John Richards

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CHRIS IN CHICAGO!!! == "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is based on an old folk ballad variously titled "Lord Randall" or "Lord Ronald," in which a mother repeatedly questions her son (beginning with "Where have you been?"), leading him to reveal he has been poisoned. The song ends when he falls dead to the ground. -- In the liner notes to The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Dylan wrote: "'Hard Rain' is a desperate kind of song. Every line in it, is actually the start of a whole song. But when I wrote it, I thought I wouldn't have enough time alive to write all those songs so I put all I could into this one."

"Red atmospheric river pouring down all over me" ---Science teacher Jessica Watch Peter Gabriel in a 2003 live performance in Italy of "Red Rain": www.youtube.com -- Peter Gabriel said about this song: "If feelings of pain do not get brought out, not only do they fester and grow stronger but they manifest themselves in the external world."

"But every time it rains You're here in my head Like the sun coming out Ooh, I just know that something good is gonna happen..." --- "Cloudbusting" is about the very close relationship between psychologist and philosopher Wilhelm Reich and his young son, Peter, told from the point of view of the mature Peter. It describes the boy's memories of his life with Reich on their family farm, called Orgonon where the two spent time "cloudbusting", a rain-making process which involved using a machine designed and built by Reich - a machine called a cloudbuster - to point at the sky. The song was inspired by Peter Reich's 1973 memoir, 'A Book of Dreams'. - bit.ly

You guys are great! Maybe play Rain by The Cult? Admittedly a little loud for you guys at 6:10 am, but it’s 9:10 here in the east, so ….Thanks! --Dan -- Any chance you could add The Cult "Rain" to the mix? Thanks! Mike in Raleigh -- Lead singer Ian Astbury has said that this song is purely about sex. Released as the first single from "Love," it became a monster of a tune, with guitarist Billy Duffy's infamous D drone melody plowing it straight into the UK charts. It has been played on almost every Cult tour since its release.

This song was recorded by Johnny Cash on March 12, 1959 for his third Columbia album. The song is a first person account of the 1937 Mississippi flood that Cash, then aged four years and 11 months, endured with his family. They had to leave their home and flee. -- Johnny Cash And Biff Sing "Five Feet High" on Sesame Street: youtu.be

R.E.M. was opening for the Human League at the Palace Theater in Los Angeles on June 11, 1983, when they got word of downpours in the South Central region of Georgia. The band is from Athens, Georgia, which is located in this area, so they tried to call their families and friends to make sure they were OK, but the phones were out because of the torrential rain. The band wrote "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" in response to this incident. -- Michael Stipe refused to lip-sync for the 1984 music video, directed by Howard Libov, which impressed bandmate Mike Mills. "I really like that Michael sang a live track when we made the video. I don't think that had been done up until that point," he said.: www.youtube.com

During today's one-day drive, we're playing a countdown of "Best Summer Jams," as selected by our DJs. --- #96 -- The song features only Mike Mills on piano, Michael Stipe on vocals and orchestral instruments arranged by Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck wasn’t needed on the track, but he recalled the song’s creation: “Being competitive bastards that we are, Mike and I started auditioning chord changes and tunes for Michael,” he said. “Mike had a piano instrumental that he played to Michael. He listened once, nodded his head to hear it again, and on the second pass he sang the lyrics. It was ‘Nightswimming,’ exactly like the record we would record a year later. I was standing in the corner dumbfounded.”: americansongwriter.com

#95 on the countdown... --- Got your Wayfarers on? Did you see a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac? --- This was a huge hit earning numerous awards including the MTV Video of the Year in 1985 and the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1986. Here's that video: www.youtube.com

#94 -- This 1983 single was written on an omnichord by Matt Johnson, lead singer of London post-punk band The The. In an interview, Johnson talks about the song, change, and the lack of control we have over it: www.dazeddigital.com

Dear John, an end-of-year treat at our son’s school this week was to make their own t-shirts. Our 8 year old made his own KEXP shirt complete with John in the Morning! The Morning Show is another family member in our house and hearing your son’s voices on air helps ours feel part of the music, too. Would it be possible to shout out to Addi and the amazing kids and staff at Spruce Street School in downtown Seattle? Thank you from our Amplifier hearts for everything you do, Sarah and Dave -- #93 on our Summer Jams countdown... -- Don't you love this Nina Simone cover of this iconic Beatles song, written by George Harrison?

#92 -- Did you know that A Tribe Called Quest’s 1993 single “Award Tour” was the group’s highest charting single? “Award Tour” featured a prominent sample of “We Gettin’ Down” by Weldon Irvine.: www.stopthebreaks.com

This is #91 on our Summer Jams countdown. -- In a 2012 interview with British newspaper The Guardian on how "Back to Life" was made, producer Jazzie B said: "Everything about this single was magic. We weren't trying to follow any trend or fit into any category – we were just doing our own thing... Its shuffling beats were a cross between reggae and what was to become known as hip-hop: breakbeats and electronic sound. Caron Wheeler's vocal, coming over these very heavy bass beats, was the icing on the cake...We also had the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra on the track, and the RPO became a key part of our sound. We often look to America for our influences, but this was a moment that put British music back on the map. It also came out at a special time in the industry's history – just before digital took over and everything seemed to fall apart."

#90-- ---- Perhaps Animal Collective will play this great song when they perform at the Day In, Day Out Fest at Fisher Green Pavilion (Seattle Center), August 12-14, 2022. www.dayindayoutfest.com -- On this song, vocalist Noah Lennox, aka Panda Bear, sings about how he eschews material things and just wants four walls to keep his wife (fashion designer Fernanda Pereira) and daughter (Nadja) safe. He explained in a 2009 interview: "I'm not big on possessions but, for some reason, being the owner of a space, a safe house for my wife and my daughter, has become the most important thing for me, for better or worse." Learn how Animal Collective used a JUNO-60 arpeggiator to make this great song: articles.roland.com

#89 on the Summer Jams countdown... -- The term ABBA, which is actually an acronym of the first names of the members of the crew (Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad) is what is called, in literary circles, a palindrome, i.e. a term that spells the same forward as it does backwards. And so is the title of this song, “SOS”. As such, said track’s appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 marks the only time a song whose title is a palindrome by a band whose moniker is also a palindrome appeared on said list.

#88-- “California Soul” was originally composed by Ashford & Simpson in 1967 and first released by The Fifth Dimension. Read NPR's tribute to this extraordinary soul/jazz singer: www.npr.org

Good morning, John. It's my daughter Scout's 10th birthday!!!! And it would be the special--est thing if you could say happy birthday to her AND we would love to hear the Friday song on our way to school this morning!!!!Thank you so much!!!!!!! --Tamara on Queen Anne -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SCOUT!! -- Ahhh... the Friday song! (It's #87 on our countdown!) Donate now to KEXP's One-Day Summer Drive: www.kexp.org

What a great summer song! It's #86 on our Summer Countdown. -- "Hey ladies, where y'all going to?" "To the pool!" This call-and-response repeats throughout the entire two-and-a-half minutes over a funky, retro groove and killer saxophone line. It’s an incredibly fun and catchy song that will make you ache for the days of summer. And, it's yours, for free: kexp.org

#85 --- This fine song by British collective Sault was selected as a KEXP Song of the Day. Download it for free here: kexp.org -- Support the station that makes music like this available to you for free.: www.kexp.org

#84 in the KEXP Summer Jams countdown -- Vocalist Samuel T. Herring explained the song's meaning. "Seasons was an idea to explain the passage of time in a rocky relationship," he said. "It means as the winter falls apart, by the summer we'll feel love again. Then, as the winter comes, it will get rid of those things we're holding onto." --- The song sums up a tumultuous two-and-a-half year relationship. Herring said: "I was trying to get her to change so that she would love me the way I wanted to be loved. And I tried to change too, until I realized that you can't do that. That's just one of those tragedies of love: it's not always going to work out, even if there is something there." -- Watch the official video: www.youtube.com

At #83 in KEXP's Summer Jams Countdown, here's Martha and the Vandellas! -- This 1963 hit was written by Holland-Dozier-Holland. Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland are one of the most accomplished songwriting teams in the history of popular music. They were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1988: www.songhall.org -- Here's a list of songs written by this prolific trio: en.wikipedia.org

#82 -- "Deeper Shade of Soul" is the debut single by Dutch band Urban Dance Squad and samples the Ray Barretto song recorded in 1968 with a similar name ("A Deeper Shade of Soul"). Originally released in 1990, the single reached number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1991 and stayed on the charts for 18 weeks! -- Urban Dance Squad performed it live on Jay Leno in 1991.: www.youtube.com

#81 ---- Alice Cooper said he was inspired to write the song when answering the question, "What's the greatest three minutes of your life?" Cooper said: "There's two times during the year. One is Christmas morning, when you're just getting ready to open the presents. The greed factor is right there. The next one is the last three minutes of the last day of school when you're sitting there and it's like a slow fuse burning. I said, 'If we can catch that three minutes in a song, it's going to be so big.'" -- In a 2008 interview, Cooper said: "When we did 'School's Out,' I knew we had just done the national anthem. I've become the Francis Scott Key of the last day of school."

#80 in the Summer Jams Countdown... -- This Bob Mould composition was acclaimed as "a prime example of Hüsker Dü's unique ability to effectively combine wistful, even tender moments with the hardest elements of rock & roll.": www.allmusic.com

#79 -- Enjoy KEXP's Janice Headley's tribute to this great 1992 song: www.kexp.org

#78 -- This was written by Heatwave's keyboardist Rod Temperton; it was the first song he ever wrote on his own. The song got the attention of producer Quincy Jones, who brought Temperton in to write songs for Michael Jackson. It was a very fruitful collaboration, as Temperton wrote three of Jackson's biggest hits: "Off The Wall," "Rock With You" and "Thriller."

#77 on our countdown... --- " Coming off a huge hit single in 1978’s 'Le Freak,' Chic released its album Risqué early in the summer of 1979. Risqué contained the epic 'Good Times,' which was an immediate monster hit. -- The song opens with one second of the most gargantuan musical chord you’ll ever hear on an organ, before the trio of Chic musicians-guitarist Nile Rodgers, bassist Bernard Edwards, and drummer Tony Thompson–set the song up with their scientifically precise yet funky interaction....The killer bass line by Edwards would inspire two huge hits within a year: Queen’s dynamic disco-rock mash-up, “Another One Bites the Dust”, and Sugarhill Gang’s pioneering “Rapper’s Delight”.

#76... -- Jim Morrison recited this as a poem to Ray Manzarek when they ran into each other on a beach in Southern California in 1965. Manzarek, who knew Morrison from UCLA film school, thought it was great and convinced him to form a band.

This is #75 on KEXP's Summer Jams Countdown. -- Released as a single in 1966, "Sunny Afternoon" was the third (and final) UK #1 hit for The Kinks, following "You Really Got Me" and "Tired of Waiting for You." --- Shel Talmy, who came to England from California, was The Kinks' producer at this time. He also worked with The Who, which gave him access to two of the great songwriters of the era: Pete Townshend and Ray Davies. According to Talmy, Davies was a very prolific songwriter who provided plenty of material when it came time to make their albums. "'Sunny Afternoon,' I think I heard four bars, and said, 'That's probably our next #1,'" Talmy siad in an interview. "It was so obvious."

#74 --- “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” emerged when singer and songwriter Roland Orzabal was in the studio sessions towards the end of recording Songs from the Big Chair and came up with a two-chord riff; the rest of the song, he later said, was “effortless." -- "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" is a line from the 1980 Clash song "Charlie Don't Surf." Did Tears for Fears lift it? Joe Strummer of The Clash thought so. He recounted a story to Musician magazine about confronting Roland Orzabal in a restaurant, informing Orzabal that "you owe me a fiver." Strummer said that Roland reached in his pocket and produced a five pound note, ostensibly as compensation for poaching the line for his hit title.