The Modern Lovers' Jonathan Richman brings together light and dark

March 1972: Number 5 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of indie musicThe young Bostonian Jonathan Richman fell under the spell of the Velvet Underground as a teenager, and when he formed his own band, the Modern Lovers, he sought to combine their throbbing roar with his own suburban, deeply undruggy sensibility. Apotheosis was achieved in spring 1972 with John Cale producing, when the Modern Lovers laid down Roadrunner, a thrilling two-chord hymn to driving Boston's ring road, ro...

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