John Richards

Good morning, happy Wednesday, & welcome to The Morning Show with John Richards! --- "The Race for Space" is the second studio album by Public Service Broadcasting. Working with sound samples from the British Film Institute, the album relives the story of the American and Soviet space race from 1957–1972. This track features the speech by John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1962 at Rice University. John F. Kennedy was born on this day in 1917. He was the 35th President of the United States (assassinated November 22, 1963 at age 46).

This song includes audio clips from Mission Control in Houston when Apollo 8 becomes the first manned voyage to orbit the moon and they are on “the other side” and lose radio contact. The tension midway through the track is palpable bringing to life this historic moment in space travel and then erupting back into a solid composition of electronic driven beats in celebration of Apollo 8’s success. This mission produced the famous image "Earthrise", called the most important environmental photo ever - en.wikipedia.org --- Here's Public Service Broadcasting performing live in the KEXP studio in 2017 - www.youtube.com

"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." Just another day where Paul Simon helps with your song titles! - www.songfacts.com

Happy birthday to Simon Jones! The English singer and musician (The Verve and The Shining) was born on this day in 1972.

On this day in 1997, Jeff Buckley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Gods and Monsters) (b. November 17, 1966) died at age 30 when he waded into the Mississippi River near Memphis. Buckley's one album, "Grace," remains among the most acclaimed and influential recordings of its decade.

Happy birthday to Mel Gaynor! The British drummer, singer and recording artist, best known as the longtime drummer for the rock band Simple Minds was born on this day in 1959. Listen closely to how this man plays...he's a genius! - melgaynor.com

New music from Beth Gibbons of Portishead Fame. Her first solo album was just released! bethgibbons.net

Miki Berenyi Trio will perform LIVE on KEXP on Tuesday, June 4 on the Morning Show with John! That night they'll be performing at Madame Lou's in Seattle, with Lol Tolhurst & Budgie opening. Miki Berenyi Trio are Miki Berenyi on vocals/guitar (Lush), Kevin ‘Moose’ McKillop on guitar (Moose) and Oliver Cherer (Gilroy Mere, Aircooled). The three musicians first worked together during Piroshka’s 2021 tour – Miki and Kevin being founder members, Oliver coming in on bass to replace Mick Conroy (Modern English) who had moved to the US. mikiberenyitrio.bandcamp.com

A new TR/ST album is coming this year. In December, the electronic project of Robert Alfons signed to Dais. The single “Soon” is mixed by Chris Coady, Damian Taylor, co-produced by Alfons and Nightfeelings, and mastered by Mike Bozzi. Alfons previously described the new record as “bigger, better, beautiful, and buried in mud.” - trst.bandcamp.com

"Ghosts Again" is the lead single from Depeche Mode's 15th studio album, Memento Mori. - www.depechemode.com

New single from London's Nilüfer Yanya, her first single in two years, & her first music with Ninja Tune. It also comes with a music video directed by Yanya’s sister, Molly Daniel, that follows her sprinting off into the distance as a runaway bride: www.youtube.com niluferyanya.com niluferyanya.bandcamp.com

Collab by Blondshell's Sabrina Teitelbaum and Bully's Alicia Bognanno! - blondshell.bandcamp.com --- Blondshell will be performing at Seattle's Day In & Day Out Festival Saturday, July 13th. - www.dayindayoutfest.com - www.blondshellmusic.com

As ODESZA head toward their Finale Tour for The Last Goodbye, the duo has gifted us with an eight-track EP with remixes of some of their most beloved tracks over their past few projects. With their first ever live album set to release at the end of the month, this EP serves as an appetizer that’ll help leave ODESZA fans with plenty of music to dance to this summer. - thissongissick.com - odesza.bandcamp.com

On this day in 2015, Jamie xx released their debut album In Colour. The album was composed during a five-year period while a member of the indie pop band the xx, starting with his production on xx in 2009. - jamiexx.bandcamp.com - jamiexx.com

Hey John!! Thanks for the groovy tunes. Trying to get from Issaquah to Seattle for work and I'm stuck in so much traffic. I might lose my mind. Can you please play me some new order if you have time. Love and hugs Liz from Issaquah.

On this day in 1977, a Manchester band Warsaw (later known as Joy Division) was incorrectly billed as "Stiff Kittens" in their live debut supporting The Buzzcocks at The Electric Circus in Manchester, England. - www.joydiv.org

Joy Division cover! --- Seaweed formed out of the fertile northwest punk scene of the mid- to late-’80s in Tacoma and Olympia, WA. Aaron Stauffer and his best bud since fourth grade, Clint Werner (guitar), were going to all-ages shows featuring the likes of Fugazi, Dag Nasty, Bad Brains, and 7 Seconds. It was a great time to be a young punk rocker, and the two gleefully found themselves caught up in the DIY ethic. seaweed.bandcamp.com

Amyl and The Sniffers have unleashed the single "U Should Not Be Doing That" and the B-side "Facts' as their first new music since 2021. - www.amylandthesniffers.com --- The Melbourne band performed a powerful in-studio session at KEXP in 2022 check it out here: www.youtube.com

7 Year Bitch was an American punk rock band from Seattle, Washington that was active between 1990 and 1997. Their career yielded three albums, and was impacted by the deaths of their guitarist Stefanie Sargent and close-friend Mia Zapata of fellow Seattle punks The Gits.

New from Irish group SPRINTS! sprintsmusic.bandcamp.com --- SPRINTS were live in the KEXP studio in March: www.youtube.com

On this day in 1990, The Breeders released "Pod". - www.thebreedersmusic.com

Remi Francis Wolf is an American singer and songwriter from Palo Alto, California. As a senior in high school, she appeared as a contestant on American Idol in 2014. Performs at the Frost Amphitheater in Stanford, California on September 11th and the Orpheum in Vancouver BC on September 14th. www.remiwolf.com

New York City-based trio Shanny, Jackson Walker Lewis, and Ben Scharf are Fcukers. We will be extremely careful announcing this band name on the air :) - fcukers.bandcamp.com

Wishing listener Michael from yesterday who was having a crappy day a happy birthday. Not knowing him or what he likes I request Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip which I like. Rob in Woodinville

This Mylo track includes samples from the recording "Invocation for Judgement Against and Destruction of Rock Music", released in 1984 by Elizabeth Clare Prophet and her Church Universal and Triumphant. Scottish producer Myles MacInnes released this classic in 2004, and samples many 1970s and 1980s soft rock songs that Mylo heard on the radio as a child. It was re-released it in 2005 with a new remix of "Drop the Pressure". This album has been included in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", as well as numerous lists of the best albums of the 2000s.

Brand new from Justice! - etjusticepourtous.bandcamp.com

On this day 1975, Bob James released "Two." Numerous (almost 500) artists have sampled the drums and bell part of the intro to the track "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", an instrumental cover of the Paul Simon song. - www.whosampled.com

"Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" by P.M. Dawn is built around samples of Spandau Ballet's "True", the Soul Searchers' "Ashley's Roachclip", and the Bob James version of Paul Simon's "Take Me to the Mardi Gras".

"Peter Piper" by Run-DMC sampled Bob James's "Take Me to the Mardi Gras".

From their their debut album, Licensed To Ill, this song is based on a stew of samples. In addition to "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" by Bob James, this Beastie Boys track contains samples from "The Return of Leroy" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch, "Drop the Bomb" and "Let's Get Small" by Trouble Funk, "Funky Stuff" by Kool & The Gang, "Christmas Rappin'" by Kurtis Blow and "La Di Da Di" by Doug E. Fresh and MC Ricky D.

The iconic Straight Outta Compton features samples from Bob James's Take Me to the Mardi Gras, as well as 7 other songs.

This title track samples "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" by Bob James (1975), as well as "Hit or Miss" by Odetta (1970), & "The Return of Capt. Rock" by Captain Rock (1983).

On this day 1975, Bob James released "Two." Numerous (almost 500) artists have sampled the drums and bell part of the intro to the track "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", an instrumental cover of the Paul Simon song. - www.whosampled.com

We are excited to debut a new Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds song to the KEXP audience today. This is the second single taken from new album, ‘Wild God’, due August 30th. It's called 'Frogs' and opens with the very first words Cave wrote for the album, invoking the first murder in the Bible, Cain’s slaying of Abel. “Ushering in the week he knelt down and crushed his brother’s head in with a bone / It’s my great privilege to walk you home.”

Days of Future Passed is the second album and first concept album by The Moody Blues - www.moodybluestoday.com

From Pearl Jam's debut album, "Release" was one of the first songs Eddie wrote with the band, and it's one that helped them find common ground. "We were strangers, but we were coming from a similar place," said Vedder. bit.ly --- Last night Pearl Jam played Climate Pledge Arena for the first time. They'll be back for another show tomorrow. pearljam.com

This orchestral version of 'Sometimes' was part of the double album released in 2023 in celebration of James's 40th Anniversary. The album is a collection of some of James’ most loved and rare tracks, reimagined with a 22 piece orchestra and eight piece choir. - wearejames.com

Echo & The Bunnymen now on tour! Dates include: - Monday, June 3 at Seattle's Showbox SoDo, - Thursday, June 6 at San Francisco's The Warfield. - www.bunnymen.com

"I am Brimheim. My given name is Helena and I’m a half Danish, half Faroese singer/songwriter currently residing in Malmö, Sweden." -nordicwatchlist.com --- Here's Brinheim performing live on KEXP at Dypång, in Aarhus, Denmark, during the SPOT Festival in May 2022. - www.youtube.com --- brimheim.bandcamp.com www.brimheim.com

gracecummings.bandcamp.com --- "Time rolls by Again Today By and by The old, it waves And I don’t know why I come back each time, just a little more grey..." - genius.com

Kate Bush told the NME: "It was written for John Hughes' film She's Having A Baby. Really light comedy about this young guy who gets married, very much a kid. His wife is pregnant and it's alright until they get to the hospital and the baby's in the breach position. That's the sequence I have to write the songs about and it's really very moving, him in the waiting room, having flashbacks of his wife and him going for walks, decoration... It's exploring his sadness and guilt, suddenly it's the point where he has to grow up. He'd been such a wally up to this point." - www.songfacts.com - www.katebush.com

Broken Social Scene cover! - www.iansweetmusic.com