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Friday, Nov 15 2019, 6AM
Good morning and happy Friday. Scottish band Simple Minds were "alive and kicking" in 1985 when they released this song as the first single from their "Once Upon A Time" album. The music video was directed by the Polish director Zbigniew Rybczynski, who also worked on videos by Yoko Ono, The Alan Parsons Project and Lou Reed. It was filmed in the northern Catskill Mountains with a crane camera getting some impressive panoramic shots of the area. The waterfall is Kaaterskill Falls.: www.youtube.com
"Everybody Wants To Rule The World" is a line from the 1980 Clash song "Charlie Don't Surf." Did Tears for Fears lift it? Joe Strummer of The Clash thought so. He recounted a story to Musician magazine about confronting Roland Orzabal in a restaurant, informing Orzabal that "you owe me a fiver." Strummer said that Roland reached in his pocket and produced a five pound note, ostensibly as compensation for poaching the line for his hit title.
Thanks, Greg, for this request! One of the videos for this song, envisioned by director Tim Pope as a statement against the banality of lip-synching, consists almost entirely of footage from wildlife documentaries, interspersed with shots of Talk Talk lead singer Mark Hollis standing in various places throughout the London Zoo. He keeps his hands in his coat pockets and his mouth pointedly shut tight, the latter often obscured by hand-drawn animated lines that occasionally appear in the documentary footage sequences as well.: www.youtube.com
"One afternoon in July 1977, David Bowie was looking out of the window of Hansa Studio in Berlin when he noticed a couple kissing near the Berlin Wall." Read the story behind this wonderful song: www.loudersound.com
"Somethin' filled up...
My heart with nothin'....
Someone told me not to cry...
Now that I'm older...
My heart's colder...
And I can see that it's a lie..." Watch Arcade Fire perform this song live in 2017: www.youtube.com
Here's a link to John Richards talking about the beginning and evolution of The Mom Show: www.kexp.org
Kate Bush remixed this song in 2012. That version was used during the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Bush’s remix also reached number 6 on the UK Single Chart.
Meanwhile, the 1985 original peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart and number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is noted as being Kate Bush’s biggest hit across the pond.
See a KEXP live in-studio performance of this fabulous song : www.youtube.com
Ohhh! Angel Olsen will be LIVE on KEXP on Wednesday, December 11th, at 11:00 a.m. The public is invited to come down, get a free ticket, and see that performance (Only 75 tickets!) Angel Olsen will be at The Moore Theatre that night.
"Don't Change" was the final song that INXS played after announcing they were finally calling it a day on stage at Perth Arena in November 2012.: bit.ly
Melbourne-by-way-of-Tasmania band Quivers is the project of Sam J. Nicholson, who started it to keep singing after losing a brother in a free-diving accident. John selected "You're Not Always On My Mind" as a recent KEXP Song of the Day: www.kexp.org
"Wave of Mutilation" made this list of the top ten Pixies songs: www.rollingstone.com
Despite the fact that Michael Stipe get referred to as the "lead singer" and Mike Mills as the "back-up singer," on "Superman" Mills sings just as much as Stipe does.: every-day-i-write-the-blog.blogspot.com
The song was inspired by Garvey's girlfriend at the time, author Emma Jane Unsworth. "Yes, it was about falling in love with Emma Jane," he said. "Even though the lyrics are quite bleak. I'm saying 'I'm not having a good time most of the time but today is great.'"Listen to KEXP's Sound & Vision Show tomorrow, Saturday, November 16th, 2019, from 7:00-9:00 a.m. to hear Owen's interview with Guy Garvey.
"Dearly beloved..." Oh, if only he could have played guitar!: www.youtube.com
"Hey ladies...." Get this infectious song from Seattle artist Rudy Willingham. John Richards picked it as a KEXP Song of the Day: www.kexp.org
Very good segue, John! See live "Stayin' Alive" from The National Tennis Center in Melbourne in 1989: www.youtube.com
Don't miss the video for Empire of the Sun's "Alive": www.youtube.com
Speaking of alive.... Eddie Vedder said of "Alive", "The original story being told in the song is of a young man being made aware of some shocking truths.": www.radiox.co.uk
"You might like to hear my organ...
I said 'Ride Sally Ride'": You'll want to enunciate these lyrics precisely: //www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/slythefamilystone/dancetothemusic.html
Does that whinny sound familiar? Read a biography of "Sampladelic Australian dance outfit" The Avalanches: www.allmusic.com
This song "is heralded as a landmark for women in hip-hop and heralded a wave of forward-thinking, Afrofeminist awareness..." "Ladies First" came out in November, 30 years ago. Learn about some of the music that came in this song's wake: pitchfork.com
Simone Johnson, better known by her stage name Monie Love, is an Grammy–nominated English rapper, actress and radio personality from London, England. Watch the video: www.youtube.com
Ahhh.... the Friday song. Read KEXP's Emily Fox's interview with John Richards about The Mom Show: www.kexp.org
"Formed in 1986, this trio was led by vocalist Lady Miss Kier (born Kieren Kirby in Youngstown, Ohio) and fleshed out by a pair of DJs, Super DJ Dmitry (a classically trained guitarist and Russian emigre born Dmitry Brill) and Jungle DJ Towa Towa (born Doug Wa-Chung in Tokyo, Japan).": www.allmusic.com
Good work, John! The line "My first name ain't baby, it's Janet – Miss Jackson if you're nasty" has been used in pop culture in various forms.: www.youtube.com
"She gets paid on Friday...." Watch Mr. Joe Jackson (no relation to Miss Janet Jackson) perform this song live in 1980: www.youtube.com
The band was originally formed in Coventry, in 1977, as the Coventry Automatics and later the Special A.K.A. by songwriter/keyboardist Jerry Dammers and others. An opening slot for the Clash stirred up interest with the major labels, but Dammers instead opted to start his own 2-Tone label, named for its multiracial agenda and after the two-tone tonic suits favored by the like-minded mods of the '60s.: www.allmusic.com
Here's a long look at both Madness and the classic track "Our House": www.soundonsound.com
Mark your calendar now for KEXP's International Clash Day, February 7th, 2010. R.I.P., Ranking Roger, who died of cancer this year at the age of 56: www.theguardian.com
The future's so bright, John...we gotta wear shades. "When I drop the mic it hit the floor like Thor (That's right)...
You can't pick it up no more (Don't even try)..." You must learn these lyrics: www.metrolyrics.com
"Blame it on Ice Cube..." Watch the video for "Express Yourself": www.youtube.com
The previous song was a cover of this 1970 signature song, written by Charles Wright. Eazy-E of N.W.A. is Wright's nephew.
George Michael's ex-girlfriend recalled her relationship with this 'hilarious' and 'generous' star (The relationship was 10 years before George Michael came out.) : www.smoothradio.com
Skip Scarborough was a songwriter and producer who worked with Earth, Wind & Fire, Patti Labelle, and many other R&B stars before his death in 2003. He wrote the music for this song, and was also the inspiration for the lyrics Withers came up with. Withers explained: "Skip was a very nice, gentle man. The way Skip was, every day was just a lovely day. He was an optimist." Near the end of the song, Withers holds a note for 18 seconds... "Lovely Daaaaaaaaay." This might be the longest held vocal note of any hit song.
This talented British singer-songwriter will perform at Seattle's Showbox on Wednesday, January 29th, 2020.
Turn it up (please)!! There are motorcycles, airplanes, and more in the video for "Jet Fighter": www.youtube.com
Bowie explained: "In England, it was always presumed that it was written about the space landing, because it kind of came to prominence around the same time. But it actually wasn't. It was written because of going to see the film 2001, which I found amazing. I was out of my gourd anyway, I was very stoned when I went to see it, several times, and it was really a revelation to me. It got the song flowing." .
In a memorable scene on Breaking Bad (episode: "Bullet Points"), the character Gale Boetticher (David Costabile) is shown in a video singing karaoke to this song. The entire song was filmed, but only a few seconds were shown on the actual show. In the German language dub, he instead sings along to "Völlig Lösgelost."
This sequel to "Space Oddity" revisits the fictional astronaut, Major Tom, who is now in space. He has regained communication with Ground Control and tells them he is happy, but they deem him nothing but a "junkie, strung out in heavens high, hitting an all-time low." Fans believe this to be Bowie's autobiographical piece about his fight against drug abuse and other personal demons. The British BBC TV series, "Ashes to Ashes," was named after this song. The series served as the sequel to "Life on Mars," which was also named after the Bowie song of the same name.
Oh, man, don't miss Mike Score's fascinating hairdo: www.youtube.com that hair will be at Vancouver. BC's Hard Rock Casino on February 29th, 2020.
Hmmm. "Hou! Hou! Hou! Hou!...
Like an Indian in his iglu..." Here's a quite loose translation of this song: lyricstranslate.com
Yes, Lisa, they will be at The Paramount Theatre on Monday, March 16th, 2020.
Don't feel sorry for yourself! The disco ball is on in KEXP's Gathering Space!
What a great suggestion, Mindy! “‘Woman’ came like a bolt out of the blue when we were in the studio,” Karen O said in a statement. “We did a first pass where I was blurting unintelligible words and Danger Mouse and I were like, ‘Dang! That was intense. What’s that word I keep saying? ‘Woman.”: bit.ly
"Rocket Fuel" is DJ Shadow's first new music since 2017. He invited his "heroes," De La Soul, to perform on this exhilarating song: www.rollingstone.com
Speaking of space, astronauts, aliens, etc., watch the video for "Pump Up The Volume": www.youtube.com
Who is Jesus Jones, you may be wondering, as you listen to the international hit single, "Right Here Right Now"?: www.allmusic.com
Tom Jones played this at some of his live shows, to the delight of the band. Jones performed the song with EMF on a British TV show where he told them about how he sang it in Vegas. According to the band, Jones got them really drunk that night.
"Groovy Train" was released on the 1991 debut album, "Spartacus," by this Liverpool-based band. "Spartacus" was dedicated to the parents of former band member Andy McVann, who died in a car chase escaping from the police on October 1st, 1986.
In the 2010 Blur rockumentary, "No Distance Left To Run," Damon Albarn revealed that it was his decision to release this single against Oasis' "Roll With It." He recalled: "Noel Gallagher used to take the p--s out of me constantly and it really, really hurt at the time. Oasis were like the bullies I had to put up with at school."
Iggy Pop, David Bowie and engineer Colin Thurston produced Lust for Life under the pseudonym "Bewlay Bros.", named after the final track on Bowie's 1971 album Hunky Dory.