”Ice cream man, upon my street…”

Recently I went on a Jonathan Richman YouTube kick, possibly instigated by my hearing “Egyptian Reggae” in a rum commercial (hey, don’t hate, even Modern Lovers gotta pay those bills). When I came across this 1984 appearance on Spanish television, I was struck by two things. First of all, the program he’s on, Arsenal, is actually in Catalan, a language effectively banned in Spain up until 1975, now spoken by a cultural minority. Catalan has an extremely heavy political history in Spain, but it’s pretty esoteric to see the title, “Who’s Afraid of Jonathan Richman?” in Catalan.

Second, amidst a fantastic performance with Modern Lovers, Brennan Totten and Andy Paley, you see Jonathan performing little skits in additional video content, narrating the story of his first guitar, and actually talking about his fame. Anyone familiar with Richman knows that while he’s an incredibly garrulous performer, offstage he often seems very averse to talking to press or journalists. This appearance is a rare and sweet moment of insight into his genuine enthusiasm for what he does.

The set list:

1) Ice Cream Man
2) This Kind of Music
3) Wipe Out
4) I’m a Little Dinosaur
5) La Bamba
6) Rockin’ Rockin’ Leprechauns
7) The Beach
8) The UFO Man
9) Let’s Take a Trip
10) Vincent Van Gogh
11) Give Paris One More Chance
12) Chewing Gum Wrapper
13) That Summer Feeling

Part II is here.