John Richards

The Resistance Revival Chorus is a collective of more than 60 women and non-binary singers, who join together to breathe joy and song into the resistance, and to uplift and center women’s voices.: www.facebook.com --- "Woke Up This Morning" is a freedom song made as a revamp of the old gospel song "I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus" in the 1960s. It is one of many similar songs during the civil rights movement. The song was created by Reverend Robert Wesby of Aurora, Illinois, in the Hinds County jail during the freedom rides

Hi John Listening in here from the UK and had to say given I have at least one eye on the US election, the Land of the Free felt inspired - I hope a new dawn for all our sakes. Still the best station period, Justin ---- "Said I'm gonna make it with my friends (Ah, with a little help from my friends....)" Watch Joe Cocker own this Beatles cover: www.youtube.com

John Lennon’s third single with the Plastic Ono Band was written and recorded on the same day (January 27, 1970), and released just 10 days later. Upon its release he told the press that he “wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch, and we’re putting it out for dinner”. Lennon said, "It just came to me. Everybody was going on about karma, especially in the Sixties. But it occurred to me that karma is instant as well as it influences your past life or your future life. There really is a reaction to what you do now. That’s what people ought to be concerned about."

This was written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell in 1930. On April 24, 1979, this became the official state song of Georgia, replacing a song titled "Georgia." Ray Charles performed the song the ceremony that day. Watch him perform it live: www.youtube.com Willie Nelson sang this at Charles' funeral in 2004.

Watch Brittany Howard perform this Rogers and Hammerstein classic, released on Election Day: liveforlivemusic.com

I remember this is the first song you played the day after election day four years ago! And I cried. Now crying for better reasons. Thanks kexp so much for being there for us through these last four years. Julie ------ Ahhhhh! I love this Tracy Chapman version of Stand by Me more than anything. Thank you so much, John! Sending love to you and your family, and your KEXP family too. ❤️ --- Tracy Chapman sang this hauntingly beautiful cover of The Drifters song on The Letterman Show in 2015: www.youtube.com

A request from Michelle. Mr. John sang this one live in Philadelphia's First Union Centre (Thank you, Philadelphia!) in 2002: www.youtube.com --- Here's a message from Chris in Philadelphia: "wooooooooooooooooooooo hooooooo woooooooooooooooooo hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo woooooooooooooooooooo."

You may have questions about this song, like "Did Andre 3000 design those amazing green pants in the video"? (The answer is "Yes"!): www.huffpost.com BTW, here's the video: www.youtube.com

I'm sure you're getting a ton of requests today, but this feels like ceiling can't hold us energy! Loving the playlist today! --Noah from Everett, WA --- Watch Macklemore and Ryan Lewis perform "Can't Hold Us" live in the KEXP studio: www.youtube.com

"I'm kicking out the old regime...liberation, elevation, education..." Janelle Monae said of "Turntables," “I’m simply watching, examining, and wanting to highlight all of the people who are on the frontlines fighting for our democracy, fighting against racial inequalities, fighting against white supremacy, fighting against systemic racism, and systemic oppression. So, this song is to keep us motivated. This song is to uplift us and keep us galvanized when we’re fatigued. And this song is really for the people.” Watch the invigorating and inspiring video for Turntables here: youtu.be

"Love you all. What's really cool about right now is the majority of votes being counted are from the black community. Standing up made all the difference." --Mr. G., aka Michael ---- "Move on Up" was a tribute of sorts to Mayfield's Chicago neighbors, The Staple Singers. "Curtis lived around the corner from us," Mavis Staples told Mojo magazine. "He was like my baby brother. He'd drop by and we'd eat together and he'd talk politics with Pops. One day he came to Pops and said 'I want to write songs like The Staple Singers do, and Pops said 'Curtis man, you're a writer, a poet! Write some of those songs!' The first one Curtis wrote was 'Move On Up' and he came round and played it to us and Pops said, 'That's my boy!'"

Frontman Bobby Gillespie, on the simplicity of the lyrics: "I like country and soul and blues imagery, it's very simple and direct, and it's written in a language that anybody can understand. But it's hard to write that simple because people will always want to complicate things to show off that they can, you know, they think they can write better than they actually can. It's all about communicating and touching people.": www.youtube.com

Danielle: "The Friday exchange between you and Henry just now.. Ow my heart. Thanks for keeping a smile on my face even when times seem unbearable." ---- Ahhh...the Friday song! The New York Times, noting that all eyes are on Philadelphia today, published scenes from that city this morning: www.nytimes.com

I just want to start by saying that until this summer it had been a very long time since I listened to any live on air radio station. I am super happy I found KEXP though. It was a great reminder that I am not alone in these hard times. And it was great to find an incredible source of great music. As well as awesome DJs that felt like close friends. So thank you for that. I luckily just got my job that I had lost with the pandemic back and now I will be going back to Antarctica. But that sadly means I wont be able to listen to you down there. But I will take all sorts of the music you introduced me to, so thank you for that. And thank you for the music set this morning. That Macklemore song hit me in some crazy sort of way and it felt so good that I definitely had a joyful cry this morning. So again, thank you. Your whole team is amazing and I will miss all of you during my deployment. Rob -- Thank you for carrying us through this mess. I’ve been absolutely gutted and today beyond hopeful with the new numbers. Thank you for being here for us, John. We’ve needed your voice during all of this. Most sincere gratitude, Chad ---- Live in Berlin in 2002: www.youtube.com

Liz wrote us, "Oh my god I am dying from living in 2020. I can't stop shaking today. I just tuned in to calm down. Thank you for being there. I keep saying it, but I feel like I have to. ❤️" --- Here's an intimate look at the recording session that produced "Under Pressure": www.biography.com

John Deacon’s hard-pulsing bass riff is the heart of “Another One Bites The Dust,” and it’s basically a version of Bernard Edwards’ descending bassline from Chic’s 1979 #1 “Good Times.” Read an in-depth exploration of this Number 1 song: bit.ly

Thank you, Wisconsin! Violent Femmes formed in Milwaukee in the early 80's: www.allmusic.com They played an extraordinary show for the crowd in KEXP's Gathering Space: www.youtube.com

Interesting song title...hmmmm. --- Coming to you from the South, where you're seeing a lot of red on the electoral map. I have a complicated relationship with my feelings about the south, but as we see Biden take lead in Georgia (thank you GA!!), I am so filled with pride for all of the grassroots organizers who are working tirelessly to fight against voter suppression and deeply rooted racism. This is hard work, and these people are showing up! Mary

"The Tears of a Clown" is a song written by Hank Cosby, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder and originally recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles for the Tamla Records label subsidiary of Motown (Thank you, Detroit!). In 1979, British ska/new wave band The Beat released a cover of the song as their debut single. See the original here: www.youtube.com

“This machine kills fascists” was emblazoned on folk singer Woody Guthrie’s guitar, and he used his weapon of choice to compose timely songs of protest, which still remain relevant. One of those tunes is “All You Fascists Bound To Lose” which Guthrie wrote in 1942. -- Rhiannon Giddens is singing with the Resistance Revival Chorus, an activist and musical group that formed out of the 2017 Women’s March ; video: www.youtube.com ; www.resistancerevivalchorus.com

“Bring some new ones in / We’ll start the show again.” “Vote ‘Em Out” was written by Willie Nelson and Buddy Cannon and features Nelson’s sons Lukas on guitar and Micah on drums. See the animated video for this song: www.youtube.com

"I know John would only play Lovely Day if he was feeling optimistic.... still afraid to be optimistic, but love that you guys are! 🤩☀️👏" --Jeanne --- "It is impossible to hear this song without feeling better." Here's a guide to the late and lamented Bill Withers' 10 greatest songs (including this one): www.theguardian.com

I'd love to request Beyonce and/or Aretha. Black women are the true champions of democracy and we need to cheer loudly for them. -Stephanie, Seattle --- The end of “Freedom” features a clip of Hattie White, Jay Z’s grandmother, during her 90th birthday celebration. “I had my ups and downs, but I always had the inner strength to pull myself up,” she says. “I was served lemons, but I made lemonade.”

This set is exact what i needed this morning- hope, joy, celebration! Blasting this and dancing with my daughter. THANKYOU!!!!!--Katie -- The song uses samples from James Brown's "Funky Drummer", the Chicago Gangsters' "Gangster Boogie", Sly & The Family Stone's "Trip to Your Heart", the drum break from Digital Underground's "The Humpty Dance", and LL Cool J's own "Rock the Bells" (from his debut album Radio). Watch the video of LL Cool J in the boxing ring. His grandmother says, ""Todd! Todd! Get upstairs and take out that garbage.": www.youtube.com

From NPR: Soon after its release, "Alright" became an anthem for black protest and resistance. The refrain, "We gon' be alright" was a defiant promise — that no matter what happened, black people would lean on each other to make it through. And as Andrew Limbong wrote for NPR Music, its role as both a party song and a protest song represented "the sound of black life's duality." This great song won the 2016 Grammy for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Peformance: www.youtube.com

GOOSEBUMPS Kendrick to George?!?! GREAT transition, John!! I love you! Jeff in Bellingham -- Thank you John for lifting me up this morning. I haven't slept in 3 days and waking up this morning show is just what I needed and reminded me that I am not alone. God Bless! Solidarity! Camille --- This song has a very unusual intro: it starts with the sound of a church organ playing the tune from the 1984 Wham! hit "Freedom"." The organ was actually a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer set to the pipe organ preset. Chris Cameron played it.

Thank you for being our soundtrack! We are so close!! -Rose ---- Speaking of organ introductions....here's Prince live at Paisley Park in 1999: www.youtube.com

"If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow...why, oh, why can't I?" Here's the clip from "The Wizard of Oz" where Judy Garland sings this wonderful song: www.youtube.com

"This vise around my head for the last 4 years is finally starting to release. KEXP and this community listening experience has helped me cope for the last 1,728 days and today's tunes are slowly untwisting the clamp. I love you. I love KEXP. I love our community." --Andrew --- Never did I ever think Mr. Rogers' theme song would ever bring tears to my eyes. That just hit my heart in the right way. Beautiful. Thank you infinitely for being the best soundtrack to our lives. Lots of love, Jimbo --- "Please won't you be my neighbor...": www.youtube.com

Crowded House lead singer Neil Finn wrote this song. He explained in an interview: "I wrote that on my brother's piano. I'm not sure if I remember what the context was, exactly, but it was just about on the one hand feeling kind of lost, and on the other hand sort of urging myself on: Don't dream it's over. That one actually fell out literally, without me thinking about it too much.": www.youtube.com

“This is the day, your life will surely change. This is the day, when things fall into place.” Enjoy an interview with Matt Johnson about the making of this song: www.dazeddigital.com