Editing Jonathan Richman (section)

== Influence ==
[[File:Jonathan Richman of the Modern Lovers, 2009.jpg|thumb|right|Richman in Barcelona, 2009]]
Richman's work with the first incarnation of Modern Lovers is a major influence on punk rock. One critic called him the "Godfather of Punk".<ref>[http://archive.salon.com/people/bc/2001/09/04/richman/index.html "Brilliant Careers: Jonathan Richman"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211012819/http://archive.salon.com/people/bc/2001/09/04/richman/index.html |date=February 11, 2007 }}, ''Salon'', September 4, 2001.</ref> On his second solo album, Brian Eno made mention of Richman's band in his lyrics, and the [[Sex Pistols]] and [[Joan Jett]] were among the first artists of note to [[cover version|cover]] the song "[[Roadrunner (Jonathan Richman song)|Roadrunner]]" in the 1970s. A version of "[[Pablo Picasso (song)|Pablo Picasso]]" performed by [[Burning Sensations]] was included in the 1984 cult film, ''[[Repo Man (film)|Repo Man]]''. [[David Bowie]] covered "Pablo Picasso" on his album ''[[Reality (David Bowie album)|Reality]]''. [[Velvet Underground]] founding member [[John Cale]] has a version of the song on his 1975 album, ''[[Helen of Troy (album)|Helen of Troy]]'', and continues to include the song in his live shows. [[Iggy Pop]] has performed "Pablo Picasso" live and wrote an extra verse for it. [[Echo and the Bunnymen]] covered "She Cracked" in concert in 1984 and 1985 and [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]] have a version of the song on ''[[Downside Up]]''.

Richman's music has set the tone for many [[alternative rock]] bands, such as [[Violent Femmes]], [[Galaxie 500]], [[They Might Be Giants]] ("Roadrunner" reportedly inspired [[John Flansburgh]] to become a musician), [[Weezer]], [[Tullycraft]], [[Jens Lekman]], [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]] leader Black Francis aka [[Frank Black]] (who composed the tribute song "The Man Who Was Too Loud"), [[Brandon Flowers]], [[Art Brut (band)|Art Brut]], [[Craig Finn]] of [[the Hold Steady]] & [[Lifter Puller]], [[Mac DeMarco]] and [[Nerf Herder]] who composed a song about him, titled "Jonathan", which appeared on the band's second album ''[[How To Meet Girls]]''. British country rock band [[the Rockingbirds]] released the single "Jonathan, Jonathan" in tribute to Richman in 1992. The Silos also covered the Modern Lovers' "I'm Straight". Boston [[ska-punk]] band [[Big D and the Kids Table]] also covered Richman's song "New England" for their ''Gypsy Hill'' [[Extended play|EP]]. A tribute album, ''If I Were a Richman: a Tribute to the Music of Jonathan Richman'', was released by [[Wampus Multimedia]] in 2001.

The Modern Lovers' song "Roadrunner" appears on the [[School of Rock (soundtrack)|soundtrack]] to the film ''School of Rock''. In the commentary, director [[Richard Linklater]] mentions it is often called "the first punk song" and wanted to include it for that reason, along with all the other seminal rock songs in that film. Rapper [[M.I.A. (rapper)|M.I.A.]] featured the opening lyrics from "Roadrunner" in the song "Bamboo Banga" on her 2007 album, ''[[Kala (album)|Kala]]''.

As a producer himself, Richman and drummer Tommy Larkins produced [[Vic Chesnutt]]'s final album ''[[Skitter on Take-Off]]'' in 2009 which appeared on Vapor Records.  Chesnutt opened for Richman at concerts many times during his later years.