Friday on My Mind: 2014 Fall Donor Drive!

It’s time again for Friday on My Mind. Our weekly blog post where we look at videos centered around one common theme. This is a collaborative effort between KEXP and King 5 News.

This morning we kicked off our 2014 Donor Drive. As you (hopefully) know, KEXP is powered by listeners like you. We absolutely rely on your donations to continue to provide the awesome programming you know and love. Let’s be real — for most companies YOU are the product, to be bought and sold by advertisers. But here at KEXP, we do it differently. You tune in because you can’t hear this stuff anywhere else on the dial. In fact, we are one of the last radio stations in the country where our DJs actually get to pick the music they play. What a concept! We are proud of our independence, and stoked to bring you your favorite artists and turn you on to things you’ve never heard before.

One of the cool things about being a community radio station is that you, our listeners, are really invested in what we are doing here. That is evidenced in the awesome calls, emails, and texts I get from you every morning during my show, and by the crowds of people who show up sporting their KEXP t-shirts at every event we throw. We are here for you, and we are so glad you are there for us. I’m getting misty over here, but seriously, I love you guys, you make this whole crazy thing possible. If you haven’t donated yet this year, or if you’d like to step up and increase your gift, here.For this drive we asked all of you to let us know who your top artists are of all time. Thank you all for voting, and you seriously have some awesome taste in music! I can’t wait to play back your picks. Beginning tomorrow at noon, we will countdown your votes. You’ll have to tune in to hear the results, but I would be shocked if the following artists don’t show up somewhere on the list…

Radiohead - Just

This tune was released as a single August 7, 1995, and is off Radiohead’s breakout second album The Bends. Thom Yorke wrote “Just” about a narcissistic friend, which I imagine only further fueled their narcissism. You’re so vain, Thom Yorke wrote a song about you.

At the time, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood had an ongoing competition with each other to see who could fit in the most chords into a song. Yorke has said that this is his entry into that competition. It has a very tasty Greenwood guitar solo in it as well.

The video was directed by Jamie Thraves, and he was picked by Radiohead after they had seen several of his short films. There’s a bit of mystery with the music video, as the subtitles stop just when the main character is about to tell the gathered crowd why exactly he’s lying in the middle of the street. What do you think he tells them? Whatever it is, it seems to be persuasive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_qMagfZtv8

Beastie Boys - Sabotage

The official video for “Sabotage” was directed by Spike Jonze. Spike Jonze has directed some of the most memorable music videos of the 90’s including the Grammy winning “Weapon of Choice” by Fatboy Slim which featured Christopher Walken getting down. Jonze has also since won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay for his movie Her. The pairing of Spike Jonze with the Beastie Boys was a match made in heaven. An homage to cheeseball 70s crime dramas, this is one of my favorite videos of all time. And those moustaches just send it all over the top.

While the video for "Sabotage" was nominated for five awards at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards, but surprisingly, lost in all five categories. But the Beasties took it in good humor. During R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe's acceptance speech for the Best Direction award, MCA bum-rushed the stage in his "Nathaniel Hornblower" disguise, interrupting Stipe to protest the shutout of "Sabotage" from every category it was nominated in. They finally got an award years later, at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, winning a new category, “Best Video (That Should Have Won a Moonman”).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5rRZdiu1UE

Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love

“Whole Lotta Love” was released as a single in the US November 7, 1969, and would be Led Zeppelin’s first single. As for the UK, Led Zeppelin had a “no-singles” marketing approach, and didn’t release the song as a single there. An interesting local history footnote: Zeppelin played on a floating stage at the short-lived Green Lake Aqua Theater on May 11th, 1969. They were opening for Three Dog Night, who at that time were the bigger hitmakers. July 28th of that same summer of ‘69, Led Zeppelin were staying in the Edgewater Hotel on the waterfront after their appearance at Seattle Pop Festival when a now legendary story — or myth — occurred. You’ve probably heard some version of it, involving a sexual act with a female groupie and a mud shark or other sea creature. We won’t delve further into it here, but this Seattle Zep story is one of the truly infamous tales of rock depravity. But I digress, back to “Whole Lotta Love”.

In keeping with their practice of walking a fine line between homage and outright piracy of blues artists who came before them, Robert Plant copied some of the lyrics from a song performed by Muddy Waters, and written by Willie Dixon called “You Need Love”. In 1985 there was a lawsuit, which was settled out of court in favor of Dixon.

Nevertheless, the tune is a signature one for the band. It was their first single, and also the last song they ever played with the full original lineup. Led Zeppelin, for you we’ve always got a “Whole Lotta Love”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiLKT5rPHBA

Honorable Mentions:

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Redemption Song (solo acoustic)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFGgbT_VasI

LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing at My House

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj8JrQ9w5jY

Miles Davis - So What

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqNTltOGh5c