John Richards

Hey Wednesday, it's time for The Morning Show! Celebrating the music of 1984 & 50 years of music on KEXP! - www.kexp.org --- Purple Rain, the 1984 American rock musical drama film scored by and starring Prince in his acting debut, pulled in ten times its budget, earned an Oscar for Best Original Song Score, and boasted a soundtrack that spent 24 weeks at Number 1. - bit.ly

Stop Making Sense is a 1984 American concert film featuring a live performance by the Talking Heads. Stop Making Sense considered by many critics to be one of the greatest concert films of all time, and is actually edited together from several concerts. --- Happy 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Ocean Rain is the fourth studio album by the English post-punk band Echo & the Bunnymen, released in 1984. Celebrating 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org --- Echo & the Bunnyman play The Showbox on Thursday, Sept 1st! - bunnymen.com

Arena is a live album by Duran Duran, released in 1984. This is the only new song on Arena, which became the group's best-selling album. It's also the only studio track on the album. --- Happy 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Welcome to the Pleasuredome is the debut studio album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, first released in 1984. Relax.. and celebrate the music of 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

The Works is the eleventh studio album by Queen, released in 1984. Queen drummer Roger Taylor wrote this song. Lady Gaga took her name from this song. --- Happy 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

The Unforgettable Fire is the fourth studio album by U2. It was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and released in 1984. The song "Bad" started as an improvisation by U2 guitarist The Edge, with the others joining in. It was recorded in three takes at Slane Castle in Dublin. The castle on the cover of The Unforgettable Fire is not Slane, but Moydrum Castle. - bit.ly --- Celebrating the music of 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Released in 1984, Sparkle in the Rain is the sixth studio album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds. The waterfront in this song is the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland where the band is from. "The song itself is about the rebirth of our city," Simple Minds lead singer Jim Kerr told Songfacts. "It talks about the water, and anyone listening might think it's Biblical. A baptism or something." - bit.ly --- Celebrating the music of 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Into the Gap is the fourth studio album by British pop group Thompson Twins, released in 1984. --- Celebrating 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

"Cruel Summer" was released in the US in 1984, and it was used in the movie The Karate Kid. The group had four Top 10 UK hits to that point, but "Cruel Summer" was their first to make an impact in America. --- Celebrating 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Lead singer Chrissie Hynde wrote this song, which finds her coping with transition and approaching middle age. The third album by The Pretenders was released in 1984, after a hiatus that two of the band members died of drug overdoses (James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon). The title of this album came from Chrissie Hynde's then-infant daughter, who was learning to crawl while the band worked on this album. --- Celebrating the music of 1984 & 50 years of music on KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Let It Be is the third studio album by American rock band The Replacements, released in 1984. R.E.M.’s Peter Buck plays the guitar solo on the song. --- Happy 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

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. - bit.ly --- Reckoning is the second studio album by R.E.M., released in 1984. Happy 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Opening track off this Australian band's debut album, released in 1984. Happy 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

The character Ray Smith in the Jack Kerouac novel, 'The Dharma Bums', repeatedly says "What difference does it make?" as well as "Pretty Girls Make Graves" both of which are tracks from The Smiths' self-titled debut album, which was released in 1984. --- Happy 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Some Great Reward is the fourth studio album by Depeche Mode, released in 1984. "People Are People" was Depeche Mode's breakthrough hit in the United States. Celebrating 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

"Original Sin" is a song by Australian rock group INXS from the band's fourth album, The Swing, released in 1984. Daryl Hall sings the chorus with Hutchence. He was recruited by producer Nile Rodgers. Celebrating 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Heartbeat City is the fifth studio album by the Cars, released in 1984. "Drive" was written by Ric Ocasek, sung by bassist Benjamin Orr, and became the Cars' highest-charting single. Happy 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

First single from the band's eponymous debut album, which was released in 1984. Happy 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Talk Show is the third studio album by the Go-Go's, released in 1984. Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin said of this song: "I just think it's a classic. Like a little pop truffle of chocolate that's just completely delicious." - bit.ly --- Head Over Heels for the music of 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

"Tenderness" is a song by General Public from their debut 1984 album All the Rage. This song appears in the films Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Weird Science, and Clueless. --- 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

The Unforgettable Fire is the fourth studio album by U2, released in 1984. This song is the second track on the album, and a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebrating 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

In this 1984 song, Jerry Dammers demands the release of Mandela, who was the leader of the African National Congress (ANC). He had been imprisoned by the South African government since 1962 on charges of sabotage and attempting to overthrow the government. Not surprisingly, this song couldn't be played freely in South Africa. Prisoner no 46664 was finally released in February 1990 and became State President of South Africa in 1994. - bit.ly --- Celebrating the music of 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

"Take Me with U" by Prince and the Revolution was the final US single released from their album, Purple Rain (1984). Take Me With U to celebrate 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

By request!

It's My Life is the title track from the second studio album by Talk Talk, released in 1984. Celebrating the music of 1984 & 50 years of music on KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Double Nickels on the Dime, Minutemen's third studio album, released in 1984. Minutemen bassist and lyricist, Mike Watt, sent Jackson a copy of this song on cassette tape: "I sent him a cassette of it to the management on the record cover. I wrote him a note. 'This is a political song I think Michael Jackson should sing.' I never got written back." - bit.ly Celebrating 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

From the soundtrack album to the eponymous 1984 film, Repo Man. Pablo Picasso by Burning Sensations was written by Jonathan Richman. The Repo Man soundtrack features songs by various punk rock bands such as the Plugz, Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, Iggy Pop and others. Happy 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

The 1984 soundtrack album to the eponymous film Repo Man features songs by various punk rock bands such as the Plugz, Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, Iggy Pop and others. One of the first soundtracks to use pre-existing band cuts in lieu of an original score, Repo Man is a fine, if not terribly thorough document of L.A.'s punk heyday. - bit.ly --- 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

This song is a commentary on the futility of war. The lyrics are based on the 1940 Ernest Hemingway novel of the same name. Ride the Lightning is the second studio album by Metallica, released in 1984. Rocking out to the music of 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Rock You Like a Hurricane by request!

Opening track to 1984, the sixth studio album by Van Halen, released in 1984. Celebrating 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

This was Van Halen's first #1 hit in America, and their only #1 with David Lee Roth as lead singer. 1984 was David Lee Roth's last album with Van Halen before he left the band in 1985; the video for "Jump" inflamed the tensions that led to his departure. - bit.ly --- Celebrating the music of 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

This song is a semi-autobiographical story of Jimmy Somerville, who was lead singer of the band at the time. The song covers the oppression of homosexuals in provincial Scotland in the early 1980s. The Age of Consent is the debut album by Bronski Beat, released in 1984. This was the only album released by the band to feature Somerville, who departed the band in 1985. - bit.ly --- Celebrating the music of 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Released in 1984, Mirror Moves is the fourth studio album by the Psychedelic Furs. Happy 1984 & 50 years of music on KEXP! - www.kexp.org

In 1984, "The Caterpillar" by The Cure was released as the sole single from their fifth studio album The Top. Happy 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Born in the U.S.A. is the seventh studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released in1984. This song inspired the famous Annie Leibowitz photo of Springsteen's butt against the backdrop of an American flag. Bruce had to be convinced to use it as the album's cover. Some people thought it depicted Springsteen urinating on the flag. This is one of the most misinterpreted songs ever. Most people thought it was a patriotic song about American pride, when it actually cast a shameful eye on how America treated its Vietnam veterans. Springsteen considers it one of his best songs, but it bothers him that it is so widely misinterpreted. - bit.ly --- Celebrating the music of 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Eurythmics wrote and recorded this song for the film adaptation of George Orwell's novel 1984. Just one problem: another musician (Dominic Muldowney) was also doing a soundtrack to the film, something the film's producer Simon Perry and director Michael Radford didn't tell the Eurythmics. Richard Branson, head of Virgin Films, insisted that the Eurythmics' soundtrack be used, so their songs made it along with some of Dominic Muldowney's work. The soundtrack album, 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother) was released ahead of the film and "Sexcrime" released as a single. Eurythmics were vindicated when the song became a big hit in the UK, where the film went to #1 at the box office. - bit.ly --- 1984 music & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

"Close (to the Edit)" by Art of Noise was released in 1984. Celebrating the music of 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

Building the Perfect Beast is the second solo studio album by Don Henley, released in 1984. Happy 1984 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

This is the only studio album that guitarist Robert Smith of the Cure composed and recorded with Siouxsie and the Banshees. "Dazzle" featured strings played by musicians of the (LSO) London Symphonic Orchestra, a 27-piece orchestra called the "Chandos Players" -- using melodies composed on piano by Siousxie herself. bit.ly It’s KEXP’s 50th anniversary! To celebrate we’re playing songs you know and love from 1984! kexp.org/50/