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Richman knowledge
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Also by Charles Hughes:
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- Who is Art Paul Schlosser? (October 30, 2003)
- 'The Train' rolls through (November 6, 2003)
- Tell Us the Truth Tour (November 10, 2003)
- Westerberg doubles up (November 20, 2003)
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by Charles Hughes
Thursday, October 24, 2002
“One, two, three, four, five, six!” So begins Jonathan Richman’s “Roadrunner,” one of the greatest rock singles ever recorded, a four-minute burst of two-chord guitar mania and lyrics celebrating the power of rock ‘n’ roll on the AM radio. It’s one of those should’ve-been-huge singles that instead set Richman on a 20-year path of cult success and almost-famous notoriety.
Richman, a true rock ‘n’ roll eccentric, has written songs that are almost literally indescribable. Richman is at times childlike in his humor and choice of subject — one of his catchiest tunes, honestly, is called “Abominable Snowman In The Market” — and at times displays a quietly sophisticated sensibility, like in “Since She Started To Ride,” recorded with Nashville studio pros for his appropriately titled Jonathan Goes Country album.
However, the one thing that has defined Richman from his early days with The Modern Lovers, during which he laid down the minimalist musical framework for the punk rock to follow, to his most current record, a charming and memorable collection of retro rock, sweetly naive love songs and tunes in Spanish entitled Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eye Shadow, is his consistent adherence to short and punchy songs filled with memorable hooks.
Richman recently spoke to The Badger Herald.
The Badger Herald: How do you feel about the status as ‘punk forefather’ that you’ve been given?
Jonathon Richman: I was copying so much from the Stooges and the Velvet Underground, so it’s really flattering to call me anything, especially the kind of thing that they’re talking about.
BH: How do you approach songwriting?
JR: I can’t make up a song unless it comes to me. Sometimes I make them up on stage; sometimes I write them down, and sometimes I don’t. It just happens all at once.
As far as my ideas, you know, just life. If it’s like a melody or something, I keep it if I like it.
BH: Stylistically, you’re all over the map. Who or what would you say are your major influences?
JR: See, I don’t really see myself changing style all that much. I’m just doing American popular music, mostly. If I write songs that I think will work with a certain arrangement, then I use that arrangement.
Like the country album. I couldn’t act like George Strait or anything, for example. I didn’t all of a sudden start doing live shows with a cowboy hat or anything. I just thought some of my songs would sound good with a country arrangement.
As far as influences, I really like a lot of European things, like French, Spanish, Italian. But it’s really just all sorts of different stuff.
BH: I’d place ‘Roadrunner’ on the top-10 list of songs celebrating rock ‘n’ roll. What does rock ‘n’ roll mean to you?
JR: It’s just got a rhythm to it, you know? It’s not obvious. The funny thing about ‘Roadrunner’ was that it was different every time. See, it was never written down. The lyrics were different every time. That time when they happened to be running the tape, it was a celebration. Before that it was just about a lonely guy.
BH: How did ‘There’s Something About Mary’ change the path of your career?
JR: First of all, it was great fun. I met wonderful people. It also got me into movie scoring, and now I’ve been doing much more of that kind of stuff.
BH: You’ve been very independent artistically. To what would you attribute this independence?
JR: It’s probably because I started off as a painter. When you paint, you paint for yourself, so when I started to do music, it was for myself. Record companies occasionally try to force me into something, and I said ‘no.’ Even before we were signed to anybody, I was going to do my own thing.
BH: What are your opinions on downloading?
JR: I don’t know. I don’t have a computer, and I don’t really know how to download anything. I probably wouldn’t like it. Bad sound. The best way to hear music is live or vinyl records. The further away you get from that, the worse it gets. I think it’s for people who don’t really like music and can deal with shitty sound. It’s for nerds, if you ask me.
BH: Do you have any good Madison stories?
JR: Sure. Great food co-ops over there. Madison is a fun place to walk around; I really used to like playing O’Cayz Corral, that was great. The audiences are great; they just have fun.
BH: What should folks coming to your show expect?
JR: It’s not going to be loud. Just a bunch of songs, a singer-guitar player with a drummer behind him.
BH: What are you listening to right now?
JR: Django Reinhardt. Boubacar Traore. Nino Rota. Eliades Ochoa. I also really like Neil Young’s “Mr. Disappointment” on the Are You Passionate? record.
Jonathan Richman performs at the Orpheum Stage Door Nov. 2.
