John Richards

Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to The Morning Show with John and Morgan! Don't Let the Robots Win! It's KEXP's One Day Summer Drive! Support human-curated radio with your donation now: www.kexp.org -- In 1985, Bono visited Ethiopia after performing at Live Aid. Many assumed this song is about that country, since many streets there don't have names. The song is actually metaphorical. Bono came up with the title on his Ethiopia trip, but when he wrote the lyrics, he wasn't sure what the song was about. He explained: "On reflection I suppose I want to write about that 'other country,' the country of the imagination. I want to run out of hiding, to tear down the walls that hold me inside myself. I want to touch the flame." -- Watch the Grammy-winning video: www.youtube.com

"One day like this a year would see me right..." This is your day, your opportunity, your privilege, to support KEXP: www.kexp.org -- Speaking in 2022, Guy Garvey reflected on the power of "One Day Like This." "It's that one great big song we've got, isn't it?" he said. "When we were writing it we were feeling that it might become a popular anthem. The balance of the song is that the tone that it strikes is not saying that everything's rosy, it's saying 'this moment is rosy'. That gives people reason to throw their mouth open and their head back in song."

The Flaming Lips will be at Woodland Park Zoo on Wednesday, August 23rd. -- "Cause she knows that it'd be tragic if those evil robots win..." I know that we can beat them. Donate today: www.kexp.org

Originally, this was "Radio Ca-Ca," which was something drummer Roger Taylor's part-French son Felix exclaimed one day in trying to say the radio was bad ("radio, CACA!). The phrase stuck with Taylor and inspired the anti-commercial radio themes in the lyrics ("So don't become some background noise...") -- Queen stole the show at Live-Aid when Freddie Mercury, battling laryngitis, got everybody in Wembley Stadium singing the chorus of this song. Here's that extraordinary Live Aid version of this song: www.youtube.com

The Buggles were predicated on the idea that everything in life is artificial, including music. That's why Trevor Horn sings in a robotic voice and why the instruments are all processed for a computerized feel. It was a commentary on the intrusion of technology into every aspect of our lives. -- Songwriter Trevor Horn said of this song in the book I Want My MTV: "It came from this idea that technology was on the verge of changing everything. Video recorders had just come along, which changed people's lives. We'd seem people starting to make videos as well, and we were excited by that. It felt like radio was the past and video was the future. The was a shift coming."

The left side of the FM radio dial is where you'll find college radio stations (an low-wattage non-commercial stations), which in the early and mid-'80s were the only places you could hear indie artists - it was truly "alternative." One such band was Let's Active, whose guitarist, Angie Carlson, got to know Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg. She asked him to write her a letter, but he doesn't write letters, so he lost touch with her. Instead, he kept the radio tuned left of the dial when the band was on tour, hoping to hear her music. One night, he did... "I heard her voice for the first time in six months for about a minute," Westerberg said. "Then the station faded out."

This was R.E.M.'s first single, released in 1981, before they signed to a major label. -- "This song was pivotal to the continuation of our career," drummer Bill Berry explained. "Most fans may not realize that for two years before "Murmur" (1983) was released, we barely made financial ends meet by playing tiny clubs around the southeast. Our gasoline budget prevented us from venturing further. Put simply, our existence was impoverished. College radio and major city club scenes embraced this song and expanded our audience to the extent that we moved from small clubs to medium-sized venues and the additional revenue made it possible to logically pursue this wild musical endeavor. I dare not contemplate what our fate would have been had this song not appeared when it did."

Bassist Peter Hook: “Transmission” started with the bass line, turned into our first hit record, and it’s a very very simple chord sequence, very effective. You can hear that youth, that you’re a punk and you mean it in the bass riff, which is obviously the most important thing in the world." The official music video begins with video of Hook playing that extraordinary bass line: www.youtube.com

Ahhh....the Friday song. "Appreciate the joy" by donating today: www.kexp.org

Really feeling "You Get What You Give" this morning. I graduate with my master's degree in two weeks and I have two projects due on the same day next week. The transition time is hard so hearing "Don't give up, you've got the music in you" is so uplifting. Thank you, KEXP! -Sonja in West Seattle -- Watch the official video for "the baby Friday song," which is also the New Radicals' signature song: www.youtube.com

Skate punk band Fidlar -- formed by Elvis and Max Kuehn, sons of Greg Kuehn, the keyboardist for punk legends T.S.O.L., and Zac Carper. The band's name is an acronym for "F**k It Dawg, Life's A Risk." -- Q: What are four words you would use to describe your music? A: Loud. Fun. Louder. Pissed. Here's a 2023 interview with the band: uproxx.com

See the official video for "Good as Hell": www.youtube.com

Hmmm... does something sound familiar? -- Pomplamoose takes Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” and Lizzo’s “Good as Hell” and mashes them up into one fantastic arrangement. Joe Ayoub is the bassist in this song. -- Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn, who make up the musical duo Pomplamoose, talk about their work on this episode of NPR's "Brief but Spectacular": www.pbs.org

Hmmm.... -- “Lovely Day” was written and produced by Withers, with co-songwriter on the track being Skip Scarborough, who worked with Earth, Wind & Fire, Patti Labelle, and many other R&B stars. In an interview with Bill Withers, he explained: "Skip was a very nice, gentle man. The way Skip was, every day was just a lovely day. He was an optimist. If I had sat down with the same music and my collaborator had been somebody else with a different personality, it probably would have caused something else to cross my mind lyrically. It was a combination of the music and the person and the ambiance in the room."

The basic string melody was actually plucked from James Gang’s 1970 “Ashes, the Rain & I” (written by Dale Peters and Joe Walsh) and "Humoresque" by Anto Dvorak, while the lyrics "Right here, Right now" are sampled from Angela Bassett’s performance on the film "Strange Days." -- Right here, right now, seize the opportunity to support KEXP: www.kexp.org

Inspiration for this song struck in 1989 when Mike Edwards was listening to the Simple Minds' version of "Sign O' The Times," The song, written and originally recorded by Prince, is his perspective of the troubling events of the late '80s. Watching the Berlin Wall come down, Edwards said, "I wanted to write a sort of updated but positive 'Sign O' The Times' to reflect what was happening."

Did you know that EMF stood for Epsom Mad Funkers? Read the "unbelievable" story behind the band: rockandrolltruestories.com -- Tyler in Chicago: KEXP has introduced me to all sorts of new music that I love. That music, along with the humanity and positivity of the KEXP DJs and staff, have helped me to make it through the tough times and celebrate the good times.

Wish I could donate more to this years summer drive 💔you all are so wonderful and I'm so glad that I'm able to help power y'all with my monthly donation. This station has brought me so much healing and joy, and has exposed me to such great music. LOVE YOU ALL❤️❤️ --Hanna -- You'll feel connected, too, when you donate: www.kexp.org -- This track samples a bass drum beat and snare beat from Jimmy "Bo" Horne's 1978 tune "Let Me (Let Me Be Your Lover)." Rob Birch looped the sample and created the bass groove that holds "Connected" together. -- Don't miss this live performance from 1994: www.youtube.com

"Ah, sweet lovin' Christ...that's a grrreat song!" You're right, Angus!! -- Michael in Bellevue, WA: Authentic, unique and cool mix, local yet global! Love it. Keep up the good work! -- Support the good work with your donation today: www.kexp.org

Ooh...oooh... Go here for a biography of this playful Dublin band from the 80's and 90's: www.allmusic.com

"We could always play it safe But that's no fun..." Don't play it safe! Commit! Care! Donate to KEXP right now!: www.kexp.org -- Beth Ditto has described “We Could Run” as her “U2 song.” The video, directed by Mark Staubach, follows two young girls as they run away together, enjoying the limitlessness of freedom.: www.youtube.com

It was Jan. 29, 1983, and Stevie Nicks just got married to Kim Anderson. On a drive to Santa Barbara for their honeymoon, Prince’s 1982 hit “Little Red Corvette” came on the radio, and the newlyweds pulled over to buy a tape recorder so Nicks could capture the melody and song in her head on a demo before it was lost. -- “All of a sudden, out of nowhere, I’m singing along, going, ‘stand back,’” said Nicks in a 2018 interview. “I’m like, ’Kim, pull over! We need to buy a tape recorder because I need to record this.’ And so we careen off the freeway to find a radio, record shop or something, and we go in and we buy a little tape recorder.” Instead of celebrating their honeymoon, Nicks stayed up all night writing the lyrics to one of her biggest solo hits. Here's the story behind this song: americansongwriter.com

Oliver in Ballard: I am 8 years old and I listen to KEXP every morning while I'm getting ready for school. I'm excited to give up some of my allowance to be able to keep listening every day! -- Kylie said, "This song is about all of our eternal quest for love and the searching and knowing that there's something or someone out there that you can relate to and makes you a better person."

The Mountain Goats will be at the Woodland Park Zoo on Tuesday, August 8th, 2023. -- I appreciate KEXP's robot-free programming and bringing music to my ears that I wouldn't hear on corporate/commercial radio (new artists or old gems I haven't heard in ages). I am already an amplifier, but wanted to show extra support to show my appreciation. --Laura in SF

Thanks, everyone! You can still donate!: www.kexp.org -- The main title theme to John Williams' score for the first Star Wars movie was inspired by Erich Wolfgang Korngold's music from the film Kings Row (1942). Director George Lucas had specifically asked Williams to compose a score which evoked those of The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and The Sea Hawk (1940), both of which had been scored by Korngold.