MARK EITZEL
The American Music Club principal was led to The Modern Lovers’ 1976 LP by haunting song Hospital…
“HE SAID, ‘HERE’S YOUR ALBUM BACK, IT REALLY SUCKS.’”
Iwas in the south of England in Beaulieu, in a bar called Spats, drinking with my friend, as we did, every day. I was 15, 16. I really liked Joan Armatrading, Joni Mitchell, Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, Slaughter And The Dogs and X-Ray Spex. I was writing terrible songs, and refusing to wear punk rock clothing, because I thought, “Fuck these people.” The Modern Lovers song Hospital came on the radio. It was a complete revelation. I think I almost cried. It was such an emotional, real song. “So when you get out of the hospital/ Let me back into your life…” It’s almost like he’s pretending to be a teenager while he plays this teenage angst music. That’s the genius of it. That was all I wanted to write about. As a kid I was completely isolated and hated and reviled – I think my high school years were the loneliest. And Jonathan Richman was so, like, telling the truth, in a way that was attainable to me, like, I could reach that height. Mind you, I never have. It’s a young people’s song and the whole album is for young people. There’s a genius behind his way of being dumb. He’s never dumb. He’s absolutely deliberate. It’s the sign of a great songwriter that he’s not the song. So it’s such a gormless sort of genuine album, you’re never really sure whether he meant it or not. Just the assumption on that record, too – “I saw you with Hippy Johnny, he’s stoned” on I’m Straight – that was me, as a kid. Like, everywhere I went it seemed like everyone in the room was cooler than life, and Jonathan Richman was not. He was actually engaged. The truth of songwriting is, it’s not about being clever, it’s about having your heart always exposed. When American Music Club opened for him [1988], we gave him a copy of [LP] California and the next day he said, “You know, you shouldn’t be playing with me, I don’t like your music, here’s your album back, it really sucks, there’s no melodies, there’s no songs, I think it’s just shit.” Yeah! Ha ha! I honestly didn’t mind – it’s Jonathan Richman. I’ve met him a few times since. Last time I told him this story about Hospital, and how it’s probably the song that made me start writing. A year later I was in a crowd watching him and he sang it. I wept. I was a complete mess. He’s a fucking genius. Ian Harrison