John Richards

"Mr. DJ, would you please play some songs for me?" Yes, it's Friday and this is The Morning Show with John Richards! You are not alone. Thank you so much for being here. --- Here's a 2018 interview about songwriting with DeVotchKa's Nick Urata: www.songwritingmagazine.co.uk -- See DeVotchKa performing live at KEXP in 2015: www.youtube.com

The late and beloved Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) stepped in for Layne Staley's (Alice in Chains, Mad Season) vocals of this live performance. Watch the video of this phenomenal performance here: www.youtube.com

Vocalist Dave Gahan explained that “Enjoy The Silence” began as a “very slow, ballad-y couple of verses” but bandmate Alan Wilder and producer Flood converted it into the danceable new wave hit it became. At first, songwriter Martin Gore was initially not on board with the uptempo rewrite. "I thought the very nature of the song was, you know, enjoy the silence, so it ought to have a very serene atmosphere. It took me a while to get used to the idea, but as we took it further that way with the guitar riff, it really pulled together."

During World War II, Allied forces used it to signal a victorious moment, as its rhythm—short, short, short, long—matched that of the letter V in Morse Code. --- Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67, an orchestral work by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (as Beethoven was coming to terms with his encroaching deafness), is widely recognized by the ominous four-note opening motif—often interpreted as the musical manifestation of “fate knocking at the door”—that recurs in various guises throughout the composition. The symphony premiered on December 22, 1808, in Vienna, and it soon became a standard against which many other symphonies were measured.: www.redlandssymphony.com

Death Cab for Cutie will play The Paramount Theatre on Wednesday and Thursday, October 26th and 27th. -- Ben Gibbard describes "Roman Candles' as a concentrated effort to create something “succinct, loud and strikingly direct,” sharing that “the lyrics were cobbled from a couple of different songs dealing with my general sense of anxiety; the feeling that the fabric that weaves a functioning society together was crumbling during the pandemic.” -- Don't miss the video for this new song: www.youtube.com

"She strips off her slip Blotted heavy with blood Tosses it On the pink leather back seat..." Here are the lyrics: www.oneofthethree.com -- This review of James' sixteenth studio album says, "'All the Colours of You' is James’ latest album, and it shows the band continuing with a more layered and experimental sound, to the point that it’s hard to know where you would file this album in a record store. ": www.popmatters.com

CHVRCHES is playing The Paramount Theatre tonight, Friday, September 30th. -- They were live on KEXP at Home earlier this year. See that entire performance: www.youtube.com

Formed by Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and British DJ/production duo Radioclit (Johan Karlberg and Etienne Tron), electro-Afro-pop outfit the Very Best came to fruition in 2008 after the trio's free online mixtape found unexpected global success. Their spirited remixes of obscure/popular pop, dance, indie rock, and Afro-pop tunes, all tied together by Mwamwaya's hypnotic Chichewa, Swahili, Portuguese, and English vocals, found favor with everyone from Pitchfork to Radar to Rolling Stone. -- You may know who Kate Bush is.

R.I.P., Attrell "Prince Be" Cordes of P.M. Dawn, who died of diabetes in 2016 at age 46: www.rollingstone.com -- Writing credit is given to Attrell Cordes and Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet, as the song is built around samples of their 1983 hit "True," as well as samples from The Soul Searchers' "Ashley's Roachclip." The main drumbeat also samples from Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full".

This song about young love was the first US hit for Terence Trent D'Arby, who changed his name to Sananda Maitreya in 2001. Regarding the name change, he said: "TTD had died. His psyche had been shot full of so many arrows that he could no longer hold his spirit. After intense pain I meditated for a new spirit, a new will, a new identity. Sananda Maitreya is an opportunity for me, this spirit, to live with a new psyche and use it to continue my work, the work I came to earth for.": bit.ly -- See video of "Wishing Well": www.youtube.com

Thanks, Rob, for this request! -- This is Bowie's tribute to the Velvet Underground, and the song purposefully imitates the New York band's sound. -- Lou Reed performed this with Bowie at his 50th birthday party in New York in January 1997.: www.youtube.com

Speaking of LCD Soundsystem's Nancy Whang (co-writer of the previous song)... This solo track from Nation Of Language member Aidan Noell is a cover of A Number of Names’ early Detroit techno classic “Sharevari.” It’s a collaboration with LCD Soundsystem’s Nancy Whang, produced and mixed by Nick Millhiser of Holy Ghost! Millhiser said: “Finding ‘Sharevari’ in a $1 bin many years ago was a truly life changing experience for me. Somehow both rigid and loose, menacing but fun, I have in one way or another tried to manifest some small part of its spirit in just about everything I’ve made since. Never did it occur to me, however, to just cover it. But Aidan did. When I heard the demo I knew it would be super fun."

Speaking of Nation of Language's Aidan Noell (featured in the previous cover)... This is brand-new music from Nation of Language. It’s the trio’s first new music since 2021’s "A Way Forward." Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Ian Devaney said in a statement:“From The Hill” is a song reflecting on times when friendships fall apart over romantic entanglement, accompanied by the sensation that you’re somehow watching it happen from above with a more zoomed-out perspective. It can feel at times like certain parts of life are a story with which you’re just following along – the characters enter, they play their role, and then they leave. Often it’ll feel sudden and catch you off guard, and other times you’re able to see that it’s the only way things could have played out despite what you may have wanted." -

Nilüfer Yanya has shared her cover of PJ Harvey’s "Rid of Me," the title track from the iconic English musician’s 1993 LP. Of the song, Yanya wrote, "'Rid of Me' haunted me for many years after I first heard it, but in a comforting kind of way, like I knew it was always there for me. It comes across defiant, alien and twisted, but it is a perfect song. I actually think it’s very romantic despite what some of the lyrics get at." (For comparison's sake, here's the original from PJ Harvey: www.youtube.com) -- Watch Nilüfer Yanya's powerful performance of this cover live in Paris earlier this year: www.youtube.com

Speaking of PJ Harvey... "Hit the City" is the second and last single from Lanegan's breakthrough album "Bubblegum," released in 2004. The song features Polly Jean Harvey (Hear her?) --- R.I.P., Mark Lanegan, who died in February at age 57: www.theguardian.com

John Darnielle will be nearby, playing sold-out solo shows at Portland's Doug Fir Lounge on December 5th and 6th. -- Darnielle: "May your blood stain the concrete, the asphalt, the Miami streets, and the carpet of the banquet room in the upstairs of a Little Italy restaurant forever." "Bleed Out" was inspired by action movies from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, in which Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle found comfort toward the end of 2020. Darnelle writes: "Thanks to the actors and directors in the dozen or so action movies from the 60s, 70s, and 80s that I devoured while writing these songs, a practice similar to the one I used in the early days of the Mountain Goats and which was a joy to revisit.

"...a “sin eater” was a person who ritualistically “ate” the sins of a dying person so that person could be absolved before dying, but they’re not referred to directly in the song. Instead, it’s a travelogue of self-searching that takes the narrator from England to Ireland to Ibiza to Russia, where he’s hated at every turn.": www.avclub.com Here's a great visit by Ted Leo and The Pharmacists to the KEXP studio in 2017: www.youtube.com

This is Tom Jones' cover of “Talking Reality Television Blues,” written by American singer-songwriter Todd Snider, whose own version is on his 2019 album "Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3." -- Watch the arresting video for this song: www.youtube.com

Hmmm....sound familiar? --- The Atlantic called this 2001 release the "album that captured modern dread" and said it might be the band's best album.: bit.ly -- In the song's music video, directed by Sophie Muller-directed, Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood perform the song in a barely-lit parking garage.: www.youtube.com

“Sax and Violins” is one of the lesser known Talking Heads songs, appearing as it did as the main title for the little seen Wim Wenders noir/science fiction film, "Until The End of the World." -- Here's Gilda Radner as Emily Litella, giving an editorial response about parents objecting to violins on television, on SNL's Weekend Update in 1976: www.youtube.com

Here's the story of how this collaboration began: “Iggy was staying at the Savoy and graciously said, ‘Yeah, you know we can meet and talk about something,’ because we both felt a strong connection to Trainspotting and to [Trainspotting director] Danny [Boyle],” Underworld’s Rick Smith said. “I turned up thinking, ‘I’ve got one chance here to convince this gentleman that we should work together. So I turned up with basically half my studio, hired a hotel room, set up and sat waiting.” “When you are confronted with somebody who has a whole bloody studio there in the hotel room, a Skyped director who has won the Oscar recently and a f**king microphone in front of you and 30 finished pieces of very polished music, you don’t want to be the wimp that goes, ‘Uh-uhhh’, so my mind was racing,” Pop said. -- Watch the trippy video for this song: www.youtube.com

Ahhh.....the Friday song. Join us on Thursday, October 6 for Reykjavik Calling, a free concert in the Gathering Space presented by Taste of Iceland and KEXP. Featuring Icelandic artists Eydís, BSÍ, Árný Margrét and hosts DJ Hermigervill and KEXP's own Kevin Cole. Go here to register for free guaranteed entry: www.inspiredbyiceland.com

Rebecca: So your ringtone for your wife is "She's a Rainbow" by the Rolling Stones? That's awfully affectionate. Higgins: Yeah, well, it's our song. It was playing the moment we met. And, uh, it's not an exaggeration. She really is my rainbow. "She's a Rainbow' is used to exuberant effect throughout the fifth episode of Season Two of “Ted Lasso” (titled “Rainbow”), from the ringtone on Higgins’ phone to the climactic final scene where Roy “Reba McIntyre” Kent makes a fateful decision about his future, conveyed perfectly in the words, “Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at coach.”

“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. In an interview, U2 lead guitarist the Edge is quoted saying "You Get What You Give" is the song he is "most jealous of. I really would love to have written that." -- See the official music video: www.youtube.com

On this beautiful cloudy day, I would love to hear steal my sunshine! Hope you can squeeze it in. Always sending love, -- Joey in Cap Hill -- Marc Costanzo wrote this song and sang vocals with his sister Sharon. However, Gregg Diamond is also given writing credit. He wrote a 1976 track entitled “More, More, More” (by Andrea True Connection) which is sampled on "Steal My Sunshine."

This song from LA psych artist Morgan Delt was selected as a KEXP Song of the Day back when it was first released: www.kexp.org

The track finds the trio (guitarist and “singing person Greg Katz, bassist and “other singing person” Amanda Tannen, and drummer Mark “Echo” Edwards) up to their usual tricks, setting Katz’s wry speak-singing to chipper pop-rock, both of which belie the song’s despair.: bit.ly -- “I caught a cold / I coughed on all my friends / Now everyone is coughing on everybody else / And we’re coughing on our doctors and our doctors cough out: / ‘Everything is fine!’”: www.lyricsmin.com

Read a biography of this Seattle-based ultra-twee band: www.allmusic.com -- Buy "Old Traditions, New Standards" here: tullycraft.bandcamp.com

The La's performed a live acoustic version of "Timeless Melody" on Canadian TV: www.youtube.com

Evan Dando wrote this song in Australia while he was performing solo as the opening act for Fugazi. He collaborated on the track with Tom Morgan, who was the lead singer for the Australian band Smudge. At the time of this album's 1992 release, the Lemonheads were more a collective than a band, with Evan Dando using a rotating cast of musicians. On the It's a Shame About Ray album, David Ryan did the drumming and Juliana Hatfield was the bass player and backing vocalist (you can hear her near the end of this song).

The Wonder Stuff are a band originally based in Stourbridge, in the Black Country, West Midlands, UK. The original line-up was Miles Hunt, Malcolm Treece, Rob “The Bass Thing” Jones (d. 1993) and Martin Gilks (d. 2006): thevogue.com

The Three O'Clock was a rock group associated with Los Angeles' Paisley Underground scene in the early 1980s. The Three O'Clock was originally formed under the name The Salvation Army in 1982, however, the name was given up due to legal problems concerning the actual Salvation Army. Read a biography: www.allmusic.com

Dream Academy members Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel wrote this song, which is dedicated to the singer Nick Drake, who was 26 years old in 1974 when he died of an antidepressant overdose which may have been suicide. -- "Northern Town" started life with a different title. Nick Laird-Clowes told Mojo that he had befriended Paul Simon at one point and the two stayed in touch. He recalled: "I played him the song and he asked, 'What are you going to call it - 'Ah Hey Ma Ma Ma?' I told him that we intended to name it 'Morning Lasted All Day.' 'That's no good,' he said and so I came up with 'Life In A Northern Town.' which he thought was a great title." - bit.ly -- See an extended live version of the song: www.youtube.com

Hi John! As I'm sure you know the M's magic number is now 1 and it's looking good that they'll be clinching a playoff spot tonight or over the weekend. Any chance you can send our boys off with "My Oh My" by Macklemore? Thanks as always for your great work! --Jeff -- "Until the day that God decides to wave us in..." Does this song make you cry? The song “My Oh My” is dedicated to sportscaster Dave Niehaus, who died in 2010. In 2011, Macklemore did so during a performance on Opening Day at Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners. Niehaus was the leading play-by-play announcer of the Seattle Mariners from their inaugural year (1977) until his death.: dutchbaseballhangout.blog See the official video: www.youtube.com