Led by Jonathan Richman, the protopunk band The Modern Lovers came out of Massachusetts in the early 1970s. Their classic debut album contained heartfelt songs about dating awkwardness, growing up in Massachusetts, and love of life. Many feel their best work is the first album and the outtakes from those sessions.

For the first album, The Modern Lovers, the band included Richman, bassist Ernie Brooks, keyboardist Jerry Harrison, and drummer David Robinson. The album featured the tracks "Roadrunner", "Astral Plane", "She Cracked" and "Pablo Picasso".

After recording several tracks in 1972 and '73, including "I'm Straight" (referring here to abstaining from drug use), and "Government Center", Richman wanted to scrap the tracks that were recorded and start over with a mellower, more lyrical sound. The rest of the band, while not opposed to such a shift later, insisted that they record as they sounded now. They continued, and eventually, the first album was released in 1976. Long before, however, creative differences split the band apart.

Harrison moved on to the seminal new wave band Talking Heads. Robinson became the drummer for the hit, Boston-based, pop band, The Cars.

Richman reused the name for subsequent bands which he put together in the 1970s and 1980s. These were always billed as Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers.