John Richards

This compilation album contains 16 tracks from the days when Underworld was a trio: Karl Hyde, Rick Smith, and Darren Emerson. The group formed in 1980 in Cardiff, Wales, and Emerson decided in 2000 to pursue his own career as a DJ. --- "'8 Ball' is well worth the wait to hear. With a sophisticated orchestration of synthesized acoustic guitars and pianos, it gingerly slows down the momentum of the hard beats and distorted vocals that precede it, vying instead for an aural ambience coupled with simple lyrics that seem a Buddhist meditation that, again, occurs on a train platform: “Today, today/ I saw a man/ Today, I saw a man/ Using an empty whiskey flask as a walkie talkie/ Today/ I met a man who threw his arms around me.”: www.popmatters.com

ODESZA are playing three shows at Climate Pledge Arena, July 29-31. -- This song includes the original vocal from Betty LaVette's 1965 track "Let Me Down Easy." Watch video of this great singer performing the song in 1990: www.youtube.com

Sonically, Ditto has described “We Could Run” as her “U2 song.” It’s larger-than-life, with her vocals booming over a rock instrumental. The video, directed by Mark Staubach, follows two young girls as they run away together, enjoying the limitlessness of freedom.: www.youtube.com

Good Morning John. I listen everyday and enjoy all of the music I discover through your show. Today I am turning 19 and I was wondering, If it ever so pleases the DJ, if you could play "My Finest Hour" by The Sundays. --Alex Happy birthday, Alex! -- This band, with lead singer Harriet Wheeler, made three strong albums, and then disappeared! Want to know what became of The Sundays?: hooksandharmony.com

"There She Goes" is a song with one crazy story, so hang on. It was written by the Liverpool singer and guitarist Lee Mavers, and recorded by his band The La's. The La's released it on their only album, titled The La's. "There She Goes" was released as a single, not once, not twice, but four times! The first release scratched the UK Singles chart in 1988 at #51. The second release in 1990 was the peak, with #13 on the UK Singles and also charting in the US. The third release was in 1999, and it charted the UK Singles at #65. The fourth release was in 2008, on vinyl only for the song's 20th anniversary, and charted again at #181.

A-House formed in Dublin in 1985 and broke up in 1997. They got together briefly in 2019 to play their classic 1991 album, "I Am the Greatest" live: bit.ly

R.E.M.'s debut studio album was released on April 12th, 1983. "The record R.E.M. emerged with remains one of the most compelling and otherworldly debut albums in rock history.": www.udiscovermusic.com

This song was first released by The Primitives on their 1988 album "Lovely." In 1994, the song was featured on the Dumb & Dumber movie soundtrack as "Crash (The '95 Mix)". This remix included additional guitars, percussion, organ and backing vocals - none of which were performed by any of The Primitives. -- Here's the original, performed by the originals: www.youtube.com

Dehd's new album, 'Blue Skies,' will be out on May 27. dehdforever.bandcamp.com -- Dehd was live on KEXP last Thursday, May 5th, at 2:00 p.m. You can still hear that performance on KEXP's streaming archive: www.kexp.org

Go back, back, back in time to 2013 to watch this Stockholm, Sweden band playing live in the KEXP studio: www.youtube.com

The Hunt says, "We recorded a cover of our wonderful friend Zola Jesus for a new Sacred Bones comp.": www.facebook.com -- For comparison, here's the original 2010 song from Zola Jesus: www.youtube.com

Written by guitarist Andy Farriss and lead singer Michael Hutchence, this was the first song by this Australian group to make an impact in the United States, setting the groundwork for their international success in the mid-1980s. -- Regarding the video, INXS bass player Tim Farriss said in the book "I Want My MTV": "We fed Valium to a few cats and had them running around a table while we had a feast with sexy models and Playboy centerfolds, ripping apart a turkey. Next thing we knew, we had a Top 40 hit in America.": www.youtube.com

Hey John, Great Friday so far. I LOVE the Friday Show! Current set makes me think of the Sugarcubes - and I am missing Iceland. Do you think you will be able to put some on? DJ-choice! Thank you for being wonderful! --M -- "Life's Too Good" was the debut album from this Icelandic band. "Delicious Demon" featured Bjork on lead vocals.

Hi John, My son, Bowman, turned 2 yesterday. I thought you would enjoy knowing that “Friday Song” is part of his vocabulary --Colin -- Ahhh....the Friday song! Thanks, Bowman...and happy birthday yesterday! -- Win a trip to Seattle to celebrate KEXP's 50th anniversary in August!: www.kexp.org

Hey, can you play something by Electronic this morning? Had "Get the Message" stuck in my head all week :))--Carly -- Electronic, is the English band formed by Bernard Sumner of New Order and ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. On "Get the Message," Primal Scream vocalist Denise Johnson added a vocal at the end of the song. Here's the official video: www.youtube.com

Happy birthday to "Low-Life," New Order's third (and, perhaps, strongest) album, released on May 13th, 1985. This retrospective says it "marked the point where New Order’s fusion of rock and electronica became seamless.": www.thisisdig.com

Would be great to hear James – Sometimes. This has been a rough week, Being with those that care for you back has been the thread holding it together. Cheers to the Morning Crew! -- BILL -- 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".

Moby's sixth studio album came out on this date in 2002.: www.rollingstone.com --- That's the Shining Light Gospel Choir accompanying him on "In My Heart." The song samples the traditional gospel song, "Lord, I Want to Be a Christian."

Did you love Spiritualized's third album "Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space."? Then, you're going to really appreciate this just-released ninth album. "The two albums share a spellbinding mixture of astral ambience, artfully tailored musical density, and occasionally sharpened live fury, as well as an emotional depth not always evident in the band’s more glazed-out moments.": pitchfork.com -- Here's the official video for this stunner: www.youtube.com

Last weekend, I was on one of the volcanic island of the Azores, (a island chain in the middle of the Atlantic) and I had just completed a 25k trail race over 4 volcanoes = hard af. I finished (!!) and sat down with my beer and chips next to one of the race guides. The National Anthem by Radiohead came blaring through the finish line speakers and we both bobbed our heads. He said, "I effing love Radiohead!" I asked him if he heard Smile. He hadn't and pulled it up on his phone. I mentioned I found out about them on KEXP. His eyes lit up and in his thick Portuguese accent said, "I LOVE KEXP!!" It was pretty wonderful! Can you please play ANYTHING by Radiohead or Smile? Thank you! -Coach Beth --- The main riff in this song was inspired by The Beatles' "Sexy Sadie."

Fontaines DC will perform Live in the KEXP Studio tomorrow, Saturday, May 14 at 12:30 PM! They'll also perform tomorrow night at the Showbox SoDo. -- 'A Coventry woman who won a legal battle to erect a gravestone with an inscription in Irish, to honour her late mother, has described Fontaines DC's new song inspired by the case as "a fitting end to the journey that we went on as a family". Bernadette Martin, daughter of Margaret Keane, and her family, last year successfully fought for the right to have a Celtic cross bearing the words "In ár gCroíthe go deo" - which translates into English as "In our hearts forever" - on her grave at St Giles Church in Exhall.': tinyurl.com

Director Sam Wiehl‘s video for Mogwai's new single “Boltfor” is a CGI fantasia that seems to be about two acrobats who are made of fireworks running towards each other. In a press release, Wiehl says, “The video is a visual metaphor for the constant movement in life and the unceasing urge to move forward as individuals… in the form of a metaphysical road movie.” : www.youtube.com -- Check out Mogwai's Live on KEXP at Home performance from last year: www.youtube.com

In an interview, Cure vocalist and primary songwriter Robert Smith said: "I was thinking of Bourbon Street in New Orleans when I wrote it - I was getting ready to go there and I thought: what the f--k do I think I'm going to find? It's about the incredulity that I could still be fooled into looking for a perfect moment." -- While recording the Disintegration album, Smith created a strange restriction: He wouldn't speak during the sessions. To communicate, he passed notes to his bandmates, sometimes when they were in the middle of playing. He was trying to foster a kind of nonverbal communication.

Holy F!! They'll be at Neumos on Thursday, June 2nd.: -- They say, "'Ninety Five' is the sound of drums literally collapsing under their own weight.": holyfuck.bandcamp.com

“Every Day Is Exactly the Same” was the third of the three successful singles released from "With Teeth," Nine Inch Nails' fourth studio album. The song reached the number one spot on Billboard’s Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 2007 Grammy Awards. --- Check out John's exclusive KEXP interview with Trent Reznor: www.kexp.org

"What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released in 1967 as a single. Armstrong's recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. -- Watch Satchmo sing this wonderful song live: www.youtube.com

For a little change of pace from "What a Wonderful World," here's Ministry's "New World Order," featuring samples from the speeches of George H.W. Bush. -- The majority of the video for this song is a mix of police beatings, riots, and gunfights. It also includes a scene in which a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty is beaten by police in a manner similar to the famous amateur video of Rodney King being beaten by police.: www.facebook.com

For a little change of pace from "Over the Rainbow," you're listening to "World Destruction," a 1984 musical composition by Time Zone, a band consisting of early rap star Afrika Bambaataa, ex-Sex Pistol/Public Image Ltd. leader John Lydon, and producer/bassist Bill Laswell. (The single also includes renowned musicians Bernie Worrell, Nicky Skopelitis & Aiyb Dieng, all of whom would later play on PiL's "Album." Laswell also played bass and produced that album.): music.fandom.com

This optimistic ditty (Take that, Timezone!) was written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis and released in 1973. Carpenters originally intended the song to be only an album cut. However, after country singer Lynn Anderson covered the song and it became a number two hit on the country charts, they reconsidered.

We've fluctuated, wavered, vacillated a great deal over this set... “Fight The Power” opens with an incendiary quote from Chicago lawyer and activist Thomas ‘TNT’ Todd about Vietnam deserters who would rather “switch than fight.” -- This anthem, originally from the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s classic movie "Do the Right Thing" and later on PE’s seminal album Fear of a Black Planet, is perhaps the group’s best-known song. -- See the official music video here: youtu.be

George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam wrote this song. They met when they both performed at the wedding of Seattle socialite Susan Boeing and began playing clubs in the Northwest US. In 1985, they released an album as Boy Meets Girl and wrote Houston's hit "How Will I Know." -- This fell in the middle of a remarkable seven-song run of US #1 hits for Whitney Houston that were spread across her first two albums. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" was the lead single from her second album, "Whitney." It was guaranteed airplay but exceeded even the sky-high expectations that came with it - the single sold 3 million copies in America while the album moved 9 million.

"Killing In The Name" was released as a single on November 2, 1992 as the first single from Rage Against The Machine's debut album. The song was released six months after the beating of Rodney King in 1992.: www.radiox.co.uk -- Here's a live performance: www.youtube.com

Want to see the birth of Kermit the Frog on Jim Henson's live television show, "Sam and Friends," in 1955?: www.openculture.com

"The world's first heavy metal song....." Paul McCartney wanted to write the "loudest, nastiest, sweatiest rock number we could" after reading a Pete Townshend interview describing a Who track (possibly "I Can See For Miles") as "The most raucous rock 'n' roll, the dirtiest thing they'd ever done." Here's the story behind this song: www.udiscovermusic.com -- After his arrest, Charles Manson argued that The Beatles were responsible. “Why blame it on me? I didn’t write the music,” he said in court. The jury even requested a copy of The White Album to try and make sense of it all before finding Manson and his “family” members guilty of murder.

This 1972 song was inspired by Mozart's "Piano Concerto no. 21." Diamond said, "This is one to which I never paid too much attention. A very basic message, unadorned. I didn't even write a bridge to it... I had no idea that it would be a huge hit or that people would want to sing along with it." - bit.ly

"I wanna die just like Jesus Christ... I wanna die on a bed of spikes..." This was the first single from Scottish band The Jesus and Mary Chain's fourth album. -- In 2017 The Guardian put together their list of the 10 best Jesus and Mary Chain songs (It didn't include "Reverence."): www.theguardian.com

Perhaps a gentle lullaby to follow "Danny's Song...": www.youtube.com -- Someone wrote, "My brother and I played this at my dad's funeral. Lets just say not many people were amused and in fact, offended but dam. He told us years before to do so and even told us, "Play AC/DC at my funeral, I wanna jam for the last time".

According to the co-writer and longtime group member Bob Gaudio, the song was originally set in 1933 with the title "December 5th, 1933," and celebrated the repeal of Prohibition. Neither lead singer Frankie Valli nor co-writer (and later, Gaudio's wife) Judy Parker were thrilled about the lyrics (and Valli objected to parts of the melody) so Gaudio redid the words and Parker redid the melody until all were content with the finished product, a song about losing your virginity.

Stockholm-based trio VERO's track "Beg!" is a powerful guitar anthem fueled by the anger of a flawed relationship

2015's "Ghost Notes" was Veruca Salt's first album in nearly a decade and the first with its original members since 1997.: pitchfork.com