Sunday night I finally got to see Jonathan Richman. For decades, "Roadrunner", the song he immortalized with his band, the Modern Lovers, has been in my all-time top 10, and no, it's not because I'm from Massachusetts. It's surely one of the most exhilarating driving songs ever conceived, and if you have ever driven Route 128, which surrounds Boston, it packs an especially visceral punch. I'm sure Reg knows what I'm talking about. Anyway, in 1967, 16 year old Jonathan came across Lou Reed in Harvard Square (Cambridge). Lou was taken by the observations that Jonathan put forth on the VU's debut album, and he therefore was taken under the wing of the band. It's such an odd pairing given the dark places the VU visited and the sweet, innocent kid from Natick, Mass. 

Long story short, Jonathan, accompanied by just a drummer, was terrific, and his guitar playing was better than I had expected. He played a song related to his time hanging with the Velvets. On the downside, there was no Roadrunner, there was nothing that I was remotely familiar with. I couldn't quite believe it!

So here's the original version of Roadrunner from 1972. In just a few years, the Sex Pistols were covering it.

And sadly, Dan, I lost the directions you provided related to properly pasting in Youtube links!

https://youtu.be/Gy88-5pc7c8?si=nXeEvU7UdywWIVKt

Peter T.