5. The Modern LoversThe Modern Lovers
This is a record that disappeared almost immediately upon its release. I think maybe you could find it in England but you couldn’t find it in the States. It’s hard to explain that to people today when virtually everything in available – sometimes in multiple versions – as even it’s not in print, it’s somewhere on the Internet. Everything’s on Spotify – it’s killing us! This is basically just a perfect record from beginning to end, with so many classics; ‘Hospital’, ‘Old World’, I love the way his voice cracks when he’s singing to this girl, "When you get out of the hospital/ Let me back into your life." He’s someone else I love not just for his voice but for his guitar playing; it never strays too far from the melody. He just gets better and better; his records are a bit spotty now but he’s worth seeing. Watching him live is theatre – you never know what you’re going to get. Last time I saw him was in New York during summer and it was so hot but he wouldn’t let them put the air conditioning on in the club, because he likes to be able to step away from the microphone and sing into the room and you can’t do that with the hum from the air con. People were shouting for him to turn it on and he would just break into little songs about why he didn’t like it. Amazing.
