It's one thing to bond over Jane Doe, but it's another thing to turn into friends because of an appreciation for a person's skills.
Few of us will ever be able to play like him, but thanks to the internet, we can feel what it might be like.
https://youtu.be/5T4iTvQ8ZUg?si=MuH83i37pZyuwHS9
May 16, 2025
Related Recs
š§
when i first moved to nyc my friend @SPIKE was like "you'd probably get along with this guy @WILL, he's a big jonathan richman fan too"
turns out that wasn't the only thing we had in common and 4 years later he's one of my best buds
music brings people together ā¤ļø and so does @SPIKE
May 15, 2025
š¶
Heās probably got awesome fans for an opener and would love to be around his team and learn from him. I think heās doing of one of the most true and also COOLest things in music rn.
Apr 5, 2024
New Jersey may have Bruce, but Massachusetts has Jonathan- a guy who has always been unapologetically himself whether it was being totally sober in the 70s, writing pleas for tenderness in a genre known for bravado, dancing in lesbian bars, or driving down to NYC every weekend to be Velvet Underground's biggest fan before anyone else was. a guy who despite being a rock legend, spends his days installing pizza ovens around the san fransisco area.
I've seen him live a few times now, and watching him play his sweet silly songs in an unapologetically sincere + sort of autistic way is somehow just as transgressive as the proto-punk he invented with The Modern Lovers over 50 years ago. I can't help but smile ear to ear for his entire set. effortless humor and charm.
Something that's also stood out to me after seeing him live a few times now, is the way he recontextualizes the classics. When he played "Old World" in 2022 he changed the lyrics to recognize how some things should be left in the past rather than simply romanticizing it. And last night he played with the iconic "Pablo Picasso" to focus less on the swagger of Pablo, and more on how that type of guy is actually kind of an arrogant creep. Angel Prost (of Frost Children) wrote a great essay on Jonathan's reinvention for her email-only newsletter a few years ago, if you'd like to read it I'm sure I can dig it up for you.
From last night-
When I was a kid, I wanted to be an oil painter. I was obsessed with colors.
Then I heard Velvet Underground and saw you can paint with a guitar
Anyways...if more people were a bit more like Jonathan the world would be a better place. A huge inspiration to me!
Mar 8, 2024
Top Recs from @thomaspok
šæ
I just caught them on the farewell tour and I love that a bunch of old folks groove and go harder than a lot of young bands. Sent me back to their re-recordings which are on occasion better than the originals, like this one which is now the regular version for me cause it's so smooth
https://youtu.be/eWTn_Rdyd6g?si=9EWLS-JQbctIdRNs
May 17, 2025
š
When you're not from NYC, there's a certain insecurity that never quite goes away. Like, āshould I already know how to do this?ā That was me, two years into living here, feeling semi-local at my bodega next door, but still quietly preparing in my head just to be sure.
It was late. Post Model/Actriz concert. Starving. Iām with a friend and we stop at my spot for a chopped cheese, my small badge of assimilation. Thereās a new guy working the grill, and heās mid-smoothie prep, not acknowledging me at all. Iām not sure if heās on break or justā¦ busy? So I hover. Wait. Do the classic uncertain smile-stance.
Eventually, I order. Minimal response. He starts cooking.
Then, this older woman walks in and gently asks me what to order here. Me and my friend agree, chopped cheese, no doubt. She nods, curious. We chat a little. All is well.
But then, after a few quiet minutes, she yells over from the counter asks, āHow do you order it?ā
Instead of just saying āchopped cheese on a hero, everything, picklesā like a normal person I went into an exacting breakdown of how to order food and navigate the mysterious rhythms of bodega etiquette:n āWell, first, you wait. Heāll make eye contact when heās ready. Then you state your intention clearly. Donāt rush him. Then say: chopped cheese, everything, pickles. Hero roll. But again, you have to wait for the signal.ā
I finish explaining and my friend goes: āI donāt think thatās what she meant.ā
She just wanted to know what I ordered, of course not the entire rite-of-passage for ordering food.
We all laughed. She got her order. I got my sandwich. As a non-American itās hilarious to me that I turned a simple question about what I ordered into a full-on lesson in bodega anthropology. Glad I was still helpful on her quest for the first chopped cheese.
2d ago
š¤
2d ago