walk in the rain on Hampstead Heath, probably in entirely rain-inappropriate t-shirts and loon pants, just for the novelty of getting wet after a summer that resembled 'The Day the Earth Caught Fire'...
Delete