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Friday, Feb 15 2019, 6AM
Simple Minds were working in America when they came up with the music for this song. The jaunty tune inspired a similarly upbeat lyric from Jim Kerr, who told us: "We were in New York, it was summer, Manhattan. We could feel the band was really on the verge of something, and I think that positivity and that idea of hope formed the lyrics." Jim Kerr had reason to celebrate that year--he married Chrissie Hynde in 1984 and the couple had a daughter, Yasmin, the next year.
The lyrics were partly inspired by W.H. Auden's poem "The Night Mail", which Mike Scott remembered from reading at school. He recalled: "It was about how the mail train would roll through the night and the poem itself replicated the feeling, the rhythm, the speed of the train. So when you read the poem either out loud or in your mind, it conjured the movement of the train. Certainly when I wrote the second verse of 'Fisherman's Blues,' I was trying to get that effect." : genius.com
The lyrics , "If you can't change the world, change yourself.., " are similar to a quote attributed to Gandhi. He said, " “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do.”: www.nytimes.com
Learn about this important band's "six steps of commercial suicide": nbhap.com
Don't miss the opportunity to hear Timothy Showalter, aka Strand of Oaks, when he is LIVE on KEXP on Friday, April 26th at 1:00 PM. He will perform at Neumos that night.
"'The Slim's metallised folk strum found Mould imagining himself the widowed partner of an AIDS victim, the title drawing both from the chorus's bitter refrain, "The chances seemed so slim", and the name early African sufferers gave the disease....During an era in which rock musicians made high-profile acts of charity to the cause of combating AIDS, few confronted its reality with the unflinching focus Mould mustered here.": www.theguardian.com
"I woke up with the power out..." This song was written by singer Win Butler and his wife Regine Chassagne. Though deeply metaphorical and with a number of different interpretations, the initial inspiration for the song's lyrics came from Chassagne's experiences with the North American ice storm in 1998. She was living in Montreal at the time, and the ice storm left the city in darkness for over a week.: genius.com
"THIS ODD GROUP OF PEOPLE CONVENED IN MY KITCHEN IN ARTANE. AND THAT'S WHERE IT STARTED."
It's fun to read the history of the band on their official website: www.u2.com
Nick Mason brings his "Saucerful of Secrets" tour to The Paramount Theatre on Wednesday, March 13th, 2019. In this interview, he regrets the "loggerheads" between David Gilmour and Roger Waters:"www.rollingstone.com
Don't you absolutely love this anti-war song?: www.youtube.com (That's Garth Hudson from The Band on keyboards.)
Watch IDLES perform this song and others in a fabulous KEXP in-studio performance: www.youtube.com
"These m*therf**kers never take the trash out (Damn)...
They just cash out and mash up..." The lyrics speak for themselves: www.azlyrics.com
Chuck D of Public Enemy explained to Melody Maker in 1991: "'Shut 'Em Down' is about major corporations like Nike taking profits from the black community, but not giving anything back, never opening businesses in black areas. And it's saying that the best way to boycott a business is to start your own.": www.youtube.com
"This is America" became the first rap song in history to win "Song of the Year" at the Grammys. Watch the extraordinary video:www.youtube.com
Antibalas will play two nights at Seattle's Nectar Lounge, Thursday, February 28th and Friday, March 1st, 2019.
Happy birthday (this weekend), 8-year-old Crosby! That's producer Justin Meldel-Johnson's five year old daughter doing the vocals on this song.
Ahhh....the Friday song. Did you know that KEXP will be broadcasting LIVE from Mexico City, February 26th through March 1st? Read all about it here: www.kexp.org
Last October, Thomas Bangalter's 14-minute techno-track "Riga" was released: www.nme.com
It might be worth it to go to San Francisco on May 17th, 2019, to hear The Chemical Brothers perform this song and others from "No Geography": mixmag.net
Ibibio Sound Machine are based in England. Their frontwoman Eno Williams was born in London, raised in Lagos, and sings in both English and the southern Nigerian language Ibibio. Other members of the eight-piece group hail from Ghana, Trinidad, Brazil, and Australia. They were part of our International Clash Day Broadcast from London. Watch for the video of their performance to be up soon.
Does that song sound familiar? The New Yorker calls Benin-born, Brooklyn-based artist Angelique Kidjo's cover of "Remain in Light" "a brilliant return":www.newyorker.com
How about this song...does it sound familiar? Watch POTUS sing it: www.youtube.com
Although the piano part on the final recording is played by Rick Wakeman (soon to become the Rick Wakeman of Yes fame), the song was written during a protracted spell of songwriting at the piano by David, trying out various chord inversions. This intense focus would yield not only “Life on Mars?” but also “Changes,” as David would later recall on his website: “I played my plodding version and Rick wrote the chords down, then played them with his inimitable touch.” There are more things you may want to know about this enigmatic song: www.bbcamerica.com
Seu Jorge played this song live in the KEXP studio in 2016: www.youtube.com
We hope Jose Gonzalez sings this song when he performs at Seattle's Paramount Theatre on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019.
Does this song sound familiar? This original by Massive Attack features vocals and lyrics by Elizabeth Fraser, who had been the lead singer for the Scottish rock band Cocteau Twins. Fraser wrote the song's lyrics, inspired by the works of French philosopher Gaston Bachelard. While recording the song in 1997, she found out that her once-close friend, Jeff Buckley, had disappeared and found drowned. "That was so weird ... I'd got letters out and I was thinking about him. That song's kind of about him – that's how it feels to me anyway."
Oooh! They'll be at Neumos on Saturday, April 20th, 2019. This funky track will appear on their new album, "V," due out on April 12th, 2019: www.rollingstone.com
This L.A. band formed in 1977 and ended in 1988. Read a brief biography here: www.allmusic.com
"Wham! Bam! My cat ‘Splash’ rests on my bed. She’s swallowed her tongue while drinking all my whiskey.” François Jouret better known as Plastic Bertrand, is a Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter.:dangerousminds.net
Don't panic! Here's the official music video: www.youtube.com
Cold Cave will be at the Capitol Theater in Olympia, Washington next Tuesday, February 19th, 2019. Read about this new song, "Promised Land": www.stereogum.com
Andrew Eldritch described the track: "It's about the idiots, full of sound and fury, who stampede around this world signifying nothing. It's about people who sing about the revolution while selling it short, about people who sing about the corrosion of things while they themselves are falling apart. People who miss the point... It's also stupidly over-the-top bombastic, but rightly so.": www.youtube.com
According to DJ Premier, "Mass Appeal" was recorded to poke fun at radio when it came to hip hop music:
"It was recorded as a joke. We just wanted to make fun of the radio on what it sounded like to get airplay. That’s why I made the background melody real simplistic. I was making fun of the radio, but I’m going to make a funky version of making fun of it. Everything’s a vision, and your brain has to be that intense to be able to capture that. What the radio played, when it came to hip-hop, it sounded too watered down. That was making fun of it, but that record did real good for us".: www.youtube.com
This song's tense feel is enhanced by a sample of Black Sabbath's "Behind the Wall of Sleep" from their 1970 self-titled album. Beck borrowed from the same track for his Odelay tune "Hotwax."
Nice segue (to proceed without pause from one musical number or theme to another), John. "So all you bad folks, you must....Go!": www.youtube.com
No doubt you've wondered about this band's name. It was a reference to the way calibration tones were recorded on the "tail" of reel-to-reel tape.
Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin wrote this with British musician Terry Hall, who was lead singer of The Specials. Says Wiedlin: "In 1980 we were playing at The Whisky on Sunset Strip, and The Specials were in town from England, and they came to see us, and they really liked us and asked us if we would be their opening act on their tour. I met Terry Hall, the singer of The Specials, and ended up having kind of a romance. He sent me the lyrics to 'Our Lips Are Sealed' later in the mail, and it was kind of about our relationship, because he had a girlfriend at home and all this other stuff. So it was all very dramatic. I really liked the lyrics, so I finished the lyrics and wrote the music to it, and the rest is history. And then his band, The Fun Boy Three, ended up recording it, too - they did a really great version of it, also. It was like a lot gloomier than the Go-Go's' version."
This is a cover. "Telegram Sam" is a song written by Marc Bolan for the British rock group T. Rex, appearing on their 1972 album "The Slider."Telegram Sam" was written by Bolan about his manager Tony Secunda (Telegram Sam = Tony Secunda) who was his 'main man' in respect of him being Bolan's manager and narcotics supplier.
And now, the original, live....:www.youtube.com (Someone wrote, Only Marc Bolan could wear a t-shirt with his own face on it and not look like a complete wanker.")
The Raconteurs – Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence & Patrick Keeler – are back with the release of their first new music in more than 10 years. Read more and see the videos here: thirdmanstore.com
Get Veruca Salt's "Laughing in the Sugar Bowl," a KEXP Song of the Day from 2015: www.kexp.org
The Breeders' "All Nerve," their first album since 2008, will be released on March 2nd. Here's an early review:pitchfork.com
"Strawberries and cream"? For your edification, here's a link to fan discussion of the meaning of this song: curefans.com
Frontman Michael Stipe looked back at the recording of the "Green" album. He said,"For me, the big moment is 'World Leader Pretend.' It's a tribute to Leonard Cohen, using military terms to describe a battle within. I was so proud of the lyrics and my vocal take that I refused to sing it a second time. I did it once. That was it."
Stephen Malkmus will be at the Columbia City Theater on Saturday, May 11th, 2019. Although there were rumors of a 30th anniversary Pavement reunion in 2019, it doesn't seem likely:consequenceofsound.net
Michael Stipe (Didn't we just hear from him?) said, "(It's) about a mother and child, especially the strong bond that exists between them. The voice is neither hers nor the child's, however. It's someone else commenting on the sense that the bond between a mother and child is the most powerful love of all... I think it's significant to state that it's not a song about defenestration (the action of throwing someone out of a window)." Read the lyrics: songmeanings.com
Last year, Perry Farrell talked about the time he was an escort: metalheadzone.com
See Mark Lanegan's live KEXP in-studio session from 2014: www.youtube.com
In 1992, Nirvana performed "Lounge Act" live at Reading: www.youtube.com
This is not a religious song, but it expresses irritation at celebrities who abuse and exploit the image of Jesus Christ on the cross, known as the Jesus Christ Pose. For Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell, it was Jane's Addiction lead singer Perry Farrell, whose antics and onstage demeanor he always found to be pretentious, who inspired this song.: www.youtube.com
Want to know more about this 90's Seattle band?:www.7yearbitchrocks.com
www.youtube.com
Lead singer Mia Zapata is buried in Louisville, Kentucky's Cave Hill Cemetery:www.findagrave.com
