John Richards

Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to The Morning Show with the well-rested John Richards! We're so glad you're here! -- This compilation is a tribute to The Talking Heads, their 1984 album "Stop Making Sense," and the Jonathan Demme-directed film of the same name.: shop.a24films.com

Watch the "Stop Making Sense" film version of Talking Head's "Burning Down the House": www.youtube.com

"The rain sounds so cool when it hits the barn roof And the horses wonder who you are Thunder drowns out what the lightning sees You feel like a movie star...": genius.com

Nate: Good morning! I am driving across the country to start medical school in Phoenix— leaving behind my Seattle home of 7 years and jamming to my last live morning show for while! Thank you for all you do! Would love to hear "Gigantic" by the Pixies. -- This is the only song on "Surfer Rosa" not entirely written by frontman Frank Black; he co-wrote it with Pixies bass player Kim Deal, who was using the stage name Mrs. John Murphy at the time. Deal, who sang lead on the track, took inspiration from a 1986 Bruce Beresford movie, Crimes Of The Heart. In the film, Sissy Spacek plays a married woman who falls in love with a black teenager. -- Black Francis said of this song: "A good chord progression, very Lou Reed influenced. I'd had the word 'Gigantic' in my mind just because the chord progression seemed very big to me."

Good morning, John! It's my birthday today! As the years go by I’ve become increasingly attached to my birthday and the birthday of others as well. I believe whenever your bday comes along you must, MUST celebrate. Even in a small way. Play with a puppy, treat yourself to the best cup of coffee in town, marvel in the wonder of the every day, connect w the ppl you love. Because we don’t know how many birthdays we get. Can you help me celebrate? I’d love to hear something by Queen. It’s Brian May’s birthday too! Thanks and Happy Friday! Liis listening from Toronto, Canada == Happy birthday to Sir Brian Harold May, born on July 19th, 1947. The lead guitarist and backing vocalist of Queen, he is also a songwriter, record producer, animal rights activist and astrophysicist.

“Death Valley High” is the latest single off Peck’s forthcoming duets album, Stampede, out Aug. 2. His many collaborators on the LP include Elton John, Willie Nelson, Mickey Guyton, Teddy Swims, Noah Cyrus, Diplo, Kylie Minogue and more. -- The video for this song includes cameos from RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Gigi Goode and actress Sharon Stone: www.youtube.com

Childish Gambino will be playing Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, September 21st and Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Wednesday, September 25th! -- This is a remix of his 2020 song, "35.31." It features Atlanta rapper Young Nudy! Watch the video here: www.youtube.com

It's impossible to forget the title of this classic disco earworm because the phrase is repeated more than 30 times throughout the song. Lead singer Harry Wayne Casey, who puts the KC in KC & The Sunshine Band, was a former record-store employee who kept customers in mind when he went on to write commercial tunes with his popular group. "The reason we would always use so much repetition was because I didn't want anyone not to know the name of the song once they heard it on the radio," he explained. "When they went into the store, I wanted them to know it was 'Keep It Comin' Love,' or whatever."

Remi Wolf is playing the Capitol Hill Block Party today, Friday, July 19th, 2024! -- She says, "'Soup' explores my relationship to commitment and follow through. If you ever really wanted to be there for someone fully but ended up getting drunk on a rooftop instead, 'Soup' is for you!” See the official visualizer: www.youtube.com

Watch Robyn enthrall the crowd at Madison Square Garden with this iconic performance of "Dancing on My Own" in 2019: www.youtube.com

"If I looked all over the world And there's every type of girl But your empty eyes seem to pass me by Leave me dancing with myself..." -- Idol wrote the song with Gen X bass player Tony James. They were at Tokyo at a disco, where everyone was all dressed up. "They weren't dancing with each other, they were dancing with their own reflections," Idol explained. "I said to Tony James, 'they're dancing with myself.'" Tony thought that could make a good title, so they worked on the lyrics that night. One day at the studio, Idol came up with the riff on guitar and they put the song together.

Hi, John! It's Anna from West Lafayette, Indiana. I'm on vacation with my family this week and we're listening to the Friday show together on our drive. My dad Bill is an avid Morning Show fan and listening to your shows is a road trip ritual at this point! We'd love to hear something by The Cure. They are my dad's favorite band of all time, and he's always excited to hear them on the show. -- "In Between Days" was released on this date in 1985! It was the first single from "The Head on the Door." It was their fourth top 20 in a row in the UK and reached the top 50 in five other countries overseas. It was also their first single to chart on the US Hot 100,

Up on a roof cleaning solar panels in Carborro, NC. Could you play Richie Havens' "Here Comes The Sun"! Morning, John. Enjoy! --Harold -- So many feelings! That cover was great. Missing my father, who loved the Beatles. Loving the song. Loving my husband enjoying the song with me. Off to read about Richie Havens. Sarah In Greenwood -- R.I.P., Richard Pierce Havens, who died in 2013 at age 72: www.allmusic.com -- Here he is. in a live performance of Here Comes The Sun. www.youtube.com

Dehd will play the Project Pabst Festival in Portland, OR on July 27. Dehd will be back in the Northwest in November to play the Neptune Theatre (Seattle) on Wednesday, November 7th. -- Get ready by watching this 45 minutes of performance at the Austin Psych Fest in April: www.youtube.com

School of Fish was an alternative rock band which formed in 1989 and disbanded in 1994. The core members were Josh Clayton-Felt and Michael Ward. School of Fish released two albums and are remembered for the hit single "3 Strange Days". -- See a grainy clip of them playing "3 Strange Days" live: www.youtube.com

First time tuning in - just found out about KEXP! I'm Kurtis, I live in a small town on Vancouver Island, called Mesachie Lake ( We have a volunteer fire dept. and a post office - that's it.) love the vibe so far, so happy to be apart of it all. Just wanted to say hi. Have a great Friday can't wait to hear the rest of the show. anything Sonic Youth would be cool too -- "Kool Thing" was Sonic Youth's first major-label single. - Public Enemy's Chuck D contributes some vocals in the song. The collaboration came about as Public Enemy and Sonic Youth were both recording albums in the same small studio. Singer and guitarist Thurston Moore said: "It was real exciting for us. We're big fans. They were aware of us – I think they were kind of curious about us. Their scene is aware ours exists, but it all melts together. So, you know, we might as well be Blondie!... Chuck was around, Kim (Gordon) asked him if he'd come in, do the song, say those lines –and he elaborated on it a bit, and grooved along."

It's "wolf,"... "wolf," John. -- Watch Wolf Alice perform this song live in our studio in 2015: www.youtube.com -- Then, download this KEXP Song of the Day for free: www.kexp.org

"Vow" was the debut single for Garbage, the band comprised of vocalist Shirley Manson, guitarists Steve Marker and Duke Erikson and drummer Butch Vig. The latter three called themselves "Spooner" and then "Fire Town" before they added Scottish singer Manson. -- Watch Garbage in Germany in 2005 performing "Vow" on the "Rockpalast" TV show: www.youtube.com

"...to my complete surprise, Le Tigre can be gentle. "Eau D' Bedroom Dancing" is a bona fide ballad, the kind of thing you would expect to find on a mixtape passed between lovers." Enjoy this 2012 NPR retrospective on early Le Tigre: www.npr.org

R.I.P., Vivian Trimble, keyboardist for Luscious Jackson, who died last year at age 59: www.billboard.com -- Here's Luscious Jackson performing this song live on Conan O'Brien's show in 1997: www.youtube.com

Ahhh....the Friday song. It's not retirement--it's a remix. Join KEXP in celebrating Kevin Cole's 50 years in broadcasting on Saturday, July 27th in our Courtyard and Gathering Space. For more information and to purchase tickets, go here: www.kexp.org

Los Bitchos will play The Crocodile on Tuesday, October 1st! -- Made up of lead guitarist Serra Petale, who carries both Australian and Turkish heritage, Uruguayan synth and keytar player Agustina Ruiz, Swedish bassist Josefine Jonsson and British drummer Nic Crawshaw, the group are united by a commitment to having fun. Here's an introduction to their new album, "Talkie Talkie," out on August 30th.: cityslang.com

For Tiffany, with much love... "I am finding my way Yeah, I am finding my way Oh but I am ok Yeah but I am ok..." -- Lea Porcelain shared a Live on KEXP at Home performance with John in 2019, where they ended the set with "I Am OK.": www.youtube.com

Watch The Long Winters perform live for KEXP listeners om Little London Plane, during Upstream Music Fest 2017: bit.ly.

Wilco has just released a new six-song EP, "Hot Sun Cool Shroud." You can purchase it here: wilcohq.bandcamp.com

Metallica will be at Lumen Field in Seattle on Friday, August 30th, and on Sunday, September 1st. -- This song opens with the tolling of a bell, which rings throughout the first minute of the song before gradually fading out. It's the second-most famous rock song to do this, placing behind AC/DC's "Hell's Bells," from their 1980 album "Back In Black." The bands got their bell sounds in very different ways; AC/DC ordered a custom, one-ton bell from a foundry and recorded it using a mobile unit and 15 microphones. Metallica used a sound effects reel.

He couldn’t even sit on a stool, let alone sing. I mean, he was wasted. He fell off the stool about 10 times during the recording of that vocal. .... He was going: ‘Bing bing bing bang a bong bong bing bing binga binga…’ But it sounded really cool and just seemed to fit the track. Then he passed out. Read the story of how a wasted Gibby Haynes of Butthole Surfers made this song a hit: www.loudersound.com

The music video for "Sex on Wheels" by "My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult" was directed by Ralph Bakshi to coincide with his movie coming out at the time "Cool World" (1992).: www.youtube.com

In 1981, Bay Area California musicians Mike "Puffy" Bordin, Billy Gould, Mike Morris, and Wade Worthington formed a band called Faith No Man. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike "The Man" Morris was ousted, the group began calling themselves Faith No More. After going through a series of singers which included Courtney Love, the band was joined by Chuck Mosely in 1983. Read the extensive (and complicated) history of this band: www.fnm.com -- The late Chuck Mosley co-wrote this parody of the Live Aid generation of rock superstars. In this interview, he tells the story behind the song: www.loudersound.com

The Sisters of Mercy are a dark, English rock institution with a vision sustained by frontman Andrew Eldritch and his beloved drum machine, Doktor Avalanche, for over four decades.: www.allmusic.com -- The Sisters of Mercy will be at The Masonic in SF on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 8th and 9th, and in Seattle at The Paramount Theatre on Wednesday, October 16th.

Today is the anniversary of the death in 2022 of Diane Luckey, the reclusive musician known as Q Lazzarus. She died at age 61. She is best known for this 1988 song "Goodbye Horses", which became a cult classic after being prominently featured in a scene from Jonathan Demme's 1991 film "The Silence of the Lambs." Here's an obituary: www.rollingstone.com

Led by former Generation X member Tony James, the new wave group Sigue Sigue Sputnik raised selling out to an art form. The concept behind Sigue Sigue Sputnik was simple: the band adopted a postmodern, ironic style and sound, and marketed it to the hilt, saturating the media with slogans and interviews. James didn't even intend the band to be musical; he recruited Martin Degville, Neal X, Chris Cavanagh, and Ray Mayhew partially because they lacked extensive musical experience..: www.allmusic.com -- Here's a 2021 interview with founders Tony James and Neal X: www.classicpopmag.com

John Peel said about this band, ""I liked their first record, I like the fact that they exist. There are some bands whose stuff I wouldn't play on the radio because I'm not keen on the music, but I like the idea of the band being there and Pop Will Eat Itself fall rather into that category. There's the occasional track I like but they're a bit – is there such a word as formulaic? I think there may be. They're a bit of that to me. I liked them when they started out and I liked the fact they wrote me a letter once pretending to be one of their Mums, thanking me for playing one of their records, because they knew that was the kind of thing which, being a sentimental old fellow, would win me over."

Did you know that today, July 19th, Doc Martens is releasing custom footwear inspired by NIN's seminal album, "The Downward Spiral." Learn more here: www.nin.com

"Sorry, baby..." Japandroids have announced a new album, and it will be the band’s last. "Fate & Alcohol" will be out on October 18th. "Chicago" is the debut single. -- Pre-order the album right here: japandroids.bandcamp.com

Cracker w/ David Lowery (solo set) - A Tractor 30th Anniversary Show at Tractor Tavern ---tonight, July 19th, and tomorrow, Saturday, July 20th: everout.com == The black-and-white video for "Low" was directed by Carlos Grasso, who came up with the concept after interviewing David Lowery and deciding that the song was about a conflict between his masculine and feminine sides. To play this out, he filmed a raging Sandra Bernhard driving to a makeshift boxing ring, where she knocks out Lowery. Grasso was going through a split with his girlfriend at the time, which provided some inspiration.: www.youtube.com

Released in 1991, this song began Catherine Wheel's career as its debut single. It was then released on their 1992 debut album, "Ferment." What a great start! -- See an eleven-minute live version of "Black Metallic": www.youtube.com

James will be at Seattle's Moore Theatre on Saturday, September 21st and at San Francisco's Warfield on Monday, September 23rd! -- James performed this song with "a racing beat" live at The Royal Albert Hall in London last year: www.youtube.com

See Robert Earl Keen perform this feel good classic at Paste Studios in New York in 2017: www.youtube.com