Watch rare footage of Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers performing ‘Abdul and Cleopatra’
By 1979, Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers had seen more lineup changes than you or I have had hot dinners. Following the disbandment of the original Modern Lovers in 1974, Richman started putting together a new version of the band in 1976, employing Leroy Radcliffe on guitar, Greg ‘Curly’ Keranen on bass and the band’s previous drummer David Robinson.
By the time they appeared on the Dutch music program TopPop, however, Robinson had left yet again, following a dispute with Richman concerning the size of his drumkit. Keranen, meanwhile, had gone off to college. It is the latter’s replacement, Asa Brebner, who you can see playing bass in this extravagant rendition of ‘Abdul and Cleopatra’, the opening track from Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers’ 1979 album Back In Your Life, which actually only features the backing band for half of the songs.
Back In Your Life saw Richman & The Modern Lovers bring Crayola box vitality to the increasingly drab landscape of post-punk guitar music. Where others were doing their best to look edgy, maudlin or clinically insane, Richman and the band were content to play songs combining frank honesty with the absurd storytelling of wayward kindergarteners.
That’s not to say The Modern Lovers restricted themselves to songs about snot and zoo animals, although there is a little bit of that. In ‘Abdul and Cleopatra,’ Richman and the band blend adolescent horniness with the sun-dappled imagery of late antiquity “Abdul yearns for Cleopatra in the early desert sun”, Richman sings in the final verse, wiggling around with the oddball energy of Andy Kauffman.
Absurd and utterly unique, ‘Abdul and Cleopatra’ is perhaps the purest example of Richman’s unflinchingly individualistic songwriting style. In this rare footage from TopPop, the Netherlands’ first TV program dedicated to pop music – it ran from 1970 to 1988 – Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers weave whimsical lyrics with punk simplicity and endearing awkwardness.
This 1979 footage is almost nostalgic in its vulnerability, Richman’s quivering voice bringing to mind the nervous child singing for his classmates in a booming auditorium. Check it out above if you haven’t already.
