John Felice grew up in Natick, Massachusetts, as a neighbor and friend of Jonathan Richman, a fellow fan of the Velvet Underground. At 15 he joined Richman in the first line-up of the Modern Lovers in the early 1970s. He performed with the band intermittently from then until 1973, but because of his school commitments, he was not involved in the 1972 sessions which produced the classic first Modern Lovers album, though Felice is featured on a few "Live" Modern Lovers releases playing lead guitar and backing vocals. Commenting on Richman, Felice has said, "Me and Jonathan, as close as we were, you know, I was like a punk, I was a wise-ass kid. I liked to do a lot of drugs, I liked to drink, and Jonathan was like this wide-eyed, no-drugs, ate nothing but health food..."After befriending Johnny Thunders and a failed audition for his favorite band The New York Dolls, Felice then decided to start his own band and formed The Real Kids (originally named the Kids) in 1972, with Rick Coraccio (bass), Steve Davidson (guitar), and Norman Bloom (drums).