Here’s a record that technically shouldn’t exist. The Modern Lovers’ self-titled debut was released in August 1976, but the tracks on it were recorded in 1971 and 1972, shelved by two separate record labels, and sat untouched for years before anyone thought to put them out. The band had already broken up by the time the album arrived. And yet it landed with the force of something completely new, pointing directly toward punk, new wave, and indie rock before any of those genres had names. Rolling Stone ranked it at number 288 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Pitchfork gave it 9.2 out of 10. Critic Ira Robbins of Trouser Press called it “one of the truly great art rock albums of all time.” The Sex Pistols covered one of its songs. David Bowie covered another. A Boston music venue was named after a third. Here are five facts about how this record actually came to exist.
The Album Was Released Four Years After It Was Recorded, by a Label That Had Nothing to Do With Making It
The original tracks were recorded in 1971 and 1972 for Warner Brothers and A&M, neither of which released them. The band signed with Warner Brothers, worked with John Cale, clashed over musical direction, watched sessions collapse, and eventually broke up in early 1974. Two years later, Matthew Kaufman of Beserkley Records took the old demo recordings, had them remixed, and released them as an album without any new sessions. The band that made the record no longer existed when it came out.
John Cale Produced the Sessions, But the Band Was Already Falling Apart Around Him
Cale, former member of the Velvet Underground, produced six of the album’s nine original tracks during April 1972 sessions in Los Angeles. By the time the band returned to California that summer to record a proper debut with Cale, personality clashes had taken hold and Jonathan Richman had shifted toward a mellower, quieter direction, pulling away from the aggressive sound Cale had captured on tape. The sessions were terminated before any new recordings were completed. What Cale had already recorded in April ended up being the album.
“Roadrunner” Was Nearly the Official Rock Song of Massachusetts, but Richman Campaigned Against It
“Roadrunner” reached number 11 on the UK singles chart in 1977, topped Rolling Stone’s list of the 50 Best Road-Trip Songs in 2025, and ranked number 77 on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2021. In 2013, then State Representative Marty Walsh introduced a bill to make it the official rock song of Massachusetts. Richman publicly opposed his own song receiving the honor, saying he didn’t think it was good enough to represent the state in any capacity. The Roadrunner music venue in Boston, which opened in 2022, is named after it anyway.
The Sex Pistols Covered “Roadrunner” as a Spontaneous Transition Out of a Chuck Berry Song
The Sex Pistols recorded a rough demo of “Roadrunner” in 1976, apparently sliding into it mid-performance from Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode,” which sits in the same key and at a similar tempo. The recording was overdubbed in 1978 and released in 1979 on ‘The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle.’ Johnny Rotten, who has stated he hates all music, named “Roadrunner” as his favourite song. In the recording, he forgets most of the lyrics.
“Pablo Picasso” Was Covered by David Bowie, John Cale, Jack White, and Burning Sensations for the Repo Man Soundtrack
The album’s fourth track, written by Richman and produced by Cale, has accumulated a remarkable cover history across five decades. John Cale recorded his own version for his 1975 album ‘Helen of Troy,’ releasing it before the Modern Lovers original came out. Burning Sensations put it on the 1984 ‘Repo Man’ soundtrack. David Bowie covered it on his 2003 album ‘Reality.’ Jack White recorded a live Spotify Singles version in 2018. The central joke of the lyric, that Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole, has proven remarkably durable.