John Richards

Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to The Morning Show with the debonair and hard-working John Richards! Thanks so much for being here with us! -- "Today is Friday, it is my day to do what I want...": www.khabar.com -- Watch multi-instrumentalist Siddhartha Khosla and the band perform in a classroom in the video for "Friday": www.youtube.com

There are musicians buried in sand, singing "I woke up today": www.youtube.com -- Formed in 2005 around the talents of Van Pierszalowski, Cambria Goodwin, Caleb Nichols, and Joshua Barnhart, California's Port O'Brien occupy the same idiosyncratic alternative folk/indie rock landscape as Jason Molina, Will Oldham, and Pavement. The various bandmembers have day jobs that find them working long hours in bakeries, as well as the fishing boats and salmon canneries in and around Kodiak Island, Alaska; tbdrecords.com

An anthem that represents all things Walter Mitty, “Step Out” is an original composed by José González and Theodore Shapiro for The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty and was featured in many of the movie’s trailers. -- Go here to read the entire 1939 short story by James Thurber about Walter Mitty: www.newyorker.com

The "Walter Mitty" movie was primarily filmed in Iceland, home of this wonderful band. -- Here's Of Monsters and Men performing "Six Weeks" Live on KEXP in Reykjavik during Iceland Airwaves '11 : www.youtube.com

Some call this the "Baby Friday song"... It was Doug Emhoff's walk-on music at the Democratic National Convention. --- New Radicals performed this song live in 1999 on the fifth season of the TV show ""All That": www.youtube.com

"Plans," Death Cab's fifth album, was released on this date in 2005. It marked the band's move from Barsuk Records to Atlantic. Enjoy this affectionate review: altrockchick.com

"I look good in a glass pack, I look good and mean I look good in metallic sick wraparound and blackout tease..." Want to know what Michael Stipe is singing?: genius.com -- R.E.M. performed it live in Glastonbury in 1999: www.youtube.com

"We want to acknowledge that in recording in “Melbourne, Australia” we were on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation and pay our respects to elders past and present. Sovereignty was never ceded..." That's what Quivers say on their new album, "Oyster Cuts," released on August 9th. You can buy it here: quiversss.bandcamp.com -- Here's a link to a picture of the album's cover, which features a picture of the Louvre statue, the Winged Victory of Samothrace: www.mergerecords.com

For Marco and Lindsay's anniversary! -- Did you know that Stevie Wonder was only 17 when he recorded this classic?

For Ruby, who's starting the 10th grade this week! That's Epic! --- Read the story behind "Epic," the rap-metal classic that turned Faith No More from alt-rock’s awkward squad into the hottest new band of 1990: www.loudersound.com -- Mike Patton climbed into the studio fan during the band's SNL performance of this song: vimeo.com

To brave and brilliant Jovi, off to school in Colorado... --- R.I.P., Malik Taylor, Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest, who died in 2016 at age 45: www.nytimes.com -- Not only does the 1991 hit “Check the Rhime” showcase both Phife and Q-Tip’s lyrical prowess, but the track features one of Phife Dawg’s most iconic opening lines: “Now here’s a funky introduction of how nice I am / Tell your mother, tell your father, send a telegram.”

For Karlee's dad on his 60th birthday... --- Watch the great video, directed by Jim Jarmusch, for this song, written by Waits and Kathleen Brennan: www.youtube.com

With eight albums and several EPs under their belt, this Hershey, Pennsylvania band continues to perform and record, with work underway on a new album. In 2024, the band will be performing their first two albums - The Ocean Blue and Cerulean - in their entirety over two consecutive nights in cities throughout the U.S.: www.theoceanblue.com

Hear any Byrds here? Chime School is the project of San Francisco musician Andy Pastalaniec. It pays homage to its jangly California roots.: slumberlandrecords.com

According to frontman David Lowery, this album's title comes from the band's early days in Richmond, Virginia. Lowery lived with Cracker guitarist Johnny Hickman in an old dilapidated house whose only source of heat came from two kerosene heaters. To buy more kerosene meant a cold walk to a nearby gas station, so before leaving the house, Lowery would bundle up and put on an old wool hunting cap – his "kerosene hat." "To this day," says Lowery, "the smell of kerosene reminds me of the poverty and the wistful hope we had for our music."

Hi John, Would like to request a song for my wife Renee’s birthday tomorrow. Her favorite band is Talking Heads. I would request “Life During Wartime,” not because that’s what living with her is like, but simply because it’s a great song. Thanks man! --Brian --- "This ain't no party, this ain't no disco This ain't no fooling around This ain't no Mudd Club, or CBGB I ain't got time for that now..." "Here was Armageddon disguised as a dance party." Read the story behind this song: americansongwriter.com

Kishi Bashi will play: --The Crocodile in Seattle on Wednesday, September 11th --The Regency Ballroom in SF on Sunday, September 15th. -- Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Kaoru Ishibashi (stage name Kishi Bashi) has just released "Kantos": kishibashi.bandcamp.com --

“Smile Like You Mean It” was a sleeper hit from the Killers' debut record Hot Fuss, which came out in the summer of 2004. It was written by lead vocalist Brandon Flowers and bassist Mark Stoermer. -- The Killers performed it live on The Letterman Show: www.youtube.com

The Stills were an indie rock band which formed in 2000 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band consisted of Tim Fletcher (vocals, guitar), Greg Paquet (guitar), Liam O'Neil (keyboards), Oliver Corbeil (bass) and Dave Hamelin (drums, vocals, guitar). -- That's Corbiel (otherwise known as Oliver Crowe) with that great bass line.

"Why is the bedroom so cold? You've turned away on your side. Is my timing that flawed? Our respect runs so dry...." The lyrics for this classic are so powerful and poignant: www.azlyrics.com

This one's for Krystn. Best wishes as you have your treatment today. -- This song has been described as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix by Beastie Boys member MCA, and contains samples from several Hendrix songs including "Foxy Lady", "Happy Birthday", and "Still Raining, Still Dreaming", a sample from the live version of "Surrender" by Cheap Trick, and more - www.whosampled.com

"Mom an Dad were rolling on the floor..." Live from Budokan...it's CHEAP TRICK!!: www.youtube.com

Eddie Vedder wrote this after seeing a corduroy jacket for a few hundred dollars that looked a lot like one he got years ago at a thrift store. -- Vedder explained: "That song was based on a remake of the brown corduroy jacket that I wore. I think I got mine for 12 bucks, and it was being sold for like $650. The ultimate one as far as being co-opted was that there was a guy on TV, predictably patterned, I guess, after the way I was looking those days, with long hair and an Army T-shirt. They put this new character on a soap opera, so there was a guy, more handsome than I, parading around on General Hospital. And the funny thing is, that guy was Ricky Martin."

This was recorded in the basement of the Edge's house, which, according to co-producer (with Brian Eno) Daniel Lanois, was not a very inspiring place. "It's a kind of muggy little room where everything sounds dead," he told Music Technology in 1987. "It worked because of the spontaneity and the lack of pressure at the time of recording. Now, you could say: 'You can't record down here. We need a proper room for the drums and we need this or that sort of mic.' But you could spend three days working out a foolproof plan and still not get a performance." -- Lanois used a mixing console with a bank of channels designated as sound treatments to work magic on the Edge's guitar part. "At any given point I can send an instrument or a vocal to these treatments and get a quick impression of what is working and what isn't," he explained. On this track, the result transformed the entire song. He said: "The guitar now has a beautiful shimmer which has a lot to do with the mood of the track. What was a fairly straightforward rock track is now undermined by a mood of unrest; not all is well. It supplied Bono with new inspiration. It gave him a clue to modify his lyrics and give the track a greater dimension."

“This song is kind of about learning how to deal with your problems and not catastrophizing,” John Ross said. “Just trying to be more realistic and objective when times get stressful. It’s one of the faster songs I’ve written in a while and really fun to play live.” -- The band's new album, "Dulling The Horns" will be out on October 4th. Go right here to pre-order it: wildpink.bandcamp.com

A great live band, they're coming to Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday, October 1st. -- Get ready by watching this 2014 KEXP in-studio performance that included "Red Eyes": www.youtube.com

Nice segue, Mr. DJ... --- 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 Jeff 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."

Ahhh....the Friday song. KEXP is excited to announce a new partnership with AFROPUNK and Friends of Waterfront Park; presenting AFROPUNK Seattle. This all-ages event will take place from 2-8:30 PM on Saturday, September 7th at Pier 62 at Seattle’s new Waterfront Park. Learn more here: www.kexp.org

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....There’s a lot of room for emotion within [it], however you feel – whether you just want to shut your eyes and dance, or cry. It’s like this gigantic song and yet it’s very heartfelt at the same time. When you see the video it’s like a galactic disco.": www.youtube.com

The song was performed as a tribute to the late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence, with whom she had a relationship from 1989 to 1991.: au.lifestyle.yahoo.com -- Watch Kylie performing a cover of INXS 'Need You Tonight' on the opening night of her 'Kiss Me Once' tour in 2014: www.youtube.com

Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farriss wrote this in a studio in Hong Kong. -- Farriss came up with the rhythm track on a Roland 707 drum machine in a flash just before leaving Sydney for the airport. He was still working on it when the cab driver arrived, so he had the cabbie wait while he recorded a quick demo on cassette. In Hong Kong, he played Hutchence the cassette and Michael wrote the lyrics on the spot in about an hour. Farriss brought his drum machine with him and was able to rebuild the track, adding the guitar riff and a bass line he played on a keyboard bass. -- "Need You Tonight" segues seamlessly into the next track on the album, a poem Andrew Farriss wrote and put to music called "Mediate." Both tracks are in the same tempo and based on the same drum machine groove, so they flow together very well.

See The Cure perform "Pictures of You" live in Portland in May, 2023: www.youtube.com

Don't you love both versions of this song? -- In their live performances, Pearl Jam often throw a bit of the English Beat’s “Save It For Later” into “Better Man.” Now, Eddie Vedder has covered it in its entirety. His rendition has gained significant attention after being featured in the third season of the FX series "The Bear," -- The English Beat performed this incredible song live for KEXP listeners from the Bumbershoot Music Lounge in 2010: www.youtube.com

English Beat singer/guitarist Dave Wakeling said about this song: "I wrote it when I was a teenager. I wrote it before The Beat (outside of the US, the group is known as The Beat) started. And it was about turning from a teenager to someone in their 20s, and realizing that the effortless promise for your teenage years was not necessarily going to show that life was so simple as you started to grow up. So it was about being lost, about not really knowing your role in the world, trying to find your place in the world. So, you couldn't find your own way in the world, and you'd have all sorts of people telling you this, that, and the other, and advising you, and it didn't actually seem like they knew any better. So it was like keep your advice to yourself. Save it - for later."

"I only like dreaming All the day long Where no one is screaming..." -- This song, told from the perspective of a nine-year-old boy, was written by frontman Colin Hay and multi-instrumentalist Greg Ham.

Last year, GUM, the project of Tame Impala/Pond member Jay Watson, teamed up with Ambrose Kenny-Smith of King Gizzard and the Murlocs for a 7″ single. They've just released their collaborative album, "Ill Times": gumambrosekenny-smith.bandcamp.com

G. Love & Special Sauce is a three-member alternative, blues, hip hop band from Philadelphia. They are creators of their own genre, “The Hip-Hop Blues”. -- Here's the official video for "Cold Beverage": www.youtube.com

Speaking of beverages... -- Bug Club will be in Seattle, playing The Black Lodge on Thursday, October 24th.

This one's for Kara, on her way to Italy to cover a MotoGP race.. -- If you truly, truly love motorcycles, you might be fascinated by this psychedelic video featuring...you guessed it...a motorcycle: www.youtube.com

On this date in 1993, The Breeders released "Last Splash." -- "Thanks to good timing and some great singles, Last Splash turned the Breeders into the alternative rock superstars that Kim Deal's former band Pixies always seemed on the verge of becoming. Yet in some ways, the group's commercial breakthrough was the most unpredictable music they'd made up to that point. Joined by Deal's twin sister, Kelley, the band builds on the Safari EP's polished production, but instead of merely making their sound bigger or more palatable, they play with more styles, textures, and moods than ever before." Read more about the 1993 album here: tinyurl.com

This track by French producer and songwriter Mirwais, features a sample from the Breeder's "Cannonball".

Shad is a Juno Award-winning rapper from London, Ontario and the host of Netflix’s Hip-Hop Evolution. His albums have been recognized for their sharp lyrics and soulful arrangements. (He is, of course, most famous for doing "The Morning Show Theme.") -- Shad sampled The Breeders' 1993 breakout hit "Cannonball" and "La Di Da Di" from Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick on this track. www.shadk.com

This was written by great American songwriter Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell in 1930. Ray Charles recorded this song on this day in 1958. On April 24, 1979, this became the official state song of Georgia, replacing a song titled "Georgia." -- Willie Nelson sang this at Charles' funeral in 2004.: www.dailymotion.com