Jonathan Richman – A Plea For Tenderness (1995)

I've no idea where or when I acquired this, but there's no chance of me leaving a Jonathan Richman CD in the racks if I don't already own it.

This one is a UK compilation album, composed of tracks from his 1980-90s albums for Rounder Records.

A bit like some of Jonathan's solo albums, this is a bit of a mixed bag. There's a couple of songs from his Spanish album, Jonathan, Te Vas A Emotionar!, and half a dozen from a live Modern Lovers' release Precise Modern Lovers Order. The sound quality on these live tracks isn't the greatest, and really only Roadrunner is worth a listen - there are far better versions of songs like Pablo Picasso and Dignified And Old. Also live is the great The Girl Stands Up To Me Now from the Having A Party album.

But there's a lot of excellent stuff with half of the Jonathan Goes Country (on the shelf waiting) album, which is a fine listen, and perhaps the standouts of the stuff I didn't have anywhere else, a couple of songs of devotion to all American music icons - Fender Stratocaster and Velvet Underground.

So there's lots of great stuff on here, but at times you have to search a bit - this might be a good starting point for Modern Lovers' fans keen to embark on the back catalogue.

I couldn't find this compilation in full, but here's Fender Stratocaster and Velvet Underground.

3* - enough really good songs to invite further listening