The Art of the Record Store

Jonathan Richman will probably never be the Bruce Springsteen of Massachusetts— he’s far too weird, and he would almost certainly reject the mantle if it were bestowed upon him— but he really should be. The first album by his band The Modern Lovers (also the only album, and not even really an album so much as a scrapbook of everything they managed to get on tape before the band collapsed under its leader’s idiosyncrasies) embodies just about everything about the Boston music scene: a lovable loserdom mixed with a balls-out bar rock sound (despite Richman’s famously proclaimed straightness) and tight pop songwriting.

Fortunately, the government is here to help. Rep. Marty Walsh, in association with Joyce Linehan, has introduced legislation to make the Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner” Massachusetts’ official State Rock Song (which is a thing that exists— check out this awesome 1985 resolution to make “Hang On Sloopy” the official rock song of Ohio). If you yourself are a Masshole, you should definitely write to your congressman to support the bill; if not, you can still show solidarity at Linehan’s Facebook page, or by following this officially appointed Tumblr run by my good friend Andy Sellars. And if you don’t think it needs your support, check out this commentary by the assholes at the package store Fox 25 News to see how much worse it could be— by your silence, we could wind up with AUGUSTANA.