John Richards

#539 on the listener voted best albums of the last 50 years! R.I.P., beloved Shawn Smith., who died in 2019 at age 53: https://www.kexp.org/read/2019/4/6/rip-shawn-smith/ Here's a live performance at KEXP that includes "The Day Brings": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnuTY_Xdjos Donate to the station where Brad matters: www.kexp.org/donate

#538 on listener voted best albums of the last 50 years! 'Blue Bell Knoll' was released in 1988! Elizabeth Fraser named the album after a peak in southern Utah called Bluebell Knoll. https://bit.ly/3quvDUt Watch the video for 'Carolyn’s Fingers": https://youtu.be/NhGoZLudKyk Cocteau Twins fans love to donate to kexp! www.kexp.org/donate

#537 on listener voted best albums of the last 50 years! The one and only album from this PNW supergroup consisting of guitarist Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, lead singer Layne Staley of Alice in Chains, drummer Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees, and bassist John Baker Saunders. Donate now and get THEE flask: www.kexp.org/donate

#536 as voted by YOU! The second single from Lush. Here's the official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7cqkpy4QrQ Donate now: www.kexp.org/donate

#535 as voted by you! "I just want to know, what are you gonna do for me? I mean, are you gonna liberate us girls From male white corporate oppression? Tell it like it is! Huh? Yeah! Don't be shy Word up! Fear of a female planet? Fear of a female planet? Fear, baby!" https://genius.com/Sonic-youth-kool-thing-lyrics www.kexp.org/donate

#534 - it's a Sonic Youth back-to-back! This was the grunge inspired 7th album from the band and co-produced with Butch Vig. Donate to the station where Sonic Youth matters: www.kexp.org/donate

#532 on the listener voted best albums of the last 50 years! "Don't Dream It's Over" is a song by rock band Crowded House, recorded for their 1986 self-titled debut studio album. The song was composed and written by New Zealand frontman Neil Finn, and released in October 1986 as the fourth single from the album. Don't dream, just donate: www.kexp.org/donate

#531 as voted by listeners! Bee Thousand is the seventh album by American indie rock band Guided by Voices, released on June 21, 1994, on Scat Records. After its release the band became one of the more prominent groups associated with the "lo-fi" genre, a movement defined by the relatively low fidelity of audio releases. Musically, the album draws inspiration from British Invasion-era rock music and punk rock. Following the release of Bee Thousand, the band began to attract interest from other record labels, eventually signing with Matador for their next album. Guided By Voices are an extremely prolific band with over 35 studio albums! www.kexp.org/donate

#530! Heartbreakers' guitarist Mike Campbell wrote this with Petty and Jeff Lynne. The three of them worked on the album at Campbell's house. Petty and Campbell were very impressed with Lynne's production techniques, and learned a lot from the experience. Campbell said: "We'd put the mics up on the drums, and he'd walk out and take the microphone over the drum and he'd turn it away from the drum facing the corner, and he'd go 'OK, record it like that.' Sure enough, 99% of the time he'd be right. We'd go, 'Yes sir, Mr. Lynne.' We learned so much from him about arrangements and countermelodies and all kinds of stuff." Did you know, you can donate while you air guitar? www.kexp.org/donate

#529, Mr. Trent Reznor and the Nails! Is that what they're called? Year Zero is the fifth studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released by Interscope Records on April 17, 2007. Conceived while touring in support of the band's previous album, With Teeth (2005), the album was recorded in late 2006. It was produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and was the band's first studio album since 1994's The Downward Spiral that was not co-produced by long-time collaborator Alan Moulder. It was the band's last album for Interscope, following Reznor's departure the same year due to a dispute over overseas pricing. In contrast to the introspective style of songwriting featured on the band's previous work, the record is a concept album that criticizes contemporary policies of the United States government by presenting a dystopian vision of the year 2022. It was part of a larger Year Zero project, which included a remix album, an alternate reality game of the same name, as well as a conceived television or film adaptation. The game expanded upon the album's storyline, using websites, pre-recorded phone messages, murals, among other media in promotion of the project. The album was promoted by two singles: "Survivalism" and "Capital G". Donate to the station where NIN matters: www.kexp.org/donate

#528! Jump! 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 www.kexp.org

#527! 24 Hour Revenge Therapy is the third studio album by American punk rock band Jawbreaker, released on February 7, 1994, through Tupelo Recording Company and Communion Label. Following the release of their second studio album Bivouac (1992), frontman Blake Schwarzenbach developed a polyp on his vocal chords. While on tour in Europe, he went to a hospital; upon returning to the United States, the band took up day jobs. Recording sessions for their next album were held at Steve Albini's house in Chicago, Illinois across three days in May 1993. After being disappointed by the mixes, three songs were recorded in a single day at Brilliant in San Francisco, California in August 1993. www.kexp.org/donate

#526 on the listener voted best albums of the last 50 years! Did you know that the title track from "Ray of Light' was based on an obscure folk oldie, the song "Sepheryn" from English singer Christine Leach?: https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/madonnas-ray-of-light-6-things-you-didnt-know-197343/ www.kexp.org/donate

#525! "When You Were Mine" was the B-side for Prince's "Controversy" single, originally released on the 1980 album 'Dirty Mind.' “When You Were Mine” wasn’t Prince’s first classic song, but it was his first standard: timeless, durable, and rewarding of endless reinterpretations by other artists. https://bit.ly/3wAop4G If you enjoyed our 6 degrees of Prince Day and want more programming like that in the future, donate now! www.kexp.org/donate

#524 on the listener voted top albums of the last 50 years! "L.E.S. Artistes" (which stands for Lower East Side Artists) was written after Santi White (AKA Santigold) moved to New York City. In an interview with PopJustice, Santi details the track from her debut, saying the song "is playing on the fact that everyone tries to make things fancy and it's really pretentious". Read more about this song here: https://www.popjustice.com/articles/santogold-interview/ www.kexp.org/donate

#523 - The station where BOWIE MATTERS! On the surface, this 1983 song is about dancing with a lover, but according to producer Nile Rodgers, there's a deeper meaning. He told Mojo: "When David wrote those lyrics, he was talking about the dance that people do in life; the conceptual dance of not being honest. He sings, 'put on your red shoes and dance the blues.' Like you're pretending to be happy but you're sad." Because the song had "dance" in the title, Rodgers made sure it could move some butts. He was the right man for the job. -- The official video was directed by David Mallet. It was filmed in Australia and features an Aboriginal couple who are struggling against Western cultural imperialism. The video was described by Bowie as a "very simple, very direct" statement against racism. https://youtu.be/VbD_kBJc_gI www.kexp.org/donate

#522 on the listener voted best albums of the last 50 years! 101 is a live album and documentary film by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 13 March 1989 by Mute Records. It chronicles the final leg of the band's Music for the Masses Tour and the final show on 18 June 1988 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. www.kexp.org/donate

#521! The debut eponymous album by Gorillaz was released in 2001. The reason the song is called Clint Eastwood is because of the strange harmonica-like instrument used in the background, which is called a melodica. It is a keyboard instrument that is played by blowing through a tube and pressing its keys. Damon Albarn of Gorillaz plays it throughout the track, and he thought it sounded a lot like the score to the Clint Eastwood's movie "A Fistful of Dollars." -- Albarn sang the chorus. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien rapped the verses. -- The music video introduced most of the world to the four animated band members of Gorillaz (2-D, Murdoc, Noodle, Russel). The characters were created by comic illustrator Jamie Hewlett.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V_xRb0x9aw www.kexp.org/donate

#520!! This is the first single from R.E.M.'s third studio album, released in 1985. www.kexp.org

#519! Look Sharp! is the debut album by Joe Jackson, released in 1979.[3] The album features one of Jackson's most well-known songs, "Is She Really Going Out with Him?", as well as the title track "Look Sharp", "Sunday Papers", "One More Time" and "Fools in Love". www.kexp.org/donate

#518! Rubberneck is the first studio album by American rock band Toadies. It was released in August 1994 on Interscope Records and attained RIAA gold and platinum status in December 1995 and December 1996 respectively. The album produced the band's most popular single, "Possum Kingdom". The song's master track is featured in the Xbox 360 version of the video game Guitar Hero II. It was also released for the video game Rock Band 3 in a pack that contained "Away" and "Tyler" as well. www.kexp.org/donate

#517 on your listener voted best albums of the last 50 years! This Is the Sea is the third The Waterboys album, and the last of their "Big Music" albums. Considered by critics to be the finest album of their early rock-oriented sound, described as "epic" and "a defining moment", it was the first Waterboys album to enter the United Kingdom charts, peaking at number 37. Steve Wickham makes his Waterboys recording debut playing violin on 'The Pan Within' and subsequently joined the band, appearing on the video of "The Whole of the Moon". This Is the Sea is the last album with contributions from Karl Wallinger, who left the group to form his own band, World Party. www.kexp.org/donate

#516!! The Police significantly broadened their sonic palette on Ghost In The Machine, adding keyboards and horns to a number of the tracks, and their beefy take of “Demolition Man” featured Sting riffing the song’s counter-melody on tenor saxophone. Vamping around Sting’s insistent, cyclical bassline, Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland also excelled on the track, which turned into an urgent, six-minute tour de force performed with a similar intensity to Regatta De Blanc’s “Death Wish.” “To me, our version is much more ballsy and it was a one-take job,” Summers explained. “So that’s how we started [Ghost In The Machine]. It got us off to a good beginning, because everyone was really up from that. It was just what we needed.”: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/sting-demolition-man-the-police-song-story/ Only TEN MINUTES LEFT to donate to the Monday edition of the Morning Show! www.kexp.org/donate

#515!!! The Damned are an English rock band formed in London, England, in 1976. They have a very good band name. https://www.officialdamned.com/ www.kexp.org/donate