JONATHAN RICHMAN

As founding member of the Modern Lovers, quirky song auteur Jonathan Richman has made a career of his cult status — which tends to obscure the fact that his band provided one of the key links from the Velvet Underground to the punk era (John Cale produced them, the Sex Pistols covered them). That was eons ago, of course, and now more people are likely to know Richman as that dude with the guitar in the Farrelly Brothers’ There’s Something About Mary. Richman’s grown into his middle years with a comforting naiveté to his songs that masks how freakin’ clever they are. And though he’s bounced around in different styles from country and surf to soul and Spanish (I’m partial to these), he’s owned them all by virtue of being a true one-of-a-kind. (John Schacht)

John Schacht

Price: $15/$18