Happy Birthday, Jonathan Richman

Monday, May 16, 2011

Happy Birthday, Jonathan Richman

Posted By Dan Gibson on Mon, May 16, 2011 at 4:40 PM

It's a little difficult for me to believe, but Jonathan Richman turns 60 today. A frequent performer at Club Congress, Richman operates as a musician in a very strange place. He has some degree of fame (largely from his appearance in There's Something About Mary) and some amount of critical acclaim, but he's still plugging away night after night in club after club, switching genres every few albums, and largely presenting his charmingly youthful worldview through a thick Boston accent. He's just a remarkably charming guy, even if he insisted the air conditioning stay off during a summer show at Congress a few years ago.

Here are three of my favorite Jonathan Richman songs. Happy birthday, sir.

"I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar":