John Richards

Peter Matthew Bauer shared his newest single "Mountains on Mountains" exclusively with KEXP: www.kexp.org Bauer had this to say about the song: “This is the first track of my own that I've recorded and decided to release in a long time. I'm not entirely sure how to explain it: it's a pretty dark song about certain types of people and memories fading away. But it also has this feeling of no expectations, so it leaves me with a sense of optimism and presence in the end. Nick Stumpf and I started recording it for a fundraiser for Fairfight around the elections. Later we decided to take this barebones live recording and make it into something more proper and special.”

Elbow released Build a Rocket Boys! on this day in 2011. == Hi John! It's Erin from Ohio! Today is my last work day before my 45th birthday on Monday and I am feeling very down. Will you pick me out something beautiful and inspirational? Your show and music in general have helped me survive the year. Here's to a better 2021 and a trip to the Pacific Northwest in my future. Maybe for my 46th bday next year! You are not alone!

Morning John! Here comes a regular makes me think of the only living boy in NY by Simon and Garfunkel? Any chance you could play that this morn? Thanks for all you being to us every day! Michele in west Seattle ________ Simon wrote this as a thinly veiled message to Art Garfunkel, referencing in the first stanza a specific incident where Garfunkel went to Mexico to act in the film Catch-22. Simon was left alone in New York writing songs for Bridge over Troubled Water, hence the lonely feelings of "The Only Living Boy in New York."

Here's Akron/Family performing "The River" live during KEXP's broadcast from ME Television studios in Austin during SXSW in : www.youtube.com

Featuring Lucius on this Kinks cover! The original from The Kinks Album: Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One. Quesada, who produced the track, said in a statement: “I think this is one of the most thoughtful records I have ever done. We wanted to show the original ‘Strangers’ its due respect. We really tried to honor the song and its timeless lyrics. The Lucius vocals gave the song another dimension, and I only wish we could have recorded with them in person.”

Jeff Tweedy produced the album. He told the story of this song to Mojo magazine: "That came out of a conversation with Mavis, where I told her my theory that all music basically says the same thing, which is: you're not alone. Even a kid in his room listening to the most abrasive punk rock or heavy metal, what they're really getting out of it is, 'We're in this with you.' Somewhere down deep there's a communication happening that's sustaining. So after we talked, I thought that'd be a good song to try and write for this record." www.songfacts.com

"'Hurt' surrounds the possibility of healing from pain and the temporary nature of suffering," London-based poet and musician Arlo Parks shared. "It is supposed to uplift and comfort those going through hard times." An archived KEXP Song of the Day back in September 2020, you can download "Hurt" now from our website: bit.ly

Hi John! My son Isidore has got to be one of your biggest fans (along with my wife and I, who haven't missed your show in 12 months), and I'm hoping you can wish him a happy 3rd birthday this morning! His actual birthday is tomorrow, 3/5, but you won't be on air, and to hear John in the Morning say his name would be thrilling beyond words. We never miss the very beginning of your show! Here are a few songs he loves: “The Rainbow Connection,” Jamila Woods “Sula” and anything by Stevie Wonder. Thank you in advance—and for reminding us every day that we’re not alone. Your words have made such a difference this year. Thank you thank you! Kate (and Lisa and Isidore) =========================== Happy birthday Isadore from the Morning Show crew!

When he spoke to NPR in 2000 and recollected the making of the album, Wonder made clear that he was expanding the boundaries of the subject matter in his songs on that album. “It wasn’t so much that I wanted to say anything except where I wanted to just express various many things that I felt — the political point of view that I have, the social point of view that I have, the passions, emotion and love that I felt, compassion, the fun of love that I felt, the whole thing in the beginning with a joyful love and then the pain of love,” he explained. americansongwriter.com

Last month, British record label BBE Music announced their David Bowie tribute album Modern Love. Now, Helado Negro has shared his offering from the compilation: a cover of Bowie’s 1977 Low song “Sound and Vision.” Here is the full tracklist: 1. "Life on Mars" by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson 2. "Sound & Vision" by Healdo Negro 3. "Lady Grinning Soul" by Kit Sebastian 4. "Soul Love" by Jeff Parker and The New Breed feat. Ruby Parker 5. "Panic in Detroit" by Sessa 6. "The Man Who Sold the World" by The Hics 7. "Right" by Khruangbin 8. "Silly Boy Blue" by Nia Andrews 9. "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" by Foxtrott 10. "Move On" by L'Rain 11. "Tonight" by Eddie Chacon & John Carroll Kirby 12. "Modern Love" by Jonah Mutono 13. "Where Are We Now" by Bullion 14. "Fantastic Voyage" by Meshell Ndegeocello 15. "Heroes" by Matthew Tavares 16. "Space Oddity" by We Are KING You can also find this track on Bandcamp, and tomorrow is Bandcamp Friday! heladonegro.bandcamp.com

This is the opening track to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. An announcement airs that the world will end in five years' time because of a lack of natural resources. The song then proceeds to describe the frenzied aftermath of the announcement.

"Better Things" was penned by Ray Davies in New York City about the impending split from his second wife, Yvonne. Davies told The Aquarian Weekly that the time when the song was written was a depressing time for him.

"This is a song about how sometimes you are living in a house and you're in high school and your stepfather is abusing your mother and you, and it really sucks. You have to take a lot of drugs to deal with that, right, but you don't have to, I should say. But you probably do. And when you do, they make you feel marginally better but the main thing that makes you feel better is the company of other people who are as damaged as you are or will shortly become as damaged as you are, and you can sense it, because there is an internal sensor if you bear some damage, you have this sensor that says 'That person is either damaged or is getting there, and I think I will hang out with her until things get a little brighter.' I play this for a lovely person who wore a cape to school." -- John Darnielle 2011-03-30 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY

Nick Cave said: “Though the love song comes in many guises – songs of exultation and praise, songs of rage and of despair, erotic songs, songs of abandonment and loss – they all address God, for it is the haunted premises of longing that the true love song inhabits. It is a howl in the void, for Love and for comfort and it lives on the lips of the child crying for his mother. It is the song of the lover in need of her loved one, the raving of the lunatic supplicant petitioning his God. It is the cry of one chained to the earth, to the ordinary and to the mundane, craving flight; a flight into inspiration and imagination and divinity. The love song is the sound of our endeavors to become God-like, to rise up and above the earthbound and the mediocre.”

U2 played this when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. Bono introduced the song by saying it was, "A little pop diddy - a conversation between Jesus and Judas."

Top 10 Hits of the End of the World, finds the band "performing" as ten fictional bands that (fictionally) had top-ten hits on the eve of the apocalypse.

According to a Duran Duran fan site, Simon Le Bon wrote this song (the lyrics at least) in 1978 during a three month summer stay at a Kibbutz in Israel; where he became a tree surgeon; and where he also wrote "Sound of Thunder", "Night Boat" and "Careless Memories" duranduran.fandom.com

The deluxe set comes with the album on red vinyl and a 50 page children's book inspired by the album. Written by Francine Prose and illustrated by Omar "El Oms" Juarez. elmichelsaffair.bandcamp.com

Official Morning Show proclamation: teachers should be first in line for the vaccine and ice cream. -- Hey John! Just got my first shot! I’m a teacher and am feeling super grateful that we are able to get vaccinated so early. As I left the clinic this morning, Fugazi’s “Give Me the Cure” popped in my mind. I’d love to hear it:) Thanks for all you do!! Zoe

Between the second verse and chorus of "Cactus," the band and the studio members can be heard spelling out "Pixies." Bass guitarist Kim Deal (then credited as 'Mrs John Murphy' in the sleeve notes of the album), later commented on the interlude: "You can hear them spelling 'Pixies' in the break, which T. Rex did in one of their songs ["The Groover"], 'T-R-E-X,' and they were copying it. I was against it, I was like, 'No way, I'm not doing it,' because that's so trite. And I'm the only one that didn't do it. Steve [Albini] went along with it and liked it. So I'm the only one that never got on the records [...] Anybody that was in the studio could have gone in there and done it." en.wikipedia.org

Feeling like some Jack White this morning if you could. Thanks again for all you do and I am looking forward to the craziness of the drive next week. Always fun and my wallet is ready! Guy ====================== By recording, pressing and releasing the live version of "Lazaretto" in less than four hours, Jack White broke the previous Guinness World Record set by Swiss polka trio Vollgas Kompanie, who issued their album Live on August 16, 2008, a day after they recorded it.

At the time, Chrissie Hynde was dating Ray Davies of The Kinks; they had a daughter together in 1983 but split up soon after and never married. Hynde got married twice, first to Jim Kerr of Simple Minds in 1984, then to the artist Lucho Brieva in 1997 - neither worked out. "Relationships are not the be-all and end-all," she told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2015. "You have to be happy within yourself first. No man can give you that."

It's my birthday and I'd love to hear Beastie Boys and Santagold don't play no game. The past two years John has played it for me. It's something I've definitely looked forward to each year. Thanks for all you and ALL KEXP does! Cheers. - John -------- Thank you John! Happy Birthday!

Björk explained the line, "There's definitely, definitely, definitely no logic to human behaviour" during a 2011 Q&A with The Guardian: "At the time I wrote it I was referring to my childhood and probably talking about how I felt more comfortable on my own walking outside singing and stuff than hanging out with humans... I experienced harmony with kids, the mountains and the ocean surrounding Reykjavik and animals I guess but found grown ups rather chaotic and nonsensical."

New Radicals broke up in 1999—just months after the release of their 1998 single “You Get What You Give," but reunited to deliver a one-time performance 22 years after at the Biden/Harris inauguration! - bit.ly

When asked about the prophetic tune in 2012, he said, "I wasn't trying to be ahead of the curve, I was just writing about things that seemed obvious at the time. We still haven't done anything about it. I can't get my head around the stupidity of materialism."

Farriss offered this explanation: "Everything Changes, or does it? Nothing lasts forever and yet most of us at some point in our lives want it to."

For Danny brewing beer in Coeur d'Alene who wanted some LCD Soundsystem to play loud. We're happy to oblige!

Hey John, Sitting here at my desk in my bedroom, thinking of the last concert I saw: February 1st, 2020 - one month before things shut down here on the West Coast. Courtney Barnett solo tour at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, CA. Who knew it would be 13 months later without any live music!! Makes me think back to so many amazing shows, one of my favorite memories is seeing Luna at Neumo's for an early show, coming back for the late show, and then jumping in my jeep with a friend and driving to Vancouver to see them again at Richards on Richards. We actually ran into the band at a sushi restaurant and they called us out during the show. Such nice people, such great memories. Could you please play Beautiful View for me? Feeling like I need to think the 'good thoughts' today. Thank you! Laurel (from Phoenix) ====================

Good morning! Could you perhaps maybe possibly find a way to squeeze in You're One by Imperial Teen? Thanks! Aaron in Sacramento ==================== Yes Aaron, yes we can.

Way back on April 16, 2010, The Posies performed "Solar Sister" live on KEXP: www.youtube.com.