John Richards

Hope your mornings will be brighter. Happy Friday, friends. You are not alone!

Peter Murphy wrote this song with his keyboard player/guitarist Paul Statham. Explaining the title in an interview with Songfacts, he said it is "an attempt to describe or evoke a conditional commitment to one partner". www.songfacts.com

Love & Rockets debut album released on this day in 1985!

Let's go!! Wouldn't be complete without Tones on Tail to complete the connections to Bauhaus, Peter Murphy, and Love & Rockets. Originally formed in 1981 as a duo of Bauhaus guitarist Daniel Ash and Bauhaus roadie-turned-bassist Glenn Campling, Tones on Tail was a generally interesting, shortlived experiment in various styles. When the parent group called it a day in 1983, Ash chose to make this modest side project a going concern, and Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins hopped aboard to make it a fulltime trio. The band's name is a reference to the way calibration tones were recorded on the "tail" of reel-to-reel tape.

We're only here to make you GO!!!

Retro? (go!) Fido? (go!) Guidance? (go!) Control? (go!) TELCOM? (go!) GNC? (go!) ECOM? (go!) Surgeon? (go!) John Richards? (GO!) Go! Go! Go! Go! Okay, keep the chatter down in this room

This song was recorded in a house the band rented in Florida, which drummer Mick Fleetwood described as having a “distinctly bad vibe” as if it were haunted.

Here we go! -- 'Stop!' was inspired by [the 1982 documentary] Koyaanisqatsi, which showed how mankind has gotten so out of control," Perry Farrell told Rolling Stone in 2015. 'The world is loaded/It’s lit to pop/And nobody is gonna stop…' The world is going faster and faster; we’re chopping down all the trees and overrunning the planet, and I just have to go 'Stop!' But nobody’s gonna stop!" Dave Navarro's wah-wah guitar solo in this song made Guitar World's list of the greatest wah solos of all time.

The song was inspired by a real-life incident involving lead singer Perry Farrell. During a surf trip to Tahiti, Farrell’s manager went missing while surfing. Farrell set out in a rickety canoe to find him but ended up stranded at sea himself. He spent hours drifting and contemplating his fate before eventually washing ashore. This harrowing experience is reflected in the lyrics, particularly the line, "I don’t know if I’ll make it home tonight".

Happy 10th Birthday, Geraldine!

Björk singing “Heeeeeeee-haw!” in the playful and chaotic duet between Björk and Einar Örn Benediktsson.

The Cure have announced an official album launch show on November 1 at The Troxy in London. How can you go? Read more about your chances here: tinyurl.com

Robert Smith! enter black heart emoji CHVRCHES' Martin Doherty shared that 'How Not to Drown'' started as a demo titled 'Piano Drum Ting' that became a collaboration between the band and his "all-time music hero" Robert Smith. bit.ly CHVRCHES stopped by KEXP for a live in studio performance back in 2016. Check it out here: www.youtube.com

Also from The Lost Boys Soundtrack!! "Rock and roll music gonna play all night"

Kylie Minogue, INXS (Michael Hutchence) - Need You Tonight "LaRCS" stands for "Live and Record Combined Stereo", which means that on the left side you can hear a live performance, while on the right side the video clip/studio version. In this case you can enjoy "Need You Tonight" from both Kylie Minogue and Michael Hutchence (INXS). On the left side Kylie's cover, while on the right side the official video clip ( www.youtube.com

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

Saturday! Working our way to the Friday song! The song was inspired by Bernie Taupin’s teenage years in England, where he frequented local dance clubs that often ended in brawls. Taupin described it as his first attempt to write a rock and roll song that was distinctly English.

Sunday Bloody Sunday! The song was inspired by the tragic events of January 30, 1972, known as Bloody Sunday, when British soldiers shot and killed 14 unarmed civil rights protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland. Despite its political roots, Bono has always emphasized that the song is a call for peace and not a rebel song.

Monday! The 6th favorite day of the week. Science! The song was inspired by a tragic event that occurred on January 29, 1979. Brenda Ann Spencer, a 16-year-old girl, opened fire on a school playground in San Diego, killing two adults and injuring eight children and one police officer. When asked why she did it, she infamously replied, "I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day"

Tuesday! The 7th best day of the week! Toro y Moi will be at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on October 25th (rescheduled from August 13th) "I hope you enjoy this suburban anthem,” Chaz Bear (aka Toro y Moi) said of this song, “growing up, the often controversial line between mainstream and underground artists was so defined but now that line has become so blurred I can’t even tell what I like anymore… sometimes.” toroymoi.bandcamp.com

Wednesday! And yes, this is the Morning Show. On a Friday.

Thursday! Morphine. Science. Dubbed by Alternative Nation as “one of the most original rock sounds of the decade,” Cure for Pain cemented Morphine’s place in alternative rock history, having sold over 300,000 copies worldwide and boasting over 89.7 million streams. shorefire.com

IT'S THE FRIDAY SONG!!! LET'S GO! Did you know that there's an official video for this song? www.youtube.com

This one goes out to Michael. RIP my friend. And also a request for Jen in Somerville, MA! And for John and Julia in NJ! This song was originally titled “If Anybody Hurts You.” The lyrics are meant to act as a protective spell against anyone wishing harm upon lead singer Tim Booth.

Watch Melbourne-by-way-of Tasmania band Quivers perform this song Live in the KEXP studio with John as their host): www.youtube.com John selected this wonderful song as a KEXP Song of the Day: www.kexp.org

It’s been 13 years since we lost Riley and today is his 34th birthday. If you can squeeze it in it would be great if you could play a song for him this morning. He was a big fan of Radiohead, The Strokes, Pearl Jam, Band of Horses, Hey Marseille, Arcade Fire and Bright Eyes among others. Cheers, Mike

The Black Angels are playing a three-day residency at The Chapel in San Francisco, CA - October 23, 24 & 25. Check out their Live on KEXP session in 2021! ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9hBd4MwPcA&t=1s https://blackangels.bandcamp.com

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! The Land of Rape and Honey released on this day in 1988! The music video for “Stigmata” was directed by Peter Christopherson from Throbbing Gristle and Coil. It’s packed with wild and surreal visuals, including shots of Al Jourgensen, the frontman, rocking out with a microphone wrapped in barbed wire. This intense style really matches the song’s raw and gritty vibe. www.youtube.com

The song features multiple audio samples from a 1967 radio program called “A Child, Again,” where a young woman named Marcy describes her life as a hippie. This unusual mix of psychedelic and industrial elements gives the track its distinctive and eerie vibe. We looooove My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult.

Lemmy Kilmister preferred Motorhead's cover to the Stones' original. “I thought we beat them,” he told USA Today. “I thought we beat it to death. I mean, I like the Stones’ version, but I like ours better.”

DEVO's version of the Rolling Stones classic. When DEVO performed their unique, punky version of the song for Mick Jagger, he was so impressed that he started dancing along and even gave them a thumbs up.

The band didn’t have the original lyrics to The Rolling Stones’ song, so lead singer Sean Dickson sang what he could remember and made up the rest.

TURN IT UP! Some call this the "Baby Friday song".

You ARE Unbelievable! "Unbelievable" features samples of comedian Andrew “Dice” Clay. You can hear him saying “Oh!” and “It’s unbelievable!” throughout the track. Interestingly, the original album version included a more explicit sample, but it was removed to ensure the song could get radio play. Did you know that EMF stood for Epsom Mad Funkers? Read the "unbelievable" story behind the band: rockandrolltruestories.com

The original version of this song was the most played track on college radio in 1991! Coming from the album "Doubt" British alternative dance band Jesus Jones released the track as a single. www.jesusjonesarchive.info

Last weekend, I flew from Texas to the Tampa Bay area to visit my friend Rick, who I met on my first day of college in 1991 when he moved in next door. This was the start of a 30+ year friendship. Rick was in the final stages of a cancer battle, and the severity of his condition worsened quickly at the end. We had not seen each other in person for more than ten years, but when I finally walked into his hospital room, although he could no longer use his voice, he immediately perked up, recognized me, and grabbed my hand tight for several minutes before drifting off to sleep, succumbing to pain and fatigue. The following morning, he peacefully left this earth. I like to think he did this so his loved ones could feel okay leaving the city as Milton came barreling ashore. Rick took care of a lot of people in his life, so it makes sense that he would do this last thing for us. I’ve been thinking a lot over the past week about the courage it takes to face down your own mortality, and I’d love it if you could play “Fearless” by Pink Floyd in Rick’s honor. Thanks for all essential and human work you do. Cheers, Rob in Lubbock, TX