This is not actually an album. It's a set if demos that was released in this format and became a hugely influential record. It's one of the most important records in my collection for me. It's an expression of the purest imdividuality, enigma and artistic expression. It's got great tunes and extraordinary lyrics, the band rock intensively and fervently. It makes you want to dance and sing. And some of the ideas it expresses have been incredibly influential and fertile wuthin Rock & Roll and Independent and Oitsider Rock ever since, Ask David byrne for starters.
Jonathan Richman is an outsider and like the best outsiders has remained so. All the while inviting people into his world ando ut of the conventional one empowering and enabling creative endeavour. The best way of living your life imaginable. This is essentially a Punk or at least a Proto Punk vision and set of recordings but Jonathan himself decided pretty quickly that Punk was too loud for him and some of the things it enabled were too brutal for his liking. So he moved on in his own direction and created his own universe over the next fofty tears and more. He has remained absolutely true though to the ideas expressed so graphically and powerfully here. All in all that's a quite remarkabe achuevemnt. Honathan Richman is not on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
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