John Richards

Good morning! We're up on running on this election day. Don't worry, we'll get you through it.

The Rolling Stones, who were big fans of Redding and recorded this in 1965 for their Out Of Our Heads album. Redding reciprocated by recording a version of The Stones' (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. Can't beat Otis' version though.

A music video for Is This Love was shot at the Keskidee Arts Centre in London; in the video, supermodel Naomi Campbell, then seven years old, made her first appearance in the public eye.

Check out Stevie's new song "Faith," featuring Ariana Grande, from the upcoming movie Sing. lnk.to

Nina Simone profiled by Michelle Myers as part of KEXP's Sirens of Jazz series blog.kexp.org

Karen O (recognize that voice? She's best known as the lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) supported Little Kids Rock, a national non-profit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools, by painting a custom Fender Stratocaster and donating it for an auction to raise money for the organization. Just a reminder we're all in this together.

Another Barr Brothers song that is appropriate for today no matter what your political leanings... "Half Crazy". blog.kexp.org

Same Love was Song of the Day...and you can also see Macklemore talking about Same Love and marriage equality: blog.kexp.org

Originally recorded by Nick Lowe in 1974. 42 years old and sure sounds current still.

Nada Surf stopped by for an in-studio earlier this year blog.kexp.org

The band's name comes from a character in the 1970s UK children's television show Clangers. They lived in the Clangers' planet's soup wells and provided soup for the clangers. There were a lot of drugs in the 70's.

DJ El Toro went out searching for Flock of Seagulls albums in 2008 blog.kexp.org

Withers was stunned when he learned he had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. "I see it as an award of attrition," he says. "What few songs I wrote during my brief career, there ain't a genre that somebody didn't record them in. I'm not a virtuoso, but I was able to write songs that people could identify with. I don't think I've done bad for a guy from Slab Fork, West Virginia."

At the Showbox December 8th. Surprisingly not sold out and it should be! calendar.kexp.org

This song quickly became the anthem of the anti Vietnam-war and counterculture movements,and was sung by half a million demonstrators in Washington, D.C. at the Vietnam Moratorium Day, on 15 November 1969. They were led by Pete Seeger, who interspersed phrases like, "Are you listening, Nixon?" and "Are you listening, Agnew?", between the choruses of protesters singing, "All we are saying ... is give peace a chance".

Heroes is Bowie's second most covered song after Rebel Rebel. Here's a collection of covers including Heroes 3 ways - by TV On the Radio, Blondie, and Peter Gabriel. blog.kexp.org

Pitchfork's review of Funeral starts out in a fitting way for today - "Ours is a generation overwhelmed by frustration, unrest, dread, and tragedy." pitchfork.com

Marley wrote this song amid the turmoil of the Jamaican elections in December 1976. Marley had supported Michael Manley when he won the election in 1972 and became Prime Minister of Jamaica, but four years later, Marley was by far the most popular person in Jamaica, and he refused to take a political stance as the country was divided between Manley's People's National Party and the Jamaican Labour Party headed by Edward Seaga. It was very violent time in the country, and Marley tried to stay politically neutral while offering peace and shelter however he could.

Sampling Clyde Stubblefield, aka The Funky Drummer. Check out KEXP's 24 Drummers, 24 Interviews as part of Funky Drummer Day: blog.kexp.org

“I’m Still Here” leads the soundtrack to her new Barbara Kopple-directed documentary Miss Sharon Jones! and was recently Song of the Day:blog.kexp.org

That quote at the beginning of the song? Peter Fonda from the film The Wild Angels

The 25th anniversary of Levelling the Land is 11/18. The Levellers are releasing a deluxe boxset and blue vinyl

The Hold Steady in-studio at the old home blog.kexp.org

Age Of Consent at the BBC for the stunning white shorts & black vest combo www.youtube.com

At first, this was a ballad played on an organ. Alan Wilder got the idea to speed up the song. The other members of Depeche Mode didn't like the idea at first. Thankfully they came around!

KEXP interview with Kevin Haskins of Bauhaus and Love & Rockets: blog.kexp.org

Bob Babbitt of the Motown house band The Funk Brothers recalled to Mojo magazine February 2009 the recording of this track: "Norman Whitfield gave the call to me the night before (the session). So I got to the studio the next day, there were a whole load of guys in there - Uriel Jones, Pistol Allen, Jack Ashford, Eddie Bongo, Earl Van Dyke on clavinet, Johnny Griffith on organ, Joe Messina, Dennis Coffey." "There was no song, just some musical ideas, some chord patterns, and part of a bassline he played us. Norman knew what he wanted though, that it was going to be funky. He'd been listening to a lot of Hendrix, Sly & the Family Stone, that's the sound he wanted to make the Motown sound." "Putting it together was simple, we just did that one song in the three-hour session and we had enough time left over to eat some BLT sandwiches. We didn't know it was going to be political, because the lyrics weren't written when the rhythm track was recorded."

This song spoke to the younger generation that was fighting for civil rights, social justice and an end to the Vietnam War. The lyrics are somewhat ambiguous, but the constant repetition of the word "Time!" makes it clear that the song is a call to action. And it has cowbell.

This is one of those songs that came together very quickly. Fogerty recalled to American Songwriter magazine in January 2013: "When I felt it was about ready to hatch, I went into my bedroom and just sat down to write. The whole thing happened in about 20 minutes. That just poured out."

Another song that came together very quickly...Lennon told Rolling Stone in January 1971: "I wrote it in the morning on the piano. I went to the office and sang it many times. So I said 'Hell, let's do it,' and we booked the studio, and Phil came in, and said, 'How do you want it?' I said, 'You know, 1950's.' He said, 'right,' and boom, I did it in about three goes or something like that. I went in and he played it back and there it was. The only argument was that I said a bit more bass, that's all; and off we went."

Just a little self-delusion for today. Everything is going to be ok.

Take a listen to the unwavering chorus, “I am going to make it through this year, if it kills me”- wise words of determination. It’s not hard to understand why this one has become a battle cry for so many. Overall it’s a song of hope, yet with a sharp understanding of how harsh life’s trials can be and the fact that we all just need to push through those difficult patches despite how trying it may be.

Patti remembers the moment Fred burst into their kitchen with the idea for this song: "It was around 1986. I was in the kitchen. My late husband was writing music, and he was a great songwriter, Fred "Sonic" Smith, and we were writing some songs together. And I was peeling potatoes, and I remember I was in a bad mood because I had, you know, I was making dinner and washing the clothes and peeling potatoes. And in the middle of it, Fred came in and said, 'Tricia, people have the power, write it.' And I was standing there with a potato peeler thinking I'd like to have the power to make him peel these potatoes, that's what I'd like... but I kept him.

Watch the video for "...Come On...": www.youtube.com