John Richards

Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to The Morning Show with John Richards! Thanks so much for listening. -- This fall (October 8th), Billy Bragg will release The Million Things That Never Happened. A press release calls it “the first pandemic blues album of our time.” -- Talking about this song, he says, "To me, this is the heart and soul of the album. I’ve come to the conclusion that empathy is the currency of music — that our job as songwriters is to help people come to terms with their feelings by offering them examples of how others may have dealt with a situation similar to that in which listeners find themselves. After what we’ve all been through, the idea of being a shield, physically, emotionally, psychologically, really resonates.": bit.ly

Berlin-based duo Lea Porcelain is producer Julien Bracht and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Markus Nikolaus. They say, "The song describes a time in everybody’s life that make you lose faith in yourself, in someone else, or in life itself and you just need to hear from someone that one day everything will be OK again. That no matter what, with time and patience we all will be OK.” Read more from our interview with Lea Porcelain about this song here: www.kexp.org

Cleveland folk trio The Lighthouse and the Whaler have just released a new single,"When We Meet." Read an interview with the band here: bit.ly -- John was the host when the band performed live in the KEXP studio in 2015: www.youtube.com

"Now if you're feelin' weary...If you've been alone too long....Maybe you've been suffering from...A few too many...Plans that have gone wrong..." Here are the lyrics: www.azlyrics.com -- Want to read a lovely tribute to this now-37 -year-old album?: bit.ly

Good morning John! Glad you're back on the regular. ❤️ ...I don't supoose you are gonna play that lovely Fiona Apple cover? -Shannon in Houston -- Watch Fiona Apple's live version of this wonderful Waterboys cover: www.youtube.com

I've been a KEXP listener for almost 20 years. Today is my fifteenth wedding anniversary to my beautiful wife Rebecca. She has always been by my side through the thick and thin, including a recent cancer diagnosis last month. Treatment just started and we are fortunate that this form is curative, but I could not do any of this without her love and support. I just want her to know how much I appreciate her and my children, Sam and Nora. Curious if you have time to play our wedding song from 15 years ago, First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes (before it was in TV commercials). --Scott in Charlottesville, Va. --- See the official video for "First Day of My Life": www.youtube.com

I've been a KEXP listener for almost 20 years. Today is my fifteenth wedding anniversary to my beautiful wife Rebecca. She has always been by my side through the thick and thin, including a recent cancer diagnosis last month. Treatment just started and we are fortunate that this form is curative, but I could not do any of this without her love and support. I just want her to know how much I appreciate her and my children, Sam and Nora. Curious if you have time to play our wedding song from 15 years ago, First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes (before it was in TV commercials). --Scott in Charlottesville, Va. --- See the official video for "First Day of My Life": www.youtube.com

"I believe that ecstasy happens when we all get together," sings Strand of Oaks' lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Tim Showalter. "Standing right in front of me, feeding off the energy together / Looking for identity, freaking out a little bit together." This new song from Strand of Oaks is perfect for this moment when live concerts are opening up. and fans are gathering: www.npr.org

The female backing vocals on this song are by Juliana Hatfield, who also played bass on the album. She released her first solo album, Hey Babe, earlier in 1992. At this point in 1992, The Lemonheads were essentially an Evan Dando solo project. On the It's a Shame About Ray album, David Ryan was the drummer.

Mayway Records says, [Belgian band]"The Haunted Youth is the band of Hasselt-based Joachim Liebens (27 years old), playing mesmerizing psych pop reminiscent of MGMT, DIIV, Slowdive or, we dare even say, The Cure." -- Check out a live version of "Coming Home" youtu.be

Go back in time to 2011 to read this enthusiastic review of The War on Drugs second studio album: pitchfork.com -- Then, come forward in time to 2017 to watch their live performance in the KEXP studio: www.youtube.com

John selected this song about '60s surfer/financial criminal Miklos "Miki" Dora as a KEXP Song of the Day: www.kexp.org --- Damon McMahon (Amen Dunes) performed live on The Morning Show in August 2018. Check out "Miki Dora" from that set: www.youtube.com

Want to watch the "official promotional video" for "Delicious"?: www.youtube.com

The British "queen of country soul," Yola, born Yolanda Quartey, will release her sophomore album, "Stand For Myself," on July 30th.: iamyola.bandcamp.com -- John selected the title song as a free KEXP Song of the Day: www.kexp.org

Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Curtis Harding returns with his first new music in three years. He says “I wrote [“Hopeful”] some time ago but in theory it goes far beyond a time and place. I’ve always tried to carry it (Hope) wherever I am. Darkness finds us all, hope allows us the fortitude to seek out the light.”: www.curtisharding.com

"The pain is real." --- "NINE" is SULT's new album. It will be withdrawn from circulation 99 days after its release. The tripled numbers represent 999, the British telephone number for the emergency services. It’s a reference partly to policing, a prime focus for Black Lives Matter protests against racism. But Nine’s 99-day lifespan also refers to a state of emergency in present-day London among the city’s Afro-Caribbean communities.: on.ft.com

saultglobal.bandcamp.com -- This reviewer says, "What I love about “Up All Night” by the prolific internet mystery trio SAULT is that it’s the one song about going out all night that actually feels like going out all night.": www.whatyoulistento.com

The Parisian collective, led by Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux, released their first album in 2004. A new documentary about this French covers band has just been released: bit.ly

Pls play Good Feeling by the Violent Femmes I just had breast cancer surgery & it looks like I am cancer free. --Heather in Colorado -- Violent Femmes will play WaMu Theater on Saturday, October 16th, 2021.

Watch The Jayhawks performing live in the KEXP studio in 2016: www.youtube.com

Thanks, Lou in Rhode Island, for this request. -- "Life's Rich Pageant" released in July, 1986, marked a change for R.E.M. " Their folk-rock influences were still there -- the song has one of Peter Buck's most memorable jangly guitar parts -- but the real changes were in Bill Berry's big snare drum sound and, most surprisingly, Michael Stipe's vocals, which were front-and-center in the mix and sung in a clear voice.": diffuser.fm

Melbourne-by-way-of-Tasmania band Quivers is the project of Sam J. Nicholson, who started it to keep singing after losing a brother in a free-diving accident. This beautiful song about memory, loss, and resilience was selected by John as a KEXP Song of the Day: www.kexp.org --- John welcomed Quivers into the KEXP studio for a live performance in 2019: www.youtube.com

Loving the show this morning! I'm a former Seattle resident and now living in West Hartford Ct. There is nothing better than feeling like I'm back in my hometown and listening to KEXP while at work. Can you fit in some Broken Social Scene this morning? --David -- "Halfway Home" was chosen as a KEXP Song of the Day and you can download it for free here: www.kexp.org

"Guided by Angels' is the new single from this Australian band's new album, "Comfort to Me," out on September 10th. The group wrote the album primarily while quarantining together during the pandemic, ultimately spending more time working on and refining the songs than they had on any of their previous LP and EPs. -- In the video, Amy Taylor dances around and belts the song in various locales — a field, a storage unit, the ocean — as her bandmates stand cooly by.: www.youtube.com

“Dammit Beavis,” opined Butthead in 1995 as he saw this video, “this chick loves me. And I love her.” The video won first MTV Europe Music Award for "Best Video" in 1994.: www.youtube.com

Ahhh....the Friday song! Applications re open from July 16-July 30 for KEXP's youth show, 90.TEEN: www.kexp.org

Interviewer: On the opening track "World In My Eyes" you seem to be saying 'Just for this moment pleasure and gratification are all that matters'. It's almost like (deep breath) existentialism. Martin Gore: Yes, and it’s a very positive song. It's saying that love and sex and pleasure are positive things. -- www.youtube.com

"We had the title written down for quite a few years," UK duo JOHN explain, "and it seemed to perfectly fit the sentiment and structure of the music as lyrics. These words guided us to a narrative image: a driver who is so wrapped up in themselves and their journey that they don’t seem to realise that the car is slowly filling with water. I guess it can be read as a slightly barbed reminder to have a sense of responsibility within the world...": www.youtube.com

This music to this song was based on a Howlin' Wolf blues song called "You'll Be Mine," which was written by Willie Dixon. As is typical of many blues songs, there are many sexual references in the lyrics, which are made in the form of car metaphors. In interviews, Marc Bolan acknowledged that he "lifted it from a Howlin' Wolf song." -- Watch Marc Bolan perform the song live in 1971! youtu.be

This song was inspired by a tryst Rod Stewart had with a woman at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival when the artist was 16. Stewart was nervous. He said the encounter was over "in a few seconds." -- "Maggie May" remains the biggest mandolin-based hit ever recorded, although the theme music for The Godfather, released the following year, may be more recognized.

John, I’m almost officially old today…as such…can you play Sometimes from Laid by James? Ok thanks!! --Aaron -- Happy birthday, Aaron Starkey! -- Lester Piggot is a famous British horse jockey. The band referred to the song as "Lester Piggot" while they were writing it because of its "racing beat".

"Beautiful Beaches” was written in response to climate change migration and the subsequent increasingly regular Californian fires bringing devastation to his community (Tim Booth was a resident of Topanga Canyon for many years). The inspiration for the song came from a friend who sadly lost his ‘fireproof’ home and had to flea for his life to the beaches, and a recurring vision that Booth had last year of earthquakes and fires in California, a vision that resulted in his family selling up and leaving the Canyon. -- James performed "Beautiful Beaches" live on television last month: www.youtube.com

Hi! My daughter is singing my dream set list today at her School of Rock concert. Can you play anything by Janis Joplin or Blondie or Pat Benatar or Heart? :-) - Chanda -- She was born Patricia Mae Andrzejewski and has won four Grammys, had two multi-Platinum albums, five Platinum albums, and 15 Billboard Top 40 singles.: www.benatargiraldo.com

It's my birthday! And I'm having a Pool Party! Can you please play Pool Party by Rudy Willingham? Thank you!!! Jodi in Spokane. --- "Hey, ladies!" "Yeah!" John Richards selected this delightful song as a free KEXP Song of the Day: www.kexp.org

The song's video features the band as a cloth-cap wearing family squashed into a terraced house. Drummer Dan "Woody" Woodgate recalled: "The knocking-on-the-door bit where somebody comes out, goes, 'Where are they?' and the others sneak in and close the door... That's The Flintstones. We stole lots of ideas from the Keystone Kops and Benny Hill.": www.youtube.com

Following the disbandment of the British indie pop group the Housemartins in 1989, vocalist Paul Heaton and drummer David Hemmingway formed the Beautiful South. Here's a biography: www.allmusic.com

It was a great experience when The English Beat played "Save It For Later" live in the KEXP Bumbershoot Music Lounge in 2010: www.youtube.com

Happy birthday (in 1952) to American musician, multi-instrumentalist and composer Stewart Copeland, best known as the drummer for The Police and for his film music soundtracks. -- Klark Kent is the debut solo album of Stewart Copeland, and the first solo album recorded by any band member of The Police.: www.allmusic.com

Speaking of birthday boy Stewart Copeland... --- Until they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this was the last song The Police played together; after breaking up in 1986, they performed it at Sting's wedding to Trudie Styler in 1992. - bit.ly -- www.youtube.com

Desmond Dekker, Jamaican ska and reggae singer-songwriter, musician, and member of the The Aces was born on this day in 1941. His 1969 hit "Israelites" was for many Americans the first reggae they'd ever heard. He died on May 25, 2006 at the age of 64.: www.npr.org

"The Tide Is High" was written by John Holt and originally recorded by the Paragons. Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein heard the song on a compilation tape they picked up in London; they thought it was too good not to record. Their version was a huge hit, going to #1 in both the US and UK.

"The star of the original recording, though, is one "White Rum" Raymond. It's Raymond playing the violin that weaves its way through the song, lending it both melancholy and – simultaneously – the faint fairground air that stops it being self-pitying." Read a tribute to this great song: www.theguardian.com

Wilco's latest album is a collection of "really big, big folk song," according to frontman Jeff Tweedy. He says the album overall is defiantly joyful in the face of global political and cultural upheaval.

Mitski performed songs from 'Puberty 2' live in the KEXP studio in 2017. youtu.be -- Ask Mitski Miyawaki about happiness and she'll warn you: “Happiness fucks you.” It's a lesson that's been writ large into the New Yorker's gritty, outsider-indie for years, but never so powerfully as on her album, 'Puberty 2'. “Happiness is up, sadness is down, but one's almost more destructive than the other,” she says. “When you realise you can't have one without the other, it's possible to spend periods of happiness just waiting for that other wave.” On 'Puberty 2', that tension is palpable: a both beautiful and brutal romantic hinterland, in which one of America’s new voices hits a brave new stride. mitski.bandcamp.com