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Friday, Apr 21 2017, 6AM
Good morning and happy Friday. Today marks the first anniversary of much beloved Prince's death. Here is the New York Times obituary from a year ago: www.nytimes.com
Happy birthday, Robert Smith of The Cure, born on this date in 1959. In a new memoir, Lol Tolhurst tells about how he and Smith began this extraordinary band: www.wbur.org . (And YES, we're playing vinyl!)
This song - which guitarist, Johnny Marr, described as The Smiths' "most enduring record" - is about their frontman Morrissey's crippling shyness. It has since become an anthem for the alienated and socially isolated.:www.songfacts.com
Happy birthday, James Newell Osterberg, Jr., aka Iggy Pop. Do you like hearing David Bowie singing the "la-la's" in the background of this song?
This song was written by bass player Paul Simonon, who takes lead vocal duties on the song, which is about gangsters in his home town Brixton, which is in South London. Interestingly, he was reticent about singing lead vocals initially, but Strummer noted that "they're your lyrics, you sing them" and the rest of the band agreed.
Watch the video of the Beastie Boys' "Pass the Mic.": www.youtube.com . You might also want to read the lyrics:www.azlyrics.com
Watch Lucius rocking the KEXP studio in a live performance last year: blog.kexp.org
Mary Beth Patterson, known by her stage name Beth Ditto, is an American singer-songwriter, most notable for her work with the indie rock band Gossip and whose voice has been compared to Etta James, Janis Joplin and Tina Turner. Here are some great pictures of this fat-positive musician: www.bustle.com
He is, of course, in The Songwriters' Hall of Fame: www.songwritershalloffame.org
If he had only done this single song, Prince would belong in the pantheon. Watch him perform it live: www.youtube.com
Glass Animals is playing Coachella today. Find out what else they are doing on their Facebook page: www.facebook.com
Ahhh....the Friday song. Find out more about KEXP's Record Store Day celebration here: blog.kexp.org
Watch Captain Kirk cover Pulp live here; www.dailymotion.com
Like Pearl Jam, Electric Light Orchestra was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year: www.rockhall.com
The Sisters of Mercy are a rock band that came out of the British post punk scene in 1980-1981. The band cited Leonard Cohen, The Stooges, Suicide and Motörhead as among their influences. Learn some more at their fan page: sisterswiki.org
Robert Smith is an excellent guitarist. Here, he accompanies Siouxsie and the Banshees on this Beatles cover: www.youtube.com
"Mezzanine" was released on April 20th, 1998. Read a review of this magnificent album: pitchfork.com
Slowdive, among others, was a part of The Morning Show's "shoegaze" tribute yesterday, April 20th, 2017, from 6:00 -10:00 a.m. You can listen to that show on KEXP's streaming archive: www.kexp.org
The lyrics were likely inspired by Robert Smith's wife Mary, who he's been with since he was fourteen. "And all I want is to keep it like this ," Smith sings. "You and me alone, a secret kiss/And don't go home, don't go away/Don't let this end, please stay." This song made one list of the 10 best songs by The Cure: www.rollingstone.com
Don't you love this song, especially on vinyl? Here's the video for the live performance from Budokan: www.youtube.com
Beastie Boys sampled Jimi Hendrix and Curtis Knight on this song:www.whosampled.com . Here's your chance to memorize the lyrics: genius.com
Read a biography of this group that rewrote the rules of hip hop: www.allmusic.com
Here's an "Earworm Weekly" tribute to Prince's "Take Me with U": archives.sfweekly.com
It's a great day to be "Alive"! Watch Empire of the Sun's video: www.youtube.com
Read this interview with Marley Marl, the album's producer, about how the album almost didn't come into existence: www.vanityfair.com
It's ripped Iggy Pop's birthday. "In this Punk classic, Iggy Pop sings about how he wants to be used sexually by a woman. Songs like this helped establish Iggy as a Punk icon known for unpredictable and outrageous behavior. In an interview with Howard Stern, Pop explained the sentiment behind the song: "Have you ever seen like a really good looking girl, really nicely dressed, and she's walking down the street with her dog, right? And like her dog is... intimate with her body, and she likes him and everything. Basically, it's the idea of I want to unite with your body. I don't wanna talk about literature with you or judge you as a person. I wanna dog you.":www.songfacts.com
Katie Crutchfield has announced a new album, "Out in the Storm," due out on July 14th, and has released the video for "Silver":pitchfork.com
Bob Mould has been a great friend to KEXP. Watch a live performance in the KEXP studio last year: blog.kexp.org
8:39 AM
81st spin
Sometime during November 1977, the band watched the musical "Guys and Dolls" in the TV lounge of a guesthouse in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the dialogue "Have you ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn't have" from the film which inspired the song. The following day, Pete Shelley wrote the lyrics of the song, in a van outside a post office, with the music following soon after.
See this Montreal quartet perform "Beautiful Blue Sky" live in the KEXP studio: blog.kexp.org
The album I Am Kurious Oranj was written for the ballet I Am Curious Orange, choreographed by Michael Clarke and performed by his troupe to the live accompaniment of the Fall. The theme was more or less William of Orange (1650-1702), aka William III, ruler of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Holland. William was seen as a standard-bearer for the Protestant faith, deposing the Catholic James II, and waging war against the Catholic king of France, Louis XIV. The ballet coincided with the 300th anniversary of his accession to the English throne.
Guyana-born, London-raised, and Barbados-resident Eddy Grant was the guitarist of the multiracial combo The Equals .
"DAMN" has received enormous critical acclaim. Here's an Atlantic article about Kendrick Lamar and the album: www.theatlantic.com
Adam Horovitz said,"[Something's Got to Give] is one of my all time favorites 'cause of all the elements inside; mixing live music with samples of our live music, live vocals with samples of our vocals, the lyrics and their sentiment, and the f**ked-up bass.":www.beastiemania.com
Do you like that popping and scratching? Do you like that familiar bass line? A Tribe Called Quest said that Lou Reed got all the money from this song.: www.rollingstone.com
The famous bass line was played by a session musician named Herbie Flowers. He was paid 17 Pounds for his work. Flowers was modest about his contribution to this and other songs. He once told Mojo writer Phil Sutcliffe about his role as a session musician, "You do the job and get your arse away."
Watch Chris Cornell performing this lovely acoustic version of Prince's song: www.spin.com
Here are the complete lyrics to "All Day, All Night": www.lyricsfreak.com
Prince performed "The Ride" live on several occasions. Here's one version from Las Vegas in 2012: www.schooltube.com.
"So U can be the President (Kick it)
I'd rather be the Pope (I'd rather be, so help me)..." Here are the lyrics: genius.com
"Billy Jack Bitch" is the name Prince gave to a black female gossip columnist named CJ from The Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper. CJ is known for constantly mentioning Prince in her articles. You can hear the reference when he announces "CJ, Billy Jack Bitch" at one point in the song.