‘Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers’ Turns 50

The seminal pop-punk album, full of romantic innocence and disarming humor, foreshadowed the rise of new wave.

“A year before Sire Records founder Seymour Stein coined the term “new wave” to describe the pop-flavored punk bands emerging in 1977, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers had already launched the movement. When the band’s self-titled first album came out 50 years ago this month, its approach was considerably less strident than that of most punk group…