Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers Vinyl Records
A singer and songwriter who has stubbornly (and joyfully) followed his muse in a career that began in the early '70s, Jonathan Richman started out as a primitive proto-punk bandleader under the influence of the Velvet Underground who would eventually mature into an acoustic balladeer, and who sang his spare, passionate tunes in Spanish as often as in English. While the initial lineup of Richman's band the Modern Lovers would often be cited as a precursor to the first wave of punk, Richman would abandon their aggressive sound and, with his second run with a new Modern Lovers, would emphasize acoustic instruments and playful tunes like "Ice Cream Man" and "I'm a Little Aeroplane" on 1977's Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers and 1979's Back in Your Life.