John Richards

Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to The Morning Show with Eva's friend, John Richards! We are so very glad you're here! -- Today is the birthday of Prince Rogers Nelson. He was born on June 7th, 1958 and would have been 66 today. Prince's sister Tyka Nelson said that he kept avoiding questions during their last phone call just before his death in April, 2016.: people.com

Happy birthday to singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Dave Navarro, born on this date in 1967. -- Navarro's guitar solo in "Three Days" is outstanding. He said, "“The solo was entirely improvised. I grew up on Zeppelin, Hendrix and Who live bootlegs, and solos from those shows were always improvisations. I was really drawn to that mentality. What I did here was no different. I made eye contact with [drummer] Stephen Perkins, and off I went. He knew when it would end when I gave him a look, and he knew how to communicate that to the rest of the band, like, Okay, not we’re changing.” -- KEXP’s Dusty Henry pays tribute to the glory of that guitar solo.: www.kexp.org

"It’s rare to find an album where every track is so intense that it could be a maxi single on its own. The group from Seattle, however, managed to create such a masterpiece. They have written an album that is simply marvelous." www.whitelight-whiteheat.com -- Go right here to purchase "The Spin Out": newagehealers.bandcamp.com -- This Seattle band (led by KEXP's own Owen Murphy) will be playing at Chop Suey on Wednesday, July 3rd with MOAA and Blushing and then 4-Star Theater in San Fransisco with Nyte Skye (Nyles from Film School) and Pure Hex on Friday, July 26th.

River and Rose, get those Ziggy Stardust butts out of bed! Thanks, Rio! -- See "lesser known musician" David Bowie perform "Moonage Daydream" for the last time as Ziggy Stardust. It was at the Hammersmith Odeon in London in 1973: www.youtube.com

This is a remix of INXS's classic 1985 hit. It contains samples of the drums from Coke Escovedo's 1976 "I Wouldn't Change a Thing" and Lyn Collins' 1972 "Think (About It)."

"Remixes 2: 81–11" is a remix compilation album by Depeche Mode, released in 2011. It spanned the band's entire career up that point. -- Eric Prydz is a Swedish DJ and producer. He also releases music under the aliases of Cirez D, Pryda and Sheridan. Prydz produces electronic music which falls into a variety of sub-genres, most notably house (Including electro house and tech house), minimal and techno. Although it is reported that Eric Prydz has a fear of flying, he does not let that stop him from playing in places such as New York, as well as various countries in Europe.

"Welcome to the cosmic aesthetic of mystery LA-based collective Sun Atlas and their second single “Message From The Snakes”."www.willwork4funk.com -- This LA collective Sun Atlas hides their identities behind masks and costumes to put the focus entirely on the music, and on the sense of community and oneness mocamborecords.bandcamp.com

Ahhh....the Friday song. Go here to power KEXP's One-Day Summer Drive, June 14th. (You can also pick up a pair of nifty KEXP pint glasses!): www.kexp.org

"It was 7:45, we were all in line To greet the teacher Miss Cathleen...": genius.com -- Susannah Melvoin co-wrote this song with birthday boy Prince. She said, "I can narrow down one particular day in 1986 that was particularly special: the day I wrote Starfish and Coffee with Prince. Sitting around the kitchen table would be Prince, his engineer Susan Rogers, and myself. It was a time Susan and myself spent every day with Prince recording or keeping each other company. Prince and I spent many hours together, either in the studio working or driving around Minneapolis talking to each other and listening to music. We talked about our histories and our secrets, and on a couple of occasions I told him stories of a 12 year-old girl I had known named Cynthia Rose."

Good morning! Our son Micky has made our lives better in every way. This is a song he heard most certainly in the womb as we played it frequently for him : Talking Heads - This must be the place (naive melody) Appropriately he was born breach (feet on the ground, head in the clouds) and we found out we would do a C-section because of it two years ago today. Happy second Birthday, Micky! --Nate and Sarah in Ballard -- "It's a very comforting song," Chris Frantz said. "I think people listen to it and it kind of warms their hearts because it's a song with a happy and secure message. I love that song myself. It's really sweet - quite an accomplishment for a band such as ours."

For my love... -- "My Love" started off as an acoustic "sad little poem" written in Welch's kitchen. As she looked out of her window at the bare winter trees, the singer-songwriter hoped that with spring around the corner, she would soon get inspiration from her experience of writer's block. -- Welch recorded the song in London with Glass Animals' Dave Bayley on production duties. When she played him her sad, acoustic demo, Bayley suggested adding synths. He transformed it into an energetic anthem reminiscent of "Nick Cave at the club." "Sometimes," Welch said, "the biggest dance songs, I think, have a really sad core to them."

The music video was the first the band made with Tim Pope, who became their director of choice. The band felt that Pope presented the whimsical side of the band, which helped dispel the notion that they were humorless brooding goths. The "Let's Go To Bed" video finds Robert Smith and keyboard player Lol Tolhurst larking about in a series of strange rooms shot at distorted angles from behind a scrim. At one point, Tolhurst is dancing naked behind a screen.: www.dailymotion.com -- Lol Tolhurst (drummer for The Cure) and Budgie (drummer for Siouxsie and the Banshees) were live on KEXP on Tuesday, June 4th at noon. You can stream that session on our streaming archive.: www.kexp.org

James will play Seattle's Moore Theatre on Saturday, September 21st, Portland's Crystal Ballroom on September 22nd, and The Warfield in SF on September 23rd. -- This is the title song from Manchester-band James's fifth studio album, released in 1993. Originally viewed by the band as a throwaway song and a possible B-side, Brian Eno soon convinced them of the potential of this track. -- See the video: www.youtube.com

Sometime in the summer of 2016, this isolated track of Grace Slick’s vocals for “White Rabbit”–probably the most famous Jefferson Airplane song and definitely one of the top ten psychedelic songs of the late ‘60s–popped up YouTube. Drenched in echo, Slick sings with martial precision, completely in command of her vibrato and dipping and rising all through the Phrygian scale (also known as the Spanish or Gypsy scale.) And no wonder, the song was written in 1965 after an LSD trip at her Marin county home where Slick had listened to Miles Davis’ "Sketches of Spain" over and over again for 24 hours.: www.openculture.com --

After Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers toured in 1983, they took some time off, and Petty started working with Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics. This was the first song they wrote together, and the psychedelic sound was a big departure from Petty's work with The Heartbreakers. --- The video used an Alice In Wonderland theme, which was Stewart's idea - it reflected how he felt coming from England to Los Angeles. It was directed by Jeff Stein, who used a black-and-white tiled background and oversized, elaborate costumes starring Tom Petty as the Mad Hatter. Stewart appears in the beginning of the video playing the sitar on a giant mushroom. At the end, the girl becomes a cake and is eaten by the band, something that caused enough of a stir that they created a version where she doesn't get eaten. The video was a huge hit on MTV, helping introduce Petty to a younger audience and building anticipation for his next videos.: www.youtube.com

Here's a live performance of "Someone Great" in New York last November: www.youtube.com -- "Nothing can prepare you for it"... It may be "the best song about loss ever written." "In 'Someone Great,' [James] Murphy takes you on a journey through the entire grieving process, starting at the very beginning — the moment you get that phone call.": medium.com

BADBADNOTGOOD will be playing the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on Friday, August 9th. -- You can pre-order "Mid Spiral" from this Toronto trio. It will be out on October 25th.: badbadnotgoodofficial.bandcamp.com

Hey John! This morning I woke up to the sound of my 5 year old singing Harry Nilsson's "Gotta Get Up" from the other room. Nothing like hearing that angelic little voice sing "he'd come to town and he would pound her for a couple of days" 😂 I maintain this is a perfectly appropriate wake up song for...all? Anyway, if you're feeling the wake up groove can you play it so I can keep laughing to myself? Maybe someone else will laugh along. - Charlotte in the Catskills. -- "He'd come to town and he would pound her for a couple of days And then he'd sail across the bubbly waves And those were happier days, but now..." Here's what that 5-year-old is singing: genius.com

Another cover of Joy Division's classic 1980 song... --- Here is Hot 8 Brass Band covering "Love Will Tear Us Apart" live in the KEXP studio in 2019: youtu.be

"THERE IS NO BETTER SONG ABOUT LOVE AND THE TERRIBLE THINGS IT CAN DO TO YOU. NO WORDS CAN COMMUNICATE SO EFFECTIVELY, SO BEAUTIFULLY, THE TERRIBLE, HEART-WRENCHING FEELING OF SEVERED ATTACHMENT. EVERYTHING IN THIS SONG… HAPPENED TO ME… YOU JUST HAVE TO STAND IN AWE AT THIS F**KING GENIUS SONGWRITER." Here's a great exploration of this song: anglotopia.net

Ohr is a Seattle-based band led by songwriter / producer Craig Klein, of the Chicago band The Race. -- "Red Pill" is the first single from the "Afterglow" EP, out on August 30th.: ohrmusic.bandcamp.com

Soul Asylum will play the Neptune Theatre in Seattle on Sunday, October 6th, Revolution Hall in Portland on October 8th, and the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on Thursday, October 10th! Soul Asylum lead singer Dave Pirner wrote this war-themed song. "Black Gold" is oil, and the song deals with the first Gulf War, with the "Two boys on a playground" being metaphors for USA and Iraq. Midway through the song there are some sounds of sirens, screams and what appears to be a news report.

Hi John, could you play This is the Day by The The to celebrate Shelby and her great new job - Love, Andrea and Earl. -- Yay, Shelby!! -- The The is playing at The Paramount in Seattle on November 2nd and the Fox Theater in Oakland on November 7th!

The Bug Club is Welsh duo Tilly Harris (Bass, Vocals) and Sam Willmett (Vocals, Guitar). This is their first offering for the Sub Pop label. Here's a live performance in Wales: www.youtube.com -- You can own a pair of quality pint (glasses) with your donation to KEXP's One Day Summer Drive: www.kexp.org

Hey John, I'm turning the big 4-0 tomorrow and want to do a couple things. One, say thanks to KEXP for being amazing and two, as I approach middle age I get to make more requests. That's the deal right? Haha. I'd love to hear two things: Rich Man by Ghostland Observatory because that's a quintessential KEXP band that the youngins need to hear and if you have any Aqua Teen Hunger Force sound bites around still, I'd love to hear some Carl requesting Dokken. Cheers to y'all. --Todd in the CD -- Don't miss this live performance of "Rich Man" from Austin City Limits: www.youtube.com

Because pickleball IS joy…can you pls play Imperial Teen “You’re One” ---JJ/Menlo Park -- "You're One" was the breakout single from their debut album "Seasick." Here's the official music video: www.youtube.com

Yard Act will be playing The Crocodile in Seattle tomorrow night, Saturday, June 8th. They will be at Easy Street Records for a signing and meet/greet at 5pm tomorrow. -- Watch Yard Act's 2022 Live on KEXP performance here: youtu.be.

The Rentals were a side project of Matt Sharp & Patrick Wilson of Weezer. This was the lead single from their debut album in 1995. -- Here's the video for this terrific song: www.youtube.com

This song heavily samples The Jackson 5's "ABC." (Hear little Michael Jackson?) -- Enjoy an oral history of "O.P.P.": www.spin.com

Speaking of "ABC"... Michael was just 11 years old when it was released. Watch The Jackson 5 perform a medley of "I Want You Back" and "ABC" on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1970: www.youtube.com

Ah, spelling! -- Justice is a French electronic music duo consisting of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay. The vocals were provided by the London-based Foundation for Young Musicians choir. -- According to the duo, they were huge Michael Jackson fans and therefore decided to dedicate this song to him. The song recites numerous Michael Jackson songs including “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”, “Black or White”, “Workin' Day and Night”, and “Whatever Happens” along with the Jackson 5 song “ABC.'

According to Canadian band Men Without Hats guitarist Stefan Doroschuk, the song is about nonconformity. According to his brother, songwriter Ivan, it’s also about how lame clubs would ban slam dancing, and the anti-authoritarian band encouraged resisting this nonsense.

"Everybody Wang Chung tonight...." (from "Everybody Have Fun Tonight") -- Jack Hues of Wang Chung said: "It begins quite innocent: 'take your baby by the hand,' and then the last verse with 'take your baby by the wrist, and in her mouth an amethyst,' it's all a bit more hallucinogenic in a way, how things that start off simple get complex.: www.youtube.com