Jonathan Richman

6:55pm, Saturday, Indoor Stage

Another massively talented, legendary and eccentric cult hero joins us this year in the shape of Jonathan Richmond. There's a rumour going around that you either love Jonathan Richman or you've never heard of him. His immensely enjoyable, idiosyncratic songs have remained wonderfully consistent over a 40 year career and he's one of the most underrated and versatile guitarists in the business, taking sheer joy in reinventing either garage rock'n'roll, country or latino. He was the link in the early 70s between the Velvet Underground and proto-punk. With his band The Modern Lovers which he formed in his native New England in the early 70s, he recorded a string of classic songs for his seminal self titled debut featuring Richman favourites like Roadrunner and Pablo Picasso. It was produced by John Cale and took 3 years to get a release (finally seeing the light of day in 1976). His seemingly throwaway, deliciously groovy instrumental Egyptian Reggae was a Top Ten hit here in the UK in 1977. A constant live favourite, he's always keen to get the crowd as into the show as possible. Great examples of this can found in the brilliant you tube clips of his solo appearances he made on late night American network TV in the early 90s, performing I was dancing in the lesbian bar, Let her go into the darkness and You're crazy for taking the bus. His songs featured heavily in the 1998 comedy film There's Something About Mary.