John Richards

Good morning and happy (?) Friday. "Once again, once again, Love calls you by your name....." This morning we celebrate songs of love and hate.: www.youtube.com

Discussing his early music, Michael Kiwanuka said, “The benefit of nobody caring about you is you come up with your best stuff. You’re free.” He smiles. “Obviously at the time I didn’t see it like that.”: www.theguardian.com

"Pretty in Pink," right, John? Here's a guide to the 16 songs that make John Hughes movies the "universal teen soundtrack": www.laweekly.com

Hmmmm..."The Breakfast Club" Jim Kerr didn't think this song was up to snuff when he heard the demo, but looking back on it, he's thrilled with its impact on pop culture. "The song and the film are almost iconic to certain generations, especially in America," he said in 2014. "So it's great when things come together and work so well. It's been a pleasure to see how much joy that song gives to a lot of people."

Sinead O'Connor has been married four times. : www.youtube.com

Ohhhh... "And when your friends say what is it.... You look like you've seen a ghost....": bit.ly Songwriter Mikel Jollett said about this song: "It's very straightforward – that all actually happened. In fact, everything on the record actually happened. I ran into my ex-girlfriend. That song just describes the night. The whole band was there that night."

"This time will be the last time that we will fight like this....": www.youtube.com

As Beck.com described it, "Annie from St. Vincent takes lead vocal this week and gives everybody the chills with her one take rendition of the album's big hit ballad." Annie described it herself as "I'm doing my best Michael Hutchence meets James Hetfield impression.": www.indieshuffle.com

Bono wrote the lyrics about his wife Ali. The quiet verses are him telling her the words, the loud guitar pieces at the end of the verses is her reaction. At the end when he screams "All I want is you" 4 times, the Edge solos for that amount of time, as her reaction.

Charles Bissell: What you’re actually hearing on “Happy” is not only the original drum take, but also the two main guitars. I went back and doubled a couple things, but that’s it." Enjoy an oral history of this fine album: www.stereogum.com

ONE way to listen to this song is to drive rapidly across Washington state with The Afghan Whigs on repeat. "Your eyes are all swollen from crying.. Feeling sick..." : genius.com

"I don't know why I love you, your face is a foreign food..." See the music video for "I Don't Know Why...": www.youtube.com

"Anything Anything" was the song that defined Dramarama: www.vice.com

"What a wanker...": genius.com

Here's the story behind this song: www.loudersound.com

Want to know more about this talented artist?: www.allmusic.com

Was 1984 "pop's greatest year"?: www.rollingstone.com

The band would sometimes end their shows with this song, at times without being onstage. During the last few minutes of the song, an unmanned sequencer and drum machine could play out the song while the band departed, leaving the crowd staring at the instruments. Eschewing an encore, the band would disappear, leaving the audience to wonder what happened.

We're "contractually obligated" to play this song today. (Before you write in, that's a joke!) Robert Smith said, “‘Friday I’m in Love’ is a dumb pop song, but it’s quite excellent actually, because it’s so absurd. It’s so out of character – very optimistic and really out there in happy land. It’s nice to get that counterbalance.”: www.rollingstone.com

Cure lead singer Robert Smith wrote this as a wedding present for his fiancée, Mary Poole, shortly before they got married in 1988. He credits Mary with saving his life by pulling him out of the abyss when he went through some self-destructive periods.

Those are some big lips on the screen behind him! Here's the official music video for "Lips Like Sugar": www.youtube.com

Stephin Merritt said that "Peter Gabriel's cover of this song paid for the down payment on my house in L.A.": www.rollingstone.com

This celebration of love was released on this date in 2006.: www.countrythangdaily.com

"I got the feeling we're gonna gallop alright... And it's true that I'm gonna do it soon...": genius.com

Well, if you're into it...Watch Jermaine play his rockenspiel in this live version: www.youtube.com

"I'll bet you're in the top three...": www.youtube.com

This is Stereo Total's French version of the German song, "Liebe zu Dritt." Read an English translation: lyricstranslate.com

"Fantastic Playroom" was the debut album from New Young Pony Club. It was released to a glowing review: pitchfork.com

A little ditty about self-love... "They say that if I do it I'm going to go blind...," "I can't stop messin' with the danger zone." The video takes place in some kind of dystopian future where everyone conforms. It opens with the "Burger Klone," where smiling, lobotomized customers get their meals. Lauper finds herself a bad boy with a motorcylce and rides off in an animated landscape (a coy reference to the song's meaning: when they stop a a gas station marked "self service"). By the end of the video, she has apparently gone blind.: www.youtube.com

",,,this is a tune explicitly about BDSM, a topic the group addresses both lyrically and sonically with full gusto. It’s no wonder that when Depeche Mode was creating this record, its chief inspiration was “Relax”, the innuendo-laced smash hit by Frankie Goes to Hollywood.": www.popmatters.com

To throw censors off the scent, when "Relax" first came out, the band claimed publicly that it was written about "motivation." Later, they confessed it was actually about "shagging.": www.songmeaningsandfacts.com

Wise up, sucker! Wise up! "You say it's love that you need... It's war that you've got...": genius.com

"Give me a buck, so I can buy a rubber..." This is a cover of “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy” by Rod Stewart, with a few modifications. Here's Revco on stage in Kansas City in 2009: www.youtube.com

Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" was originally written for the soundtrack of the movie "Midnight Cowboy," but wasn't submitted in time to be included in the finished film. Dylan's recording was released as a single in July, 1969. Watch the video for Ministry's powerful cover: www.youtube.com

Lizzo commented on this song, "From this black girl to the world, I want you to identify with my story no matter what you like in yo' holes. I want people to feel free, I want people to have fun, I want these boys to know that you could be my next victim… if you play your cards right."

This terrific song was released as the B-side to "Let's Go Crazy." Sheila E. says that the word they're singing is "funk.": diffuser.fm

The full name of the song is "Da Da Da du liebst mich nicht du liebst mich nicht aha aha aha," which translates to English as "Da Da Da I don't love you you don't love me aha aha aha." It was shortened to "Da Da Da" when released in the US.: www.youtube.com

CSS formed in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2003 and was the first South American band to be signed to Sub Pop. Their debut album Cansei de Ser Sexy (Portuguese for “Tired of Being Sexy” – something Beyoncé Knowles once said she was) was released on Sub Pop in July of 2006.: www.subpop.com

Speaking of Death From Above , "Romantic Rights' was the first single from this Canadian duo's debut album.

Now, live from Austin, Texas, here's Ghostland Observatory: www.youtube.com

John Lydon came up with the title and concept for this track after someone at his record company asked him about writing a nice, marketable love song. This song was a response to that request. PiL drummer Martin Atkins and guitarist Keith Levene wrote the music for this track, while Lydon supplied the lyrics. This really isn't a love song: we know because Lydon repeats the title 44 times.

A Flock of Seagulls frontman Mike Score explained the meaning behind this song. "'Wishing' is about a real person," he said. "It was the eve of the first trip we ever took to America, and I had met a girl. We went out for the night, and I didn't want to forget her, so I said, 'We're going on tour and I'll be back. I'd like to get a photograph of you, if I could get one.' And she said, 'No, because you're going to go on to be famous and you'll forget me.' It was true--Score never saw her again.

Front man Richard Butler had a specific audience in mind when he penned the lyrics to this song. He explained in an interview in 1982: "It's basically addressed to people who are f--ked up about their sexuality, and says 'Don't worry about it.' It was originally written for gay people.": www.youtube.com

A perfect song for a morning of songs about love and hate, it's unclear from thew lyrics whether this man is truly bothered about his girlfriend’s condition or not.: www.songmeaningsandfacts.com

"La La Love You", sung by the band's drummer David Lovering, is a love song—though with its "first base, second base, third base, home run" break, it's been referred to as "a dig at the very idea of a love song".: www.youtube.com

Follow Tullycraft at their official website: tullycraft.com

"Punk Rock Girl" was originally written by lead singer Joe Genaro for a two-man side project, Ornamental Wigwam, comprised of himself and David Sculthise. Genaro brought the song to The Dead Milkmen wondering if they could perform it as a group; it worked, and went on to become the band's single most well known song.

"Other girls went and other girls came, I can't get over my old flame..." : www.youtube.com

Ian Drury died in 2000. 10 years later, his son recalled his complex father upon the release of a biopic : www.standard.co.uk

John Richards welcomed Lovers to the KEXP studio in 2010 for a live performance of "Boxer": www.youtube.com

Formed in the southern suburbs of London in 2006, the band attracted attention by serving as a launching pad for Laura Marling, who left the lineup to 2008 to launch an award-winning solo career. : www.allmusic.com

"L.O.V.E, it’s a mystery Where you’ll find me, where you’ll find... All is love...": www.youtube.com

With lyrics about "the world crashing all around your face" and "a pilgrimage to save this human's race," the song really does take place with the world about to end, and the melting is quite literal. Modern English lead singer Robbie Grey, who wrote the song with his four bandmates, explained: "I don't think many people realized it was about a couple making love as the bomb dropped. As they made love, they become one and melt together."

"Wake up... Don't fear... I want to... Love you...": www.youtube.com

Spoon played this track live in the KEXP studio in 2017. Watch the full performance here: www.youtube.com