John Richards

Welcome! It's the Friday edition of The Morning show with John Richards. Know that you are not alone. Thanks so much for being here! --- This disorientation anthem was written by Pixies lead singer Frank Black, who was inspired by a snorkeling adventure. He said, "The song is about a high-school trip to the Bahamas. I was swimming in clear water and there was a small fish – about four inches, not dangerous at all – that was aggressively following me and poking me. It kept doing it – it freaked me out. I was like: “I have to get away from this f**king crazy fish.": www.theguardian.com

Woody Woodmansey was the drummer in Bowie's backing band, The Spiders From Mars. In 2008, he spoke about his impressions of this song: "I love 'Starman' as it's the concept of hope that the song communicates. That 'we're not alone' and 'they' contact the kids, not the adults, and kind of say 'get on with it.' 'Let the children boogie': music and rock 'n' roll! It lifted the attention away from the depressing affairs in the '70s, made the future look better. 'Starman' was the first Bowie song since 'Space Oddity' with mass appeal. After 'Starman,' everything changed."

According to its creator Ian McCulloch, [The song is] "about everything, from birth to death to eternity and God – whatever that is – and the eternal battle between fate and the human will." --- The chords of the song were based on David Bowie's "Space Oddity", played backwards. The arrangement of the song was partially inspired by balalaika music that Les Pattinson and Will Sergeant had heard in Russia.: bit.ly

Peter Hook & The Light will be here in Seattle at The Showbox on Tuesday, September 13th, 2022. They'll be performing the "Joy Division: A Celebration" concert, where they will play both of that band’s albums in full.: www.axs.com

In a 2009 interview, Stone Roses lead singer Ian Brown explained that he "didn't actually want people to adore me. I was trying to say then, if you want to be adored, it's like a sin, like lust or gluttony or something like that." -- Someone wrote, "...the bass riff, the dreamy vocals, the sparse guitar melodies, the overblown drums, the weird ambiences... everything is f**king perfect here....": www.youtube.com

See late and beloved Mark Lanegan performing this Joy Division cover live as part of Sweet Relief Musicians Fund's recent 'For The Crew' fundraising event: www.youtube.com

"Said Lord please give me what I need... He said there's pain and misery... Oh sweet oblivion...": genius.com --- Appreciate Mark Lanegan's incredible voice in the video for "Shadow of the Season": www.youtube.com

Wet Leg was the subject of a feature article in The New York Times five days ago: www.nytimes.com -- Wet Leg will be among many awesome artists performing at THING! Festival at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, WA August 26-28th. thingnw.org

Ahhh....the Friday song! Join KEXP on Thursday, April 7th for Music Heals: Addiction and Recovery, a day of programming dedicated to the power of music and the part it plays for those struggling with addiction and recovery. From 5 A.M. to 7 P.M., we’ll share stories from listeners and artists about their personal experiences with addiction, and play songs that helped on their journey to recovery.: www.kexp.org

Good morning, John. Sorry things have been hard lately. Thank you for what you do. For yourself and all of the wonderful KEXP DJs, I'd love to hear Gratitude by the Beastie Boys. ---Scott --- "We have a hard time coming up with anything but praise for this simple, effective shout to quit demanding more from the world and learn to appreciate what we have." Enjoy this author's gratitude for "Gratitude": popdose.com

It’s Shonen Knife’s 40th Anniversary! Any chance you can play some Shonen Knife? ---Bill --- Shonen Knife formed in 1981 when Osaka's Naoko Yamano and her schoolfriend Michie Nakatani cemented their love for the Beatles, the Jam and Ramones into something of their own. With Naoko on guitar and Nakatani on bass, they enlisted Naoko’s younger sister, Atsuko, on drums.: www.theguardian.com

Don't miss this live performance by The Go! Team in KEXP's Gathering Space in 2018: www.youtube.com

Yard Act (from Leeds, UK) will be LIVE on KEXP at noon on Monday, April 18! They'll play at Madame Lou's (The Crocodile) later that night. -- Watch them make their TV debut on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (They played "The Overload."): www.youtube.com

Whale, whale, whale, what have we here? Whale was a Swedish Rock band, formed in the early 90's by Henrik Schyffert, Cia Berg, and Gordon Cyrus. The Swedish trio burst onto the alternative music scene in 1994! -- Someone wrote, "I remember hearing this song and wondering if Bjork and the Beastie Boys got into a car accident together." The video won the first MTV Europe Music Award for "Best Video" in 1994.: www.youtube.com

"Song 2" was intended to be a joke on the record company. A slower, acoustic demo of the song was recorded featuring the distinctive "woo-hoo" chorus in whistle form. They then sped it up and performed it very loudly, with a deliberately amateurish guitar sound. From there, the band told the record company that they wanted to release the song as a single to "blow the ... labels' heads off". To their surprise, record executives reacted positively. bit.ly -- Psst! The song last for 2 minutes and 2 seconds.

Django Django recently performed Live on KEXP at Home, in a session recorded at Octagon Studios in London: www.youtube.com

Ned's Atomic Dustbin took their name from an episode of the British radio comedy program The Goon Show. The band are unusual for using two bass-players in their line-up: Alex Griffin plays melody lines high up on one bass, and Mat Cheslin plays the regular bass lines on the other. This gives the band a tense and highly driven sub-hardcore sound featuring distorted effects-laden guitar and energetic drums. -- Want to see a grainy video of a live version of this great song?: www.youtube.com

“You Get What You Give” became the signature song of the New Radicals, released as the lead single from their only album "Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too." The song received critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone calling it one of the greatest One Hit Wonder songs and later calling it one of the best songs of the 90s. -- See the official music video: www.youtube.com

Hey John, definitely been feeling this week as well. Sometimes it gets dark and we have to remember to turn on our light. Would really love Bittersweet Symphony as a little reminder to appreciate it all. Love the show as always....---Justin -- The classic video for this Verve hit (directed by Walter A. Stern) is a homage to the single continuous shot docu-fiction music video for Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy". It features Richard Ashcroft walking down the busy pavement of Hoxton Street in Hoxton, East London, oblivious to his surroundings and refusing to change his stride or direction throughout. I twas nominated for Video of the Year, Best Group Video, and Best Alternative Video at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. : www.youtube.com

In 2013, The Dismemberment Plan performed live at Seattle's Triple Door in a concert for KEXP VIP Club members. It included "You Are Invited": www.youtube.com

This is the second single from TV Priest's sophomore album, out on June 17th on Sub Pop. Watch the video for this banger (Note: it has flashing images.): www.youtube.com -- Watch TV Priest perform LIVE on KEXP at Home, with host Kevin Cole, here: bit.ly

Good morning John. I lost my brother and mother over the last 6 months and just had to cancel the celebration of life planned for tomorrow due to my daughter having Covid. Would you play A Hero's Death by the Fontaine's DC? I could use a little reminder 😉 ---Jay from CA --- Fontaines D.C. will be LIVE on KEXP (Live Room) Saturday, May 14 at 12:30 PM. They will play The Showbox that evening, Saturday. May 14th, 2022.

NPR says that, on their third album, this wonderful Melbourne band replaces "rage with quiet confidence": www.npr.org -- "The only way out is up..." See them perform this song live in a studio: www.youtube.com

You can hear Yard Act playing LIVE on KEXP on Monday April 18, at 12:00 PM. They will perform at The Crocodile that night. -- You can purchase Yard Act's "Dark Days EP'(which contains "The Trapper's Pelts") right here: yardact.bandcamp.com

Mclusky (often stylized as mclusky), originally known as Best, were a three-piece post-hardcore group formed in Cardiff, Wales. The group consisted of Englishman Andrew "Falco" Falkous (vocals, guitar) from Newcastle Upon Tyne, Jonathan Chapple (bass, vocals) and Jack Egglestone (drums), who replaced previous drummer Matthew Harding in late 2003. -- There's a hand-held camera filming the band performing this song live in Dublin: www.youtube.com

Happy Friday, Happy 21st Birthday to my daughter Jubilation, who makes every day worth getting up and breathing for. Can you play Midnight City by M83? --Anna in Seattle --- The song ends with a bombastic saxophone solo played by James King of the Los Angeles soul/indie pop band, Fitz and The Tantrums. Said Anthony Gonzalez regarding the sax solo and the '80s slap bass that he also utilizes on the album: "Sometimes a song needs an element to be finished. You know that this element has been overused in the past and is considered clichéd or cheesy, but the song needs it. With this album, the whole idea was to do something and have no regrets."

The British group formed in 1986; it featured Guy Chadwick (vocals, guitar), Terry Bickers (guitar), Andrea Heukamp (vocals, guitar), Pete Evans (drums), and Chris Groothuizen (bass). Here's a biography: www.allmusic.com

"Daylight" was written and performed by Matt and Kim, which consists of vocalist and keyboardist Matt Johnson and drummer Kim Schifino. The music video shows the duo playing the song "Daylight" in crowded, often uncomfortable spaces; in beds, fridges, dumpsters, taxis, etc.: www.youtube.com

The song was written by the group's primary songwriter, Martin Gore, with lead vocals by Dave Gahan. At first, this was a ballad played on an organ. Alan Wilder got the idea to speed up the song. The other members didn't like the idea, but after some time became convinced. Songwriter Martin Gore recalled: "The original demo of Enjoy the Silence was very slow and minimal, just me and a harmonium, and Alan (Wilder) had this idea of putting a beat to it. We added the choir chords and (producer) Flood and Alan said, 'Why don't you play some guitar over the top?' That's when I came up with the riff. I think that's the only time in our history when we all looked at each other and said, 'I think this might be a hit.'"

Between M83 and Matt & Kim this set is really taking me back... If you fit Miike Snow's "Animal" in here too I don't know if I'd be able to take it. ---Kristen in Florida -- Hold on, Kristen!! --- Miike Snow is, in fact, two Swedes and one American: Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg and Andrew Wyatt. This is the first single from the Swedish indie pop group's debut album. Lead singer Andrew Wyatt has explained that the song has an ambiguous meaning; its lyrics can be interpreted as dealing with matters such as addiction, basic instincts or dissatisfaction when one's needs are not met by society. bit.ly

Hi John. Tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of my dad's death. He was an adventurous, kind-hearted man. I was in high school when the Deep album came out, so my dad took us to the 21 and over concert at First Avenue. He loved Peter Murphy... but not so much the opening band, Nine Inch Nails. 😄 If you have time, would you please play Cuts You Up? Julie in Portland --- Peter Murphy wrote this song with his guitarist, Paul Statham. The song is driven by a violin riff played on a synthesizer. According to Simon Rogers, who produced the track, they brought in a musician to replicate it on viola, but it didn't sound right. -- "What is it that "takes you in and spits you out?" Peter Murphy was asked in a 2017 interview. He replied, "The path of discovery, self-knowledge, wisdom... once you feel you have it. Then the path will spit you out or off the way and ruin your assumptions of this path. In fact, a great mighty necessity for those spiritual seekers or so-called 'holy state' desires when getting arrogant."

Chicago band Dehd will be at Neumos on Thursday, May 5th, 2022. -- Their new album, "Blue Skies," will be out on May 27th. Here's the official video for this single from the album: www.youtube.com

Kevin Morby will surely sing this at The Showbox on Friday, November 11th, 2022. -- "The song, driven by a fuzz-laden guitar riff and endearingly scrappy sing-song vocals reminiscent of Morby’s lo-fi punk outfit the Babies, is a subtle ode to the late James Lee Lindsey Jr., better known as Jay Reatard — the prolific Memphis-based garage rock trailblazer who died from an overdose at the age of 29 in 2010. Morby wrote much of This Is a Photograph during a sabbatical in Memphis, and the looming spectre of both Reatard and countless other cultural visionaries from the city provided constant inspiration for the record.": www.rollingstone.com

Speaking of Sub Pop (Thank you, Megan Jasper!).... Soundgarden contributed this song to the1988 "Sub Pop 200" compilation.

Frontman James Smith said of this song, “I liked the juxtaposition of the bleak world with the cartoon bassline. Despite all the advances humanity has made, the threat of devolution feels increasingly possible in the modern world, and on my bad days when I’m spiraling, I can’t help but get trapped in my own head envisioning this post-apocalyptic future we’re seemingly headed toward...": www.nme.com

Someone wrote, "'Sad Sad City' soon became one of my new favorite songs. It’s like if Daft Punk and Prince had a baby." Watch Ghostland Observatory performing "Sad Sad City" live in Austin: bit.ly -- Then, watch the late Chris Cornell perform an acoustic version of this song: www.youtube.com

Frontman Yannis Philippakis says, "Musically '2am' is one of the poppiest songs we’ve ever written. It’s about repetitive cycles of destructive behaviour, which I think lots of people can relate to, and certainly it’s an expression of something that I struggle with. There’s something cathartic about expressing that feeling to this upbeat music that’s got a sense of release and the hope of resolution." -- The video for "2am" was filmed in Kyiv with a Ukrainian crew. The band wished “love & courage” to their friends in the country.: www.youtube.com -- Foals' new album, "Life Is Yours," will be out on June 17th.

Go back to 1983 to watch a live version of "New Moon on Monday": www.youtube.com

Delta Spirit will be at Alma in Tacoma, Washington on Wednesday, May 11th, 29022! -- For motivation to go and see them, watch them combine this song with "Shout":www.youtube.com

The Strokes will be performing at T-Mobile Park with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Thundercat on August 3. atmlb.com -- Strokes lead singer Julian Casablancas said of this song: "I remember people saying this track's ugly, I think it's got a great personality. It's a pretty crazy song, and is meant to be a bit schizophrenic." bit.ly Albert Hammond Jr, lead guitarist for The Strokes, did a live in-studio at KEXP in 2018. Check out that full performance here: youtu.be www.thestrokes.com