Marco Collins

George Clinton, Ray Davis, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, and Grady Thomas formed the group Parliament in the late 1950s. Parliament was transformed in the late 1960s by George Clinton as part of his Parliament-Funkadelic collective. More commercial and less rock-oriented than its sister act Funkadelic, Parliament drew on science-fiction and outlandish performances in their music. -- That trumpet solo is by Rick Gardner. Want to see a live version of "Do That Stuff"?: www.youtube.com

Groove Armada is out of London and the collaborative project of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. Read Michelle Myers' introduction to the English electronic music duo on our blog: web.archive.org

David Byrne's first album on Nonesuch Records (his seventh solo album) received a reissue on vinyl back in March of 2019 -- including additional tracks, including a duet with Caetano Veloso. "It fits alongside the best of his career and adds another solid release to a solo catalog which will hopefully become more cherished in time," said Pitchfork in its review in 2004. "In 20 years, as we straighten our faces with botulism, braces, and stem cells, the album will stand up."

1992 lead single from Funky Divas! It peaked at number two in the US. Multi-platinum new jack swing hit with lead vocals by Maxine Jones and Dawn Robinson, and heavily featuring a sample of the guitar riff from James Brown's "The Payback".

Scissor Sisters was a vital part of New York's glam-rock scene in the 00's. Read how they ushered in an era of queer pop.: www.udiscovermusic.com This particular song, written by Babydaddy and Jake Shears at Shears' parents' horse farm in West Virginia, was inspired by Shears' coming out to his mother.: www.youtube.com

Some of the song's lyrics had been ad-libbed by Beck in concert before the song's release. For an example, on January 3, 1998, during the beginning of a performance of "Where It's At," Beck shouted, "I'm talking about mixing business!" In contrast to most other music, the lyrics in the song are more about the very feminine side of sexuality, with lyrics like "I'll be your mistress," "make all the lesbians scream," and "I'll comb your hair, rewrite your diary." bit.ly

The 18th album from Aretha Franklin, released in 1972. She won a Grammy for this release in the Best R&B Vocal Performance category that same year.

Veteran producer/composer Quincy Jones mentored the Brothers Johnson early in their career. He suggested that they write a song called "Stomp." George Johnson, being the lyricist of the duo, was perplexed about what lyrics to write around that title. After staying up all night writing and rewriting, Johnson showed up at the recording studio the next day and winged it, improvising lyrics on the spot. Co-written by Rod Temperton, his brother, Louis Johnson, and Valerie Johnson, "Stomp" stayed at number one R&B for two weeks and number seven pop in the spring of 1980. bit.ly Enjoy this delicious video! youtu.be

Just Can't Get Enough was released in 1981 as the third single from Depeche Mode's debut studio album, Speak & Spell. Depeche Mode founding member and keyboardist Vince Clarke had just turned 20 when he wrote this song, which turned out to be the last one he wrote for Depeche Mode. He left the band after the Speak and Spell album was released, later joining Yaz and Erasure. The "Just Can't Get Enough" video is the only one he appears in. - bit.ly --- Happy 1981 & 50 years of KEXP! - www.kexp.org

"Raising Hell." the group's third album, dropped in May 1986 and became the first rap album to go multiplatinum en route to hitting the Top 3 on the Billboard 100. ...Hell spawned four major singles on the R&B charts and wound up on numerous "Best Of" lists at the end of 1986. -- "Raising Hell" was added to the National Registry of Recordings in 2017. Enjoy this essay about it: www.loc.gov

Originally a Kiss song! Dutch DJ Oliver Heldens reworked the song with vocals provided by Nile Rodgers and British vocal group House Gospel Choir (HGC).

Ben Gibbard came to our studio in 2018 to sing "Soul Meets Body" live: www.youtube.com

Lyricist Allee Willis worked on the composition for a month or so and wasn’t certain that White’s “ba-dee-ya” hook would work. But it did. Said Willis: "learned my greatest lesson ever in songwriting from him, which was never let the lyric get in the way of the groove." Enjoy the story behind this song: americansongwriter.com

Singer Joe Strummer was a news junkie, and many of the images of doom in the lyrics came from news reports he read. Strummer claimed the initial inspiration came in a conversation he had with his then-fiancee Gaby Salter in a taxi ride home to their flat in World's End (appropriately). "There was a lot of Cold War nonsense going on, and we knew that London was susceptible to flooding. She told me to write something about that," noted Strummer in an interview with Uncut magazine.

The main themes of the video are intellectual freedom and the media's dumbing down of mass culture. Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett said in an interview that the inspiration for some scenes in the video came from Hayao Miyazaki; specifically, the windmill-powered landmass, which has been compared to that of Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky. bit.ly The laugh used in this Gorillaz track belongs to De La Soul member Vincent Lamont Mason Jr. (aka Maseo or Pasemaster Mase). Mase comes from his last name, Mason, but is also an acronym for "Making A Soul Effort". Check out the animated music video here: youtu.be We’re grooving to the music of 2005 & celebrating 50 years of KEXP! kexp.org

If you're wondering, the lyrics say,"...mesh and lace.": www.songfacts.com -- Modern English lead singer Robbie Grey, who wrote the song with his four bandmates, explained: "I don't think many people realized it was about a couple making love as the bomb dropped. As they made love, they become one and melt together.": bit.ly We’re singing along to the music of 1982 to celebrate 50 years of KEXP! www.kexp.org

This 1984 song became the group's first number one hit in both the UK and US. -- "I just wanted to make a really energetic pop record that had all the best elements of Fifties and Sixties records, combined with our attitude and our approach, which is obviously more uptempo and a lot younger than some of those records. It’s one of those tracks that gets rid of a lot of your own personal influences; it reminds me of so many different records that I couldn’t actually nail them down. I’d done a demo at home that just had a bass line and a vocal on it. Usually, I write the record in my head; I know what all the parts are going to be and I sing them to all our musicians. And it was great. … We actually did it as a rehearsal. We used a Linn drum because the drummer was late, and it was such a good track that we kept it." –George Michael

Sampled heavily on Dr. Dre's "Let Me Ride" "If you hear any noise, It's just me and the boys... Hittin' it..." Watch an entire Paliament-Funkadelic concert from 1976, live in Houston. The iconic Mothership stage prop (now in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture) descends midway through the performance during “Mothership Connection (Star Child).”: youtu.be

Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me" samples Kool & The Gang's "Summer Madness" & Bootsy Collins' "Rather Be With You" bit.ly

R&B superstar Mary J. Blige was influenced by Aretha Frankln, who we're celebrating on her birthday tonight! www.maryjblige.com

In 1989, at just 38 years old, Stevie Wonder became the youngest living person to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "His classical prowess on several instruments and the expressiveness of his voice has led him down a path of unprecedented fame, political impact and societal reverence." bit.ly Wonder wrote this song after attending a Motown company picnic in 1976 where he participated in contests and games, an afternoon in which he felt that he rekindled his childhood. "I had such a good time at the picnic that I went to Crystal Recording Studio right afterward and the vibe came right to my mind," he said.

'I Wish' is the 1995 debut album by Skee-Lo. Most of this song's instruments are sampled from "Spinnin'" by Bernard Wright, and the song features a vocal sample of people shouting from the track "Buffalo Gals" by Malcolm McLaren. bit.ly

Each letter in GAP represents a Tulsa street located in the historic "Black Wallstreet" area known as the Greenwood Cultural District. The streets are Greenwood, Archer and Pine.

Popular 1970's funk band Ohio Players originally released this track in 1976 off their 8th studio album.

The main spoken vocals on "Jungle Boogie" were performed by then-roadie, Donal Boyce, who became better known as "The Boogie Man." Boyce's vocals on the hit were so popular he was invited to sing back-up and perform "vocal effects" on a number of Kool & The Gang singles, including "Spirit of the Boogie," "Open Sesame," and "Slick Superchick." Boyce performed with the band from 1973 to 1977.

Bernie Taupin wrote this song with a specific person in mind: "It's perhaps one more example of the original idea being interpreted by everyone into something quite different. I think people see it as an anthem based on Elton's strong sense of survival in the face of adversity. Which, believe me, is perfectly fine by me. In fact, it's probably infinitely more interesting, perhaps, than what it was initially written about... It was a sort of kiss off to an old girlfriend. You know the sort of thing, 'Don't you worry about me, I'll be perfectly fine.' Unlike George Jones' 'She Thinks I Still Care,' where, in fact, he really did, I really didn't." bit.ly

Oh, R.I.P. Takeoff, one-third of Migos, who died in Houston at the age of 28. Born Kirsnick Khari Ball on June 18, 1994 in Lawrenceville, Ga., Takeoff began rapping as a teenager, alongside his uncle, who took the name Quavo and his cousin, who rapped as Offset.: www.npr.org

1994!

Speaking of Chic... The first single from Daft Punk's fourth studio album "Random Access Memories" features American rapper and record producer Pharrell Williams on vocals and studio legend Nile Rodgers of disco pioneers Chic on guitar. -- Pharrell Williams refers to the duo as "the robots," often talking about them as though they had come from another planet, yet still able to write "human" music. In their first meet-up, according to Pharrell, when asked what he had been working on he replied that he was "in a Nile Rodgers place" at the time. Amazingly, the duo looked at each other and showed him a clip they had already recorded of Nile Rodgers previously playing riff for them to use.

Did you know that LCD Soundsystem's third album, "This Is Happening," was supposed to be their final album?: www.stereogum.com -- Spend 15 minutes and watch this vide of James Murphy demonstrating how "This Is Happening" was made.: www.youtube.com

From the movie "Dead Presidents." Innovative soul/funk outfit. Sly himself played bass on this song. By request. slystonemusic.com

#1 hit from 1976 -- featured one year later on the soundtrack to 'Saturday Night Fever'! -- kexp.org Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills and Nash played percussion on this track. He recalled to The Independent August 17, 2013: "We were in the studio next door making a CSN album and David (Crosby) was all full of himself and saying this is going to be the album of the year. I went, "No it's not, that's being recorded across the hall," 'cause I'd heard some of that Saturday Night Fever stuff and I knew it was totally unique and going to be a monster. So I played timbales and for a long time that was my only platinum single." bit.ly

According to frontman Yannis Philippakis, "Wake Me Up" is meant for the dance floor. Foals wrote the song during the second lockdown in London, as they had access to a small studio. "Obviously as everyone knows, it was a pretty bleak time and it was kind of depressing and we didn't really want to add to any of that heaviness," said Philippakis, describing the new track's process. bit.ly Cheryl Waters hosted Foals in the KEXP Live Room back in 2013. Enjoy video from that performance: bit.ly. www.foals.co.uk

“Turn Up the Sunshine” is from the Minions: The Rise of Gru soundtrack, which was produced and curated by Jack Antonoff. The tracklist includes St. Vincent’s rendition of Lipps Inc.’s “Funkytown,” Bridgers’ version of The Carpenters’ “Goodbye to Love,” the Bleachers’ take on John Lennon’s “Instant Karma!” and H.E.R.’s cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Dance to the Music.” View the complete tracklist here: bit.ly The Minions themselves, it must be noted, cover Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecilia.”

From the band: "KEEP YOUR HEAD UP is a mantra. It's a reminder to stay strong, walk proud and celebrate the special moments in life. No matter what." www.preservationhalljazzband.com

Check out a DJ set from JD Samson of Le Tigre for Midnight in a Perfect World in 2018: www.kexp.org

By request! 2011's "Swim Good" was released as a single from a mixtape, 2011's "Nostalgia, Ultra." Tyler, The Creator provides additional vocals on the song. -- “I’m about to drive in the ocean / I’mma try to swim from somethin’ bigger than me / Kick off my shoes and swim good, and swim good / Take off this suit and swim good, and swim good, good”—Frank Ocean, “Swim Good” As this review notes, "We're stronger than our heartbreak...We did not drown in our sorrow. “Swim Good” is the perfect overcoming track because it outlines the process of enduring pain.": djbooth.net

From the 2007 compilation of Latin Soul artists -- here with Puerto Rican Bolero singer Quetcy Alma, known also as "La Lloroncita" ("The Crybaby") -- the name of her international breakthrough album from 1956

Right?

This song sampling Joni Mitchell was also inspired by J Dilla's remix of the Brand New Heavies' song "Sometimes", released a few months prior in 1997. Janet Jackson explained why she felt compelled to combine the folk elements from Mitchell with Q-Tip's rap verse: "Him and Joni Mitchell have something in common: what they write is poetry . . . Q-Tip represents all that's creative and strong about rap. He's real and right to the point, and I loved working with him."

Barry White wrote "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe" when he fell in love in 1973 with Glodean James, who was one of the members of his Love Unlimited backing trio of singers. He wrote this song for her one night when he couldn't get off to sleep. Barry and Glodean married in October 1974 and for a time were one of the best known couples in showbiz. The pair separated in 1988 but never divorced and remained good friends for the remainder of White's life. - bit.ly -- Here's a biography of the late singer, known for his seductive ballads: www.allmusic.com

'Thirteen Tales Of Urban Bohemia, the album that the Dandys released [in July 2000] is a quietly brilliant piece of rumpled majesty and glammy insouciance.' Read more from Tom Breihan's glorious retrospective for Stereogum: tinyurl.com

In 1998 Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter formed the anonymous one-off disco project Stardust with studio buddies Alan Queme and Benjamin Cohen to record this nu-disco anthem. The song was released independently in Bangalter's native France on his own Roule label in 1998, and it took Ibiza by storm that summer and was the club smash of 1998. However, when Bangalter was offered a £3 million deal for a full Stardust album, he declined. The bassline guitar is a sample from a Chaka Khan's 1981 "Fate." bit.ly Check out the music video! youtu.be

This second single from Arrested Development's debut is based heavily on the music and lyrics of “Everyday People” – a chart-topping 1969 song by Sly & The Family Stone. -- Read a discussion of Speech's thinking as he wrote this song: www.songmeaningsandfacts.com

In an interview with NME last year Jungle spoke about the free attitude they applied to their latest album: "The older we get, the more we stop giving a fuck. The more you can release your fears of what you think you can be or what you can do, you’re just in this creative freedom. It’s why Jungle is reaching where it is and why, in our view, Jungle is reaching its creative pinnacle” bit.ly

According to a release, frontman Thomas Mars was inspired to write the track by the phrase “alpha zulu,” which he “heard a pilot repeating over the radio during a turbulent flight in a storm. The band has just released an official video for "Alpha Zulu": youtu.be

Sound & Vision Senior Producer Rachel Stevens talks about the buzz behind “Renaissance” with fellow fans from the B Hive: KEXP Afternoon Show Host Larry Mizell Jr., Stas Thee Boss, and KUOW Arts and Culture Reporter Mike Davis. Listen to the conversation and read some highlights (and subscribe to the podcast!) -- www.kexp.org

This song evokes a moment in time - sex workers in the late 70s. It’s supportive, liberated and empowering. And well then, it’s Donna’s voice and that beat and the whistle - it’s just too much awesome! - Jenny, Seattle

Listen to Fred again..'s guest DJ set on KEXP: kexp.org In Fred's own words, his set "was made on the long train up to Scotland from London. And it was a really peaceful and therapeutic experience. It's made of voice-notes with my friends, full songs, early demos and a couple bootlegs. Thank you and big love to KEXP. I hope you enjoy."