Kevin Cole

This song became widely popular during the Disco period and is widely credited as "one of the most influential records ever made", originating electronic dance music. Italian producer Giorgio Moroder described Summer's work with him on the song as "really the start of electronic dance" music. And in 2011, the Library of Congress added the song to the National Recording Registry, deeming it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important".

Welsh singer and producer Kelly Lee Owens has been making waves as a captivating solo artist in the underground music community over the past few years, blending immersive techno, ethereal dream-pop, and hypnotic krautrock to create her own singular style. Read a KEXP interview with Kelly on senses and psychics: www.kexp.org

Off their 2016 Black Lights, which found its parts recorded by band members now residing in Ireland, Iceland, and Germany. Of this song, Jófríður Ákadóttir remarks, “My thoughts were about Iceland and the nature, how it’s our most precious thing,” Read all about it here, and enjoy endless listens of your own free copy. www.kexp.org

Watch her 2016 performance live during KEXP's New Home Grand Opening: www.youtube.com

The B-52's is the debut album by the Athens, Georgia-based band. The kitschy lyrics and mood, and the hook-laden harmonies helped establish a fanbase for the band.

Yanya says this about the song: “Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me and I get trapped. There’s the things I need disguised as things I think I only want, things I think I’m choosing out of choice not necessity... I think that’s what I wrote the song about, but what’s interesting to me, and what I think I was trying to get at, is the illusion of freedom.” This song was recently featured as the Song of the Day. Subscribe for the podcast and download the song for free here: www.kexp.org

One of the most overlooked influential artists of rock and roll. In her autobiography Reckless: My Life as a Pretender, lead singer Chrissie Hynde had this to say about her lack of formal voice training: “Distinctive voices in rock are trained through years of many things: frustration, fear, loneliness, anger, insecurity, arrogance, narcissism, or just sheer perseverance – anything but a teacher." Read more about Hynde's autobiography here: bit.ly

Local Seattle musician Alex Niedzialkowski of Cumulus recently spoke to KEXP about what International Women's Day day means to her. Read her comments here: bit.ly

Cumulus performed live at Avast! Recording Co. in November 2018. Watch it here: www.youtube.com

Jenn Champion performed live in the KEXP studio in October 2018. Watch her performance, including this track, here: www.youtube.com

You can also read a Local Artist Spotlight by KEXP article featuring Jenn: bit.ly

Now, Now is playing at Neumos on Sunday, May 19th. Ticket info here: bit.ly

While you wait, you can watch Now, Now's performance live in the KEXP studio. from July 2018 here: www.youtube.com

SOPHIE is a Scottish record producer, singer, songwriter, and DJ, best known for her synthesised and "hyperkinetic" take on pop music. On navigating identity as a trans woman, SOPHIE has said “Transness is taking control to bring your body more in line with your soul and spirit so the two aren't fighting against each other and struggling to survive. On this earth, it's that you can get closer to how you feel your true essence is without the societal pressures of having to fulfill certain traditional roles based on gender.”

Vök, a dream-pop/indie-electronica band formed in Reykjavík, Iceland, in 2013. Watch their October 2018 performance live in the KEXP studio: www.youtube.com

Written by Björk and staple collaborator Nellee Hooper and produced by Hooper, "Big Time Sensuality" is a house-influenced song that helped boost Björk's popularity worldwide, particularly the U.S., where she charted for the first time. Here is the video: www.youtube.com

Erykah Badu was born Erica Abi Wright in Dallas, Texas. Her mother raised her, her brother Eevin, and her sister Nayrok alone after separating from their father, William Wright Jr. To provide for her family, the children's maternal and paternal grandmothers often helped look after them. This track is her take on Drake's "Hotline Bling".

Selected by Eva Walker of Seattle's The Black Tones.

The Rev. Sister Mary M. Nelson, probably a Pentecostal storefront preacher in Memphis, recorded four sides for Vocalion during the late '20s (including one sermon). Unfortunately, little else is known…

Songs of Our Native Daughters shines new light on African-American women's stories of struggle, resistance, and hope. With unflinching, razor-sharp honesty, they confront sanitized views about America's history of slavery, racism, and misogyny from a powerful, black, female perspective.

Alabama Shakes performed live in the KEXP studio in January 2012. Watch it here: www.youtube.com

This track was also featured as the song of the day back in 2015. You can download it for free here: bit.ly

At the time of this song's release in 2017, Bridgers was open about the fact that "Motion Sickness" was an autobiographical song based on her former relationship with Ryan Adams. A month ago, more details about Ryan's manipulative behavior came to light - not just with Phoebe Bridgers, but with a number of other younger women in the music industry who corraborated Bridgers' story with their own similar experiences.

Boston-based alternative rock band, Throwing Muses formed in 1983 in Providence, RI by step-sisters Kristin Hersh (vocals/guitar) and Tanya Donelly (guitar/vocals). They performed live for KEXP from The Triple Door in June 2014. Watch it here: www.youtube.com

Nina Simone's cover of Ike & Tina Turner's "Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter". Her version didn’t catch on at the time, but it subsequently became a breakbeat classic, and is now recognised as one of Simone’s most remarkable vocal performances!

When asked why "Freedom Highway" remains one of her family's most powerful songs, Staples replied, "That record was recorded right when it had just been written. It’s saying everything that needs to be said in that song. [Sings] ‘March up freedom’s highway. Made up my mind, and I won’t turn around. There is just one thing I can’t understand my friend, why some people think freedom was not designed for all men. There are so many people living their life perplexed, wondering in their minds what’s going to happen next, and that’s why we’re gonna march up freedom’s highway.’" More from this wonderful interview in retrospective of the 50 year anniversary of the march from Selma to Montgomery: bit.ly

KEXP is excited to announce that Deep Sea Diver recorded a cover of Lesley Gore's song for International Women's Day. Purchase the track via Bandcamp, and all of the proceeds will be donated to the Women’s S.H.E. Clinic (safe, healthy, empowered) at the non-profit organization Aurora Commons. The S.H.E. Clinic is a mobile service that provides quality, trauma-informed and non-judgmental health care for women along Aurora Avenue who are unhoused and marginalized in Seattle. thedeepseadiver.bandcamp.com

This song was featured as the Song of the Day back in 2016. Download it for free here: www.kexp.org

Neko Case will be at the Gorge Amphitheatre with Brandi Carlile and Emmylou Harris on Saturday, June 1st. Show info here: bit.ly

You can watch her last performance live at KEXP from May 2018 here: www.youtube.com

“i’m marie, im 19 years old and from Norway. i write, record and produce everything in my room." Starting the project in 2017, Marie has quickly developed an impressive following with her charmingly sweet bedroom pop that touches upon romantic nostalgia and the worries and joys of young LGBTQ+ love. The Norwegian artist released her first official single, “I wanna be your girlfriend,” in 2018 and in many ways, it serves as a brilliant encapsulation of the girl in red as an artist. bit.ly

Born in Silicon Valley and raised in Hanover, New Hampshire. Read this review of her debut album: bit.ly

Alaia D'Alessandro of Tres Leches spoke with KEXP about what International Women's Day means to her: bit.ly

Tres Leches will be playing at the Capitol Hill Block Party on Saturday, July 20th. More info here: bit.ly

Patti Smith is an artist who has defied the boundaries of both genre and gender in her work. “There will be no nudity, but the naked mind," Patti Smith said in her extraordinary "Words and Music" retrospective in New York from September 2018. Read the article here: bit.ly

The band describes itself as a "bi bilingual political dance sax punk party from Providence". The band started when tubaist Joey La Neve DeFrancesco met vocalist Victoria Ruiz while working at the Renaissance Providence Hotel. They have since added Norlan Olivo and Mary Regalado to lineup.

You can watch the Downtown Boys performance in the KEXP studio from September 2017 here: www.youtube.com

As selected by Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney and Filthy Friends.

Kate Bush said the song is " about a relationship between a man and a woman. They love each other very much, and the power of the relationship is something that gets in the way. It creates insecurities. It's saying if the man could be the woman and the woman the man, if they could make a deal with God, to change places, that they'd understand what it's like to be the other person and perhaps it would clear up misunderstandings. You know, all the little problems; there would be no problem." www.youtube.com

Filthy Friends, the supergroup formed by Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, and Kurt Bloch, will be live at KEXP in the Gathering Space on Thursday, May 9th, at 3:00 PM.

They will be at Neumos that night. Show info: bit.ly

This track is today's Song of the Day. You can subscribe and download the song for free here: www.kexp.org

Le Tigre's Kathleen Hanna shouts out women in music, art, and literature who have inspired her and paved the way for feminism near and far. She pleads for these women - and women like them - to continue with their work for the sake of the feminist movement and forward-thinking women everywhere.

As requested by Seattle singer-songwriter Parisalexa. www.youtube.com

Solange transitions from a taxing Black History Month into a Women's History Month with her new release When I Get Home. Read the Pitchfork review here: bit.ly

Great article about the Seattle-based rapper from 2016: bit.ly

This one is a request for Lauren! This track is from the seventh studio album by Australian singer and songwriter. Enjoy the video here: www.youtube.com

Featuring horns by Dap Kings. Kesha wrote a poignant essay in which she revealed, "I realized that for most of my life I was intimidated to even try and run in the leagues of the people I look up to. With 'Woman,' I hope my fans will hear that wild spirit still strong inside me but this time it was created more raw, spontaneously and with all live instrumentation, which I found was a huge reason I loved the records I did love. There were one or two or 12 different people playing real instruments together, and all that real human energy is exciting and very fun to listen to. I wanted this song to capture that organic, raw, soulful sound and keep the imperfect moments in the recordings because I find the magic in the imperfections." Read the rest of it here: bit.ly

Beyonce released a new video for 'Freedom' in honor of International Day of the Girl: bit.ly