The Modern Lovers

"That's right!"

—Jonathan Richman in every one of his songs.

Legendary Proto-Punk band from Massachusetts. The members consisted of Jonathan Richman and whatever musicians felt like working with him. Seriously, he's the only official member of the band.

They started 1970, trapped in obscurity. They recorded a few songs for an album that never got off the ground. They then disbanded, and got back together in 1976. This time they succeeded in releasing the album, with both the original tracks and some new ones they recorded. The self titled is considered a precursor to Punk Rock.

After the album, Jonathan Richman started working with other musicians using The Modern Lovers name. They became a footnote up until around recently when they got some recognition for being amongst The Velvet Underground and The Stooges as inspiration for punk. Their even given credit for jump-starting the Straight Edge movement with the song "I'm Straight", showing one of the earliest recordings of Straight Edge music.

Oh and their music is catchy and energetic. Think of Jonathan Richman being a less monotonal version of Lou Reed and add a touch of romanticism.

The Modern Lovers provides examples of the following tropes:

Airplane Arms -- "I'm A Little Airplane"
Genre Popularizer -- Along with The Stooges and The Velvet Underground, they started Punk Rock. Oh, and in a way Straight Edge.
Have a Gay Old Time -- "I'm Straight" is about not doing drugs.
Signature Song -- "Roadrunner". "Pablo Picasso" and "I'm Straight" might also qualify.
Stop and Go -- The live version of "Ice Cream Man", restarting and repeating the last verse seven times.

Jonathan Richman: Thank you very much, our next song is going to be one about - ONE MORE TIME!