Finally located a copy of the Modern Lovers’ debut album. Call me cynical, call me churlish, call me cold-blooded, but I’ve always preferred the younger Jonathan Richman, when he was still kind of angry, to his later good-natured-retard phase.

Case in point: Here’s a song that’s not actually on the album but was recorded at the same time and is a bonus track on some imports. It’s called “I’m Straight, ”referring not to Jonathan’s sexual orientation but to his state of mind. He is trying to convince the object of his affections to choose him because he’s not high all the time like his rival, Hippie Johnny:

It’s a great song, but you can be pretty sure that Hippie Johnny gets the girl.