Word In Your Ear

Paddling the three-man conversational kayak across the rock and roll rapids this week involved … … Olive Mess, Candied Yams, Gorilla Biscuits …? Challenging indie act or seasonal vegan recipe? … the amount YMCA earned through Donald Trump and why the man who wrote it is complaining. … Tom Hanks’ valuable words of wisdom. … Neil Tennant’s favourite bridge in a pop song (and it’s not We Can Work It Out or I Will). … musicians and the modern world of the “one-night stand” circuit. … Baker Street, Money, Careless Whisper, Giant Steps, Jungleland … and the sax solo that outranks them all. … the genius of Henry Mancini and the powerful DNA of film music. … the lost world of small ads – eg this pasted by Roxy Music: “The perfect guitarist for avant rock group: original, creative, adaptable, melodic, fast, slow, elegant, witty, scary, stable, tricky. Quality musicians only.” … Beatles ’64 - “randomly assembled and directionless”, a listener declares!  Here’s Plas Johnson playing the Pink Panther theme with Henry Mancini: https://youtu.be/jBupII3LH_Q?si=brjVwsPlmcnii1MdFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joni Mitchell called it “stoking the star-maker machinery behind the popular song”. Every record sent out for review used to come with a press release knocked together by an over-excited PR before terms like “psychedelia” or “prog” had been invented. They were scanned once for the odd fact or quote and usually chucked in the bin. Richard Morton Jack has tracked down scores of these handouts from 1962-1972, and the news stories they sparked, and published them in the sumptuous ‘Pressing News’, a fascinating window into how acts were sold in the days when pop stars liked rump steak, sports cars and “sincere people” but disliked “bad music, traffic wardens and people who say I look like a girl”. We leaf through his book here and talk about …. ... the ingenuity of '60s PRs and why Marc Bolan was a turning point.… Robert Plant and David Bowie’s genius for self-promotion.… the pop hopeful whose favourite tipple was tooth-rotting, crystal-based ‘Creamola Foam’.   … how PRs sold rebels and outsiders.   … a £900 Olivia Newton-John press release. … Beta Male pin-ups Nick Drake and Scott Walker. … confected outrage over the Small Faces’ Lord’s Prayer. … Joe Cocker, eternally a gas-fitter from Sheffield with “a face like the back of a Sheffield Corporation bus”. … mysterious pop acts that never made it like the Virgin Sleep, the Accent, Bread Love & Dreams, Fresh Maggots and the Tickle whose songs were supposedly chosen by computer.  .. the Kinks – “four art students who dress like characters from Dickens”.  … the promotion of pre-psychedelia Pink Floyd – “a lyrical atmosphere whose words express a feeling rather than tell a story.” … “the Zombies have 50 GCSE passes between them!” and other press release fiction trotted out in the papers. … the mass 1966 adoption of the kaftan and Charlie Chan moustache. Order copies of Pressing News here:https://lansdownebooks.com/products/pressing-newsFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reversing into tomorrow! This week’s news events given a vigorous once-over include … … what will a Trump guitar be worth in 30 years’ time? … the average age of a Glastonbury goer and how it sells its TV coverage.   … “the Beatles in America was like Cortez arriving in South America, the clash of two civilizations. How did this film manage to balls the story up so catastrophically?”  … Leonard Bernstein’s daughter’s dreams about George Harrison and the Fabs v the all-American alpha male. … who should be next for a rock and roll blue plaque? … the Beatles’ Ed Sullivan support act who became almost as famous as they did. … why Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater is the most-streamed ‘60s track. … Hendrix and the Isley brothers’ night in watching telly. … and Rod Stewart’s genius for generating publicity.  Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

R.E.M. considered themselves missionaries against the prevailing pop culture – no solos, no old-school stagecraft, no printed lyrics, no lip-syncing, no hard-sell videos, no obvious leader – and mapped out a whole new route to international success. Peter Ames Carlin, whose books include biographies of Springsteen, Brian Wilson and Paul Simon, talks to us here about ‘The Name of this Band is R.E.M.’, what they pioneered and how it rearranged the rock and roll furniture. Which involves … … why their Letterman Show was a statement of intent. … “rather than bending to the mainstream, they did what they wanted ‘til the mainstream bent to them.” … where you can see “the R.E.M. model” - from Sleater-Kinney to Taylor Swift. … when ‘Mike Stipe’ became Michael. … Stipe’s first TV appearance, dressed as Frank-N-Furter at a Rocky Horror Show screening. … why rock critics connected with them.  … the strategies they share with U2, Radiohead and Coldplay.  … “Springsteen = Elvis + Dylan”. … what was in the water in Athens, Georgia, that produced such unconventionalacts - R.E.M., the B-52’s, Pylon, Love Tractor. … their ‘straight’ but supportive parents – Stipe’s dad in the military, Mills’ dad a marine helicopter pilot. … how R.E.M. “channelled popular culture”. … their pioneering approach to record deals, royalties, videos, mixing and song-writing. … and which of them most wants a reunion. Order ‘The Name Of This Band Is R.E.M.’ here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Name-This-Band-M-Biography/dp/0385546947Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neil Storey worked in the Island press office in the ‘70s and ‘80s and has set out on mammoth undertaking, to compile a series of gorgeous, album-sleeve-sized books telling the story of virtually every record the label released in its pioneering history and talking to all involved - musicians, producers, designers, photographers, label staff – and collecting old music press ads and ephemera from the time. This latest edition, ‘the Island Book Of Records 1969-1970’, has transported us back to our teenage selves when albums by Fairport, Nick Drake, Jethro Tull, Free, King Crimson etc were unmissable. We talked to Neil at his home in France which happily involved …   … the extraordinary story of the Unhalfbricking album shoot.   … when album sleeves were assembled by hand. … how Island pioneered the ‘underground’ aesthetic and the cheap sampler album. … the mystery of Ian Anderson’s 11 fingers. … the “worst sleeve” in the label’s history (which involved a trip to the butchers). .. the day the Island roster met in Hyde Park at six in the morning. ... the curious marketing of Nick Drake – “who doesn’t have a telephone and will disappear for four days at a time”. … and Roxy Music, Sparks, Head Hands & Feet and what else to expect in Volume 3. Order the Island Book Of Records Volume 2 here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Book-Records-II-1969-70/dp/1526182246Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danny Baker, the act you’ve known for all these years, is kicking his legs up again in 2025 on a thundering new theatre tour, ‘Aye Aye! Ahoy Hoy!’ “Dead men tell no tales,” he points out, “so we might might as well get ‘em all told now.” This will be another barnstorming one-man circus - as, naturally, is this barrelling conversation with the two of us which collides with the following … … being shot, Welsh cake, an olive green Humber, goldfish, when videos were the size of a loaf of bread, why half his Maidstone audience got up and left, stolen gear being hustled over Waterloo Bridge, bad things done by Rod Stewart and Britt Ekland, ELP, the Average White Band, Max Miller, Kenneth Williams’ loathing for Michael Aspel, when records become like furniture, getting £4k for a Ziggy Stardust white label, why he doesn’t miss the 14,000 albums he sold, and the record that came out the same day as Sgt Pepper and Bowie’s first album but is better than both. The podcast includes an extract from Ronnie Barker’s “A Pint Of Old And Filthy” and Terry Thomas reading PG Wodehouse. Order tickets for Danny’s 2025 tour here:https://www.dannybakerstore.com/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s events piled into a pipe and enthusiastically smoked include …   … our memories of being at the Band Aid recording in Sarm studios, November 25 1984. … why it was the last dance of the mass media and why nothing could have the same impact now. … the “household name” that made all the difference. … the real reason Bob Geldof could be involved.   … James Bond, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, the Spaghetti Westerns … how music is the real DNA of film franchises, the fingerprint that connects you with the original.   … why should a teenager know what a radio is? … “Live vivid! Delete ordinary! Break moulds! Copy nothing!” The tortuous rebranding of Jaguar. … what the BBC spends 95 per cent of its time doing. … how Bee Gees’ drummer Dennis Byron unwittingly invented the tape loop. … the appeal of inconvenient technology. … David’s second Deep ‘70s compilation, “a dream fulfilment” – Americana, Skinny Tie music, cover versions, the outer limits of Island Records. … plus birthday guest Mike Sketch on discovering music late in life (Dylan, Tom Waits etc). David’s ‘More Deep 70s’ 4-CD compilation is available for pre-order now:https://www.amazon.co.uk/David-Hepworths-More-Deep-Misunderstood/dp/B0DCGGQDNKFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of our rays of sunshine in the dark days of Lockdown was Toyah and Robert’s Sunday Lunch, fizzing clips of the two of them in their Dorset kitchen, him playing off-brand rock and roll, her singing in extravagant finery, occasionally on an exercise bike. Their version of Metallica’s Enter Sandman got 8.6m views alone. One time they were dressed as bees, another re-staging Swan Lake wearing tutus. This has now flowered into an all-the-trimmings Christmas show with a full rock band touring in December. They look back here at how it started and where it’s ended up, which includes … … the teenage Fripp doing the twist at the Cellar Club, Poole. … Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood’s reaction when Robert booed him on set. … when the “elite newspapers” declared their kitchen shows were “genius”. … where their two different audiences meet. … plans for an upcoming Fripp memoir and his 1981 King Crimson diary.  … things you find in old boxes in the attic. … how the grumpier end of King Crimson’s supporters regard the “other Robert Fripp”. … what Tony Iommi and Robert Plant thought of their lockdown clips. … and what you can expect from their Christmas Party show – which involves Bowie, Blondie, Neil Young, Slade, Metallica and an inflatable penguin. Toyah and Robert’s Christmas Party tickets here:https://toyahwillcox.com/gigs/ Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Lydon is among us in 2025 - with Public Image in May and on his Spoken Word tour in September. Entertainment is guaranteed, as it is in this podcast with Mark where he considers … Norman Wisdom, Frankie Howerd, Tommy Cooper and the “sadness in all comedians”, stage fright, the day his dad threw him out of the house, why PiL is like opera, Ray Davies, Bryan Ferry, the “crippled emotions” of youth, why people open their hearts to him, the ghost of Johnny Rotten in Gladiator 11, the lost world of conversation in pubs, and missing his wife, best friend Rambo and Sid Vicious.  Order tickets for his spoken word tour here:https://www.johnlydon.com/tour-dates/PiL tickets here:https://www.ticketmaster.com/public-image-limited-tickets/artist/241Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we feed the week’s events through our heat-seeking Fun-Filter®️ to see what makes the bell ring. Which includes … … Richard Ashcroft in the new John Lewis Christmas ad. … U2 v Coldplay, the Beatles v Pink Floyd – rock bands and the “diploma divide”. … why can we still recite entire song lyrics we learnt when teenagers but can’t remember the shopping list we wrote this morning? … “they couldn’t find their backside with the flashlight”. … the new form of tribute group: the Fall, Thin Lizzy and Talk Talk and the bands made up of ex-members who are recording their ‘new music’. … Elvis, Noel Coward, Churchill, Dylan, Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine, Bowie, the Stones, Frank Sinatra … who should Craig Brown write about next? … the very few people more famous than Paul McCartney.   … our search for the poshest pop star. … Beatles fans v the National Anthem. … is this the only podcast on God’s green earth to mention the Wars Of Spanish Succession? … and birthday guest Giles Fraser on Phil Manzanera, Neil Tennant, Clare Grogan, Midge Ure and other musicians with fabulous speaking voices.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

He’s written some of the darkest entries in the American songbook but became world famous with a sunny celebration of friendship on the soundtrack of “Toy Story”. Inbetween can be found a staggering range of songs dealing with everything from short people to Vladimir Putin, from performing bears to the Louisiana Flood., from ELO to the Great Nations Of Europe, all of which show up in this authoritative new biography from Robert Hilburn, for years the rock writer of the Los Angeles Times. Topics touched on in his chat with David Hepworth:  … when you called your book “A Few Words In Defense Of Our Country”, did you know it was coming out in Election week? … why Robert’s review of Elton John at the Troubadour in 1970 transformed the life of one piano player from Pinner while his review of Randy in the same same venue in the same year didn’t have the same effect on this local hero. … how Randy finds his inspiration by sitting in front of the TV with a big stack of hardback books. … what his famous uncles taught him and how he has spent a lifetime trying to follow their lead. … how he got his first break from Cilla Black, Alan Price and the British chart, … what he said when he finally got as Oscar after years of nominations. … why he can write quickly when commissioned but moves agonisingly slowly when relying on inspiration. … why he’s the only biographical subject to insist his children are interviewed. … what he thinks of Donald Trump.Order Robert’s book here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Few-Words-Defense-Our-Country/dp/1408720361Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear  Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After many years of invisibility, Peter Perrett of the Only Ones is out, about and on tour again and talks to us here about the first gigs he ever saw and played, which involves … … what time he goes to bed. … “he writes better lyrics than Elvis Costello and is prettier than Billy Idol”: why Nick Kent’s review was an insult. … seeing the Small Faces in 1966, the Floyd with Syd at Middle Earth, Dylan at the Isle of Wight, Fairport Convention, Geno Washington, Lou Reed in 1972 (“a hero”), Sex Pistols in 1975. … the Ally Pally Love-In in 1967 with Pink Floyd, the Animals, Julie Driscoll and Arthur Brown (“doing Alice Cooper five years before Alice Cooper”). … supporting Global Village Trucking Company at the Marquee in 1975 with Glenn Tilbrook and Jools Holland. … memories of Vivienne Westwood, the Bromley Contingent and leopardskin vinyl trousers. … the first gig he ever played, doing the Velvet Underground’s What Goes On with a four-string guitar at a college dance. … the tangled tale of Another Girl Another Planet. … “I never thought I’d retire at 28 and come back as a septuagenarian’.   … the role reversal of being produced by your own son. … and how the Snow Station Vadsø festival in Norway – with Peter Buck, Lenny Kaye, Fritz Catlin and Mark Bedford – gave him the courage to go back on tour. Peter Perrett tour dates here:https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/peter-perrett-tickets/artist/5238432 Order his new album The Cleansing here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cleansing-Peter-Perrett/dp/B0DB8VMBDLFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Things this week that sent the needle into the red included … … the last dance craze the whole world noticed. ... “Rock stars used to be anti-establishment. Now they ARE the establishment.” … artworks, flags, bespoke I-Ching Coins … would YOU pay £1,350 for a box set? … why Quincy Jones made records like a movie director. ... how Dylan’s Biograph and Springsteen’s live box started a gold rush. … “an unprecedented event in popular recording". … Hot Night, Starlight, Give Me Some Time, Lights Out and other working titles for Thriller. … “We’re here to save the record business!” … the speed of the Beatles: two years between Ed Sullivan and Tomorrow Never Knows; two years from the Cavern to Shea Stadium. Plus birthday guest Phil Hopwood: moments in rock history you’d like to have witnessed to see what really happened.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The most streamed Beatles song – 700 million plays more than any other – is not by Lennon/McCartney but George who, as author Seth Rogovoy points out, is still widely considered “an economy-class Beatle” though his contributions were central to the success of their records. Seth’s new book ‘Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison’ sets out to right this monstrous wrong! As does this conversation with the two of us which covers … … did My Sweet Lord’s court case puncture his sense of ambition? … how he changed Taxman for American audiences. … the statement made by starting All Things Must Pass with a Dylan/Harrison composition. … how he was fleeced by not one but two managers - Allen Klein and Denis O’Brien. … what we learnt from watching ‘Get Back’. … Broadway ballads, Vaudeville, jazz and the solo on ‘Til There Was You. … remortgaging Friar Park for Life Of Brian and pushing for the Anthology “payday”. … his glorious spiritual/material contradiction – “the Pisces sign is two fish going in opposite directions”. … a social mobility that John and Paul both envied. … falling out of love with live performance. … the beliefs of his early ‘20s he sustained all his life. … and the staples of George Harrison’s Jukebox. Order Seth’s book here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Within-You-Without-Listening-Harrison/dp/019762782XFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ian Broudie and the Lightning Seeds are about to set out on their 35th Anniversary Greatest Hits Tour – aka “beery parties”. He talks to us here about the first bands he ever saw and played in, which involves … … memories of the Liverpool School of Language, Music, Dream and Pun. … the secret of seeming enigmatic: “Never finish your sentences …” … how Three Lions brought a whole new audience and the irony of a singer who didn’t front his biggest hit. … why the Ramones and Talking Heads made him sell his old records.   … first requirement for success: “being able to make a fool of yourself”. … when Captain Beefheart forgot he was booked for an art show and painted all the pictures the night before. … how a part in a Ken Campbell play launched his career. … seeing the Beatles, aged seven – “Shut your eyes and put your fingers in your ears”. … when Eric’s in Mathew Street seemed the centre of the universe. … “for the first time ever I’m not suffering from Imposter Syndrome – I AM THE SINGER!” … Free, Pink Floyd, Elvis Costello, XTC, Big In Japan and the Sausages From Mars. … making records that are “an Andy Warhol pop-art splash of colour on a wall”. Lightning Seeds tickets here:https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/lightning-seeds-tickets/artist/735512Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our crack pair of inquisitors tackle the week’s events and sift out the good, the bad and the riveting, which includes … … whatever happened to savage reviews? … “For God’s sake, keep the robots out of music!”: the 50th birthday of Kraftwerk’s Autobahn. … a Naked Nick Cave Plush Doll (£24) and some Jonny Greenwood olive oil. … strange tales about the making of Disraeli Gears. … what keeps Kamala Harris awake at night. … the staggering bill at Murray the K’s ‘Music In The Fifth Dimension’ in 1967. … Teri Garr, Diane Keaton and other fantasy girlfriends. ... “Twas nought but an skellington covered in skin”. … rock stars never seen without shades. … and birthday guest Cathal Chu cooks up another 45 ways to leave your lover – ‘Give two weeks’ notice, Otis’.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elliot Mintz, then a West Coast radio presenter, met the Lennons in 1971, the start of a close, unique and extraordinary friendship and hours of late-night phone calls. And he’s finally written a book about it, We All Shine On: John, Yoko & Me, which records the isolated, complicated life they led imprisoned by their celebrity, at times joyous and outlandish, at others bleak and uncomfortably revealing. All bases covered here, among them … … “his view of Paul changed with days and temperature – brotherly love, jealousy, discomfort …” … how they dealt with the FBI bugging their apartment. … being present at John and Paul’s eventual reunion and what might have happened if they’d picked up guitars.  … how he heard the news of Lennon’s death. … booking hotels as ‘Fred and Ada Gherkin’. ... the Lost Weekend and Lennon reverting to his Hamburg days. … how it felt to sort and catalogue John’s possessions. … abandoned by his father, abandoning his son: Lennon going on holiday with Brian Epstein two weeks after the birth of Julian.   … ordering in pizzas from across the road in New York’s most exclusive restaurants. … “all he could see onstage was McCartney’s face when they shared a microphone”. … John’s thoughts about the competition – Dylan, the Stones, McCartney. … “a friendship to the exclusion of all else”. Order Elliot’s book here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/We-All-Shine-extraordinary-friendship/dp/0857506072Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brushing aside the cobweb spray and luminous flashing skulls, we ring rock and roll’s doorbell in pursuit of both tricks and treats. Among which you’ll find … … the gothification of entertainment … Harry Potter, Creedence Clearwater and Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. … Donald Trump dancing to Jeff Buckley.  … why Phil Lesh was the heart and soul of the Grateful Dead. … John Cooper Clarke playing a 23,000-seater and the rise of Spoken Word. … Bah! Humbug! The full horror of Halloween and its infernal TV specials. … Allen Ginsberg’s International Poetry Incarnation at the Albert Hall in 1965. … Rihanna’s dietician, therapist, spiritual advisor and hospitality liaison manager. … the auditions for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. … the curse of having everything you want. … John Lennon imprisoned in the Dakota – without the internet! And his mishandling of an Austin Maxi.  … Helen Mirren’s thing about Kurt Cobain. … why Phil Lesh, John Entwistle, Jack Casady and Paul McCartney were a breed apart. … when Mark King’s father kicked him out of the family home. … plus Abraham Lincoln, Fields of the Nephilim, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Eraserhead, the Batcave and birthday guest Matthew Elliot wonders if anyone had greater love songs written about them than Rosanna Arquette (by Toto and Peter Gabriel)? Mama Tried by the Grateful Dead. Just LISTEN to Phil Lesh’s bass playing:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP4gy0TBDfUFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark King and Level 42 have just announced 2025 tour dates and he talks to us here about … … the value of what you learn in covers bands from being ignored. … why being thrown out of home for being thrown out of school was the best thing that ever happened to him. … Level 42’s first gig, kicked off after four songs. … Chile, Turkey and other new markets on the “flatter world” tour circuit. ... supporting the Police, Tina Turner, Queen and Madonna in the ‘80s. … how John McLaughlin (from Doncaster) and Allan Holdsworth (Bradford) inspired other people “from far-flung places like us”. … Rockin’ Robin, Long-Haired Lover From Liverpool and playing three nights a week in an Isle of Wight novelty act, aged 11. … the onstage dynamic between Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins. … the complications of having to book big venues two years in advance. … being the bassist in the Prince’s Trust house band backing Bowie and Mick Jagger. … Billy Cobham, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and “the genius” of Steve Winwood. Level 42s World Machine 40th Anniversary Tour here:https://www.level42.com/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is an extraordinary story on many levels – about the power and sanctuary of music, about what it took for bands to get noticed in the ‘70s, about how a teenager obsessed with King Crimson eventually joined the band and about the struggles of “a rabid Henry Cow fan trying to get on Top of the Pops”. Jakko Jakszyk is a fabulous storyteller, both in his memoir ‘Who’s the Boy With The Lovely Hair?’ and on this podcast with the two of us. Among the highlights … … two things musicians need to know.   … why the divisive appeal of music and comedy is so similar. … life in a band where “Stravinsky meets the Barron Knights”. … “Who’ll be the singing Jack Russell?” Doing voice-overs as a piece of toast and a baked potato with a Yorkshire accent. ... the quaint Englishness of Soft Machine, Caravan and King Crimson and why they were like “a holiday resort no-one knew about”. … why there are even more idiots in advertising than the music business. … the rigours of the Melody Maker Folk Rock Contest, aged 17, judged by Tommy Vance, Bob Harris and Brian May of Queen. … the militant wing of the Adrian Belew Fan Club. … Dave Robinson’s sage advice after telling him he was “unfashionably heterosexual”. ... why Robert Fripp is more Miles Davis than Frank Zappa and the longest audition in history. …the complications of the King Crimson reunion caused by one person who shall remain nameless – “though let’s call him Greg Lake”. … “two screaming lead guitars and a trumpet, what could possibly go wrong?” … and working with Pete Sinfield, Peter Hawkins, Sam Brown and Nigel Planer.   Order Jakko’s book here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lovely-Unlikely-Memoir-Jakko-Jakszyk/dp/1838491864Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 Applying our patent wheat-chaff separator to recent rock and roll events, we filter out the following … … “They’ve got the guns but we got the numbers”: whatever happened to political songs? … the life of Libby Titus and the afterlife of Love Has No Pride. … when gigs become stalking with a musical component. … how Taylor Swift Tickets became the new currency. … the most disappointing album of all time (we know the answer). … who’s the Zeppo Marx of rock and roll? … the old music/football analogy revisited. … when fans think they own a band. … the New York Rock And Soul Revue that revived Steely Dan. … has any American star beguiled Britain more than Taylor Swift? … when Lennon failed to swing the vote. … does anyone convey loneliness better than Bonnie Raitt? … our own personal rock and roll fantasies – eg Dr John recycling and Bob Dylan in his Star Wars jim-jams.  … plus birthday guest Phil Turner - Bill Berry, Gene Clarke, Vince Clarke and the irreplaceable magic ingredient of one band member. ROLLING STONE’S MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUMS OF ALL TIME:https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/most-disappointing-albums-ever-1235111528/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ll know Miranda Sawyer from the Observer and the radio and, possibly, from her days at Smash Hits and Select magazines that form the foundation of her new book, Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs, a time spent watching, interviewing and hanging out with the collection of misfits and outsiders fast becoming the last great musical movement this country ever saw. This pans in on the period between April 1993, Select’s ‘Yanks Go Home’ cover, and August 1997 when Oasis released Be Here Now. A ton of highlights, among them … … why bands hated the term Britpop – and who invented it. … when your life in your 20s becomes history and period drama. … are Oasis conservative or just “classically Northern”? … why Britpop was the last hurrah of the traditional media. … the long slow burn of Jarvis Cocker and the rise of the Beta Male. … the impact of Select’s famous Union Jack ‘Yanks Go Home’ cover. … why Edwyn Collins was the Godfather of Indie (and Britpop) and the song that never stopped selling. … Ric Blaxill at Top of the Pops, Matthew Bannister at Radio One and other unsung architects of Britpop. … lava lamps, swirly rugs, space hoppers and the charity shop tat that replaced the matt black shiny ‘80s. … Jarvis v Jackson, Blur v Oasis and other great engines of the tabloid press. … “Manchester had the bands and the mythmakers (Tony Wilson, Paul Morley) …” … why the weekly music press was the Twitter of its time. … comparing Blur in ‘90s clubs to Wembley Stadium in 2023.   … will Oasis be the last ‘household name’ band? … could Britpop have happened without the press? Order Miranda’s book here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Uncommon-People-Britpop-Beyond-Songs/dp/1399816896Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our record-breaking partnership faces a fresh set of spin bowlers on the rock and roll pitch but rifles a few shots over the pavilion roof, among them … … the time Elvis let his daughter ride her pony through the house. … when Moon Zappa (10) found naked hippies making candles in the garden. … “Can you get that? It might be someone important.” The Queen when her mobile rang. … Billy Joel’s daily commute to work by helicopter. … John Peel, Elton John, Robert Christgau … who’s listened to the most music in the history of the planet? … “Choice is a tax, a penalty”: the faint sense of nausea you get from Netflix’ fathomless sense of abundance. … how Elvis became a hillbilly with an unlimited budget. … are ChatGPT’s music recommendations actually quite useful? We test the Beatles, Joni Mitchell and Miles Davis. … “what kind of a genius doesn’t have medical insurance?” … old WW2 movies v the new Netflix series? There’s only one winner … … plus Abba, Steampacket, Steeleye Span and Humble Pie: supergroups that worked.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hugh Cornwell is preparing for his “All The Fun Of The Fair” tour which begins in November and here he talks to David Hepworth about:….why rehearsals are best in bursts….why he no longer carries keyboards….the special magic of going to see Chuck Berry with Richard Thompson….how the two of them have recorded “Tobacco Road” for an Alzheimers benefit record…being at the Marquee when Clapton, Beck and Page all played with the Yardbirds….playing the Golders Green Ionic with Helen Shapiro….how there are nights when the guitarist think it’s been a disaster but the drummer knows it’s been a triumph…the film podcast (http://mrdemillefm.com/) that started as a hobby…what you can expect when his tour (http://www.hughcornwell.com/tour/) hits your town.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We aimed the airgun of enquiry at this week’s rock and roll side-stall and dislodged the following coconuts …   … sports star, Rhodes scholar, bohemian: why Kris Kristofferson was a whole new breed of American hero.   … the letter his parents wrote disowning him. … how he invented the crossover hit. … echoes of his life in Five Easy Pieces. … Fellini’s La Strada and the story of ‘Me And Bobby McGee’. …. ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ and other songs written to order. … why the past is the age before mobile phones. … Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Leonard Cohen, Carly Simon: the kiss and tell school of songwriting. … why Tracey Thorn misses the age of the autograph. … who’d be famous in the 21st Century? … “What do you think about when you’re playing the drums?” Cameron Crowe’s lost 1983 time capsule. … in a lift with Ken Barlow. Plus birthday guest Paul Cook and the furthest you’ve ever travelled for a gig.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christine McVie - one of only two British girl rock musicians in the ‘60s and part of the greatest pop soap opera of all time. Neither in the backline or the frontline but occupying a unique middle ground. Packed it in for 16 years then returned to the fold. Lesley-Ann Jones’ fresh and emotional memoir Songbird follows “the trajectory of a male rock star played by a woman”, the home she was keen to escape, the outer limits of life in Fleetwood Mac’s “toxic Camelot” and the rigours of holding her ground in a man’s world. We cover all sorts here including … … the lasting effect of not having “an ordinary mother”.   … the night in Sunderland that made her think again. … when your best friend sleeps with your fiancée. … supporting the Shadows when she was 15 at the 2I’s in Soho.   … Etta James, Chicken Shack and playing the Reeperbahn. … why rock stars can never be part of a village community. … Fleetwood Mac’s West Coast Elysium: “they were all as bad as each other”. … “cute and dangerous” meets “lifeline and anchor”: the love affair with Dennis Wilson. … why she and John McVie both needed a wife. … and her lifelong connection with the blues, “a sadness you can’t cure”. Order Songbird here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Songbird-Intimate-Biography-Christine-McVie/dp/1789467217Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick Heyward was one of our favourite cover stars when we were at Smash Hits in the ‘80s, the days when hardcore Haircut One Hundred fans turned out in Fair Isle sweaters and Sou’Westers. He now lives mostly in Florida, he’s made nine solo albums – one magnificently titled Open Sesame Seed - and he’s toured again with his old band after ten years’ painful separation. Touring the UK in October, he couldn’t be more upbeat about the road ahead – “I can do anything!” – and looks back here at the first shows he saw and played himself. Which involves … … seeing Count Basie, Ray Charles and Oscar Peterson on the same bill when he was 12. … “if you stop playing music you’re like the boxer that gave up the fight”. … pop dress codes, knock-off pop merchandise and trips to Shellys Shoes. … growing up in Beckenham where Bowie was “the lighthouse beam that made being a pop star possible”. … old schoolfriends and Haircut One Hundred members Les and Graham and how “we got our friendship back”. … why seeing XTC was “like plugging into electricity”. … Buzzcocks and Boomtown Rats at the Croydon Greyhound.   … how he was saved by management. … singing Love Plus One in Salisbury Cathedral. … and the lingering thrill of his first reviews (by Graham K Smith and Adrian Thrills). Nick’s tour dates here:https://nickheyward.com/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“There was no Command-Zed back then!” John Wood engineered or produced some of the most magical, timeless and affecting records ever made - by Nick Drake, John Martyn, the McGarrigles, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, John Cale, Squeeze and many more. He’s 85 now and looks back here at a luminous career that started with mastering singles at Decca and transferred to Sound Techniques, the mecca he co-founded in an old cowshed in Chelsea when takes were spontaneous and even the tape-op was part of the performance. He misses those days, when albums were organic and the labels had less control, and talks here about … … “the age when sound had perspective and seemed three-dimensional”. … Nick Drake’s confidence and his guiding lights - eg the Beach Boys and Randy Newman (“who I’d never heard of”). And his final nighttime sessions. … the way Fairport recorded – “We’re only going to do it once” – and why they could make three albums a year. …managing the girls in the Incredible String Band, “especially when Licorice played drums”. … John Cale in “maniac mode” and his sudden and unexpected friendship with Nick Drake. … Cale and Nico at the Chelsea Hotel. … and why ‘Geoff Muldaur Is Having A Wonderful Time’ was the job he remembers the fondest. Also mentioned: the Downliners Sect, Judy Collins, The Marmalade, Graham Gouldman and Squeeze. John’s got nothing to plug and just wanted to talk to us. Thanks, John, and bless your cotton socks.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ian Hunter – an image so familiar you’d recognise his silhouette - now lives in Connecticut and he’s just released expanded versions of two of his best-selling solo albums, You’re Never Alone With A Schizophrenic and Short Back N' Sides. He’s 85, born before any of the Beatles. We talk to him here about life growing up in the ‘40s and ‘50s when your father’s a copper and “music wasn’t allowed in the house”, and touch upon … … the debt he owes Freddie ‘Fingers’ Lee. … café jukeboxes full of Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino. … beating 165 acts at a talent contest at Butlins. … the record that made the Beatles (which they didn’t write). … “a two-piece corduroy suit, open-toed sandals, overweight …”: the Mott the Hoople audition. … Bowie playing All The Young Dudes – “a monster” – cross-legged on the floor in Denmark Street after they’d turned down Suffragette City. … why Hendrix was thrown out of Regent Sound studios. … playing the Reeperbahn in 1963. … recording ‘Schizophrenic’ with three members of the E Street Band. … “Do you want a cuddle?” The Mick Ronson recording method. … the good thing about Covid. … watching punk bands with Mick Jones. … plus a ‘dyed-black’ Ford Anglia and the Greatest Record Ever Made. Order Ian’s re-released albums here:Buy link: https://ianhunter.lnk.to/sbnsFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness draws in, we poke the embers of this week’s rock and roll bonfire and rake out the following chestnuts … … Maggie Smith on ‘70s chat shows. … when Radiohead meets Shakespeare. … the strange, circuitous and downright disgraceful launch of Francis Ford Coppola’s majestically bonkers Megalopolis. … Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter: the slow ascent of two ‘overnight sensations’. … is it big events anymore or just a low-level hum of distraction? … Bryan Ferry as an interpreter: why we love his clubby renditions of Dylan, Amy, Frank, Elvis, Broadway ballads and old sea shanties. … Movies In Waiting no 97: Butlin’s, skiffle, Hamburg and Ian Hunter’s 26-year clamber to the top. ... can any film still have instant world impact? … the unsettling structure of the Graham Norton show. … Simon Raymonde’s dad’s oceanic jazz adventure, 1949. … plus birthday guest Matthew North sees Wayne Rooney doing Ring Of Fire at a Plymouth open mic night.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon Raymonde’s affecting and beautifully written memoir ‘In One Ear’ records life in the ‘60s growing up with a father who wrote and arranged for Dusty Springfield, Helen Shapiro and the Walker Brothers, the impossibly shy promotional activities of the Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil and the struggles and eventual jackpot of the Bella Union record label he founded. He’s so perceptive, observant and self-mocking and we loved this energetic podcast which, among much else, lands upon …   ... why 1979 was the Golden Year. … the time Scott Walker came to his parents’ house. … why the Cocteau Twins might have tanked in the current age of self-promotion. … how a loathing for Phil Collins was a Sliding Doors moment.   … the problem with bands that don’t talk to each other. … why they refused to appear on Top Of The Pops. … following Rancid and the Ramones at Lollapalooza in 1996 and the sobering events that ensued. … why the Old Grey Whistle Test was “not a happy experience”. … the cryptic language of Elizabeth Fraser’s lyrics why he never asked her what they meant.   … “if I hadn’t worked at the Beggars record shop I wouldn’t be talking to you now”. … why bands are “less naïve now”. … and “Cocteau Twins - swirling sepulchral shards of sound that patter like raindrops against the windows of your mind” – ©️ the Music Press in 1985. Order Simon’s book here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Ear-Cocteau-Twins-Raymonde/dp/1788709381Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Abba’s biographer Jan Gradvall met and interviewed Abba many times and builds a fresh picture of their internal chemistry in his new book Melancholy Undercover. Highlights of this illuminating pod include … … how Sweden rejected their early hits for not being sufficiently “socialist”. …. the discomfiting early life of Anni-Frid Lyngstad. … what Max Martin and Denniz Pop thought made Abba’s music so durable.  … Strindberg, Bergman, the climate, the eight months of darkness and the role of melancholia in Swedish pop culture.  … the influence of the Human League on their later catalogue. … why manager Stig Anderson “became a burden”. … “Norway has Grieg, Finland has Sibelius, Sweden has Benny …” … the first band to write about divorce. … the Abba song with 57 chords and the only two samples Abba ever approved. … Elvis Costello, Joe Strummer and Ian Dury backstage at a 1979 London show. … when Sid Vicious ran into Abba at an airport on the Pistols’ 1977 Swedish tour.  … the role of the Lionesses football team, Kurt Cobain, Erasure, U2, Madonna and the Sydney gay community in the Abba revival.  … why the Abbatars are better than Abba.  … the myth of Agnetha as “the Greta Garbo of Pop”.  … and why The Day Before You Came is more than the Abba swansong. Order Melancholy Undercover here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-ABBA-Melancholy-Undercover/dp/0571390986Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A free-form spontaneous jam this week - the Dark Star of podcasts – which navigates the outer reaches of the rock and roll stratosphere by way of the following … … was Michael Stipe’s father a military helicopter pilot in Korea? … our fantasy Odd Couple tragi-comedy: Morrissey and Marr in a thin-skinned middle-aged flat share.   … how the Golden Egg launched Roxy Music. … can anyone name more than one member of Coldplay? … did Paddy McAloon’s mum make the sets for the Clangers? … the ’80s version of the Internet.  … memories of lost London: international magazine shops, drinking in offices, Protein Man, roaming Hare Krishnas, “floating a curry”, wasp-covered sarnies in café windows, band flyers on derelict buildings, the romance of old Fleet Street. … the tangled saga of Bonfire Of The Teenagers. … “Oasis is the last of the household-name bands”. … why Toyah is a movie waiting to happen. … and birthday guest Jelltex on bands he thought had given up now filling stadiums.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mike Batt still wrestles with the emotional legacy of the Wombles, the act that simultaneously made him and cast a shadow over the rest of his career, not least his early days as a songwriter at Liberty Records, discussed here, hired after he’d answered the same ad as Elton John and Bernie Taupin, a time when A&R men wore kipper ties and had Picassos on their wall. He forged a path through psychedelia and into TV and films, taking huge financial risks with musicals, orchestral works and big-selling acts like Katie Melua, his Art Garfunkel hit ‘Bright Eyes’ eventually promoting him from the Haves to the Have-Yachts. Life, he says, has been “like running through traffic”. His memoir is just out, ‘The Closest Thing to Crazy: My Life of Musical Adventures’. All sorts discussed here including ...  … his brief satin-jacketed tenure in Hapshash & the Coloured Coat. … parallels between record producers and traffic cops. … Happy Jack and songs about outsiders. … being in Savile Row when the Beatles played the Apple roof. … life as “a square” during psychedelia. … a snatch of abandoned teenage composition ‘The Man With The Purple Hand’. … John D. Laudermilk and the magic of writing credits. … how Bright Eyes “got me into the Officers’ Mess of Songwriters”. … his publishers insisting there was a Womble on the book jacket. … “circumcising” the world in a seven-crew yacht. ... and feeling simultaneously smug and guilty when driving a Roller. Order ‘The Closest Thing To Crazy: My Life of Musical Adventures’ here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Closest-Thing-Crazy-Musical-Adventures/dp/1785120840Find out mroe about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe Boyd produced Fairport Convention, Nick Drake and many others, released acts from all over the globe on his Hannibal label and has just written a mighty and definitive account of the history of popular music, And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, tracing the way different sounds from different countries became interwoven. Nobody is better qualified to write this book as you’ll discover from this enthralling conversation. Among the highlights … … “if Mick and Keith had had Spotify there’d have been no Rolling Stones.” … the African roots of Little Richard’s horn section. … how a Zulu folk tune from 1939 ended up on the Lion King soundtrack. … “Western musicians are governed by keys, valves and frets but what matters is the notes in between”. … the evolution of ska as rock and roll was too exhausting in the heat of Jamaican dancehalls. … Alan Freed, the “Pied Piper” that led white American teenagers into black music. … Duke Ellington and music “too complicated for white audiences to follow”. … the bossa nova in Nick Drake’s River Man. … Paul Simon’s Graceland and the meaning of authenticity. … world music’s problem with drum machines. .. the attraction of music whose origin you can hear before the vocal comes in. Order Joe’s highly recommended book here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roots-Rhythm-Remain-Journey-Through/dp/0571360009Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Mark Ellen rambling in the West Country it’s left to David Hepworth to talk Alex Gold down from the ledge in the light of the Dave Grohl news and discuss:•⁠ ⁠just how many offers come the way of rich and famous rock stars•⁠ ⁠whether his recent admission will in any way detract from the most winning smile in rock•⁠ ⁠is this an opportunity for Jon Bon Jovi to step up?•⁠ ⁠how a quick word from Taylor Swift is worth all the five star reviews in the world•⁠ ⁠Nick Lowe’s infallibly entertaining story of Jet Harris and seven pints of Kaliber•⁠ ⁠When they organised a reunion of all the progeny of Screaming Jay Hawkins•⁠ ⁠... and the greatest music book ever with Patreon supporter Ed NewmanFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Netflix series of David Nicholls’ worldwide hit novel One Day was Top Ten in 89 countries and he’s been heavily involved in its soundtrack album, a process as enjoyable, he says, as devising the compilation tape the fictional Emma made for Dexter in 1989 featuring the Smiths, Prefab Sprout and Public Enemy. We talk to him here about the glorious pitfalls of using pop music to broadcast your personality. All bases covered, from the Geoff Love Orchestra to Joy Orbison, along with … … prog rock drummer replacement fantasies. … when a compilation tape is a Valentine’s card. … music as a way of telegraphing a time. … what the 1812 Overture does to a five year-old. … the eternal impact of Shipbuilding and Running Up That Hill. … “punk terrified me”. … classic male musical taste paranoia. … memories of Live Aid – Bowie onstage, Kiki Dee in the car park. … buying a knock-off cassette of Sgt Pepper. … remembering every note of a record you haven’t heard for 50 years. … and the greatest record of all time! Order the One Day Netflix soundtrack here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jessica-Jones-Morrish-Anne-Nikitin/dp/B0CXJNM4WVFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Old friend of the podcast, Nick Lowe has just released his 15th solo album, Indoor Safari, and he’s about to tour with Los Straitjackets. This absorbing conversation looks back at 60 years onstage and takes in the following … … the secret of a long career. … why he resolved “not to get that famous again”. … touring Germany aged 15 in Brinsley Schwarz’s dad’s Dormobile. … the Small Faces at the village hall in Hornchurch. … to the Six Bells for seven pints with “photographer for all occasions” Jet Harris. … playing Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent in the school band and wrestling with the chords to Cliff’s Living Doll. … Kippington Lodge at Ally Pally, New Year’s Eve 1968, supporting Joe Cocker, the Bonzos and Amen Corner - “the Grand Canyon with a roof”. … 270 dog walks with his son Roy during Covid and the things they discussed. … the unique magic of working with “America’s premier instrumental surf band”. … how ‘I Knew The Bride When She Used To Rock And Roll’ is now a wedding staple. … and the sole mention of ‘freakbeat’ vendors the Fleur De Lys in the history of our podcast. Nick’s tour starts at the London Palladium on September 24:https://nicklowe.com/tour-dates/ Order Indoor Safari here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Indoor-Safari-Nick-Lowe/dp/B0D5TXRLDDFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Louis Armstrong, Wild Man Fischer, Irving Berlin and Lucinda Williams all started out as buskers and Cary Baker’s ‘Down On The Corner’ traces the romance and influence of street players from Ancient Rome via Chicago’s Maxwell Street to Elvis Costello outside the CBS conference and beyond. Cary, David and Mark chuck coins in the conversational hat, among them …  … the turban and rollerblades stagewear of Harry Perry aka “the Skating Sikh”.… Blind Arvella Gray who took up busking because of a gun battle. … the sight of Bongo Joe on his daily commute (a moped loaded with steel drums).   … what Mick Jagger learnt from Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. … Ted Hawkins' journey from Venice Beach to Geffen Records. … the time Cary met Moondog dressed as a Viking and why he was a symbol of old New York. … how Billy Bragg learnt festival crowd control playing street corners. … Madeleine Peyroux, aged 15, playing Paris subways. … Jesse Fuller, father of the one-man band. … do buskers now make it via Instagram? … the only gig where you can play the same song repeatedly. … and when is busking just noise pollution? Order Cary Baker’s Down On The Corner here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Down-Corner-Adventures-Busking-Street/dp/1916829104Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We applied dynamic pricing to this week’s news and various stories trebled in value, among them …  … further adventures in the Oasis ticket fiasco. … the greatest band name ever. … the only rock star born under Adolf Hitler. … Marianne Faithfull? Ian Anderson? Elvis Costello? Musicians you’d rather hear talk than play. … rock stars telling jokes. … “if it isn’t hard to get it’s not worth having.” … is hype generated from above or below? ... the return of old-school analogue: David Gilmour’s Golden Ticket. … the velvet rope and the repercussions of Clubbing. … and has anyone seen Lobby Lud?Find out how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David’s seventh book in his ‘orange series’ is just out and you’re guaranteed to love it. He and Mark discussed ‘Hope I Get Old Before I Die’ at a sold-out launch event at Waterstones in Piccadilly on the evening of September 3, recorded here. Among the highlights you’ll find … … the rock career as a three-act play. … the tour that started the Age Of Spectacle. … why Live Aid was the dawn of pop nostalgia. … the rock star who retired from retirement. … Woodstock – “the Somme with Santana”. … the terrible fallout in the Byrds. … why no act is ever forgotten. … Nick Lowe and the few others who got even better as they got older. … band reunions are about symbolism not music. … how the rock generation took power. … why Ron Wood’s memoir can be read as either comedy or tragedy. … bands that will achieve immortality. … why Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous seems like period drama. … the worst group ever. … and the only act that became bigger than the Beatles.   Order David’s new book here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hope-Get-Old-Before-Die/dp/1787632784 https://linktr.ee/dhepworthFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David, Mark and our token bucket-hatted parka monkey Alex tackle the return of Oasis, its grip on the public imagination and why they’re the biggest band of the last 30 years, which includes …   … the Gallaghers’ mixed fortunes since 2009.  … who won the battle of the underdogs. … “Noel has a thousand buttons, Liam has a thousand fingers”. … why the ‘90s was just like the ‘60s, a golden age of British pop culture.   … no whizz-bangs required, no props, no choreography, no lasers, no extras … why Oasis is the cheapest stadium gig to stage imaginable. … what happens to the ticket money between now and the tour. … Noel, the media and the common touch.   … “a level of public demand that’s almost a sickness”. … why “Oasis tickets are like utility bills”. … the fate of bands that fall out with each other’s wives. … how Liam was rescued by Debbie Gwyther and Noel’s ruinous divorce. … the kind of watertight contracts and insurance required to ensure the band won’t fall apart again. … “Liam, stay away from the fruit bowl!”. … and Mark’s breakfast with Peggy Gallagher.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a concerted effort to put the world to rights, David and Mark ruminate upon the following …… Kylie and the Wiggles? Canned Heat and the Chipmunks? Real or invented pop star/childrens’ entertainer collaborations... the charmed life of Greg Kihn.… will the BBC have any archive left if it keeps cancelling presenters?… why Inside Llewyn Davis works and so many other biopics fail.… the full story of the statement Springsteen made with the Born To Run cover shoot.… Stewart Lee’s long-running beef with Ricky Gervais.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rock journalism as an occupation is rapidly heading in the direction of the watch-mender or lamplighter so Chris Charlesworth’s account of life at the Melody Maker in the ‘70s is already starting to feel like an historic document. ‘Just Backdated’ covers a time when the rock press set the agenda, sold over half a million copies a week and was courted by attention-seeking musicians of every rank, a lost world remembered in this conversation with Mark Ellen which includes … … the unwritten rules of ‘70s rock journalism and its limitless access. … the “homesick and slightly lost” John Lennon when living with May Pang. … life at Melody Maker’s Fleet Street office and staff writer Max Jones’s fling with Billie Holiday. … touring with Led Zeppelin alongside the 17 year-old Cameron Crowe (part of the inspiration for Almost Famous). … “Beatles to reform?” and other coverline staples. … the night Frank Zappa was thrown off the Rainbow stage – ‘people thought he’d been killed’. … the first British interview with Steely Dan. … Debbie Harry when she was still in the Stillettos and the day Blondie asked him to manage them.   ... why the Bay City Rollers at an airport was “the nearest thing to a nightmare while being awake”. … his time as MM’s West and East Coast correspondent aka “the best job in the world”. Order ‘Just Backdated’ here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Just-Backdated-Melody-Maker-Seventies/dp/1915858224Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With David asleep on a French sun-lounger beneath a copy of Summer Lightning, Alex and Mark pour themselves a cold drink and consider … … the great ska floor-fillers. … taking kids to rock concerts. … the fate of all bands: “as musicianship improves, vocals decline”. … left-field Beatles songs reworked as nursery rhymes. … why 2-Tone had pop’s “triple threat” (and the genius of Mike Barson). … of the five big acts with all original members intact, only one should reform. … how “Tay-gating” became a thing. … the secret life of Chris Ballew, former leader of minimal grunge trio the Presidents Of The United States of America. … is the Jam a “young man’s concept”? … the downside of “Cuddly Liam”.  … Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran: has normality replaced escapism? … and Frank Carter as the new Johnny Rotten.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Love’s official biographer John Einarson tells David Hepworth the star-crossed tale of the band who made the least psychedelic album of the psychedelic era. Their conversation takes in:….Lee’s growing up between Memphis and L.A., dealing with the problems of looking more like Johnny Mathis than Otis Redding.….how being indulged as a youngster by his family made him a tyrant as a band leader.….growing up with a prodigious musical talent but without the mastery of a single instrument.….refusing to put up with the inconvenience of touring and bearing personal grudges which prevented him taking up life-changing offers.….their competition with The Doors, who would do all the things that Love wouldn’t.…how Arthur Lee heard Forever Changes in his head and how he transferred that knowledge to an arranger who’d never heard a pop record.….why Brian Wilson, John Sebastian and Arthur Lee “never got past 1967”.….the gun charges that put Arthur Lee in jail and the third act he enjoyed when he came out.You can order the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Forever-Changes-Authorized-Biography-Arthur/dp/1916829120/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Mark Ellen goes shrimping at Frinton David Hepworth and Alex Gold links hands across the Atlantic to discuss:….why a quick turn around Mount Hood in a Cessna should never be confused with pleasure….why all the highly-rated albums are actually over-rated.….why Timothee Chalamet has no hope of being able to capture more than one facet of Bob Dylan….the name of the only music-related location in the whole of Oxford Street which has managed to survive the great hollowing-out….why there really is no point corporations spending fortunes on renaming the places which were christened in our hearts…the likelihood and desirability of Oasis getting back togetherFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A small Pastis, a game of boules and a conversation putting the rock and roll world to rights, which this week includes … … why Debbie Harry and Mick Jagger worked so well on the small screen. … Elvin Pelvin on the Bilko Show and how Elvis was modelled on Tony Curtis. … An American Werewolf In London, The Birds, Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, Don’t Look Now, Nightmare On Elm Street and other old movies being rebooted. … how Patti Smith based an entire career on looking like Keith Richards in 1972 and making records that sounded like they were produced by someone who looked like Keith Richards in 1972. … a record separated from its sleeve ceases to exist. … why doesn’t anyone remake classic albums? … “Once we had something complete and perfect. And what happened? You spent it!” … how CDs never have “materiality”. … further proof that Oasis are the most conservative thing in pop music. … primitive connections and how the album sleeve is the same size as a native American warrior’s shield. … sounds that date records precisely - eg the syndrum. Plus birthday guest Patrick Butler.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rockfield is a converted farmhouse in the Welsh countryside where, for over 50 years, bands have lived while recording. In the ‘70s Tiffany Murray’s mum was the in-house cook, filling Motorhead to the brim with boeuf bourguignon and Black Sabbath with salmon en croute. Her touching memoir My Family And Other Rock Stars – hailed as “a rock and roll Cider With Rosie” – sees a succession of visiting bands though the wide eyes of a child and in a wholly new light - Freddie Mercury is the man who “smelt of sweet wood and oranges” and was nice to her dog, Julian Cope is “pretty and dressed in a white sheet”. It’s a movie waiting to happen. We loved this highly original and revealing book and our conversation with Tiff which involves … … the ‘Saffy from Ab Fab’ relationship she had with her mum who began her professional life spying on the Duchess of Argyll from a wardrobe. … floppy hats, Biba dresses and a purple beach buggy. … the only woman who recorded at Rockfield in the ‘70s. … the realisation that the men singing “Galileo” repeatedly in the stables were the same people later on Top Of The Pops. … her mother’s Book Of Rules for visiting rock stars, “a matron in the body of Julie Christie in Darling”. … ample proof that rock music allows a life of extended adolescence. … shelved albums and unpaid bills. … Tiff’s stepfather and in-house Rockfield producer Fritz Fryer. … Nick Lowe through the eyes of a 10 year-old – “tall, kind and looked like a bird”. ... Graham Parker’s trout in almonds and how the cook was paid extra “just to get food into Lemmy”. … and mentioned in despatches – Squeeze, the Tyla Gang, Showaddywaddy, Van Der Graaf Generator and Dr Feelgood. Order ‘My Family And Other Rock Stars' here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Family-Other-Rock-Stars-groundbreaking/dp/0349727538Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Blake calls Dreams: the Many Lives of Fleetwood Mac a “mosaic biography”, their almost six-decade saga presented as a series of enthralling short stories with titles like ‘Mick Fleetwood’s Great Epiphany’ and ‘Rumours: A Doomed Romance in Six Acts’. It opens in fact with a “cast of characters”, the 18 one-time members, as if dramatis personae in a play, a play that gets more outlandish and dumbfounding with every new discovery and much of it based on his interviews and meetings with most of them (including Peter Green). A few highlights here … … how Stevie Nicks arrived as the spare part of a package deal and rose to become indispensable. … the fake Fleetwood Mac and the Jeremy Spencer and Peter Green impersonators (which involves an egg and potato farmer from Essex). … why you should watch the Tusk video repeatedly (and its ruinous cost).  … Bill Clinton, Daisy Jones & the Six, the dancing pony, Guardians of the Galaxy and other key factors in the return of the Mac.    … from model to muse to psychotherapist, the story of the real life Black Magic Woman. … “Oh Lord, she’s writing another song.” … internal romantic tangles that give their music a poignancy. … the horrors of Kiln House. … Lyndsey Buckingham’s Armani/Clash episode. … Stevie’s love affair with Derek Taylor who then had to promote a slow-selling album containing a secret song about it. … Mick Fleetwood, “old ham”, drag act, compulsive show-off, unsuitable band manager.   Order ‘Dreams: the Many Lives of Fleetwood Mac’ here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreams-Many-Lives-Fleetwood-Mac/dp/1639367322Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beloved Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith, old pal of the pod, is touring the UK in November, two of the nights at the Palladium, and looks back here at the first shows he saw and played himself. Which delights include … … what you learn playing Canadian bars aged 16. … seeing Elton John in a 75,000-seater stadium when he was 12. … early memories of the Kinks and the Who. … why every gig is “a mini-battle”. … Bob Dylan’s courage to do what the crowd don’t expect. … original fans in middle-age: they’re back and they bring their kids! … why a support tour with Robyn Hitchcock took him in a new direction. … exotic wild ‘critters’ in his yard in Ontario. … and how the UK launched his international career. Tickets from: https://ronsexsmith.com/tours/  Ron’s ‘Cobblestone Runway’ and ‘Retriever’ albums have just been re-released.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Passing the baton of discourse on the rock and roll racetrack, our Olympian hosts sprint in the following direction … … watching Toumani Diabaté play in the pitch-black Malian night. … Laurel Canyon, the Brain Damage Club and the great fire of ‘79. … the Kinks in Fortis Green Road, the Beatles in Chiswick House and other alternative London rock landmarks. … is Cerrone’s Supernature nicked from the Days Of Pearly Spencer? … lower-level graduates from the John Mayall Academy – Jon Hiseman, Keef Hartley, Larry Taylor, Aynsley Dunbar – and how being sacked from the Bluesbreakers was a badge of honour. … why do songwriters value suffering over joy? … “the more seriously someone takes musical taste, the more you should disregard them”. … what connects Bob Dylan and the Life of Brian? … a blueser from Preston in a Sioux headdress and one from Macclesfield pretending to hop a freight train.   … and why “song and dance man” Leadbelly had to play “complaining songs”. Plus Birthday guest Gianluca Tramontana. The Beatles at Chiswick House:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvvVNaU_qa8Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Once again the ping-pong ball of conversation is batted across the rock and roll net and these are the scores on the doors …  … how to wreck the national anthem. … cover versions that are better than the original. … the genius of Bob Newhart - "nutty Walt", Abraham Lincoln and that gag about country music. … virtue signalling in rock magazines. … why we connect with pop stars on the slide. … how Tainted Love went from the Northern Clubs to the top of the American charts via a cloakroom in Leeds. … Ingrid Andress and the curse of ‘cursive singing’. … the comedy album that saved Warners Brothers Records. … parenthood and Bruce Springsteen: “the world of love and the world of fear – and they’re the same world”. … who’d rather Elvis Costello played (whisper it) other people’s songs? … have there been any great album sleeves since the arrival of CDs? … why Don Rickles and Bob Newhart’s friendship proves all showbiz is just an act. ... musicians, athletes, comedians, politicians and the addiction of adrenaline. Rolling Stone’s 100 best album covers:https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-album-covers-1235035232/#recipient_hashed=228eb87724435002888d7f82108650021cdb318bf64d1067e1ebef25cd1818de&recipient_salt=d0d82b7aaf06cd217ba5546bced15f5c8c98f6e3776c6c1b2145e79711b91e18Find out more about how to help us keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s something romantic about glorious failure and Will nails it perfectly in ‘Street Level Superstar: A Year With Lawrence’. Over 40 years plagued by bad luck and self-sabotage with Felt, Denim and Mozart Estate, Lawrence has pursued fame and success while refusing to do what’s required to achieve them. Will spent 12 months wandering the streets of London with him to paint a fond, touching and extremely entertaining portrait of the worst-equipped pop star attempting a comeback, a man on a holy, monastic mission in a book about “sacrifice and the price of a dream”. Among many highlights here, we talk about … … where Lawrence fits in the pantheon of great underachievers like Syd Barrett, Nick Drake and Arthur Lee. … and his similarity to Kevin Shields and Kevin Rowland. … the wisdom of a former girlfriend: “stop trying to be the pop star you don’t want to be and you might get somewhere”. … is lack of success the central dream of the indie world?   … why Denim were Britpop before Britpop happened and why EMI melted down all copies of their last single. … his rules before the book began - “No anecdotes, no interviews with former members of Felt …” … what his stalker planned to get his attention. … fantasy girlfriends and “a fear of cheese”. … why he didn’t go to his mother’s funeral. … and why Truman Capote’s portrait of Marlon Brando, the Duke and His Domain, was a touchstone for this book. Order ‘Street Level Superstar: A Year With Lawrence’ here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Level-Superstar-Lawrence-Will-Hodgkinson/dp/1785120220Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Employing controversial VAR technology, we re-examine various events on the rock and roll pitch and suggest a new perspective. Those key moments include …  … the “bucolic frolic” at Knebworth 50 years ago as seen from 100 yards away just past the burger van and featuring Tim Buckley, Alex Harvey, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Van Morrison, the Doobie Brothers and the Allman Brothers Band. And a stark naked Jesus. … when did the Age of Spectacle begin? … how Two-Way Family Favourites helped start Live Aid. … Waters v Gilmour, a feud way beyond candour and honesty.   … the moment Van Morrison first became ‘Captain Letdown’. … memories of Wembley Stadium on July 13 1985 – Status Quo, U2, the non-appearance of Cat Stevens, the planned link with Ian Botham at Trent Bridge and swapping Tony Hancock lines with a man on Concorde. ... the three stages of rock and roll. … life before mobile phones. … The Revenant and Zone Of Interest, films that feel like the past without trying to make the past look cool. … “the older I get, the older I wanna get”. … Joni Mitchell and why we love an old curmudgeon. … and birthday guest Andrew Stocks wonders why some bands can’t bury the hatchet.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Broadcaster and music writer Ann Powers lives in Nashville and grew up listening to Kate Bush and Blondie. The siren call of Blue sparked a life-long and deep-rooted devotion and her new book Travelling: On The Path Of Joni Mitchell takes a different tack from the standard biographies, mapping the context of the songs, the forces that drove her, the steel will it took to succeed and the love affairs that shaped her and her music. All discussed here. As is this ... … the scale of your ambition when your heroes are Nietzsche, Beethoven and Picasso. … how she got her revenge for not being allowed to go to Woodstock. … “she had to learn to walk three times”. … the psychological impact of her “dynamic father and homemaker mother”.… the love affairs with Leonard Cohen, David Crosby and Graham Nash. … her capacity to turn disaster into triumph. … the influence of Laurel Canyon neighbour Derek Taylor and the Beatles. … the many reasons she declared the music business “a corrupt cesspool”. … the tone of Rolling Stone’s ‘70s coverage and the letters she wrote to Mo Austin about the way she was marketed. … David Crosby’s regret about not involving her in Crosby Stills & Nash. … her reaction to the continued success of Tom Petty, Peter Gabriel and Don Henley in a world where mid-career women are “put out to pasture”. … why the current renaissance seems “all legend, no bite”.  … and Laura Nyro, Tom Rush, Judy Collins, Patti Smith, Aretha Franklin, Maggie Roach, Stevie Wonder, Thomas Dolby. Order Travelling: On the Path Of Joni Mitchell here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Travelling-Path-Mitchell-Ann-Powers/dp/0008332967Find out more about how to help us keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first EPs appeared in the late ‘40s and ‘50s (Frank Sinatra, Elvis) hitting a magical sweet spot between the album and the single and they’ve cast a spell ever since, an exotic reminder that record labels are part of the packaged goods business. Music writer Corey duBrowa stumbled across one by Oingo Boingo in the original Licorice Pizza store in Long Beach, California, when he was 13 and began a lifelong collection that eventually led to ‘An Ideal For Living: a Celebration of the EP’, a book full of fabulous sleeve art and seven decades of 3- and 4-track classics. He talks here about every aspect of EP World and flags up some favourites, among them ones by the Goons, the Beatles, Donovan, Alice In Chains, Buzzcocks, the Clash, the Stones, Ice Cube, ‘A Factory Sample’, the Pogues, the EP that topped the album chart and a Joy Division disc worth $7,000. Order ‘An Ideal For Living’ here:https://hozacrecords.com/product/aifl/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The rock and roll ballot-box is stuffed with votes and the exit polls suggest how this week’s debate might play out. Along these lines … … is there still such a thing as British music? … John Lennon as a lavatory attendant. … Pink Floyd’s miming lessons. .. how Neil Finn cheered up the All Blacks. … the staggering difference in the UK album charts in the weeks the last two Labour Prime Ministers were elected (1997 and 2024) - male British bands v international female solo acts. … ‘Starman’ on Top Of The Pops and the tricks it plays on the memory. … “current chart acts are either in the spotlight or don’t seem to exist at all.” … the wit and wisdom of James Blunt. .. the Herd’s guest spot in the Tom Courtenay caper Otley. … the Phil Collins syndrome: “when people are tired of duffing up pop stars, they tend to re-embrace them”. … plus birthday guest Richard Lewis and songs that should be longer – eg Dancing the Night Away by the Motors, I Can Fly by the Herd (cue military bugle and church bell and choir).Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve known Dylan since the days he was editing i-D, Arena and GQ and he’s been a regular on our podcasts talking about his books on Live Aid, the ‘80s, David Bowie and Wichita Lineman. And he’s finally written his memoir, These Foolish Things, full of insights and stories about glam rock, punk, the Blitz, four decades of the magazine world and the people he interviewed and shepherded into awards shows. You’ll hear the delightful clang of the odd dropped name here, along with … … Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine and the power of fame when it was harder to achieve. … seeing Leigh Bowery in daylight.  … the real story of Kylie’s “bare bum” tennis shoot. … does every good memoir involve a degree of treachery? … why Hollywood’s still obsessed with print. … William Hague’s 14 pints, Nick Clegg’s 30 women and other self-selling GQ scoops. … Piers Morgan and Alastair Campbell (“the rottweilers”) and other interrogators who’d always come back with a cover line, usually involving a number. … how politicians make great interviews as they’re used to aggression. … “not now, I’m filming!”: life in the Arena office. … i-D, the Face, nightclubs and “intoxicating” London in the early ‘80s. … magazine covers and the fine art of horse-trading. Order These Foolish Things here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/These-Foolish-Things-Dylan-Jones/dp/1408719851Find out more about how to help us keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinhyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we hoof a few balls round the rock and roll pitch and try to stick some in the net. Extracts from the live match commentary include …. … “Whipping Post!” “Paint it black, you devil!”: when did the audience become part of the show? … the special, unrepeatable thing about Bill Evans At The Village Vanguard. … GambleGate and the most we’ve ever bet on anything. … why young musicians today are so good. And why most Americans could outplay the British. … ‘60s Jamaican ska, 2-Tone and other imperfect imitations of the original.  … does the mainstream exist anymore? … did the Animals’ House of the Rising Sun invent folk-rock? … the voice of Word In Your Ear, Kerry Shale: who is that masked man? … the new Al Murray promotional tactic. … and does anyone else remember Alice’s Restaurant? Plus Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles playing Motown, Emily Roberts of the Last Dinner Party playing Gershwin and birthday guest Blaine Allan.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The two-man tandem of curiosity wobbles its way down the rock and roll cyclepath pausing here to admire the view … … “We’re captive on the carousel of TIME-AH!!”: tuneless Northern club singer Reg “Reg” Snipton performs Ver Greats. … is going to gigs alone becoming a thing? ... why Phil Oakey was a better musician than any of ELP. … Seven Nation Army in football stadiums - and does Jack White make any money from it? … what rock stars spend their fortunes on. … people who are ‘jewellery-blind’ (eg D Hepworth). … the scariest intention a musician can announce.   … Dutch fans dancing. … the poignancy of all John Lennon’s possessions. … how to wreck the Great American Songbook (may involve xylophone solo). … from the Euros to a trip on the tube: how selfies have invaded our space. … the strange, unfinished story of John Lennon’s Patek, “the El Dorado of lost watches”. … you’re never alone with an iPhone. … and does virtuoso musicianship ruin pop music, asks birthday guest Guy Constant? (Answer: yes).Find out more about how you can help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clare Grogan, a regular on our podcasts and rarely off the cover when we were at Smash Hits, is on tour again with Altered Images and playing festivals in the summer – indeed her fabulous description of the bus ferrying her, Midge Ure, Nik Kershaw, Kim Wilde and Living in A Box to the stage at Rewind sounds like an old Smash Hits cartoon come to life. As she points out, “the ‘80s revival has gone on longer than the decade itself.” We don’t know anyone who enjoys and appreciates being a pop star more and talk here about the first gigs she ever went to and played herself, which involves … … what she wore (aged 13) to see the Bay City Rollers at the Glasgow Apollo (includes “cork platform clogs”). … winning the Alternative school beauty pageant dressed as Debbie Harry in a bin bag. … her sister Margaret’s re-enactments of David Bowie, Leo Sayer and Roxy Music. … why the furniture at the Middlesbrough Rock Garden was screwed to the floor. … memories of 2-Tone, the Banshees, Madness, the Stranglers and the Blockheads. … the riot at a Scottish festival when they ran out of alcohol. … violence at early ‘80s gigs when your only security was “Ginge the Roadie”. … Echo & the Bunnymen and the Psychedelic Furs at the Bungalow Bar in Paisley. … do you focus on the people in the crowd who are enjoying it or the ones that need winning over? … horizontal rain when wearing a ballet dress and playing to “a sea of cagoules”. … the best way to tell the audience you’re about to play a new song. … David Hepworth’s Altered Images album review in Smash Hits: ouch! … and her daughter watching old Altered Images clips on YouTube.  ---------------- Altered Images autumn tour dates and tickets here: http://alteredimages.band/Find out more about how you can help us keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyouear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Graeme is an old friend of the podcast. We’ve talked to him in the past about his books on Phil Lynott and John Martyn. ‘Under The Ivy: the Life And Music of Kate Bush’ first appeared in 2010, and was revised in 2015 after her Before the Dawn concerts and it’s now been updated again as, despite no new music or public appearances, her worldwide reputation has rocketed through the roof. We look back here at various key points in the story including ...   … why the way she made records was ahead of its time. … the ‘70s footage and recordings that were “supressed”. … the “reclusive” decade and how the press filled the vacuum. … divinely daft and humorous TV appearances eg with Delia Smith: “Waldorf Salad – that’s got waldorfs in it!” … her bohemian childhood and the powerful influence of male counterparts, particularly eldest brother and erotic poet John Carder Bush. … the unconventional Smash Hits interview of 1981. … the ‘Before the Dawn’ concerts and the reason she staged them. … her seven-year stand-off with Top Of The Pops. … her ‘70s rock group – the KT Bush Band (still going!) – and the songs they played eg The Stealer by Free, Brooklyn by Steely Dan, Shame Shame Shame by Johnny Winter. … Danny Baker’s NME review – “nothing she writes about matters”. … Pamela Stephenson’s vicious pastiche and Alan Partridge’s part in her comeback. ... Talk Talk, Blackadder, Monty Python, Powell & Pressburger, Oscar Wilde, Celtic folk, the Pre-Raphaelites and other early influences. … and the advantage of never being cool. Order 'Under The Ivy' here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Under-Ivy-Music-Omnibus-Remastered/dp/1915841356Find out more about how you can help us keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Among the logs tossed on the conversational bonfire this week to combat mid-June’s British winter you’ll find …… ‘I Managed Van Morrison’ and other films screaming to be made. … how it feels to watch someone play from the best seat in the house.… Françoise Hardy, her unsmiling photos and legions of besotted male admirers (ie us and everyone else). … the time she met Dylan and Nick Drake. … Juliette Greco, Edith Piaf and the handful of French stars who made it across the Channel.… the joy of small venues: “the bigger the gig, the smaller a component of the experience the actual performance is”. … Elvis Costello’s photographic memory. … Maria Muldaur with Earl Palmer and Amos Garrett. … why Twenty Twelve says more about British life than any other TV show. ... the terrible jokes of Ronnie Scott.… “Kate Bush grew up in a world without sarcasm.” … Siobhan Sharpe, Bertie Wooster, the Artful Dodger, Basil Fawlty, Edina & Patsy and other deathless British fictional stereotypes. … plus birthday guest Paul Thompson and books tracking down people who’ve played with Dexys and Dylan. And who should be next – Hawkwind, Van Morrison?Find out more about how to help us keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stewart Lee – beloved writer, columnist and stand-up - was on the podcast in 2022 talking about the first records he bought, immensely funny and fascinating, and we’ve been praying for an excuse to get him back since. And it’s here! - he’s on tour again and his ‘Basic Lee’ show is on Sky/Now TV on July 20. This covers his first memories of live entertainment - in the audience and as a performer – and the people who influenced him and stops off at the following stations … … why the Wombles were just like Crass. … how he writes and tests new material. … why Ted Chippington inspired his stand-up career. … television comedy is now “two-screen TV” as the viewer’s always watching something else at the same time. … how Lockdown made audiences forget how to behave. … “Comedian In Bum Phone Fury”: how he stopped people filming his gigs. … deliberately using negative reaction shots in his TV edits.   … improvisation in music and comedy and why every night should be unique. … the tense protocol of comedians at other comedians’ gigs. … Mark E Smith doing things “out of necessity irrespective of how they were received” and his reaction to seeing Stewart in his audience. … why festival crowds are a challenge. … the Drifters, the Applejacks and Napalm Death and how they are related. … the music playing when his son was born. … arriving in full early Dexys rig - donkey jacket, woolly hat - to find they were now the “raggle-taggle gypsies”. … the sole performance of Peter Richardson’s Mexican bandit act. … Daniel Kitson, “the world’s greatest living stand-up”. … plus the Nightingales, Chris Spedding, Clem Cattini, Kirk Brandon, the Bevis Frond, Geddy Lee, Throbbing Gristle and Brighton Psych Fest’s Secluded Bronte – “is it music or are they just moving furniture around?”------------ All information about Stewart Lee tour dates here …https://www.stewartlee.co.uk/ ‘Basic Lee’ is on Sky/Now TV on July 20.Find out more about how to help us keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ll always find us in the kitchen at parties, near the hoppy summer ale and sausage rolls and, and this week discussing … … he hasn't changed his look or sound for 30 years: is there a more conservative concept than Liam Gallagher? And how he became the one-man Oasis. … the eye-watering sum Kevin Hart made from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. … Loudermilk, Rob Gordon in High Fidelity and other Rock Snob stereotypes in fiction - “I’m a Rock Snob? It comes with the territory being right!” And how rock critics are always cast as cynical, joyless curmudgeons.  … why Courteney Cox was chosen for the Dancing In The Dark video and how Springsteen turned live performance into spectacle. … the diplomatic skills of A&R men in pursuit of hit singles. … why Born In The USA was a masterclass in branding. … the Word in Your Ear podcast and Taylor Swift, both up and running since 2006! … plus Abba, Peter ‘King Mod’ Meaden, Jon Savage’s book on LGBTQ pop culture, Liam Gallagher’s hair and Springsteen’s dancing lessons. Great clip of Steve Harley on Australian TV sent by listener Brian Nankervis …https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10154289171249235Find out how to help us keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I thought Dave Davies of the Kinks was a girl. When I discovered he was a boy, that’s when I got interested.” Jon’s an old friend of the podcast and the author of some highly regarded and influential books about pop and its repercussions, ‘England’s Dreaming’ and ‘1966: the Year The Decade Exploded’ among them. His latest is ‘The Secret Public: How LGBTQ Performers Shaped Popular Culture 1955-1979’ which looks at five particular moments and the pivotal people in the mix at the time. We couldn’t recommend it more highly and cover seven decades in this conversation, stopping off at … … how “homosexuality was a career-killer” until Bowie’s spectacular Melody Maker interview in 1972. … new male identities - Valentino, Nureyev, Sinatra and the “subversive” stage act of Johnnie Ray. … does pop drive change or reflect it? … Andrew Loog Oldham, Kit Lambert, Simon Napier-Bell and the supposed “gay managers mafia” and how Oldham used camp as a weapon. … Dusty Springfield and the Gateway Club. … how Brian Epstein invented a new type of manager. ... Andy Warhol at the Factory, pop art, the launch of the Velvet Underground and his jukebox time-capsule of ‘60s gay pop taste. … was Tom Robinson the first out gay British pop star? … Mary Whitehouse v the Gay Times. … the Clash (“hurt, vulnerable boys”), Siouxsie, Poly Styrene, the Slits, Vic Godard and punk’s other new stage identities. Order ‘the Secret Public’ here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Public-Resistance-Popular-1955-1979/dp/0571358373 … and Jon’s 2-CD soundtrack here …https://www.roughtrade.com/en-gb/product/various/jon-savages-the-secret-public-how-the-lgbtq-aesthetic-shaped-pop-culture-1955-1979?channable=409d9269640032313931333434ec&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwvIWzBhAlEiwAHHWgvQetjeRXO03PVnpFYq75PMG_pmDd42hKBO8VytbDerJqZw3ycIY7pxoCFxIQAvD_BwE#cd-x2Find out more about how you can help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Giles was 12 when he watched Abba win Eurovision in 1974 and was instantly besotted – and thus required to spend the next 20 years wrestling with The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name. His thunderingly funny, fond and illuminating book – My My!: Abba Through The Years – traces their story, looks at the snobbery and critical mauling they endured and figures out how they made records so universally popular and which still move him to tears 50 years later. It’s also the best example of any book we’ve read that can explain the mechanics of music to a non-musician. It’s highly recommended, as is this podcast which alights upon … … a 50 year-old story – “for 42 of which they haven’t existed”. .. the vicious early press reaction - “calculatingly commercial”, “dispassionate” … … the divine clunkiness of their early TV appearances. … the sense of the melancholy we’ve attached to their music - and why. ... the immense value of splitting up early and never reforming or publicly falling out.   … the immaculate construction of Dancing Queen (which opens with the second half of the chorus) and why “there are two types of wedding disco – ones that start with Dancing Queen and terrible ones.” … the maturity of Abba’s lyrics – about marriages, relationships, children and other subjects pop music rarely tackles. … why Abba Voyage is so affecting that he’s seen it three times. … and Muriel’s Wedding, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and other key factors in The Comeback. Order Giles Smith’s My My!: Abba Through The Ages here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-ABBA-Through-Ages-ebook/dp/B0CF73GNN4Help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Meaden was a key figure in the Mod movement. He changed the world view of Andrew Loog Oldham, which shaped the early Stones, and he managed the Who, remodelling their look and sound, writing their first single and turning them into Mod figureheads. Steve Turner interviewed him in 1975, an exchange that's now the centrepiece of his new book 'King Mod: the Story of Peter Meaden, the Who and the Birth of a British Subculture', and the NME's published extract in 1978 paved the way for the Mod Revival. It's an extraordinary story that would make a movie, discussed here with Steve and including ... ... the Scene Club in Windmill Street "when a band was a way of life".... Angus McGill and the first press mention of 'the Modernists'.… the tale of Sandra Blackstone, the DJ who vanished into thin air.... the lifelong values of Mod culture for teenagers like Eric Clapton, Marc Bolan and David Bowie.  ... the single Meaden wrote for the Who - Zoot Suit/I'm The Face - and where he stole the music from. ... police raids in Soho. ... doing press for Bob Dylan at the time of Madhouse on Castle Street.  ... the Flamingo Club's dress policy, French and Italian film and fashion, boxing boots, cycle jackets and the origins of Mod style.  ... Chuck Berry in suburban Edmonton! ... Meaden's disastrous attempt to bring Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band to London. ... and a typical weekend in 1964, a sleepless, Drinamyl-powered 48 hours from the Ready Steady Go! green room to the Scene Club via Carnaby Street. £5 off copies of ‘King Mod’ here. Just type in the discount code which is:-Podcast offerhttps://redplanetmusicbooks.com/collections/full-catalogue/products/king-modFind out more about how you can help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the conversational Super-Trouper of Enquiry lights up the following …... why care when "rock critics get it wrong"? ... the dreadful death of the Allman brothers' dad. ... is there any other branch of entertainment where you can be two hours late onstage?... has any show got worse reviews than Eddie Izzard's one-woman Hamlet?... the unlikely tale of how Iron Butterfly changed the course of Atlantic Records. ... three, the magic number: the accidental album trilogies of Scott Walker, Steely Dan, Blur, the Beatles, Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Nick Lowe ...... the Deadhead who saw them 1,000 times.... U2, Coldplay, Radiohead, the Kings of Leon ... bands who've never changed their line-up.... Yes, Thin Lizzy, the Hollies ... bands with no original members. ... why it's less demanding seeing bands than solo acts. ... and Madonna being sued for lateness, lip-syncing and a "pornographic stage-act that was emotionally triggering".Find out more about how you can keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tuning into this week's rock and roll soundwave to filter signal from noise, we cranked up the volume on the following ...... 'Zuma Nester Rock' and the eternal curse of rock stars' kids' names. ... Bowie's spat with Robbie Williams at Netaid. ... celebrating awkward sods like Kevin Rowland.... why Paul Carrack has seen it all.... 'Lewis' Armstrong, 'Hoosker Doo' and others we've been pronouncing wrong. ... AI does David Hepworth and Mark Ellen!... the Underground/Overground albums/singles divide of 1974: the Wombles and Paper Lace v Tubular Bells and Journey To The Centre of The Earth.... Guy Chambers - a string quartet aged 11! - and other early achievers.... the Stones' and Bowie's race to have a Guy Peeleart record cover and the 50th anniversary of Diamond Dogs. ... how the Dead & Co turned a stage show into a movie experience and bands - Radiohead, Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys? - who should play the Las Vegas Sphere. ... and "the wally with the brolly" and other fresh political PR catastrophes.Find out how you can support Word In Your Ear and help us keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

They Might Be Giants – old school fiends John Flansburgh and John Linnell – have been making elliptical, funny and adventurous records for over 40 years and writing music for children, advertising and TV comedies. We talk to John Linnell here about songwriting, early shows in art spaces, the way you saw the world when a "wiseacrey teenager" and what you can expect from their autumn tour. Which, incidentally, will include the "pointlessy difficult exercise" of performing Sapphire Bullets Of Love every night in reverse which they'll film and run backwards and then send the clip to audience members so they can gauge its accuracy ("like watching people sing for whom English is a second language"). Some illuminating moments here ...... the rich vein of '50s music outside of rock and roll. ... communicating by posting cassettes and how they built a following with an ansaphone.... working in a record store in Massachussetts. ... playing on the same bill as Steve Buscemi at New York performance venues in the '80s and gigs involving papier mache hands and masks. ... why children are "a tough crowd" and the unsettling news that their albums for kids were outselling their usual records. ... the fine art of survival after a 1990 worldwide hit.... and Yoko Ono, Pere Ubu, Elvis Costello and the disturbing effect of Frank Zappa's Weasels Ripped My Flesh. They Might Be Giants tickets here …https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/they-might-be-giants-tickets/artist/945181Visit us on Patreon to see how you can help us continue the conversation: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guy Chambers was a teenager in Liverpool and at John Lennon’s old school - "same headmaster, Mister Pobjoy". He remembers the Beatles, Queen, Abba and Jesus Christ Superstar sparking his interest in the "perfect song package" and went on to work with Tina Turner, Rufus Wainwright, Kylie, Diana Ross and scores of others. He talks here about early shows he saw, records bought and his own tour in the autumn, "An Evening With Guy Chambers", stopping off at various points on the way, among them ...... how YOU can write a song with him. ... Bowie's reaction on discovering he was third on the bill below George Michael and Robbie Williams at Netaid. ... seeing XTC and Generation X at the teen shows at Eric's. ... Benny Hill's Ernie, the Scaffold's Lily the Pink and other singles bought at Probe Records.  ... "the great harmony bands" like the Eagles, Byrds and the Mamas & the Papas...."A Is For Banana", his song about dyslexia.  ... writing a string quartet aged 11 and the magic of hearing four people bring his sheet music to life. ... "the wastage": composers who write 50 songs and throw 40 away. .. the cinematic internal worlds of the Cocteau Twins and Lana Del Ray. ... the "subversive harmonies" on Strawberry Fields Forever and what makes Eleanor Rigby so perfect.... everything that now needs to be in place to get a hit record. ... mass song-writing teams and how he can't operate with more than three people in the room. ... and what you can expect from his upcoming tour. Tickets for An Evening With Guy Chambers here …https://www.guychambers.co.uk/liveWe've been podcasting since 2006 and every bit of support we receive helps us keep the conversation going. Find out more about how you can support Word In Your Ear into the future here: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve known Alan Edwards since the days when we’d ring him for a quote from Blondie or the Stranglers in the late ‘70s and he’s still one of the key figures in music PR. He’s looked after the Stones, Prince, Michael Jackson, Blondie, Amy Winehouse, the Beckhams and many others. No-one is better positioned to see how that world has changed, from the pre-Google days when you could invent a story and the press would happily buy it to a 21st century where his flat was burgled in pursuit of lucrative celebrity leads. PRs, he believes, "are not messengers but storytellers” and his memoir ‘I Was There: Dispatches From A Life In Rock And Roll’ is full of them. He looks back here at … … striking a £1m photo deal for the Beckhams’ wedding. … Midge Ure, Gen X and other prime examples of fake news. … hotel workers, waiters and airline pilots who sold stories to the press. … the days when a battery-operated portable phone gave you the edge.  … why he was hired by Blondie. … the chilly, manipulative and inscrutable Lou Reed. … Bowie’s disappearance in Berlin in the ‘70s and other things that would be impossible in the age of social media. … Keith Moon in mid-air. … and how it feels to be hacked. Order Alan’s book here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Was-There-Dispatches-Life-Rock/dp/1398525243 The Outside Organisation …https://outside-org.co.uk/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s items slapped on the rock and roll barbecue and lightly grilled include … … why Eurovision will never avoid political controversy. … when AI does David Hepworth! … what’s the secret of NTS radio? … “there are two types of wedding disco, ones that start with Abba's Dancing Queen and terrible ones.” … Tony Hall’s prophetic preview of Revolver in May '66 – “they shatter convention and may well have a far-reaching effect on the whole future of music”. … when listening to the radio was a group activity. … Daniel Kramer, Dezo Hoffman, Robert Freeman, Anton Corbijn and other photographers who shaped the way music looked. ... the rogue punctuation of "Paint It, Black". … songs that start with the chorus.  … Elvis’s unrepeatable train journey from New York to Memphis in 1956. … “there’s glass in the back of my head and my toenails don’t fit properly” – Dylan’s ’66 London press conference. …. and hurry hurry hurry to Lot 71 in Danny Baker’s record auction, a snip at only £70! Danny Baker’s record auction …https://bid.omegaauctions.co.uk/auction/details/a230a-the-danny-baker-collection/?au=162&g=1Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve followed Paul Carrack for 50 years, a big hit single – How Long – when he was with Ace, 19 albums, countless sessions (the Smiths, Eagles and Pretenders among them) and a touring band member with Squeeze, Roxy Music, Roger Waters and Nick Lowe. He once put out an album called ‘I Know That Name’ as for so many people he’s still under the radar. His newsagent assumes he’s called “Mike” as he was the singer in Mike & the Mechanics. He's touring the UK in the autumn and looks back here at … … seeing the Beatles, Chuck Berry, the Stones, Dylan and the Shadows at Sheffield Town Hall. And Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band at Mojos promoted by Pete Stringfellow. … playing Cologne, Frankfurt and Hamburg clubs in the early ‘70s. … his time with earnest prog adventurers Warm Dust – “please don’t look them up”. … the value of having your own label in the world of streaming. … when Elvis Costello got him to sing the vocal on Tempted by Squeeze. … supporting Fleetwood Mac and Free. … playing Ray Charles, Nat King Cole and Sinatra tunes with a big band. … how it feels to be “dropped like a stone” by Radio Two when you no longer fit the demographic. … the real meaning of the song How Long and what he has in common with Troy McClure of the Simpsons. Paul Carrack tour dates here …https://paulcarrack.net/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nige Tassell used to go to school in full donkey-jacket-and-woolly-hat ensemble to express his boundless devotion to Dexys Midnight Runners. Forty years later he set out to find and interview everyone who’d ever been a member. For some, their time in the ranks was a joyful, career-launching delight. Others felt it was like a slightly chilly and controlling cult. They all took a while to recover and they all had extraordinary stories to tell in his latest book ‘Searching For Dexys Midnight Runners’. Here’s a flavour of what gets discussed … … ‘No drugs or alcohol! No smiling! No eye contact with the audience!’ and other unsettling Dexys mantras. … examples of Kevin Rowland ‘snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’. … the many ways the band made themselves deliberately different’. … the event supporting Bowie that got their power cut onstage in Paris and had them thrown off the tour. ... the heavy-handed recruitment of Helen O’Hara. … Geno Washington and other strands of the Dexys DNA. … the ad they took in the NME that soured their relationship with the music press. … and how Rowland’s approach today remains resolutely unchanged.   Order Nige’s book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Searching-Dexys-Midnight-Runners-Tassell/dp/178512059XSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Missing being on tour and exasperated by internal disputes, Nick Mason set out to tour small-scale venues with his band Saucerful Of Secrets in 2018. They’re mid-way through another world tour (Gary Kemp’s the main singer and one of the guitarists). He doesn’t miss the stadium circuit where “you need a golf cart to get from one side of the stage to the other” and they play only the early psychedelic Floyd material, from their first singles up to (but not including) the Dark Side of the Moon, which audiences are less inclined to want to be note-perfect versions of the records. And he talks mid-set about the origins of the songs and his memories of Syd Barrett and life at the time. This podcast looks back at the first live shows he saw and played himself and how Saucerful of Secrets came about. Which includes … … Tommy Steele at the Hackney Empire – “I came straight from school in short trousers with my satchel”. … seeing the Rolling Stones on a ‘63 package tour.   … performing Beatles songs at parties in Cuban heels and Oliver Goldsmith shades. … playing the International Times launch party at the Roundhouse in ‘66 on the back of a cart. …. early gigs at the Countdown Club, Regent Street Poly and the Albert Hall (with Alan Price and Peter & Gordon). … the difference between Saucerful of Secrets and the stadium circuit – and the time Roger Waters played with them in New York. … and the ‘60s demos of unreleased Floyd songs they’re hoping to add to the set. Saucerful of Secrets tour dates here …https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kjkhMKXv4wPaR2XVbZ6h3WVMJ4ivesVn/view?usp=drivesdk  Buy tickets here …https://myticket.co.uk/artists/nick-mason-saucerful-of-secrets Nick’s re-released solo albums here …https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uwB_CYLuszOUNqsfeiWQH3nXd2TxGVf7/viewSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We were at the Curzon Mayfair on May 7 for the premier of the rebooted Let It Be in all its burnished finery and came away with a ton of things to unravel, among them … … what we never knew when the film came out 54 years ago. .. seeing it in the shadow of Peter Jackson’s Get Back. … how the edit was overtaken by events and the tangled reasons it turned out the way it did. … why Lindsay-Hogg’s amphitheatre concept would never have worked. … the divine symbolism of the Beatles v the police. … why it’s a perfect social document of late-’60s London. … the band’s three-film film contract. … was the world really as distraught about their break-up as the 21st Century assumes? … herringbone coats, red plastic macs, hairy black jackets: why someone should open a Beatles ‘69 clothes emporium. Plus … the noble philosophies of the late Steve Albini expressed in a letter to Nirvana in November 1992. … and what happens when rock stars don’t leave wills: Exhibit A - Steve Marriott. Read Steve Albini’s letter to Nirvana here: https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/nirvanaSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We stuck a few coins in this week’s Wurlitzer and these were the tunes that got played … … when records became all about sound not songs. … Fonzworth Bentley, Puff Daddy’s butler, the man who held an umbrella over him on the beach at Cannes. … what Henry Kissinger, Martha Stewart and Leonardo DiCaprio kept very quiet about. … Manchester’s Co-Op, a tale of unprecedented hopelessness. … what’s the definition of a song? And can you steal a record? … the magical skill of Aston Barrett on I Shot The Sheriff and James Jamerson on You Can’t Hurry Love. … ‘Duane Eddy Does Bob Dylan’ and its ingenious sleeve. … does anybody still want pop posters? … “I'd watch Jeremy Clarkson boil an egg.” … Moneybagg Yo & DaBaby, Cigarettes After Sex and other acts playing the O2 and Wembley Arena we’ve ever heard of.   … the ultimate autograph. … and New Whirl Odor, Road To Rouen, Sax And Violins, Lead Me Not Into Penn Station and other tortuous album titles.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Diggle met Pete Shelley when the Pistols played Manchester in 1976 and the Diggle-fronted Buzzcocks are now on a world tour that began in Mexico and takes in North and South America, Europe and Australasia before winding up at the 100 Club where they played the Punk Festival 48 years ago – “we’ve come full circle”. He looks back here at the first shows he saw and played himself and talks about Silverhead, Status Quo, Leo Sayer dressed as a clown, George Best, the Groundhogs, The History of Mr Polly by HG Wells, the Buzzcocks as “Lennon and McCartney in a blender”, “Led Zeppelin for Comprehensive schoolkids, Deep Purple for Grammar schoolkids” and a great story about Patrick Moraz of Yes with a bank of keyboards like a telephone exchange and an alpine horn. Buzzcocks world tour dates here: https://www.buzzcocks.com/eventsSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s theories, rants, ruminations, recollections, weak gags and free and frank exchanges of view alight upon the following …    … is pop music now all about identity? …. the recording of the Animals’ House of the Rising Sun and other apocryphal tales. … has any act been as ubiquitous since Frankie Goes to Hollywood in 1984? … or has anyone inspired a greater level of personal devotion than Taylor Swift? … Peter Green, a shotgun and his accountant. … books bought but never read. .. re-reading Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity and the changing benchmarks for good and bad musical taste. … intriguing parallels between the book and record industries. … and Neil Tennant braves the digital lynch-mob. Plus Adam Clayton’s garden, Konstantin Chernenko, Richard Burton, Rebel Wilson, Dark Academia, creepy weepies and birthday guest John Montagna looks at singles by the same act that are ‘descendants’ – ie pretty much identical – eg the Monkees’ Teardrop City and Last Train To Clarksville, the Kinks’ You Really Got Me and All Day And All of the Night and Mark Knopfler’s Cannibals and Walk Of Life. Or just try the first few seconds of these four by the Inkspots – Maybe, I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire, If I Didn’t Care and Whispering Grass.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

File this under ‘right place, right time’. Harold Bronson was a teenager in mid-60’s Los Angeles and saw every act imaginable. Then wrote for the Daily Bruin and Rolling Stone and interviewed everyone that interested him. Then managed a music store and co-founded Rhino Records, pretty much inventing the idea of the top-end reissue – “Sooner or later everyone ends up in a box.” All of this is in his memoir, ‘Time Has Come Today: Rock and Roll Diaries 1967 – 2007’, and many of its cast of thousands appear in this podcast, among them Johnny Horton and ‘the Battle of New Orleans’, the Purple People Eaters, the Temple City Kazoo Orchestra, the Doors at the Hollywood Bowl, the Stones supported by Ike & Tina (for $12), Ozzy Osbourne (“I’d never meet anybody with a tattoo before”), Hilton Valentine working at a Henry The Eighth-themed restaurant, Groucho Marx at a Led Zeppelin launch, a ‘Best of Louie Louie’ that sold 100,000 copies and a Ritchie Valens record made on a dictaphone.  You can order Harold’s book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Has-Come-Today-Diaries/dp/B0CGTX2YN8Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Mark Ellen in foreign parts David Hepworth and Alex Gold light cigars, pass the port in the correct direction and discuss…..…..the fact that there is only one way to play a Beatles song and that is the way the Beatles did it.…..the chances that Taylor Swift is reaching her imperial phase and nobody is prepared to tell her what she really needs to hear.….the very good reason that all contemporary pop records do literally sound the same.…the 50th anniversary of Richard and Linda Thompson’s “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight”.….the story of the Allman Brothers’ “Jessica”, a jam that turned into Dickey Betts’ pension.….how the Blue Nile got a plug which is worth all the bought media in the world.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We lobbed the feathered arrows of enquiry at the rock and roll dartboard this week and these got the highest scores … … rock stars v the new league of the Super-Rich. … package tours of the mid-‘60s – eight acts, an interval, a compere plus God Save the Queen. … ‘Hits, Flops and Other Illusions’ by Edward Zwick and the fantastic tale about arrogance, money-squandering and Julia Roberts at the Halcyon Hotel.... pop music used to be about persuading people to cut loose; now it’s about getting them to tighten up. … why you can read Ron Wood’s memoir as either comedy or tragedy. .. Chris Blackwell’s post-production trickery that sold Bob Marley to a rock audience. … Master Tape Rescue: the arduous task of panning for gold. ... and why there should be a movie about the making of Shakespeare in Love. Plus birthday guest Chuck Loncon in Savannah, Georgia – Neil Young v Spotify, Lady Antebellum, the Dixie Chicks and the tangled world of political correctness.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear via Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neil’s an old friend from our days back at Smash Hits in the early ‘80s. The first Pet Shop Boys demos were played on the office tape machine, though he was a bit self-conscious about “the one with the rap on it”. He’s always had a journalistic capacity for story-telling, remembering everything in famously entertaining detail, and we had so much material from this reunion we turned it into a two-part podcast. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find in this second half ... … “every group has to have an angle”. … pop’s current obsession with identity. … why Bronski Beat were so significant. … David Bowie’s scathing one-word reviews of Michael Jackson and Oasis at the Brits. … “the whole world of pop songs is a giant ever-expanding artwork”. … meeting Frida from Abba, “a song waiting to happen”. … the ‘Pits & Perverts’ gay benefit for the miners in 1984. … London clubs in the early ‘80s - “we had a competition to see who could wear the highest heels”. … how everyone at Smash Hits thought Michael Jackson’s Thriller was “a damp squib”. … recording West End Girls.  … first hearing a 12-inch single. … appearing on Soul Train with Don Cornelius – “like being on a different planet”. … why Dusty Springfield gave Jerry Wexler a nervous breakdown. … seeing the last Ziggy Stardust show. … meeting Steven Spielberg, Micky Dolenz and Joni Mitchell. … and Boy George's gag about George Michael.----------------------------------- PSB tour dates: https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/pet-shop-boys-tickets/artist/735852 Order the new Pet Shop Boys album ‘Nonetheless’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/nonetheless-Deluxe-2CD-Shop-Boys/dp/B0CTKKBBVF-----------------------------------Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear  Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard Thompson first appeared onstage aged 14 playing Beatles covers in a school group “so bad we were pelted with pennies”. Sixty years later his range of operations includes touring solo and with his band, occasional reunions with Fairport Convention, residencies on Adriatic cruise ships and running a Guitar Camp in the Catskill Mountains (along with his sons and grandson). Much has he seen and learned about live entertainment along the way and he talks to us here from his home on the American East Coast on the day of the solar eclipse. Among the highlights …   … memories of the Marquee in 1965 – the Who, the Yardbirds, the Spencer Davis Group: “if you wanted to see both sets, you’d have to walk ten miles home”. … seeing Nick Drake and the value of being “a silent, tortured genius”. … life as a support act and how to “attack an audience”. … Carl Perkins and Chuck Berry at the Finsbury Park Astoria in 1963 “when Chuck was at the height of his attention span”. … Segovia at the Festival Hall. … the perils of playing on sea cruises in rough weather. … old and current album sleeves. “Dressed as a fly and now dressed as a fisherman … that’s progress.” … how Ian Anderson and Captain Beefheart told the audience who’s boss. … and watching the Band at the Albert Hall from a box with Fairport Convention.---------------------- Richard Thompson tour dates: https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/richard-thompson-tickets/artist/736296 Order the new album Ship To Shore here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ship-Shore-Richard-Thompson/dp/B0CVXHMFPB-----------------------Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neil’s an old friend from our days back at Smash Hits in the early ‘80s. The first Pet Shop Boys demos were played on the office tape machine, though he was a bit self-conscious about “the one with the rap on it”, and he’s one of the few people who’s seen the music press from every angle - as a reader in the ‘70s, as a writer and interviewer and as a musician on its front covers. We had so much great material from this wide-ranging conversation that we’ve turned it into a two-part podcast. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find in this first half ...  … the NME article he and his brother pinned to their bedroom wall. … the event at a Sex Pistols show “which stopped me going to gigs for about three years”. … the first time he saw his name in print. … interviewing Marc Bolan in his “fat phase”. … a barbed chat with Morrissey. … the pop press shift from “super-showbiz to super-counter-culture”. … Television, the Clash and other music he discovered through the NME. … meeting John Taylor 35 years after interviewing him.   … the pop decade when “something extraordinary happened every day”. … his mother’s horrified reaction when he left Smash Hits to start the Pet Shop Boys. … the Human League in their Imperial Phase. … Phil Collins showing him round Abba’s studio in Stockholm. … and why ‘80s pop stars were “the most controlling”.------------------------------------- PSB tour dates: https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/pet-shop-boys-tickets/artist/735852 Order the new Pet Shop Boys album ‘Nonetheless’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/nonetheless-Deluxe-2CD-Shop-Boys/dp/B0CTKKBBVF-------------------------------------Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We lobbed the cracked wooden ball of enquiry at the rock and roll coconut shy this week and a few choice items dropped off their perch, among them …… was Kate Bush ‘the Queen of Prog’? … ELP, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple playing to 350,000 people on a Speedway track. … the three things that sparked the Abba revival. … the Further Adventures of Desmond and Molly Jones, Mean Mr Mustard, Polythene Pam, Father McKenzie, Rocky Raccoon, Maxwell Edison, Rose and Valerie, Sweet Loretta Martin, Vera, Chuck and Dave … Beatles characters awaiting development deals. … was Britpop the moment the engine went into reverse? … the two years went rock went ‘fancy dress’. … why the Stones in 1964 were five walking fashion statements. … Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel and its Yes connection. … how the Beatles were in uniform on every album cover. … David Vine at the 1974 Eurovision: “if all the judges were men, this lot would get a lot of votes and you’ll see why in a moment!” … plus a birthday guest party - Al Hearton’s life in a Kate Bush tribute band and Stephen Lambe on the complicated birth of 90125 by Yes.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve applied our celebrated sheep/goats separation technique to the rock and roll pasture and shepherded the following into this week’s pod … … Beyoncé and why it’s hard to connect with songs written by committee. … are we too old for biopics? … Marvel films, the Arctic Monkeys and other things you either love or avoid.   … reviewing Human Touch and Lucky Town in a high-security studio (and how you can only tell if an album’s any good if you’ve lived with it for two months). … why Tony Blackburn is the greatest British DJ. … “Bing was no more Bing than Sinatra was Sinatra”. … hoary old tales that were the engine of the rock press - the Clash shooting pigeons, Kevin Rowland stealing his own master-tapes, Cliff v Elvis, Beatles v Stones, Hendrix v Clapton, Bowie v Bolan, Clash v the Pistols, Spandau v Duran, Oasis v Blur. … are Oasis songs mostly about being Oasis? … “fame is no longer enacted in the public space”. … indie cliches – escaping the drudgery of the Man and mundanity of Small Town life. … “the harder I practice, the luckier I get”. … Scots punk act get movie soundtrack windfall! … Alex is arranging a woke stag do - “you go to places where ladies put clothes ON”. … plus birthday guest Andrew Newbury wonders if Country is more than “the three Ds - driving, dogs and divorce”.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul Cook’s post-Pistols band the Professionals were once, rather surprisingly, on the cover of Smash Hits - “the pinnacle of our success!” – and they’re including the 100 Club on their upcoming tour, the location of another career highlight. He talks to us here about how the first time he played live was also the Pistols’ first appearance (Saint Martin’s College of Art - “utter chaos”), how their old Denmark Street rehearsal room is now an AirBnB (Rotten’s cartoons still on the wall), old punks in the audience, Danny Boyle’s TV series and the very slim chance of a reunion (“never say never”). But much of this is about climbing through back windows to see bands in the early ‘70s, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops, Queen and Mott the Hoople among them. And seeing Alex Harvey on the day the whole of Scotland descended on London for the match against England at Wembley. The Professionals are playing four UK dates (and often chuck in a couple of Pistols' tunes):https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/the-professionals-1-1Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

exas are touring in the autumn and she talks to us here about what’s required to make it all look easy, a conversation that includes …  … why working in a Glaswegian hair salon was the perfect preparation for pop stardom. … the difference between the first second onstage and everything that follows.  … the advantage of being a singer with an instrument.   … seeing Jim Kerr in his mother’s blouse at Tiffany’s in Glasgow when she was 15. … how Dusty Springfield remembered lyrics. … Chrissie Hynde, Siouxsie, Depeche Mode, Cameo and the Clash. … the overpowering spectacle of Prince’s Sign O’ The Times tour in Paris. … playing racecourses and the unsettling sight of an audience wearing fascinator hats. … supporting Fleetwood Mac (her second gig) and something useful learnt from Stevie Nicks. … and the nocturnal sound of lions “going at it full swipe” near her house by Regents Park. Texas tickets here: https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/texas-tickets/artist/742180 Texas & Spooner Oldham sessions: https://www.texas.uk.com/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The all-seeing telescope of truth scanned this week’s rock and roll heavens and noticed a few patterns emerge, among them … … the real story of the writing of Layla and who nicked what from where. And who didn’t get paid. … why Sally Grossman was on the cover of Bringing It All Back Home.   … album sleeves with overflowing ashtrays that screamed ‘welcome to my bohemian world!’ – Soft Machine’s Third, Man’s Rhinos, Winos + Lunatics, Back Street Crawler …   … album sleeves that said “meet my girlfriend!” – McDonald And Giles, the Madcap Laughs, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, Love Chronicles, the Paul Simon Handbook …   … album sleeves suggesting the powerful aphrodisiac of music and the allure of ‘the bachelor pad’ … .. our night out at a Leo Sidran show and what we’ll expect – indeed insist upon - at all gigs in the future. … when rock stars read 12th Century Persian poetry. …the time Lucinda Williams toured with Dylan and Van Morrison and never met either of them. … the glorious squalor of ‘70s flats. … “comedy is tragedy at a different speed”. … mentioned in despatches: Sharleen Spiteri, John Mellencamp, James Burton, Bobby Whitlock, Daniel Kramer.   The Everly Brothers’ Walking The Dog. Is that the original Layla riff at 2.20? …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=072OpLw-l_sSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phil Manzanera – who thought “every day in the band felt like Christmas” – has just published his memoir, Revolución to Roxy, and talked to us about it in front of a rammed and captivated audience at London’s 21Soho, an evening so full of detail, intrigue and revelation we’re putting it out as two podcasts. This is the second. He lifts the bonnet of the Roxy Music “art collective” in its various line-ups and shows you how the engine worked and why the idea of Eno onstage was “frightening”. He remembers working with a whole range of people – David Gilmour, Robert Wyatt, Heroes De Silencia, Quiet Sun, 801, David Bowie, Keith Richards, Jack Bruce and Tim Finn among them. He talks about the five seconds of guitar he knocked off in 1975 that’s made him “more money than all my Roxy earnings put together”. He reflects – and very poignantly – that bands never talk to each other and how he hopes the other members read his memoir as they’ll discover things about him they never knew. And he tells the fantastic story of the Guitar Legends festival in Seville and the way he managed Bob Dylan.   And you can order a copy of ‘Revolución to Roxy’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Revoluci%C3%B3n-Roxy-Phil-Manzanera/dp/1783242817Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phil Manzanera – whose relatives include a Colombian pirate, a spy and an Italian opera musician - has just published his memoir, Revolución to Roxy, and talked to us about it in front of a packed and enthralled house at London’s 21Soho, a life so fascinating, detailed and colourful we’re releasing the conversation as a two-part podcast. Here’s Part One which looks back at an exotic childhood in Hawaii, Caracas and Cuba – with first-hand memories of Castro’s revolution in 1959 – and then his school days, early bands (the Drag Alley Beach Mob, Pooh & the Ostrich Feathers, Quiet Sun), the audition for Roxy Music, how they were styled, supporting David Bowie and their rapid and eventful ascent to the first hit single. When he joined the band, he said, “every day felt like Christmas”. Part Two to follow! Order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Revoluci%C3%B3n-Roxy-Phil-Manzanera/dp/1783242817Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fish has announced a Farewell Tour in 2025. “I’ve been there, done that and sold the t-shirt.” He’s moving to a croft on a remote Scottish island with nesting eagles, a flock of sheep named after the Hibernian FC team of 1972 and part-ownership of what’s just been voted “the best beach in the world”. Getting there is like the journey in Brigadoon. This covers a wide range of bases, among them … … how the fall of the Berlin Wall changed the tour circuit.   … his first gig as “a big, gangly, geeky teenager” at the Golden Lion in Galashiels playing Steely Dan and Ry Cooder covers. … the lies boys tell when trying to get into bands. … supporting Queen for an audience of 200,000 and how he “over-toured” Europe. … how it feels to be “the Anti-Christ in the Church of Marillion” and their very public divorce in 1988. … seeing Yes at the Usher Hall in for £1.25 and Genesis on the Lamb Lies Down On Broadway tour. … the music press v the New Wave of British Prog. … girls called Kayleigh whose mothers fancied the singer from Marillion. … irate fans on social media. … the fine art of “guerrilla touring”.    … plus the Faces, Sven Hassel, Edgar Rice Burroughs and a curious analogy about Sioux Indians. https://fishmusic.scot/UK tour dates here …https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/fish-tickets/artist/740885Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) was a slow-paced, vicious dirge about the band members who forsook and betrayed him which magically evolved into what appeared to be an optimistic love song, a radio staple that never stopped selling. David and Mark remembered its transformation.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Various items set off the alarm in the rock and roll bag-check this week and were hauled back for closer inspection, among them … … when did records first try to sound like the past? … why Karl Wallinger and Robbie Williams fell out over She’s the One. ... how Marillion and Chuck D changed the digital landscape. … the only word for the sound of Free is “lascivious”. … Blood on the Tracks, Here My Dear, Shoot Out The Lights, Tapestry, Tunnel of Love and other accounts of marital fracture.   … proof the mainstream no longer exists: Glastonbury headliner SZA has had 1.7b streams yet people claim they’ve never heard of her. … the poignancy commercial failure lends to pop music. … the Wire’s ‘100 Records That Set the World On Fire (While No-One was Listening)’. … how Marvin Gaye married a woman 17 years older than him and left her for a 17 year-old. … Eamonn Forde - in bed! - talking about his new book ‘1999: The Year the Record Industry Lost Control’, the people who knew the digital revolution was coming and the ones who didn’t believe it. … Big Star, Dwight Twilley, the Raspberries, World Party and why Powerpop appeals to music snobs like us. … “a Golden Age is when things behaved in such a way that you believed they’d behave that way forever”. … plus Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Andy Fraser, Steve Winwood and the days when “music down a phoneline” felt like science fiction. Order Eamonn Forde’s 1999: The Year the Record Industry Lost Control here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/1999-Year-Record-Industry-Control/dp/1913172775Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Fall wrote reviews of his records, one a day, to make him a better listener. A decade later he published them in a book so colossal that we drop it on a desk to prove it’s passed the Boff Test. ‘Reviewing My Record Collection: 3,333 Albums from A to Zuma’ is a laudable labour of love, records he bought years ago and revisited, records he found in charity shops and took a punt on, records with reputations, records that deserve “a mauling”, records he wants the world to hear, records arranged alphabetically by title from A by Jethro Tull to Zuma by Neil Young & Crazy Horse. He’s evangelical about the album format and never skips a track. It’s an attractively personal view and often mentions when the relationship began – “I found Moon Pix by Cat Power for £1.50 in a Cancer Research in North Finchley”. This fascinating conversation about a love that knows no bounds touches on CDs you always find in charity shops (eg by REM, Dido and Travis), how strange it is that the same records you can pick up for 50p are often being repackaged as “top-end super-deluxe vinyl reissues” and how he felt a sense of bereavement when he finished the book. Which he’s why, oh yes, he’s begun Volume Two. You can buy the first one for £17.99 from Amazon …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reviewing-My-Record-Collection-Albums/dp/B0CV53YD22#:~:text=Book%20overview,collecting%20records%2C%20tapes%20and%20CDs.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Arthur Brown – enduring psychedelic godfather – is out on tour again 57 years after first performing Fire in a flaming metal crown. He’s nearly 82. This is the most old-school podcast we’ve ever done, talk of seeing Salvador Dali in his audience in a Paris nightclub, jazz bands on the back of trucks, his grandmother’s hotel being bombed in WW2, the birth of Flower Power, gigs at the UFO club, Palaeolithic art, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, panicked security personnel with fire blankets and memories of the key components of his incendiary headgear over the years among them cow gum, Army gaiters and a pie dish full of petrol. As you’ll discover – and this couldn’t be more old-school either – Zoot Money once had to extinguish the flames with two pints of Newcastle Brown. Arthur’s keeping the home fires burning on a European tour. Dates here …https://www.songkick.com/artists/333715-crazy-world-of-arthur-brown/calendar Website - thegodofhellfire.comSubcribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Suzi Ronson was working in a hairdressers in Beckenham in 1970 when a Mrs Jones dropped in for a shampoo and set talking gaily about her son, “an artistic boy who plays guitar and piano”. The same son who’d had a hit with Space Oddity and occasionally drifted down the High Road in a dress. Within weeks she’d become the first rock stylist, transforming Bowie’s hair, image and stage clothes and launching him in the direction of Ziggy Stardust and an international audience. She was a key part of his entourage that toured the UK, America and Japan and she talks about later life married to Spiders’ guitarist Mick Ronson, the role he played in Bowie’s success and the trials of his solo career in its aftermath. Both this podcast and her memoir (Me And Mr Jones: My Life With David Bowie and the Spiders From Mars) look at Bowie’s early career from a wholly new and original angle - in fact someone should base a film on it. A few highlights ... … Haddon Hall and its exotic inhabitants. … Schwarzkopf Red Hair Dye and other trade secrets. .. how it feels to see an audience with the haircut you invented. … expeditions to Liberty’s and Mr Fish with Angie Bowie.   … the Spiders’ northern sensibilities adjusting to the brave new world. … how Tony Defries made Bowie mysterious and unreachable. … why Lou Reed was a revelation. … America’s Southern states reacting to the 1972 tour. ... and the magnetism of Bob Dylan and why Mick Ronson ended the Rolling Thunder tour with an invoice not a wage packet. Order Suzi’s book here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Me-Mr-Jones-Suzi-Ronson/dp/057137185X Suzi’s the special guest on the Lust For Life tour reading extracts from the book …https://www.lustforlifetour.com/special-guest-supportSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nutritious items on the rock and roll tasting menu this week include … … the curious life of Tom Verlaine, his grocery cart and his 50,000 books.   … was March 9 1984 the worst week ever for the British album charts? … what all great records have in common. … Yesterday’s news today! ‘Soundies’ at the cinema and the Scopitone colour video jukebox. … why A Hard Day’s Night was the greatest advert for the magical qualities of the Beatles and the scene that was the blueprint for the pop promotional clip. … comforting acts with a narrow range – JJ Cale, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, U2 (“like getting into your parents’ car after a school trip”). And what made JJ Cale’s recordings so mesmerising.    … did Johnny Marr ever play a guitar solo? … “I work in advertising but tell my mother I play piano in a brothel”. … the link between JJ Cale’s Call Me The Breeze and Family Affair by Sly & the Family Stone. Mentioned in despatches … Cab Calloway and the Hondells, The Hoodoo Gurus, the Style Council, Jimmy Reed and the Inkspots. Tom Verlaine’s 50,000 books …https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2024/march/at-the-tom-verlaine-book-sale?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20240306blog&utm_content=20240306blog+CID_6b4a1bd19ed9ca733f5ffca04056ca8b&utm_source=LRB%20email&utm_term=Read%20moreSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caught in the piercing super-trouper of perusal this week … ... the BRITS 2024, a howling embarrassment. … Medieval Beatles! She Came In Through the Privy Window, Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Kestrel, Comely Rita, I’m Happy Just To Joust With You … … the wisdom of Tony Hancock. … The Last Dinner Party and other ‘art concepts’. … the Pattie Boyd/George Harrison/Eric Clapton love triangle. … the days when “forming a band was a conspiracy against the tedium of life”. … is it all over for young blokes in pop music? And is being in a band still considered sexy? … the oldest musicians still touring: if Willie Nelson’s still going at 90, won’t Ed Sheeran be on the road at 100? … “these days hanging a guitar round your neck insinuates that you might be homeless”. .. and a whole range of facts that make starting groups seem less attractive (the cost, the likely profit, the decreasing appeal of ‘abroad’, digital gangs, how big ticket prices soak up all the live circuit cash).   ... plus new patrons piped aboard!Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, alongside a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Henry Normal set up Baby Cow Productions with Steve Coogan, co-wrote the Royle Family, Coogan’s Run and Mrs Merton and produced Gavin & Stacy and Red Dwarf. He’s been a central plank in British comedy since the early ‘90s and, throughout it all, developed his own stage show built around poems and stories. He’s touring the UK with Brian Bilston. This podcast is full of hard-won insight into what makes comedy work and how the best poetry connects with “a greater truth”. And much besides including … … what middle-class BBC execs wanted to change about the Royle Family and why it worked as it was. … touring with John Cooper Clarke “who lived by a cemetery and had egg custard for breakfast”. … putting on a Pensioners’ Disco, aged 14, that featured The March of The Mods played at 33. ... the influence of Roger McGough and the Liverpool poets. … how, apart from the Office, American versions of British comedies mostly fail to get the point. … seeing Juicy Lucy at the Nottingham Boat Club when he was 17. … what made Spike Milligan’s Small Dreams Of A Scorpion so original. … working with Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash and the Guardian’s first review – “three middle-class writers”. … how to structure spoken word shows – “salad rather than soup”. … and reflections about Mr Inbetween, Derry Girls, Clive James and Norman Gunston.   Get tickets for Henry Normal and Brian Bilston here: https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/henry-normalSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Howe talks to us from the old house and studio in Devon where they rehearsed ‘The Yes Album’ in 1970. He’s been recording there for 54 years and is part of the current line-up about to set out around Europe. He looks back here on what he’s learnt from 60 years onstage and mentions …   … the effect of seeing Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins and The Animals in 1964. … playing old Shadows tunes at the Barnsbury Boys School in Holloway, aged 14. … how Yes songs evolved and the cover versions they used to play (America by Paul Simon, Something’s Coming from West Side Story). … “the dark 1968 that followed the rainbow 1967”. ... Duane Eddy, Hank Marvin, Chet Atkins, Alison Krauss and the Big Three. … how Sgt Pepper – and blues, jazz and classical music - lit prog’s blue touchpaper. … the value of “homework” and the hours of painstaking rehearsal that allowed them to play Fragile onstage. … how Iron Butterfly helped transform the Yes stage show. … Starship Trooper, Roundabout and other songs they’re guaranteed to play. … old memories of Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. … and the road ahead: “I’ll keep going while I can still do the twiddly bits”. Yes tour dates: https://www.yesworld.com/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As this week’s rock and roll steeplechase thunders out over the jumps, the following runners and riders make it past the post … … “First he changed music. Then he changed the world!” and other over-cooked biopic sells. … Billy Joel returns by the miracle of Artificial Ignorance. … what you learn from visiting rock stars’ childhood homes. … what’s Malta done to deserve a four-day Liam Gallagher festival? … the one thing that’s never changed about Country Music. … how Hotel California ended up in court.   … Sam Mendes’ Beatles project and the problem with actors playing very famous people. … Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’: sampled banjo and other misdemeanours. … from Watergate to Putin: the 50 year-old record so lean, smart and cynical that the world’s only just catching up. … Don Henley on Irving Azoff: “He may be Satan but he’s OUR Satan.” … Rock sea-cruises: “get your marital vows renewed by a member of Weezer!” ... why CD has ruined Jackson Browne’s For Everyman. … what Hugh Grant superimposed on the character of Jeremy Thorpe.   … and birthday guest Adrian Ainsworth - Arse Curtains and other career-limiting band names.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Reverend Richard Coles is back on tour with his ‘Borderline National Trinket’ show and talks to us from his home in Sussex where he’s “the only person in the village who hasn’t won a BAFTA”. This looks back at his life – “a CV like the work of a fantasist” - and what he’s learnt from 50 years of watching various types of stage entertainment and playing to audiences ranging from the Wollaston Over-‘60s Methodist Ladies Fellowship to a bunch of delinquent Spanish pop fans with catapults. And he talks fondly of the Communards and how ‘80s pop was a Golden Age. Among the highlights … … Morecambe & Wise at the Kettering Granada with Arthur Tolcher on the mouth organ. … finding your “pulpit voice”. … Sir Robert Helpmann’s great gag about referees. … why time is a healer. … the “marble denim and mullets” of Legs & Co’s interactive dance to the Communards on Top Of The Pops.   … on the literary circuit sandwiched between John Lydon and Marti Pellow – “dreams do come true”. … if he’s ever met a shy vicar. … the stagecraft of Danny Baker, Adam Kay and Grayson Perry. … standing on a chair to conduct the RPO, aged 8 and the time he wrote a Magnificat For Choir And Snare Drum in A Minor. … seeing Bauhaus, John Otway and the 4-Be-2s. … sitting between Lenny Henry and Torvill & Dean at a Kylie show. … his teenage punk band Zerox playing Clash covers. … and why there are never any forks in a Green Room. Get ‘Borderline National Trinket’ tickets here, last date March 11 at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre …https://www.seetickets.com/tour/reverend-richard-colesSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jah Wobble - aka John Wardle - wrote ‘Dark Luminosity: Memoirs of a Geezer’ in 2009. It’s just been reworked, expanded and republished and it’s well worth reading, full of detail about growing up in the East End, unexploded bombs, pickling factories, grim schooldays, record shops and clubs, the bands he saw and his arrival at Kingsway College where he met John Lydon and Sid Vicious and became a cornerstone of the punk rock inner circle. And then two challenging years as the bassist of Public Image Ltd, the time he worked as a train driver and ticket collector for London Transport, a series of collaborations – Brian Eno, Baaba Maal, Holger Czukay, Sinead O’Connor, Chaka Demus – and some bold and original solo albums (you’ll enjoy Island Records' reaction when he pitches an album based on the poems of William Blake). Among this podcast's highlights … … the Kafkaesque world of working for the London Underground in the days when you could “punch an area manager and not get sacked”. … why great rhythm sections are like great football players. … his dad, an El-Alamein survivor, on seeing Mick Jagger on Top of the Pops: “the Rolling Stones should be used for mine clearance.” … Public Image Ltd – “three of the weirdest people you could ever meet”, the band that kept their cash in a shoebox. … “you can’t go through life as a tourist”. … the secret of the perfect bass sound. … watching the first Sex Pistols’ rehearsal. … seeing Bob Marley & the Wailers at the Lyceum. … the record that reversed his dislike of the Beatles. … why working with Pharoah Sanders was the highlight of his musical life. … his 2023 album, ‘The Bus Routes of South London’. … Jim Reeves, Burl Ives and further sounds of the family homestead. ... and a powerful aversion to hippies. Order John’s memoir here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Luminosity-Memoirs-Geezer-expanded/dp/0571375359\Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pausing occasionally to spark a Senior Service and sink a milk stout, we kick cans down this week’s rock and roll boulevard stopping off at the following hotspots …    … the “Grunge Dripdown”: why Pearl Jam can play 60,000 seaters. … the Elton Line, the Dury Line, the Bragg Line, the Kirsty Line …. What the London Overgrounds should have been called and why. ... how Steve Wright made radio and sowed the seeds of the Fast Show and Stella Street.  … actors who’ve joined the Choir Invisible but live on in voice-over. … is any musician as closely linked to any instrument as McCartney to his Hofner bass? And the mysterious tale of its theft. … J&M Studios (where Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti was recorded) is now a launderette with a jukebox. What became of Olympic, Town House, Motown and Bearsville? … the Radio 2 v Greatest Hits ratings land-grab. … does anyone under 60 still care about Monty Python? … the latest glorious chapter in Taylor Swift and Kanye West’s 15-year “beef”.… “All pop music is Strictly”: what David learnt from his six-year old granddaughters. … the voice of Tommy Vance returns by the miracle of AI. … “an elephant is a horse designed by a committee”. ... plus birthday guest Nick Foreman and why “underrated” is overrated.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, alongside a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If a film director wanted to flag up incoming violence in the late ‘50s, the camera would fall upon a couple of Teds lurking in the street outside. The teenage Keith Richards remembers razors, bike chains and bloodshed at dance halls and there was an infamous Teddy Boy murder on Clapham Common that plunged the nation into frantic, media-led moral panic. Max Décharné sets out to reclaim the Teds from their “Cro-Magnon, knuckle-dragging cliché” in his new book Teddy Boys and relives this dangerously thrilling rock and roll revolution – the music, clothes, films, press stories, the birth of Ted, Peak Ted, its eventual demise and what’s kept the flame alive since. Things of note include …   … the full effect of Blackboard Jungle on a packed 4,000-seater cinema. ... that poignant sight of an old Ted pushing a pram with a woman with a beehive. … Joan Collins in ‘Cosh Boy’.   … the first UK rock and roll gig, Bill Haley & the Comets at the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth in 1956.  … the crepe-soled, velvet-collared Duke of Edinburgh, unlikely ’50s fashion icon. … Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis at the London Rock and Roll Show at Wembley in 1972, a key point in the Ted revival. … Malcolm McLaren, Johnny Rotten, Wizzard and assorted Ted torch-carriers. … Viv Stanshall and ‘Teddy Boys Don’t Knit’. … fingertip drapes from Savile Row and how Teds subverted top-end fashion.   … Fleetwood Mac as Earl Vince & the Valiants doing ‘Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite’. … and how the Beatles and James Bond helped kick the Teds into touch. Order Max’s book here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teddy-Boys-Post-War-Britain-Revolution-ebook/dp/B0C3SFMTFHSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guy Garvey and Elbow start touring the UK in May and he looks back here at the first shows he saw growing up in Bury in the ’70s - when his five elders introduced him to punk, prog, folk, soul and Elton John - and proudly admits he still doesn’t know the names of the guitar strings. Look out for … … the secrets of the “Vanity Thrust” and other 21st Century stagecraft. … the time they supported the Stones. … being with the same band members for 34 years and each “wanting to be a different member of Santana”. … what he’s learnt about live performance - “never announce new material”.  … his 6Music show, Guy Garvey’s Finest hour (“one hour too long” – Mrs Guy Garvey).    … the un-PC death of Roy Castle in the Peter Cushing movie Dr Terry’s House of Horrors. … good things about Little Simz. … the time a snowstorm doubled their audience.   … working with the BBC Concert Orchestra – “if it’s Wagner you’ll miss two tea breaks”. … when Paul McCartney turned “Partridge-esque”. … and the possible ‘star guests’ on the upcoming tour. Elbow tour dates …https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/elbow-tickets/artist/886289 Guy Garvey’s Finest hour …https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0072q60 Elbow are on Radio 2’s Piano Room with the BBC Concert Orchestra on Feb 21…https://elbow.co.uk/bbc-radio-2-piano-room-month/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the two-man kayak of curiosity tackles the following rock and roll rapids … … when was the last time there was a truly universal hit?  … why Waylon Jennings walked out of We Are The World. ... the story of Everybody’s Talkin’ and Midnight Cowboy. … why the Beatles’ 1964 American invasion was the biggest surprise party in the world and how the Maysles Brothers’ doc became the template for A Hard Day’s Night. … the secret haikus of Wes Anderson. … the best moments in Jaws. ... why Tracy Chapman stole the Grammys.  … how USA For Africa v Band Aid showed a fundamental difference in the British and American character. … the inscrutable world of Spotify royalty payments. … when Lulu, Dusty and Sandie Shaw were re-booted.   … Mojo Nixon RIP, a “corner on two wheels on fire” kinda guy. … Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt’s hair. … “Let me die a young man's death” - Adrian Henri. … plus birthday guest Keith Adsley suggests cover versions in movie soundtracks that are better than the originals – eg Fiona Apple’s Across the Universe, the Gypsy Kings’ Hotel California and the Soggy Bottom Boys’ Man of Constant Sorrow.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, pus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We spun the week’s rock and roll roulette wheel and this is where the balls landed …  … why all rock biopics are worth seeing once. … ‘demixing’: we spent ages perfecting records. Now we’re unperfecting them. … the adorable hand-drawn flyer the 15 year-old Robert Plant made for his band Blacksnake Moan 60 years ago – “the weirdest, wildest sound in R&B!” … are all musicians driven by the urge to please their mums? … Pyjamarama, Crazy Diamond, Cigarettesnalcohol and other rock and roll racehorses. … why “The Room” by Fabiano do Nascimento and Sam Gendel is “healing music”. … has anyone been ‘bigger’ than Taylor Swift? And how can she be so universally popular and yet we can go through life without hearing a note of her music? … the Pet Shop Boys at the London Palladium: “we don’t do waving”. … “Something's lost but something's gained in living every day” – Joni Mitchell. … are any possesions more precious than records? ... and birthday guest Kevin Rose recommends the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy – and we talk about Control (Joy Division), Backbeat (the early Beatles), Rocket Man and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our piercing Hubble Telescope Of Truth scans the rock and roll heavens to see what new patterns emerge, among them … … running into Rod Stewart at a friend’s funeral. … the priceless spectacle of rock critics dancing. ... Prefab Sprout and the fine art of bathos – “We were songbirds, we were Greek Gods, we were singled out by fate/We were quoted out of context - it was great!” … the best songs about being in a band. … Jackson Browne’s Running On Empty (and its hymn to self-love). … King Kong, the most famous movie of all time - and why, like Jaws and Jurassic Park, the special effects now seem creaky but the drama still holds. … our new pop star category: “dancer-singer”. ... how Tom Hibbert invented a whole new whole method of music journalism (and the only song that could get him on a dancefloor). … “the crack of the backbeat on Vine Street”. … and birthday guest Roger Millington on Heroes by David Bowie, the Archers theme tune and anything else that might make a new National Anthem.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content and much more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 Applying our patent ACME wheat/chaff separator to the rock and roll cornfield, this week’s podcast reaps the following harvest …. … Stray, Budgie, Fat Mattress, Atomic Rooster … ropey bargain-bin fixtures reborn as costly and collectible vinyl classics. … Neil Or No Neil: Let’s Impeach the President, The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight in Heaven … spot the fake Shakey song title. … what they did with the Beatles’ Twist And Shout in the opening sequence of True Detective 4. … the curious tale of the last line in Casablanca plus Dooley ‘Sam’ Wilson and his off-screen piano double.   … when the Dave Matthews Band tour bus tipped 800lbs of raw sewage onto a pleasure cruiser. … why it’s hard to feel nostalgic about online magazines.   … “deep-end record-shop-haunting bores” (like us).   … the first three Robert Palmer albums and their old-school sleeves. … life in the ‘70s without the NME: unimaginable. … when Neil Young was sued for not sounding like Neil Young and John Fogerty for plagiarising his own material. ... and birthday guests Paul Knox and the biggest musical moments on TV, among them Magical Mystery Tour, John Martyn on Whistle Test, the Pistols on So It Goes …. Is this the greatest musical moment on TV?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pKpfs5EK_sSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In March Graham Gouldman and 10cc are coming your way and here he talks to David Hepworth about:- seeing Cliff and the original Shadows at his first live show- playing live in the sixties, when a band would plug all three guitars into the same amp- where he keeps his fifty guitars- what’s going on when it all goes quiet on the 10.c.c. tour bus- the songs you have to play for the audience- the ones you play for yourself- what goes through his head every night when he’s standing in the wings- the proper place to put 10 cc in an alphabetical record collectionFull tour dates here: https://www.10cc.world/eventsSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, and much more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We stuck a coin in this week’s jukebox of news and cranked up the volume and these were the tracks that got played … … fond memories of Annie Nightingale at Radio One and Whistle Test. … the delicious melancholy of Sunday night pop radio. … how David Gilmour writes songs. … sex, clothes, gangsters: the eternal allure of Bonnie & Clyde. … how the first Police album (including three hit singles) was recorded by a former doctor in a four-track studio above a dairy in Leatherhead for £1,500, and the band’s touching tribute when he died. … the British Library hijack hack. … the fantasy theme of so many ‘60s movies: ‘escape’. … Ridley Scott’s Hovis ad. … Blind Willie Johnson, Chuck Berry … Blodwyn Pig? The five tracks you’d send into space to represent life on earth. … how future wars will be started. … plus birthday guest Sandra Austin on the best use of choirs on records among them Aretha Franklin’s You’ve Got A Friend, Blur’s Tender, the Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Roy Harper’s When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https;//www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jim Gordon played the drums on Wichita Lineman, Good Vibrations, the Byrds’ Mr Tambourine Man and hundreds of other recordings we all own and worked with pretty much everyone including Steely Dan, Tom Waits, Tom Petty, Randy Newman, John Lennon, Frank Zappa and the Everlys. He toured with Delaney & Bonnie and Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs And Englishmen package and was a member of Derek & the Dominos. He played with a “bounce, a lilt, a boiling undercurrent” that added a whole new melodic dimension and he saw two different worlds from the inside, the studio-based pop factories of the ‘60s singles boom and the big ‘70s tours of the heyday of the rock album. West Coast author and music columnist Joel Selvin considers his supreme talent and ultimately catastrophic story in his new book ‘Drums & Demons: the Tragic Journey of Jim Gordon’ alighting here at various points in detail, among them … … the intersection between “rock and roll and true crime”. … the secret of “a compositional drummer”. … how he started at the top, aged 17, touring with the Everlys and the Rolling Stones. … how Rita Coolidge was robbed of her royalties, twice. … his appetite for fame and recognition at a time when “being a rock star was the most elevated position in the world”.   … why he turned down a Dylan tour.   … the long, tangled evolution of ‘Layla’ and what Jim added to You’re So Vain that transformed it. … and why he was sentenced to 16 years (for the murder of his mother) and ended up doing 38. Order Joel’s book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drums-Demons-Tragic-Journey-Gordon/dp/1635768993Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Leaping across puddles, walking between the raindrops, its collar turned to the cold and damp, our weekly podcast builds a defence against the rigours of the rock and roll weather and offers shelter from the storm. Remain warm and dry with the following … … the 11 musicians who turned down a Knighthood, MBE etc. … why Dylan & the Band’s 1974 tour set the template for all tours to follow. … Rod Stewart minus the hair: unimaginable. … the old duffers’ perfect New Year’s Eve. … happy 50th to Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark, Van Morrison’s It’s Too Late To Stop Now, Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic, Gram Parsons’ Grievous Angel, Big Star’s Radio City, Todd Rundgren’s Todd and Frank Zappa’s Apostrophe. … Mr Bates v the Post Office and why sad films and books get harder to process as you get older. … the wit and wisdom of our old pal Rod Sopp, the Smash Hits ad man - “a roll of cash big enough to choke a donkey”; “he’s so thin he has to run around in the shower to get wet”. … Sting, Debbie Harry, Elvis Presley: spot the natural blond. … how Woody Allen uses music to “make films look better”. … the story of Everybody’s Talkin’ in Midnight Cowboy. … why movie dance sequences are often filmed in silence.   … and birthday guest Andrew Slattery: All Along the Watchtower in Withnail, Sanctus in If, Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby in O Brother Where Art Thou? and other great movie soundtrack moments.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amid the detritus of tangerine peel, half-eaten chocolates, broken toys and jars of home-brewed chutney beneath the rock and roll Christmas tree we found various items still unwrapped and awaiting this week’s podcast, among them … … how to create the Dylan Blonde On Blonde shuffle in under two minutes. … “Middlesex Hepworth!” David’s triumph on University Challenge and an inside view of the whole experience. … Noel Coward revisited through the 21st century lens in the ‘Mad About The Boy’ documentary. … Liam Gallagher & John Squire’s super-duo: it’s the Mancunian nostalgia jackpot but are the days of pre-release hype now over? … the most creative thing anyone can do. … actors from humble backgrounds used to pretend to be posher, now the posher ones affect to be working class. … how to listen to live albums: new Hepworth research reveals essential ingredient to enhance audio experience! … ‘a mix is never finished, it’s merely abandoned’, ‘snapping to the grid’ plus the idiosyncrasies of a ‘smart drummer’.  This is the link to creating the Dylan shuffle: https://youtu.be/BMPoFYAwXQ0?t=78Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We check this week’s luggage on the rock and roll baggage carousel and remove the following items for inspection …  … The People v OJ Simpson and why it’s worth re-watching. … the only two convincing films about magazines and journalism. … bands that look like mini-cab drivers. … David’s upcoming appearance on University Challenge (cue the voice of Roger Tilling: “Middlesex Hepworth!”) ... the source of the phrase “Bring on the empty horses!” … why someone called Riley asked John McVie and Nick Mason for his life back. … who was more prolific, Michael Curtiz, Barbara Cartland or Mozart? … the eternal destination of all Peter Pan royalties. … the man who saved Po Powell from a spell in the cooler. … “Morning, Gentlemen. Nice day for murder!” … writing bands’ names on school bags. … ‘I need a sheep, a psychiatrist’s couch, a vet and a ticket to Hawaii!’ ... the old Word magazine gang and what they’re doing now. Mentioned in despatches – the Atom Heart Mother cow, a duff Barry Gibb movie, the Mark Leeman Five and Balaam And the Angel.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s wheat/chaff separation process sifts the following from the rock and roll cornfield … … Tony Secunda, his gangsterish suits and the publicity stunt that backfired spectacularly. … our old Word magazine pal Rob Fitzpatrick talking about the Japanese composer Michiru Aoyama who's released an album a day since December 2021, each 20 minutes 20 seconds long. And the role of streaming in the ambient music boom. … the life of Denny Laine and the great “chamber pop” hit he wrote. ... why the Move’s Flowers In The Rain has never earned the band a cent.   … how the death of John Lennon was the dawn of the ‘black border’ magazine tribute. … Willie Nelson’s way with a middle eight. … the last men standing in the Band On The Run album shoot.   … is there anyone still on the road older than “the French Bob Dylan” Hugues Aufray (94) and Marshall Allen 0f the Sun Ra Arkestra (99)? … and mentioned in dispatches - Harold Wilson, Frank Ifield, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, ‘Ronnie & Clyde’ and birthday guest Rob Collis and the best rock and roll movies.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mal Evans was the Beatles’ right-hand man, their bouncer, bodyguard, gofer, chauffeur, drug-runner, roadie, fellow party animal, confidante and friend. Along with Neil Aspinall he was the man who allowed the band to function daily and catered to their every need. He was such a central cog in the machine that Ringo declared, “now Mal’s left, the Beatles are really over.” Mal’s son delivered his archive of photos, manuscripts and memorabilia to the author, lecturer and world-renowned Beatles authority Kenneth Womack and asked him to write his father’s memoir, and the result – ‘Living The Beatles Legend: On the Road with the Fab Four – the Mal Evans Story’ – has just been published. It sees the whole story through a completely different lens. Among the highlights in this illuminating conversation with Ken you’ll find … ... Mal’s delicate relationships with the band and role as a peace-keeper.   … further proof that Allen Klein “caused despair”. … why Lennon said life on the road “was like Satyricon”. … Mal’s brief tenure as Apple’s MD. … how Cynthia Lennon unknowingly shopped him to his wife. … the internal world of “the eight outsiders” (the Fabs, Brian, George M, Neil and Mal). … the reunion with John and Paul at a Harry Nilsson session and the Jesse Ed Davis incident on the Lost Weekend. … echoes of Mal in John Junkin’s character in A Hard Day’s Night. … and the tragic and complex circumstances of his death at the hands of the police in 1976. Order Ken’s book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/living-the-beatles-legend/kenneth-womack//9780008551216?awaid=3787&utm_source=redbrain&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=css&sv1=affiliate&sv_campaign_id=176013&awc=3787_1701449123_6949508e18ba11ed742bd07b0529cc8eSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Belfast author and old pal of the pod Stuart Bailie joins us to remember the lost captain of the good ship Pogues and we touch on Shane’s “feral” early life and the character he constructed to keep the world at bay; his place in the Irish literary pantheon, his intelligence worn lightly and Joycean use of language; the night they drank the proceeds from Fairytale Of New York; why the band’s St Patrick’s Day shows were three-day events and a magnet for lost Celtic souls, and how they became good by stealth but were so divisive in Ireland. This alongside other savoury and invigorating ingredients in this week’s rock and roll hot-pot, among them … … David’s five most-played tracks on Spotify in 2023. … real or imaginary Xmas singles? De La Soul’s Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa? Sonic Youth’s Santa Doesn’t Cop Out On Dope? Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Santa’s In The Clan? …. … the life and exceptional times of John Mayall, 90, and the people who passed through his blues academy. … why Spinal Tap might be best left alone.…and the song Randy Newman wrote about missing his ex-wife plus a tremulous joint recitation of Simon Smith & the Amazing Dancing Bear.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pauline Murray kept a diary when she and Penetration were on the punk rock frontline and her vivid and emotional memories appear in a new memoir, Life’s A Gamble, beautifully illustrated with personal photos, press cuttings, late ‘70s gig listings and other lovingly archived memorabilia. It teleports you back to a time when pop music made daily headlines and battles were lost and won in fragrant dancehalls and knackered vans on motorways. As does this podcast, recorded with an audience at London’s 21Soho club in late November. Aged 14 she was travelling to London from County Durham and sleeping in railway stations to see the Pistols and the Clash. She formed Penetration in ‘76 and for two hectic years they were caught up in the whirlwind. This account of it all includes Alan Freeman, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Jonathan Richman, Tim Curry (as Dr Frank-N-Furter), why the deaths of Sid and Nancy has such symbolic significance, the female punk ‘sisterhood’ giving her the cold shoulder, her unwise marriage, and the profit and loss statement of the debt she still owes Virgin (the annual reminders have never stopped). And she talks movingly about the experience every group endures when their first flush of mutual love and enthusiasm turns to bitter inter-personal fall-out. One of her kids was in the audience. As was Gaye Advert! Order ‘Life’s A Gamble’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lifes-Gamble-Penetration-Invisible-Stories/dp/191317270821Soho: https://www.21-soho.com/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Glen Matlock came to our live podcast recording at London’s 21Soho at the end of November and lit up the audience with tales from his new memoir ‘Triggers’, stories of his early life in the late ‘50s and ‘60s, his brief and riotous shift in the Sex Pistols and his colourful adventures since. The full cast list includes Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, the DJ Mike Raven, Gary Glitter, John Peel, Kenneth Horne, Malcolm McLaren, Nick Kent, Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane, Midge Ure, Wally Nightingale, Blondie and Bill Grundy. You get a real sense of the fabric of London around Ted Carroll’s record stall in Ladbroke Grove and around Denmark Street when the Pistols lived and rehearsed there. And look out for the night they played a Conservative Club to a crowd of six, the time McLaren begged him to return as “it wasn’t working out with Sid”, the Filthy Lucre reunion and his luminous account of Johnny Rotten’s audition backed by a jukebox playing Alice Cooper. Glen Matlock came to our live podcast recording at London’s 21Soho at the end of November and lit up the audience with tales from his new memoir ‘Triggers’, stories of his early life in the late ‘50s and ‘60s, his brief and riotous shift in the Sex Pistols and his colourful adventures since. The full cast list includes Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, the DJ Mike Raven, Gary Glitter, John Peel, Kenneth Horne, Malcolm McLaren, Nick Kent, Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane, Midge Ure, Wally Nightingale, Blondie and Bill Grundy. You get a real sense of the fabric of London around Ted Carroll’s record stall in Ladbroke Grove and around Denmark Street when the Pistols lived and rehearsed there. And look out for the night they played a Conservative Club to a crowd of six, the time McLaren begged him to return as “it wasn’t working out with Sid”, the Filthy Lucre reunion and his luminous account of Johnny Rotten’s audition backed by a jukebox playing Alice Cooper.Recorded in front of a live audience at 21Soho, London, on November 27th 2023. Glen’s tour dates are here: http://www.glenmatlock.co.uk/ And you can order ‘Triggers’ here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/triggers/glen-matlock/9781788709446Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You wonder why her life hasn’t been made into a movie. Jenny Boyd’s mother had so many children she didn’t realise her daughter had quit school and become a model. The world of London clubs and fashion magazines was the start of 60 years’ close observation of rock stars in every context leading, eventually, to the publication of ‘Icons of Rock’, her interviews with 65 musicians. Among the highlights in this pod she talks about...… what life’s like when your sister marries a Beatle.… the day a besotted Donovan played her the song he’d written about her (‘Jennifer Juniper’).… how the 16 year-old Cheynes’ drummer Mick Fleetwood took one look at her and declared “that’s the girl I’m going to marry”.… the Crazy Elephant and the Scotch of St James.… watching the Beatles write songs in Rishikesh.… her transition from being “a dollybird” to "a searcher".… modelling in California and the Monterey Pop Festival.… the characteristics songwriters have in common and the meaning of “the peak experience”.… being the only mum in the Fleetwood Mac orbit, life at their Kiln House commune and why Mick was “the pot of glue” that held the band together.… “talent is inherited but stamina often isn’t”.… and memories of Peter Green, Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Graham Nash and “Magic” Alex.Order ‘Icons of Rock’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Icons-Rock-Fleetwood-Mitchell-Harrison/dp/1789466717/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1700664733&refinements=p_27%3AJenny+Boyd&s=books&sr=1-1Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We ran our metal detector over this week’s rugged rock and roll terrain and dug deep when it beeped. Among those prime locations … … the secret of Top Gear’s golden age. … is Bob Dylan a “cold weather concept”? … why Holger Czukay’s ‘Movies’ is a pivotal record. … Daryl Hall’s restraining order on John Oates: inter-band fall-out scales brave new heights. … the ground-breaking ingredient in ‘He’s Gonna Step On You Again’ by John Kongos. … why Joni Mitchell, Lee Perry and Pink Floyd were early pioneers of sampling. … the night some loon climbed the scaffolding above the E Street Band. … pre-McLaren theft of the Burundi Beat. … the irksome mob rule of the internet: “all bands are now sacred and anyone who says different is a heretic”. … when an album cover is a “lifestyle statement”. … plus birthday guests Kevin Walsh and Simon Poulter and best of this year’s rock books.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The week’s rock and roll luggage was put through the scanner by our sharp-eyed security chiefs and the following items kept back for scrutiny …… 82 year-old jazzer in lucrative samples windfall!… is there a more excruciating ‘mum’ moment than the 12 year-old Elijah Blue Allman’s in the Cher video If I Could Turn Back Time?…. the staggering sum total of what the Beatles did on 30 July 1963.… “Mailbox money”: how Phil Manzanera made more from a hip hop record than from 15 years of Roxy Music… why would anyone be a pop star these days?… further proof that in the world of the internet nothing is forgotten.… why the quantity of cash Kanye West pulled from the “athleisure” shoe market makes the music business look like toytown. And are “vintage trainers” the new rare vinyl?… when was the first sample?… and Christmas with David’s Uncle Stan.Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on November 27th: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ZOthfatjxiSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As if by some magical alignment of the planets, the  Specials, Madness and the Beat were all listening to the same music and developing the same look at precisely the same time, though completely unaware of each other. And when they started releasing records, the 10 year-old Daniel Rachel was transfixed. What happen next is recorded in his hectic and engrossing book, Too Much Too Young: the 2-Tone Records Story, the huge characters, the daily dramas, “the dance sensation that’s sweeping the nation”, a period whose white heat really only lasted 18 months but had a massive cultural impact at the time (indeed its crucible, Coventry, now has a 2-Tone Village!). And the movement’s main architect, Jerry Dammers, was a middle-class, ex-hippie art student raised in the church. All sorts of points come up in this engaging pod, among them …… the pivotal meeting between Suggs and Dammers at the Hope & Anchor.… the significance of Walt Jabsco and the 2-Tone merchandise – “when the rag trade gets hold of you, you’re made”.… the crossover between violence at gigs and football matches in the late ‘70s and the right-wing factions that attached themselves to Madness.… how the music press adored 2-Tone then brutally turned the tables.… Rico, Saxa and the revolutionary twin-generational line-ups of the Specials and the Beat..… why the Bodysnatchers only lasted 11 months.… why 2-Tone failed in America until the Dance Craze movie arrived.… how each member of the Specials thought they were in a different band.… why there were so many “2-Tone casualties”.… and the brief window between punk and electronic pop that helped 2-Tone take off.Order ‘Too Much Too Young: the 2-Tone Records’ story here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Too-Much-Young-Soundtrack-Generation/dp/1399607480Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on November 27th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ZOthfatjxiSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jude Rogers – writer, broadcaster, old pal of the pod - first heard Kirsty MacColl when she was nine and felt a connection ever since. She’s just written the sleevenotes for ‘See That Girl’, the best, most diverse and exquisitely packaged compilation of her music ever assembled, an eight CD box-set of singles, rarities, unheard songs, live and Glastonbury appearances, demos, BBC sessions and collaborations, along with an entire unreleased album. As Jude points out she wasn’t overlooked, but all the things you applauded about her made her very hard to market. She wouldn’t play the game. She refused to be fashionable. She was funny and honest and wrote about an unvarnished, real world which robbed her of a sense of mystery, and a lot of her songs were about fallibility and failure. Among the highlights here …   … a long-running lyric thread that began with There’s a Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis.   … why what she wrote about men (and women) was so original. … her strained relationship with her father. … what Johnny Marr admired about her and the power of her “Elysian chorus”. ... why you’ll never find another song like ‘Autumnsoupgirl’. … how she and Dave Robinson’s hairdresser launched Tracey Ullman’s career. … and David Hepworth’s inspired idea for ‘In These Shoes?’, the West End Kirsty MacColl musical. Order the 8CD box set ‘See That Girl’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/See-That-Girl-1979-2000-8CD/dp/B0C9GCDZSTTickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho in London on November 27th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ZOthfatjxiSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s winning hand from the rock and roll card deck includes … … a silver salute to musicians who don’t dye their hair. … did Al Pacino play Phil Spector? Roger Daltrey as Franz Liszt? Was Gary Oldman Joe Strummer? … rock stars you’d swap lives with. … the “theme-park-ification” of pop music. … the mysteries of rock and roll are slowly evaporating. As Tom Waits said: “before the internet, we used to wonder. I miss the wondering.” … the immortality of the Florida salesman who appears on the cover of Abbey Road (and had obituaries when he died). … why Leonard Cohen thought his romance with Joni Mitchell was “like living with Beethoven”. … how a split-second made and destroyed the lives of two photographers covering Lee Harvey Oswald at the Dallas Police Headquarters. … musicians who look even better older.   … how Pink Floyd helped kick-start rock’s love affair with football.   … the unenviable world of Robbie Williams.   ...and is Abba the only act that works as holograms? Plus Led Zeppelin’s Victorian Wiltshire thatcher and birthday guests Mike Sketch and Peter Petyt.Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho in London on November 27th: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ZOthfatjxiSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slade were as revolutionary as T. Rex or Roxy Music, Daryl Easlea points out. At one stage they were outselling Bowie and Bolan. They were the band that hauled the sedentary early ‘70s audience to its feet. The sound of the Ramones was built around ‘Slade Alive!’ and you can feel them in the bones of the Pistols and Oasis. We talk here to Daryl about his funny, energetic, nostalgic and affectionate new book, ‘Whatever Happened to Slade?: When The Whole World Went Crazee’, stopping off at various stations on the route, among them … … why there are “two tiers of Slade”. … the drunken conversation that turned them into a skinhead band overnight. … a key moment involving Crispian St Peters, Kim Fowley and the Tiles Club. … what made them football terrace heroes. … how these “smashers and grabbers” tore up the live circuit. … the very ‘70s way they dealt with Don Powell’s accident. … why American audiences had their “mellow harshed”. … the publican’s son who styled them. … the transformational moment at the '72 Lincoln Festival. … the story of the ‘Give Us A Goal’ video filmed at Brighton’s Goldstone Ground. … and why the main salesman in their line-up was the one “with tinsel in his veins”. Slade were as revolutionary as T. Rex or Roxy Music, Daryl Easlea points out. At one stage they were outselling Bowie and Bolan. They were the band that hauled the sedentary early ‘70s audience to its feet. The sound of the Ramones was built around ‘Slade Alive!’ and you can feel them in the bones of the Pistols and Oasis. We talk here to Daryl about his funny, energetic, nostalgic and affectionate new book, ‘Whatever Happened to Slade?: When The Whole World Went Crazee’, stopping off at various stations on the route, among them … … why there are “two tiers of Slade”. … the drunken conversation that turned them into a skinhead band overnight. … a key moment involving Crispian St Peters, Kim Fowley and the Tiles Club. … what made them football terrace heroes. … how these “smashers and grabbers” tore up the live circuit. … the very ‘70s way they dealt with Don Powell’s accident. … why American audiences had their “mellow harshed”. … the publican’s son who styled them. … the transformational moment at the '72 Lincoln Festival. … the story of the ‘Give Us A Goal’ video filmed at Brighton’s Goldstone Ground. … and why the main salesman in their line-up was the one “with tinsel in his veins”. Order Daryl’s book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whatever-Happened-Slade-Whole-Crazee/dp/1783055545Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on November 27th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ZOthfatjxiSubscribe to Word in Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Higgs' brilliant and wide-ranging book 'The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band Who Burned A Million Pounds' came out ten years ago and just keeps on selling. It sold initially to the fans who bought their records. Then to those absorbed by the fringe figures in their mythology - Ken Campbell, Alan Moore, Robert Anton Wilson, the Discordians. And then to people who just wanted a staggering and barely believable story about the attacks by two free-wheeling cultural terrorists on the worlds of art and music at the end of the 20th century. It sold so well in fact that it's just been republished in a 10th Anniversary edition with additional material.John Higgs is an exceptional speaker as this pod demonstrates and talks here about the outer reaches of their extravagantly lunatic strategies - the ABBA court case, the dead sheep, the pagan rituals on Jura, the collaboration with Tammy Wynette - and how many backfired on them and why Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty have barely seen each other in almost 30 years. This podcast was recorded in front of an enthralled audience at 21Soho in London on October 30th 2023.Order the 10th anniversary edition here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/KLF-Chaos-Burned-Million-Pounds/dp/139961035XTickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on November 27th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ZOthfatjxiSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"The Beatles gave us a continuing soundtrack of unparalleled charm and reassurance", Derek Taylor said. "As long as they kept on delivering fresh songs along with the morning milk, everything was right in our optimistic world". It happened again on Thursday. Is the old magic still there?Also on the menu in this week's podcast...... Fact or fiction? The extravagant adventures of Bill Drummond and why burning £1m still haunts the KLF.... does it matter if musicians falsify their past? Paging Buffy St. Marie, Sixto Rodriguez, Seasick Steve...... why calling the Beatles "the original boy band" is so ridiculous and wrong and how their story fires our desire to believe.... how Lucinda Williams beat the autocue system.... Crowded House, the strange tale of 'Woodface' and the track that kept them off American radio for two years.... why Peter Jackson's 'Now And Then' video is like "fan fiction".... Giles Martin's theories about producing music the way people remember it sounding (and why he was sacked by Martin Scorsese and then re-hired a few weeks later).... and - in other piping hot news - the man behind 'Manuel and His Music of the Mountains' and the tax problems of the Singing Nun!Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on November 27th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ZOthfatjxiSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are broadly three Ian Broudies in the public imagination. One is the songwriter with a catalogue of softly psychedelic left-field pop tunes. The second is the record producer behind Echo & the Bunnymen, the Fall, the Coral and Terry Hall. The third is the co-composer of our new national anthem. He talks here about early life in Liverpool and the records that enthralled him (See Emily Play, Autobahn), what he learned from his mentor Roger Eagle (who ran Eric's Club), a life-shifting moment with Steve Wright, what matters most in production, the disastrous time he introduced the Spice Girls on Top of the Pops and why the FA rejected the original version of Three Lions, wanted a new title and asked him to drop Skinner and Baddiel. He's funny, outspoken, candid, modest and affectionate and movingly philosophical on the rigours of composition: "as soon as you finish a song it becomes something - but it loses 90% of what it could have become".This podcast was recorded in front of a live audience at 21Soho in London on October 30th, 2023 and Ian's new memoir is just out - 'Tomorrow's Here Today: Lightning Seeds, Football and Post-Punk'.Order Ian's book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tomorrows-Here-Today-Lightning-Post-Punk/dp/178870902021Soho: https://www.21-soho.com/Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on November 27th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ZOthfatjxiSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Billy Sloan, Glaswegian broadcaster and music columnist, has written his memoir, ‘One Love, One Life’, about a career that’s allowed him to point his microphone at an astonishing array of musicians and started back in the old analogue world of tight-deadline newspaper journalism where you hammered out your Chuck Berry interview as the rolls of film were biked back to the office to be processed. This covers a lot of ground including … … the moment that changed his life. … why the London Press Corps were “a pack of hyenas”. … Rod Stewart v Michelle Mone – a classic revenge saga that ticked every box. … interviewing a naked Grace Jones (and how Dame Edna got involved). … the exquisitely “horrible” Chuck Berry. … queuing all night for 85p Who tickets, aged 15. … the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, “boo-ed onstage, roared off”.   … a trip to the Reeperbahn via Rory Gallagher. … life at the Sunday Mail and the Daily Record. … the great Scottish rock boom of the early ‘80s “when if you had a floppy fringe and desert boots you’d expect to be flagged down by an A&R man with a chequebook”. … and the star that made him feel and “you’re only one duff question away from getting a right hook”. Order Billy’s book here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Love-Life-Stories-Stars/dp/178530481XTickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on November 27th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ZOthfatjxiSubscribe to Word In Your Ear for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We spin the reels of the rock and roll fruit machine this week and get the following pay-outs … … the preposterous present they gave Bobby Charlton when he retired. ... “the leaning man from Alabam”. … ‘Skinny Minnie Shimmy’ by Lattie Moore And The Emperors and other apparently fictitious rock and roll hits. … a Radio One DJ who was also an actor, erotic sculptor, travel writer, sheep farmer, flamenco guitarist and ballet dancer. Why has no-one made a film of the life of Mike Raven? … why Born To Run was “a quantum leap”, the record where Springsteen wanted “to sing like Roy Orbison and write like Bob Dylan on an album that sounded like it was produced by Phil Spector”. … a leaked 1982 Radio One memo of ground rules for DJs! “Don’t resort to ‘common talk’ in a pathetic attempt at humour.” “You can say Cornflakes but not Shredded Wheat …” … how rock is adopting the Gilbert & Sullivan business model.   … Richard Thompson, Steve Cropper, John Fahey, Hubert Sumlin … : who’s the greatest guitarist of all time? … the story-spinning genius of John Prine. … the afterlife of the Love Affair. … Ernest ‘Boom’ Carter’s brief but marvellous moment of glory.… and birthday guest Giles Fraser wonders at what point a band shouldn’t use their original name.Rolling Stone’s top 250 guitarists …http://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-guitarists-1234814010/nile-rodgers-5-1234814197/ The amazing story of Mike Raven …http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Raven Everybody’s in the Mood by Howlin’ Wolf …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV0gDlzEnYUGet your exclusive Nord VPN deal here: https://nordvpn.com/yourearIt's risk-free with Nord's 30-day-money-back guarantee!Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on November 27th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ZOthfatjxiSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Toothsome hors d’ouvres, mains and ‘items from the trolley’ on the rock and roll menu this week include … … Bowie’s Pin-Ups v Ferry’s These Foolish Things: who won?… the worst band name in history and why. … the fan who hired a plane to fly a message past Morrissey’s record label. … the Stones’ Hackney Diamonds: best album since Black And Blue or tedious riff-less dirge? … why only solo acts can tell stories onstage.   … why the Dutch love the Byrds. … things we never imagined 50 years ago. … Spanky McFarlane, Gloria Salt … country music siren or twinkle-eyed PG Wodehouse dame? … the two main topics the Stones write songs about. … how modern fandom is expressed. … who ever thought they’d hear Dylan say the word ‘Wikipedia’ onstage? … and has anyone got a copy of ‘Darker Than Blue: Soul From Jamtown’ on Mick Hucknall’s Blood And Fire label? And who remembers the ‘Hard-Up Heroes’ album? Plus cycling with an umbrella, Barbra Streisand’s autocue and birthday guest Cathal Chu on the best and worst onstage banter.Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The godfather of British independent labels, Immediate, was started in 1965 by the Stones’ manager Andrew Oldham and Tony Calder, its winning slogan: “happy to be part of the industry of human happiness”. As Simon Spence correctly puts it, “it all got very messy”. Oldham tended to fall out with people and then threaten to kill them. Simon’s excellent book, ‘Immediate: the Rise And Fall of the UK’s First Independent Record Label’ has the details (he also co-authored Oldham’s two memoirs, ‘Stoned’ and ‘2Stoned’). Immediate has been a touchstone ever since and their roster included the Small Faces, PP Arnold, the Nice, the Who, Fleetwood Mac, Twinkle, Scott Walker and various others discussed here. Also includes … … “no Andrew Oldham, no Rolling Stones.” … the part played by Tony Hancock’s doctor. … “if you didn’t want to be ripped off, why are you in the music business?” … the range of Immediate’s catalogue from Nico and Rod Stewart to the Turtles and Jimmy Tarbuck. … an advert for the Nice involving three assassinated politicians.   … the time Oldham left his hairdresser in charge of A&R. … Don Arden, the Small Faces and £25,000 in a paper bag. … a secretly recorded blues album and why Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page fell out. … why Oldham wanted to poison the Nice and murder Amen Corner. … invaluable advice from Phil Spector. … and why Immediate finally fell apart. Order Simon’s book here …https://www.backstage-books.co.uk/Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on Oct 30th: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As it emerges from the upheaval of Cross Rail, music historian Peter Watts looks at this densely-packed thoroughfare between Charing Cross Road and Covent Garden, which started off selling sheet music, grew into the place where many writers sold their tunes for a few quid while a wise minority hung on and made fortunes, a street that continues to provide a home for music businesses to this day. Includes.......the Victorian "rookeries" of St Giles...how a coal mining accident made the street's first big hit...the true meaning of the Old Grey Whistle Test...when every office boy played the piano...how the Beatles changed music publishing ...how the Rolling Stones made their first (and best ?) album...how the Sex Pistols and the Stones made their first music yards from each other...what exactly are they doing with Denmark Street today?Buy Denmark Street - London's Street Of Sound here: https://www.paradiseroad.co.uk/denmark-street-londons-street-of-soundTickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on Oct 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content here: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spicy and nutritious items in the rock and roll bouillabaisse this week include … … Roger Waters at the Palladium: a masterclass in how to insult an audience. … “without Andrew Loog Oldham, the Stones would have been Manfred Mann.” … the only rock star who can tell a story onstage. … Nempnett Thrubwell, Hinton Blewett, Glaister Fagan … Leafy Somerset hamlet or venerable reggae dubmeister? … the money Dave Grohl made from Nirvana (and it’s less than you’d imagine). … why Barry McGuire’s Eve Of Destruction was so terrifying. … please, someone, stage an exhibition of original paintings used on album sleeves! … the rise and rise of the rock spectacle. … Hogg, Fat Grapple, Makin’ Bacon? Real or fictitious pork-related acts from the Melody Maker Club Calendar 1971. … has social media taken the place of protest music? Why has no-one made a statement the Israel/Hamas war? … more smoking-themed album covers. … what, in her darkest hour, Madonna must think about Taylor Swift’s movie triumph. … and In The Court of the Crimson King and other albums that sound like their covers.Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeTickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on November 27th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ZOthfatjxiSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content and more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick Banks - nephew of the great Gordon Banks – saw a note pinned by his favourite band to a wall in 1986, his Sliding Doors moment: ‘Pulp Want Drummer. Call Russell or Jarvis’. What happened next he records in his memoir ‘It Started There: From Punk To Pulp’. We talk to him about life in Sheffield in the ‘70s and ‘80 and why it took 15 long years for Pulp to crack it. Among the highlights … … why punk rock was like “Harry Potter’s Sorting Hat”. … what drummers bring to groups. … Pulp’s stage act in 1982 – “trombones, backing singers, orange paper fish”. … being denied a Number One by Robson & Jerome. … the band’s response to Jarvis Cocker’s brave new direction – “Barry White meets the Pet Shop Boys”. … what happened at the BRITS and who’s to blame. … real life in what promised to be “the gilded palace of stardom with limousines and dancing girls”. … the moment that caused “the raised eyebrows of disdain” in the Pulp story. … and his first sighting of “that mesmerising, bespectacled, lanky streak of piss”. Order Nick’s memoir here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/So-Started-There-Punk-Pulp/dp/1915841100Get your exclusive NordVPN deal here: https://nordvpn.com/yourearIt's risk-free with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee!Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ZOthfatjxiSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Engaging blips on the rock and roll radar this week include:- … Iron Maiden album title or novel by Jeffrey Archer? … selling Ringo’s ashtray. … the Blood Doner: the Hancock script that keeps on giving. … “Terrible album title. Terrible album cover, too.” The start of Rolling Stone’s review of which immortal record? … how come acting runs in families but writing and music don’t? … Smash Hits: the Musical - you heard it here first. And why the Live Aid musical will work. … A Salty Dog, Shades, Smokin’ OP’s – album sleeves based on fag packets. … the curious tale of the Equinox and the imposters on their album cover. … which pop stars are in the Barbie doll range? … why smoking is part of the DNA of rock and roll. And who smoked what? Bob Hope (Chesterfield), Lennon (Woodbines), Bowie (Gauloises) … … the significance of Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods of Atlanta, Georgia. … and musicians who outsold their famous parents. Plus birthday guests: Matthew Elliott on records you own but have never played, and Phil Turner “the Elton John album so bad it put me off him for 20 years.”Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Sergeant’s just put out the second volume of his memoirs, both of them Sunday Times best-sellers, Echoes and the first edition, Bunnyman. Here he revisits the Liverpool of the ‘60s and ‘70s in extraordinary detail - the clothes, the records, the gangs, the school days, the early shows he saw - and the many reasons he wanted to form a band. On the agenda … … ‘rockist’ cliches the Bunnymen detested.   … why America loved early ‘80s British groups. … the powerful appeal of Jethro Tull, Status Quo, Slade, Roxy Music, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and rock and roll theatre. … clothes bought from NME small ads in the ‘70s. … absurd rivalries with Simple Minds and the Jesus & Mary Chain. … fond memories of David Thomas of Pere Ubu smashing a pig iron spike with a lump hammer. … the ‘Porcupine’ cover shoot in Iceland.   … the charisma of the teenage Mac McCulloch. … bands that borrowed from the Bunnymen. … why the Ramones were “Status Quo with drainpipes”. … and the magic ingredient that held Mac’s hair aloft. Order Bunnyman here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bunnyman-Memoir-Sunday-Times-bestseller/dp/1472135032 And Echoes here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Echoes-memoir-continued/dp/1408719304Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content here: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Crime novelist Cathi Unsworth turned Goth in her teens in rural Norfolk fired by a cocktail of Dennis Wheatley, the Damned on the Peel show and the dark arts of the York Festival “Gothtopia” bill in 1984. She devoted long hours to trying to construct Robert Smith’s “tarantula hair” and acquiring black lace garmentry. Something about its music and folklore chimed with a life marooned in the middle of an East Anglian beanfield pondering tales of Shuck, the fabled fire-eyed ghostly hound alleged to roam the neighbourhood at night. We talked to her about her marvellous ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth’ for a live podcast recorded at London’s 21Soho on 25 September, a very funny and wide-ranging exchange that included … … why Goth is like no other tribe: you never make a full recovery – or ever want to. … the part played in its family tree by Aleister Crowley, Aubrey Beardsley, the Brontes, Joy Division, Magazine, the Cramps, Jim Morrison and Bobby Gentry. … why Leeds became one of Goth’s key spiritual centres. … the shocking spectacle of Dave Vanian in full Stygian rig in broad daylight.  … “the three Goth Ians” - Astbury, Curtis, McCulloch. … the significance of Cabaret and A Clockwork Orange.... why Goths feel obliged to dress the part. … the romantic allure of Robert Smith against that of Nick Cave.  … the curious link between Siouxsie and Margaret Thatcher. … and how Goth keeps finding new recruits.   Order ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth’ here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Season-Witch-Book-Cathi-Unsworth/dp/1788706242Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard Morton Jack interviewed over 200 people when assembling what’s unquestionably the best, most colourful, comprehensive, revealing and accurate portrait of Nick Drake ever published. We talked to him about ‘Nick Drake: The Life’ at a live podcast recording at 21Soho on September 25 and explored various remote corners of this sad, surprising and eternally gripping story, among them …. … the fate of the tape of the 20-year old Drake playing for the Stones in Morocco in 1969. … what the press and public made of Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layer and Pink Moon when released and Joe Boyd’s reaction to their eventual success. … the early school days of the head boy who won a cup for “General Efficiency”. … his obsession with Francoise Hardy and the disastrous day he met her.   … the peaks and troughs of his live performances including the time he played an event for a Birmingham rugby team supporting Genesis (required to play the Hokey-Cokey). … Kirstie Clegg, his on-off girlfriend from 1969. … Drake’s uncelebrated fondness for TV sitcoms and Benny Hill. … Peter Paul And Mary and other unlikely staples of his early repertoire. … and the events that helped re-boot his legacy. Order Richard’s highly recommended book here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nick-Drake-Richard-Morton-Jack/dp/1529308089Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spice-filled items tossed into the conversational cooking-pot this week include:- … our charming encounter with Gary Numan, possibly the world’s most contented man. … the next step in the age of spectacle: the sensory bombardment of U2’s shows at the Las Vegas Sphere and the crippling cost of experiencing it.  … Taylor Swift’s genius for publicity and the subtle art of connecting with “Joe Six-Pack”. … the shockingly unwise and unfathomable pronouncements of Roger Waters and how his fall-out with David Gilmour makes Lennon’s ‘How Do You Sleep?’ seem like a love letter.  … pop stars and their hair transplants.  … what do bands think of their tribute acts? .. the ‘Austin Powers’ albums of David McCallum, a star so huge he needed a police motorcade. … Hugh Laurie, James Gandolfini, Carrie Fisher, Colin Firth, Felicity Kendal and others whose TV roles made them sex symbols. … and do rock stars really change people’s political views?Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gary Numan is about to set out on a UK acoustic tour, some of it in churches and one date in a cathedral. He talks here - from the Scottish estate house he’s just bought – about some of the first shows he saw and what he’s learnt about live performance. This includes ... … the peculiar effect of seeing Nazareth at the Rainbow in 1973. … the fate of the £5 note he’d asked Queen to autograph. … why he doesn’t talk onstage, and why that’s about to change. … what musicians take for granted. … the church that insisted on his lyrics before they let him perform there. … what happened when he dodged the security for Bowie at Wembley Arena. .. what’s involved in creating a “relentless” live act. … a fondness for the Monkees and Marc Bolan and the secret of his 1981 Bogart hat. Gary Numan’s tour dates here ..https://garynuman.com/tours/Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neil Storey is an old pal from our magazine days who worked in the press office at Island. He looked after U2, Bob Marley, Steel Pulse, the B-52’s and many others. About 15 years ago he began the mammoth task of compiling a series of books telling the story of virtually every record the label released in its pioneering history, tracking down and talking to all those involved - musicians, producers, designers, photographers, label staff – and collecting old music press ads and ephemera from the time. The book’s almost a foot square so LP sleeves can be reproduced ‘actual size’. The first volume is just out, The Island Book Of Records 1959-1968, a thing of very great beauty. As David says, “it’s like entering the record shop of your dreams.” We talked to Neil at his home in France about this and much else besides …   … Chris Blackwell’s involvement in the making of Dr No and the single Jamaican beach shot that told them they had a hit movie. … the album they released that no-one involved could remember. … Shotgun Wedding by Roy ‘C’, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, Lance Hayward, Millie Small’s ‘My Boy Lollipop’ … … the letter Blackwell sent to the workshy Spooky Tooth with threats of wage deductions. … the lucrative ascent of Jethro Tull. … the little-known compilations of Rugby songs, ‘Bawdy British Ballads’ and risqué adult comedy that “saved the label’s bacon” in the mid-‘60s. … the time Neil stumbled across Traffic’s fabled Aston Tirrold cottage on a school camping trip. … the highly collectable “Birth of Ska’ album that was never released.   … one immortal week at the Marquee Club. … and why Island were banned for Olympic Studios. Order the Island Book of Records Vol 1 here …https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/neil-storey/the-island-book-of-records-volume-i-1959-68?channable=409d926964003230353632383608&gclid=Cj0KCQjw06-oBhC6ARIsAGuzdw1pbKtxLGkjgkiJfcAll84H65dVQ1r_h7obky-QWlVtpr21UgiQP54aAk1BEALw_wcB#hardback-signed-plusTickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyouear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Both of us were involved in the launch of Mojo 30 years ago in the autumn of 1993 and we dug out our copies of the first issue. As editor Paul Du Noyer said on page 3, it was “our confirmed intention to pitch a wang-dang-doodle – all night long, if necessary.” The cover story was about a sequence from Eat The Document, the film by DA Pennebaker of Bob Dylan’s ’66 tour that was never released and could only be seen on bootleg VHS cassettes. And this bit was so rare and controversial it had even been deleted from most of the bootlegs - none more niche! – and featured Dylan and John Lennon’s stoned ramblings in a black cab after Bob had played the Albert Hall in May ‘66. The piece by Richard Williams also focused on 10 days in the life of Dylan and the Beatles at the time, the kind of specific, deep-end trawl that helped start a whole new wing of rock book publishing. You can see the seeds of the emerging ‘heritage rock’ in that first edition too. Mojo have a wonderful 30th anniversary issue out now, by the way. Further logs on this week’s conversational fire include … .. why people buy ‘vinyls’ when they don’t own a record player. … David’s story about the HMV security guard who built a shrine to James Last. … the brilliant – and fiercely competitive - mixtapes made and played in music magazines offices. ... the dreadful allegations about Russell Brand and the media rush to cut ties with him. … the band t-shirt favoured by well-heeled businessmen to signify they were once a ‘wild card’. … the Clones Roses, A Band Called Malice … the Dutiful South? … mentioned in despatches: Cat Mother and The All Night Newsboys. … and birthday guest Steve Way on the avenues of discovery encouraged by his love of Paul Weller (including the ruinous pursuit of being a Blue Note completist). Ps Dizzying pop facts: go back 30 years from the launch of Mojo and it’s ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’. There are copies of that first issue on eBay for £44.99 amazingly.Get your exclusive NordVPN deal here: https://nordvpn.com/yourearIt's risk-free with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee.Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21 Soho on October 30th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/ysY3FvyFaeSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s pod was recorded just after we saw ‘Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm’ at London’s National Portrait Gallery, a warm and winning show that starts with him as a wide-eyed fan trying to take pictures of his heroes and soon switches to his shots of the whole world trying to photograph him. We talk about his pictures of French jazzers, Paris boulevards, backstage rooms at TV shows, models, paparazzi, light entertainment stars, screaming fans, American police guns, Miami beaches, billboards, views from plane windows, hotel rooms, cocktails and a New York theatre showing “Christine Keeler Goes Nudist plus Playgirls”. And wonder how it feels to discover 60 years later you had your photo taken by a Beatle. PLUS … … the top-flight rock and roll star we passed in Soho. … the record David tries every year to force himself to like. … the wonderful Geoff Davies of Probe Records, the much-loved Liverpool figurehead who signed the Farm and Half Man Half Biscuit.   … bands who’ve had the most members. … ‘Norman Wisdom, Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, good times”. What’s not to love about the Human League’s Dare? … the new U2 parlour game. … why CDs sales are on the up. … and what the police would know about you if they found your phone.Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on September 25th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/1SwIYJWoHKGet your exclusive NordVPN deal here - it's risk-free with Nord's 30-day-money-back guarantee!: https://nordvpn.com/yourearSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Remnick got his Pulitzer for his reporting on Russia. These days he edits The New Yorker, in which capacity he has had close encounters with some of music’s legends during their final acts, some of which is gathered in “Holding The Note”, a collection of his writings on music. From his ill-lit Manhattan eyrie he talks to David Hepworth of many matters, including:….what was in the handbag which remained on the piano during Aretha Franklin shows….what it was like being on the receiving end of an almighty dressing-down from the elderly Leonard Cohen….how Bruce Springsteen learned nothing at school but has picked up a great deal since….how Bob Dylan reckons he’s in a “post-interview” phase of life - or is he?….how his father took him to see Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald and he has taken his own kids to see Radiohead….how Keith Richards found a ghost writer who could throw his voice….what was really the last good Stones album.…why you should never try to get rock stars to like you.Pre-order Holding The Note here: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/david-remnick/holding-the-note/9781035023974Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on September 25th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/1SwIYJWoHKSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recorded together in Mark Ellen’s attic! Among the conversational footballs booted round the park this week you’ll find:- … Freddie’s “exquisite clutter”: would YOU buy one of his bonzai plant-holders, his catsuit with ballet shoes and a $0.5m silver bangle? … when did the story change from “the Stones are old, knackered and ought to give up!” to “the Stones are old, brilliant and should carry on forever!”? ... do all enduring legacies need an element of tragedy? … who calls the Ezra Collective “a jazz band”? … who’s been married the longest … Bono, Alice Cooper or Peter Noone from Herman’s Hermits? … 1984 was the annus mirabilis of the album? Birthday guest Matthew North has the records to prove it. … the perils of celebrities chairing press conferences (QED Jimmy Fallon). ... how they’ve only gone and wrecked the Rugby World Cup anthems.   … and useful phrases to deploy when you didn’t much care for your mate’s band but don’t want to hurt their feelings – eg You’ve done it again! Only YOU could have put in a show like that! You took it to a whole new level!Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on September 25th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/1SwIYJWoHKSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fired by the rock and roll revival of 1970 and a post-Easy Rider taste for American music, a circuit of some 35 London pubs filled with bands playing fizzing, small-scale shows that never sounded quite the same on record, bands whose moment in the sun was ultimately wrecked by the arrival of punk rock. This pod – and Simon’s book ‘Before It Went Rotten: the Music That Rocked London Pubs 1972-1976’ – raises a dimple jug to some of its forgotten heroes including Meal Ticket, Roogalator, Ducks Deluxe, the Winkies and the Kursaal Flyers. Be honest, when did YOU last hear mention of the Count Bishops or GT Moore & the Reggae Guitars? So what was it about Southend? How did Eggs Over Easy play such a pivotal role in it all? And Creedence Clearwater Revival? And Dave Edmunds? Why was this the perfect launchpad for Ian Dury? And what was the final nail in the pub rock coffin? Order ‘Before It Went Rotten: the Music That Rocked London Pubs 1972-1976’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Before-Went-Rotten-Londons-1972-1976/dp/0857305743/ref=sr_1_11?qid=1693561624&refinements=p_27%3ASimon+Matthews&s=books&sr=1-11Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on September 25th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/1SwIYJWoHKSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kevin Armstrong was the guitarist in the band David Bowie asked him to assemble for Live Aid and toured and recorded with him many times. Playing the guitar intro to Rebel Rebel in a stadium, he says, is “like lighting a match”. Start the Passenger with Iggy Pop and you’re greeted with “a great mass of love”. His memoir, Absolute Beginner, is “a window onto the high table of rock and roll” and full of insights into life in studios and on the road and the fathomless levels of diplomacy often required to collaborate. This entertaining pod expands upon … … why he turned down the offer to join the Smiths. … how Jim Osterberg transforms himself into Iggy Pop. … the Sinead O’Connor’s tour manager’s trick to speed the band through security.   … the song Bowie dropped from the Live Aid set. … why Michael Hutchence is “terrified of small crowds”. … Bowie’s ex-Navy Seal minder and the old decoys-under-blankets ruse. … why Morrissey is “thin-skinned”. … and the eternal curse of “Imposter Syndrome”.  Order ‘Absolute Beginner’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Absolute-Beginner-Memoirs-least-known-guitarist/dp/1911036173Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on September 25th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/1SwIYJWoHKSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We dipped the shrimping net of curiosity in the rock and roll rockpool this week and transferred the following items to the podcast bucket … … who now regrets being the “little tyrant” that broke up their band 30 years ago? … who was the real Bungalow Bill and how did the song about him change his life? … Bing Crosby and Paul Whiteman are almost forgotten. Are the Doors and the Kinks heading the same way? … the unique and extraordinary Bill Wyman, “more a witness to the Rolling Stones than a member”, plus Nellcôte and the Birds’ Custard. … is the ice finally melting in the Talking Heads camp? … an everyday tale of Culture’s “Two Sevens Clash” on the mean streets of North London’s garden suburbs.   … was Lennon v the Maharishi an early example of “career cancelling”? … is Life During Wartime from Stop Making Sense the greatest live performance ever filmed? … the curse of the Budokan. … and birthday guests Avi Chaudhuri and Jelltex (who strongly recommends The Mood Elevator's second album, Married Alive).Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on September 25th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/1SwIYJWoHKSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ray Padgett lives in Vermont, first discovered Dylan when he was 16 in the 21st Century and was fascinated and besotted, later launching the newsletter ‘Flagging Down the Double E’s’ and now publishing the enthralling ‘Pledging My Time’, a collection of his interviews with over 40 people who’ve worked, performed and recorded with the inscrutable old rogue. Both the book and this fast-moving, whip-smart and very funny conversation are revelatory and highly recommended, the podcast shedding light on … … the daily life of Bob Dylan – eg the piles of gifts he routinely receives and the security men who scour his vacated hotel rooms to remove anything that could be nicked and put on eBay. … the only friend who seemed to co-exist with him on “an equal footing”. ... an eye-witness account of his first performance (aged 13) at a Jewish summer camp in Minnesota. … the childhood friend who owned a fish business in Duluth and ended up running the Rolling Thunder Revue - as Dylan enigmatically put it, “if you can sell fish, you can sell tickets”. ... the time he went to a business conference and nobody recognised him. … how he tells musicians to “never play the same thing twice”. … the chance meeting with Scarlet Rivera – two hours later she was onstage as “my violinist” with Dylan and Muddy Waters. … multiple examples of his love of spontaneity and the extraordinary way he hires musicians.   … a rare moment when his career seemed to stall. … and honourable mentions of Richard Thompson, Paul Stookey, Jim Keltner, Stan Lynch and Jeff Bridges. Pledging My Time …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pledging-My-Time-Conversations-Members/dp/B0C6VRBZQC Flagging Down the Double E’s newsletter …https://dylanlive.substack.com/aboutTickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on September 25th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/1SwIYJWoHKSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/woridinyourear https://www.covermesongs.com/about-ray-padgett Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Its tyres pumped, its engine tuned, its air-con still on the blink, the rock and roll charabanc trundles off on its circuit which, this week, makes the following stops … … the singer who sold vials of her tears as part of a merchandise range. … when Billy Bragg entered a Paul Simon lyric in his school poetry contest and only got 7 out of 10. … why our favourite music still tends to be the stuff we heard in our teens. … how Bill Graham’s “Electric Ballroom Experience” changed the landscape – “we were out there with no compass”. … former Kursaal Flyers drummer Will Birch re-watches their ’76 TV film documentary: “There are only two good things about Scotland - the whisky and the road out of there.” “Five autographs? Wasn’t like this at the Carnegie Hall!” … “creamy mousse with ripe stone fruits, bright citrus and a biscuity length”: home-brewing with Alex James.   … and how Wreckless Eric’s made a living for 46 years out of just one song.  That Bill Graham interview …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVeuDS0n3XI Melvyn Bragg introduces the Kursaal Flyers on the BBC’s 2nd House in 1976 …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQKNeWlQzdI&t=11sSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even podcasts take “annual leave” but we’re back and once again propelling the two-man Pedalo of Enquiry down the rock and roll seafront stopping off at sundry wave-rippled spots, among them … … what Chuck Berry said about the Clash. … a band whose keyboard player is the King’s second cousin. … the song Art Garfunkel sang for years without realising it was about him. … Billy Connolly’s bicycle gag and other things you couldn’t get away with now. … Ian Hunter remembering “that little bloke from Beckenham”. … why Punk was like a religious movement. Guest Paul Burke claims it was a “passing fad and its over-cooked legacy was fashioned by the middle-class media”. … the Shakespearian echoes of ‘The Boxer’. … what Bowie would have done if the Laughing Gnome had been a hit. … how Robbie Robertson lived the life Bob Dylan claimed to have lived and never recaptured the spirit of the first two Band albums. … Earl Shilton, Norbert Putnam … American session player or remote place in Leicestershire?… lost TV documentaries about Gene Vincent and the Global Village Trucking Company.  That Global Village Trucking Company doc …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SNrBey7yQI Punk’s fake history, Spectator column by Paul Burke …https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/punks-fake-history/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 The mellifluous melody and soaring counterpoint of this week’s podcast were comprised of the following notes … … Morrissey’s broadside on the treatment of Sinead O’Connor – and her electrifying moment at Dylan’s 30th Anniversary tribute two weeks after she’d torn up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live. … two unsettling events in the later life of Randy Meisner. … Adele revives the old Las Vegas business model (at about £8m a night). … the eternal mystery of Bob Dylan’s motorcycle crash and his Shea Stadium and Russian shows that never happened. … how long news took to travel: the Battle of Waterloo (three days), the death of Jim Morrison (two weeks). … Oppenheimer and why so many films are so long. … Things It’s Almost Impossible To Accept, No 97: Mick Jagger is 80! … in 2006 BBC viewers voted Morrissey second in a Greatest Living British Icons poll (Sir David Attenborough was first, McCartney third). Where would he be if they ran they voted tomorrow? … that photo of Pulp and their 57-strong entourage. … the time the Troggs turned psychedelic.… the endless value of the mantra “never apologise, never explain”. … TV clips from the Lost World of Rock And Roll – Hush tour Australia in 1997 (and pay their road crew $1 an hour);Quintessence in 1970, ‘the sound of Notting Hill Gate’.  ------------- Clips:- Sinead O’Connor at Dylan’s 30th anniversary concert two weeks after she tore up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKeJifOXAnA Glam-rock roadhogs Hush in 1977 …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-Iyytr1AJ4 Getting It Straight In Notting Hill Gate …https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-getting-it-straight-in-notting-hill-gate-1970-onlineSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Blips on the rock and roll radar this week include …   … Things You No Longer See, No 97: the celebrity airport arrival shot. .. do we, in all honesty, need Roger Waters’ re-interpretation of the Dark Side Of The Moon for it is upon us on October 6?  … is there really an Edinburgh Fringe show called ‘Bald Man Sings Rihanna”, ‘A Shark Ate My Penis’ or ‘In The Court Of The Crimson Ting: Prog Rock in A Reggae Style’? … a 1976 clip of Elton John as the jobbing pianist on the Morecambe & Wise Show. “Elton John? Sounds like an exit on the motorway.  … the poignant story of 1968’s lost psych-rock voyagers the Mike Stuart Span and what happened when they became Leviathan. … the time Hipgnosis put a sheep on a psychiatrists’ couch in the Hawaiian surf and landed a chopper in the Alps to photograph a statue. … the Scottish stately pile Bob Dylan’s just put on the market. .. and – with birthday guest Patrick Butler - six theories as to why Steely Dan are hipper now than ever.  The Mike Stuart Span TV clip …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufD0e8tE-UY Elton with Eric & Ernie …https://twitter.com/eric_ernie_col/status/1673207024702636033 Roger Waters’ Money redux …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUVmeYgo1IwSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pat “PP” Arnold was hired as an Ikette by Ike & Tina’s Revue in 1965 and set off a 2,000 mile tour of America, coming to London a year later to support the Rolling Stones. Offered a record deal by Andrew Oldham, she lived in England for many years becoming “the First Lady Of Immediate” with a wide circle of friends and collaborators including the Small Faces, Cat Stevens, Hendrix, Rod Stewart, Nick Drake and the Bee Gees, all recorded in her memoir 'Soul Survivor'. Here she looks back at:- … the rigours of the Ike & Tina tours where she was once fined $50 for crying onstage. … the contrast between “the Chiltin’ Circuit and the Albert Hall. ... supporting the Stones in ’66 and her romance with Mick Jagger “who wanted to walk and talk like a black man”. She taught him how to do the Pony and the Mashed Potato. … the success of The First Cut Is The Deepest.   … her unique American take on the Swinging London of the mid-‘60s and quaint English expressions like “taking the piss”, and how an “unsophisticated” girl from the Watts district of Los Angeles saw the bohemian world (eg Chelsea restaurants where you got three sets of cutlery). … her time with “my brothers” the Small Faces who were “a lot more ghetto than the Stones”. … and a mention of recent collaborations with Paul Weller and Ocean Colour Scene. Order Soul Survivor here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soul-Survivor-Autobiography-P-P-Arnold/dp/1788705785Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Mark Ellen had taken his shrimping net to the coast Alex Gold steps into the breach to talk to David Hepworth about….how solo acts like Bing Crosby and Bruce Springsteen get to play the common man in a way they never could if they were in a band….the extraordinary sight and sound of the band called Punch trying to make their name on “Opportunity Knocks” in the vanished land of 1976….what to do with your wedding ring if you find yourself on the world’s largest cruise liner….Cat Stevens’ “Father And Son” and a few less exalted things that Dads say.Don’t miss the amazing Punch dochttp://youtu.be/_DxLtuK3pD4Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In his new biography “Nick Drake: The Life”, Richard Morton Jack set out to correct the misconceptions spread by magazines and former biographies, some ending up on Wikipedia. This involved talking to as many people as he could track down who’d met and remembered him, from key players like Joe Boyd, Francoise Hardy and Drake’s sister Gabrielle to the girl who played the cello on ‘Cello Song and a childhood friend who wrote a poem about him in the school magazine. The result is, by some margin, the clearest and most comprehensive picture of him to date, far more accelerated and self-promotional in the early days than we’d been lead to believe – “not just sitting in his ivory tower singing to the moon” – though it’s still hard to think of a musician worse equipped for the rigours of the music business and having, as Richard perfectly puts it, “a personality fundamentally ill-suited to display”. This covers a wide landscape from his lack of support (no real manager, no agent, no proper PR), the unusual and often disastrous gigs he played, the luckless timing of his record releases (Five Leaves Left out the day Brian Jones died), the mysteries of his love life, his time with John Cale, playing for Mick Jagger in Marrakesh, an awkward Parisian dinner with Francoise Hardy and his eventual decline and withdrawal from the outside world. It’s also a charming portrait of what real life was like in the late ‘60s when evenings revolved around a record deck, overflowing ashtrays and games of Monopoly. You can order Richard Morton Jack’s book here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nick-Drake-Richard-Morton-Jack/dp/1529308089Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Growing up in remote rural Norfolk, crime writer Cathi Unsworth had a Goth conversion, a condition from which, she happily admits, you never fully recover. And never want to. She discovered Dennis Wheatley’s ‘To The Devil A Daughter’, heard Siouxsie & the Banshees on the Peel Show and saw a picture of Robert Smith in a magazine which she stuck by her bedroom mirror to help her construct his spectacular dishevelment. She’s just published ‘Season Of The Witch: the Book of Goth’, a highly entertaining account of the dark side of rock starting out with the Brontes, Edgar Allan Poe and Aubrey Beardsley and heading, via Jim Morrison, Jacques Brel and Nico, to Joy Division, the Cure and the Sisters of Mercy. This is a very funny and self-mocking pod in which you’ll find the following … … why Yorkshire is “Goth’s Own Country”. … the secret ingredient in Mac McCulloch’s vertical hair. … Nick Cave - “the Dark Lord of Goth Music” (©️ the Daily Mail) – at the Coronation. … Lee Hazlewood’s advice to Nancy Sinatra when recording Goth staple These Boots Are Made For Walking. … “changing into fishnet tights in the bogs at school”, rival pop gangs, mooching about in graveyards and a mate “who used to sit up trees reading Dennis Wheatley and summoning Satan”. .. the joy of crimpers and backcombing. … “spreading the virus” at the Batcave. … the inventor of the term Goth and the key Gothmothers and Gothfathers. … local folklore about hellhounds in Norfolk. … her first gig, the York Rock Festival in 1984 featuring the Bunnymen, Sisters of Mercy, Spear of Destiny and the Redskins: “Gothtopia”! … “Beer Girls and Beer Boys” and why it was best to avoid them. … dark Satanic mills. … and the greatest Goth record ever made. Order ‘Season of the Witch: the Book of Goth’ here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Season-Witch-Book-Cathi-Unsworth/dp/1788706242Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Filling the spinnaker of enquiry on the careering, two-mast schooner of rock and roll this week you will find … … the prog drummer who made a fortune. ... did Brian Wilson bring a horse into a recording studio? Or write a symphony for drums? Or have an idea involving a hen in tennis shoes? … why the New York Times review of the new Wham! documentary is ridiculous and wrong. ... the eternal allure of The Larry Sanders Show – “Madam, I killed a man like you in Korea!” … the curse of identity journalism. … the most influential British DJ of all time. … Kenneth Tynan’s exquisite profile of Johnny Carson in the New Yorker and the dark art of being a TV chat show producer. … the mathematical certainty that every review you ever write will eventually resurface. “Nothing will be forgotten - the afterlife is always longer than the first flush of success.” … was there ever a briefer ‘fashionable’ moment than that of Guns N’ Roses? … the great new expression for being drunk – “overserved”.  Watch that deathless Renia clip here …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv0VyHHEj2s&t=11sSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we paddle the two-man kayak of curiosity across the rock and roll seafront and make a few stops on the way, among them … … “the future is always in the past”. … the pure theatre of the E Street Band and its cast of characters – “our lives are repaired by the fact that they’re still together”. … the growing appeal of Country & Western - and even “shronking” jazz – as you get older. … Bless the Barn, Featherwash and Franny Wisp, Portlandia’s low-volume crowd-pleasers. … the ‘Barry’ TV series (starring Bill Hader): that rare beast, a contract killer who’s a nice bloke. … the 60th anniversary of the recording of She Loves You, why engineer Norman Smith predicted a flop and the fan break-in at Abbey Road that energised the session. … is the success of Nick Drake partly an antidote to the age of technology? … how our concept of ‘old’ has changed: McCartney at Live Aid was a coffin-dodging 43, same age as Kelis at Glastonbury. … is cricket now the drunkest spectator sport? And which is the greater agony, seeing England doing badly when you’re there or watching at home with the commentary? … and the Elton John Band have been together 53 years – but that’s only six years longer than Madness. … plus birthday guests Andrew Stocks and Patrick Cleasby and a roll-call of new patreon supporters.Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sizzling hot topics patted back and forth across the ping-pong net of conversation this week include …… the republishing of Giles Smith’s Lost In Music, one of the funniest books ever written about our real life relationship with pop stars, records and being in bands. Giles – and Nick Hornby – kick-started a whole new literary vogue. … has Cate Blanchett won Glastonbury? … why do we update book jackets but never change a record cover? … how the Stones’ Steel Wheels tour changed the gig economy. … the Stackwaddy game: song titles - George Formby or Frank Zappa? … how gigs became a status symbol and tickets a statement purchase. ... did a record sleeve ever put you off buying the album? … what are YOU going to do with your vinyl collection? Original new “estate plans” considered. … amusing things said by George Melly (and who was Mucky Alice?). … Recession? What recession? 650,000 people bought arena/stadium tickets in London last weekend. Plus Toe Fat, Blind Faith, “the Larynx on Legs”, author Giles Smith and birthday guests Blaine Allen and Richard Lewis.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aged 21 in 1963, Harvey Lisberg wanted to be the next Brian Epstein and ended up managing Herman’s Hermits and 10cc, among others, before relaunching the snooker stars Jimmy White and Hurricane Higgins. We thoroughly recommend his just-published memoir ‘I’m Into Something Good’ and this wide-ranging encounter takes in … ... the unique division of labour in 10cc and the magnificently doomed invention of ‘the Gizmo’. … the perils of $100,000’s credit in Las Vegas casinos. … life for the wives of rock stars “in love with music”. … his friendship with Colonel Tom Parker and a day spent with Elvis in Honolulu. … a prickly relationship with Mickie Most. … why America fell in love with Peter Noone. … Herman’s Hermits’ US tours with the Stones and the Who. … and how he changed the snooker world by remodelling the “Artful Dodger” Jimmy White.  Buy Harvey’s memoir here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Im-Into-Something-Good-Managing-ebook/dp/B0BSHGRN5VSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s pod veers off the conversational highway to break out its picnic hamper at the following leafy locations …. … the Stackwaddy game: metal band or clawed demon from Dante’s Inferno? … when bands stopped being good-looking. … Paul Simon’s Seven Psalms: how long can you give a record before it clicks? … Tony ‘TS’ McPhee of the Groundhogs (RIP) and the great British blues underground: cue the scent of damp greatcoats. … does anything capture the time better than a record shop in a movie? … the hard-fought life of Glenda Jackson plus “All men are fools and what makes them so is having beauty like what I have got”. … eternally recommended: the crestfallen, poignant, melancholy world of the Fountains of Wayne. … the moment in A Clockwork Orange that gave us Heaven 17 and Fuzzy Warbles. … streaming services are now editing the movies they carry (eg the French Connection): Doesn’t this infantilize the audience? … We Are Family. Are Ringo Starr and Joe Walsh related? Is Suzi Quatro Sherilyn Fenn’s aunt? … a unique literary double-act: Robert Caro and the late Bob Gottlieb. … how subtitles change the way we watch. … Paul McCartney, consummate press-wrangler. … and the lost appeal of late-night movie screenings.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The super-trouper of gentle enquiry alights this week upon … … why bands are at their biggest when they’re over the hill. … Fats Waller v Morrissey song titles: can YOU tell your Waller from your Wallower? … how could Dylan have written Queen Jane Approximately aged only 24? … why you should hear Pieces Of Treasure by Rickie Lee Jones, particularly the track All The Way. … the social media bin-fire that’s shredding the reputation of Bobby Gillespie and how Twitter loves a character assassination - “Pound shop Mick Jagger! Always a charlatan!” … was anyone worse equipped for the rigours of the pop circus than Nick Drake? … “big” 20-album record collections, board games and no telly: fond memories of real life in late ‘60s London.   … Richard Thompson and Nick Drake’s painfully awkward tube journey. … what risible sum Astrud Gilberto was paid for The Girl From Ipanema. … and why Springsteen was called “the Boss”.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourearGrab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Forty years ago Clare Grogan was on the cover of Smash Hits yet again and was the fourth guest at our garden party on June 3. Here she remembers the key events that have happened since which include meeting Bill Forsyth and the success of Gregory’s Girl (and why she only saw it for the first time recently), touring with Siouxsie & the Banshees when still at school, life as a pop star in the golden age, being Kristine Kochanski in Red Dwarf and its obsessive fans, her time in Father Ted, Kim Wilde’s call to get her to join the Here And Now ‘80s pop package tour and a great story about Nik Kershaw and John Taylor. Listen to what happened when she told the audience how she loves and needs applause – and loves “loud cheering” even more. Spoiler alert: contains both laughter and tears. Order the new Altered Images CD here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mascara-Streakz-Altered-Images/dp/B0B29LG9B3/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=altered+images+mascara+streakz+cd&qid=1686041285&sr=8-3Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early (and ad-free!) access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first record by the Beatles came out on the same day as the first James Bond film. Over sixty years later they still send their differing forms of Britishness out into the world. John Higgs has written a book, “Love And Let Die”, about how closely they have been intertwined over the years, about how they stood for very different sorts of masculinity, how they changed the way we wanted to dress and behave and how they have, between them, shaped the British psyche of today.Love And Let Die: https://www.waterstones.com/book/love-and-let-die/john-higgs/9781399600163Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author, DJ, member of St Etienne and a regular on our podcasts, Bob Stanley was the second guest at our sun-baked garden party in the auditorium of Opera Holland Park on June 3 talking about his new book “Bee Gees: Children Of the World”. He feels – and very rightly – that in some quarters they’re still the punchline to a heartless joke and deserve infinitely more critical respect. This illuminating conversation touches on the “teenage delinquent” years in Manchester, their struggles in Australia, signing with Robert Stigwood, success and how badly they handled it, what the press made of them, how they invented the sound of Jive Talkin’ and Night Fever, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, why they were known as “Pilly, Potty and Boozy” and the various people who’ve loudly sung their praises – Diana Ross, Pet Shop Boys, Take That and Noel Gallagher among them. Order Bob's book ‘Bee Gees: Children of the World’ here … https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bee-Gees-Children-Bob-Stanley/dp/1788705424/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=]2502&hvtargid=pla-1945216255331&psc=1&th=1&psc=1Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a barely believable sixty years since the Rolling Stones put out their first single, “Come On”, so we asked Lesley-Ann Jones, the author of “The Stone Age", along to talk about them and how they have related to the women in their lives, from Brian Jones’s strange relationships with his Cheltenham girlfriends, Mick Jagger’s powerful attraction to women who look like him, the sexual competition that raged between him and Keith Richards and the mid-life crises of Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman. As they say on the disclaimers this podcast contains adult themes.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s rock and roll gumbo includes the following spicy and nutritious ingredients … … “the internet is designed to let middle-aged men think they’ve had the last word”. … will the Royal Blood storm-in-a-teacup do them more good than harm? … Barry Gibbs’ beard. … what ‘Three Lions’ did to the Lightning Seeds’ Scottish, Welsh and Irish fanbase. … old memories of Kevin Coyne and Marjory Razorblade. … why no band is ever “forgotten”. … what’s so sacred about Love Will Tear Us Apart? … can AI music ever work if you don’t feel a connection with the person making it?   … why are the Doors fading from view? … there are only two degrees of adulation: too little or too much. Plus Birthdays guests Ray Roscoe and Paul Thompson.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fond and appraising enquiry of recent events, this week featuring … … we now feel we have to approve of artists/musicians/writers before we can say we like what they do. When did all this start? … a new Stackwaddy game – Hari-Krishna Stomp Wagon? Starchelle Chicago Bear? Flaming Lips song title or exotically named winner of Crufts’ Best In Show? … in defence of men with bad reputations eg Evelyn Waugh, Martin Amis, John Lennon … … re-pressed versions of albums that were 70p in the late ‘60s now sell for £29.99. What fresh madness is this? … Liam Gallagher’s son Lennon and Paul Weller’s daughter Dylan ‘toast the 20th anniversary of an iconic Mulberry bag’: an ‘It’s like punk never happened’ special! .. how the Silicon Valley TV series tells the truth. … Noel Gallagher’s magnificent use of the word ‘disingenuous’ (possibly to wrong-foot and baffle his brother). And why he wrote Acquiesce. … the now comically over-the-top Cannes standing ovations and what’s behind them. … and the weaselly worlds of film and daytime telly.Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 3rd here!: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-return-of-word-in-the-park-tickets-576193870377Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A special extra podcast recorded just after hearing the news. We can barely remember a time when we weren’t aware of her. This looks back at the Ike & Tina R&B hits of the ‘60s, the Ikettes dance routines and how he copyrighted her stage name, the story of the recording of River Deep Mountain High with Phil Spector, Proud Mary on the Ed Sullivan Show, supporting the Rolling Stones, her unique vocal style and the way she sold the drama of the songs … and then the greatest comeback imaginable: the arrival of manager Roger Davies, the B.E.F.’s recording of Ball Of Confusion at Abbey Road (and the impossible demands of James Brown), Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome, Private Dancer (and Bowie’s 1984) and the record-breaking 180,000-crowd show at Brazil’s Maracana Stadium in 1988. And the fine art of dancing in high heels.Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 3rd here!: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/576193870377 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Put through the boil-wash of enquiry and hung upon the washing line of truth this week you’ll find the following one-size-fits-all garments … … which acts are fading from memory and who’ll be remembered in 50 years’ time? … how Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen and Warren Zevon addressed mortality – (‘My Ride’s Here', ‘Enjoy Every Sandwich’ ...). … actors who’ve made albums. … the photo that changed the perception of Johnny Cash. … why you should watch the Pet Shop Boys’ new BBC interview, Reel Stories. … the prog star who stage-invaded Jacob Rees Mogg’s speech at the Conservative conference. … “Nothing will ever beat the first time you hear yourself on the radio”: Sting and the law of diminishing returns. .. how Will Self capsized his own career. … how Shakespeare and Robert Johnson’s reputations were both made by a ‘Greatest Hits’. … Brian Jones’s fall from grace. ... who invented the term ‘goth’? .. and the genius of Andy Rourke.Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 3rd here!: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/576193870377 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Further nutritious items on the pod’s tasting menu this week include … … the story of Tubular Bells and how the Exorcist sent its sales through the roof. … beneath the surface of every band is a drama waiting to kick off: the View’s reunion gig was “a brotherly bust-up that went too far”.   … one of the following didn’t endorse a credit card, but which? – Beyoncé, Michael Jackson, Kiss, the Wu-Tang Clan, U2 and the Sex Pistols. … crimes in rhyme perpetrated by Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen and Boney M - plus do YOU know a better one than ‘You told me love was too plebeian/ Told me you were through with me an’ …”? … Beyoncé’s tour is “a celebration of black queer dance music” but that didn’t stop her playing a private gig in Dubai for $24m. … plus stadium tour profits, singing bassists and 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Blue Danube.Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 3rd here!: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/576193870377 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Where the Gold Bracelets of Sincerity and Wisdom and the Rod of Equity and Mercy meet the piping hot music news agenda in a weekly podcast and alight upon the following …. … the greatest singer of sad songs we’ve ever heard. … the extraordinary tale of the B-side of ‘13 Women And Only One Man’. … songs you couldn’t record these days. … Rufus Wainwright’s re-recording of Neil Young’s Harvest – but CAN modern technology possibly make it sound any better? … Noel Coward in the Italian Job.  ... the mystifying UK pop charts at the time of the last Coronation. … old records we’ve re-discovered: this week, Bonnie Raitt’s magnificent Give It Up (and especially Love Has No Pride). … John Prine’s Angel From Montgomery. … Gordon Lightfoot: why Dylan adored him and the tale of The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald. … the return of Frankie Goes To Hollywood and the excellent current occupation of Brian ‘Nasher’ Nash.------Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 3rd here!: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-return-of-word-in-the-park-tickets-576193870377------Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!------Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Encountering the cheerful ping-pong bats of conversation this week you’ll find … … the most unprepossessing rock band on God’s green earth. … Ed Sheeran v Marvin Gaye – “the case continues”. But does anybody genuinely copy anyone else these days? … Springsteen and Michelle Obama and their irresistible thirst for publicity.   … the return of the Stack Waddy game: Spencer Birtwistle? Wilfred Mott? … Bernard Cribbins sitcom character or former member of the Fall? … Santana’s Caravanserai still sounds like it was made yesterday. … what Paul McCartney and Coldplay were paid to play Glastonbury. … if you tell people they’ll like things they tend to look for reasons to disagree but can we (cautiously) recommend the Australian comedy Colin From Accounts? … Happy 70th, Bill Drummond. We remember his deafening ‘retirement’ exit at the BRITS in 1992 and his exotic activities since. … the delicate rhythms of the funniest lines by PG Wodehouse.   … a chilling stat involving football academies. … Harry Belafonte, the original “singer and activist”, and the time he was in a drama class with Walter Matthau and Marlon Brando. … plus Shakespeare, a light-fingered Noel Gallagher and amplified busking.------------Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 3rd here!: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-return-of-word-in-the-park-tickets-576193870377------------Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!------------Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early and ad-free access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Items run up the flagpole this week include … … our memories of the exquisite agony of teenage dances, especially Dave’s at the Mecca Ballroom in Wakefield, 1965. ... unforgettable things said and done by Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. … rock stars with Brian Jones’s hair. … do we care more about the people who make music than the music itself?… a point from Massive Attack – “is the discussion ‘should AI recreate music?’ or is it ‘Why is contemporary music so homogenised & formulaic that it’s really easy to copy?’” … songs that never fail to fill dancefloors. … a “Ladies’ Prosecco Afternoon” with a Robbie Williams impersonator. … what’ll be the next music revival? … when did you last see a Teddy Boy? … Dave’s story about why Take It Easy by the Eagles meant so much to him. … and the eternal appeal of Mod. … plus birthday guest Andrew Newbury – “was We Can Work It Out the Beatles’ tipping point?”Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 3rd here!: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-return-of-word-in-the-park-tickets-576193870377Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early and ad-free access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dipping our shrimping nets this week into the ever-bountiful rock and roll rock pool we find … … Dylan, Madonna, Pharrell Williams, Michael Jackson, Nick Cave and Keith Richards – which one didn’t write a children’s book? … S Club 7, Miles Davis’s sessionmen and others apparently ripped off by the heartless, skinflint music industry. … the unsung story of Jack Nitzsche, “the man with the golden touch”, his part in the Stones’ baroque period and the recordings he made in Barking Town Hall and St Giles Cripplegate. … when Sly Stone got married onstage and the couple who got hitched at a Taylor Swift show. … a “short-fingered vulgarian” and a “beaky, crow-coiffed, pleat-faced” guitarist. … the Gershwin score to Woody Allen’s Manhattan. … how two thirds of NBA players are bankrupt in 10 years. ... Jimmy Page’s Shirley Bassey session.  … Rlchard Branson picking up women. … how Jay Craydon’s still living off a Steely Dan guitar solo. … can any musician hope to make it if they start aged 37? … and somewhat irritatingly Jamie Oliver attaches himself to the celebrity children’s author gravy train. Plus birthday guests Stephen Lambe –“that adolescent moment when pop music stops being just a nice noise and becomes Something Important: discuss”. And Chuck Loncon recommends Matthew Sweet and Susannah Hoffs’ Under The Covers compilations and the Stay Awake album of songs from Disney films.Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 3rd here!: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-return-of-word-in-the-park-tickets-576193870377Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The “bargain basement Baudelaire” is setting out on a UK tour in April and tells Mark Ellen here about the earliest shows he saw and played, memories which happily include … … the subtle art of crowd control. … seeing Bob Hope when he was 9 and the strange impression of the adult world that suggested. … the dress code that barred him from a Hendrix gig. … auditioning for Bernard Manning at the Embassy Club and what he learnt from him.  … “I was Little Richard’s gear carrier (aged 11)”. … why he based his look on Ronnie Wood. … the perfect song for the hopeless bass player. … the deathless advice his Dad gave him. … why punk rock audiences were a breeze. … the desperate fashion-chasing changes of tack of the Mafia, the band he formed in the ’60s. Who became the Vendettas. Who became the Lovely Flowers. … “the last time I saw a mouth like that it had a hook in it” and other comedy circuit one-liners. … the life-changing inclusion of "Evidently Chickentown" in the Sopranos’ credits. … and the greatest gig he ever saw “which may well have been cooked up in the playground of my imagination”.   John’s tour dates here ….https://johncooperclarke.com/gigs/ And this is his highly recommended memoir, I Wanna Be Yours … https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wanna-Yours-John-Cooper-Clarke/dp/1509896104Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 3rd here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-return-of-word-in-the-park-tickets-576193870377Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early and ad-free access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s trawl of the rock and roll outer limits alights, among others, on the following sizzling hot topics … ... a lost Beatles tape and the night they played Stowe School 60 years ago. … the return of the Stackwaddy game: were there really ‘60s New Zealand pop groups called the Chapta, Hi-Revving Tongues and the Kal-Q-Lated Risk? … Todd Haynes’ brilliant Velvet Underground documentary and how the band spawned pop’s greatest look- and sound-alike movement. And could Lou Reed have made it without Andy Warhol, John Cale or Nico? … Tracie, Bowie, Bonnie Tyler, Tracey Ullman, the JoBoxers, Kenny Everett and other top-notch components of the singles chart in April ‘83. … did A Hard Day’s Night invent the word “grotty” and Steely Dan the word “scam”? … who was the mysterious “Fred Flange”? The story of the Goons, George Martin , Peter Sellers and Matt Monro.   … … and birthday guest Al Hearton remembers records you’d heard about before you heard them – eg Don’t Fear the Reaper, Bat Out Of Hell, Mother’s Little Helper, Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite and Eve Of Destruction.Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 3rd here!: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-return-of-word-in-the-park-tickets-576193870377Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early and ad-free access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Being on tour with King Crimson,” in the words of their film director, “is like being with the school rugby team and, at the last minute, the games teacher falls ill so they send them out with the maths master. But the team starts winning ...” Is there another band remotely like them? Their leader believes in discipline and cold showers in the morning. He practices four hours a day. Life in the group was “wretched” from 1969 to 2013. Adrian Belew says it made his hair fall out. The running gag among its 22 one-time members is “you’re irreplaceable, just like the last bloke”. With great bravery and patience, Toby Amies has made a documentary about them, ‘In The Court Of The Crimson King: King Crimson at 50’, and talks to us here about what he discovered. There’s much to be enjoyed, not least… … the fact that Robert Fripp commissioned the film and for months refused to take part in it. … the encounter with Sister Dana, the prog rock nun from Norway. … the film’s reflections upon “the metronome of mortality”. .. the thoughts and perspectives of current and former band members, particularly Bill Bruford, Bill Reiflin, Jakko Jakszyk and Ian McDonald who “broke Robert’s heart” in 1969 and is still touchingly apologetic. … the religious ecstasy pursued by their audience. … how King Crimson’s music feels like a deep-body tissue massage. … and the extraordinary two-minute pause that a motionless Fripp leaves before answering one of the film’s questions. It’s very entertaining, not least because it was made by someone who wasn’t a fan but simply curious and had questions he wanted answered. This original and idiosyncratic film suits them perfectly. Screenings here …https://www.itcotck.com/screenings @TobyAmieshttps://linktr.ee/tobyamies@itcotckdoc@ITCOTCKfilmhttps://linktr.ee/itcotckTickets for Word In The Park, in London on Saturday June 3rd, available here!: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-happy-return-of-word-in-the-park-tickets-576193870377Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive early and ad-free access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul Weller’s been writing songs for 50 years now and he’s chosen over 100 of his lyrics for the new and gorgeous, picture-packed publication ‘Paul Weller: Magic – A Journal Of Song’, each accompanied by his memories of how and why he wrote it compiled from interviews with long-time admirer, multiple author and old pal of the podcast, Dylan Jones. No-one was better qualified for the job. The teenage Dylan saw the Jam countless times in London pubs and has followed Weller closely ever since, a songwriter, he says, “who’s proved he’s beyond reproach and, in some senses, possibly without equal”. This is full of stories and insights, among them … … “you don’t tell Paul Weller what to do”. … his unease about the sentimentality of English Rose.   … “the Style Council were a better group than the Jam”. … the teenage Weller travelling to London to make cassette recordings of the traffic. … his love of tabloid song titles and unrhyming lyrics.   … what saved him from being dropped by Polydor. … Steve Winwood, the Liverpool Poets, the Beatles, Kinks and other key influences.   … the burden of being a hero. … and the likelihood of a Jam reunion.  Order Paul Weller – Magic: A Journal Of Song here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magic-Journal-Song-Paul-Weller/dp/1905662742Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 3rd here!: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-return-of-word-in-the-park-tickets-576193870377Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early and ad-free access to all our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Manfreds start their 60th Anniversary Tour in September with Paul, Mike D’Abo and Tom McGuinnness in the line-up. He talks to us here about the first and best shows he’s seen and …   … being told “there’s a soul/R&B singer in Birmingham and if he ever comes to London you’re finished”. … how Brian Jones “opened up a secret door”. ... “stealing from Tennyson” for the lyrics of 5-4-3-2-1. … being with Mick Jagger and Long John Baldry watching Alexis Korner calling up guest “shouters” and all thinking “pick me!” … what T-Bone Walker taught him. … seeing Lonnie Donegan at the Kings Theatre, Southampton, and the absurdity of doing ‘It Takes A Worried Man’ in your skiffle band when you’re only 15. … Bob Dylan at Earl’s Court. … the earth-shifting impact of the Modern Jazz Quartet. … and the early adventures of ‘Blues Boy’ Jones.   Tickets for the Manfreds’ 60 Anniversary tour here …https://myticket.co.uk/artists/the-manfredsTickets for Word In The Park in London on June 3rd here!: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-return-of-word-in-the-park-tickets-576193870377Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early and ad-free access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we cast a warm but appraising glance in the direction of the week’s news and alight upon the following sizzling topics … … the best media job in the world. … the most played record in the history of the BBC. … the Avengers franchise “is just a giant ATM for Marvel and produces argument-proof movies”. … the most influential thing about John Peel wasn’t the music he liked. … found: the owner of the VW van on the cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. … Seymour Stein, the man who signed the Ramones, Talking Heads and Madonna - and met Buddy Holly. And only signed musicians if they had enough drive - “Ambition is basically dissatisfaction with where and who you are. You’re born with demons that you have to harness before they kill you.” … Ben Sidran’s 34 albums and how Spotify saves everyone from disappearing. … the return of the Stackwaddy game – Crushed Butler, Clog, Highly Inflammable and other deathless 1971 support acts. … the attractively unfathomable lyrics of Keith Reid and the ‘Whiter Shade Of Pale’ court case. … why AO Scott left the New York Times. … and birthday guest Chris Lintott nominates his “prawn cocktail DJ”. Our Seymour Stein podcast in 2018 …https://shows.acast.com/word-in-your-ear-2/episodes/5fe229acf896715ee8319657 The campervan on the cover of the Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan …https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/mar/24/bob-dylan-iconic-vw-van-blue-camper-freewheelin-new-york--------Fancy a free case of beer? Celebrate the warmer days with a free case of exceptional beers from Beer52! Simply go to www.beer52.com/WORD and cover the meagre postage cost of £5.95 to claim your free case now.--------Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 3rd here!: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-return-of-word-in-the-park-tickets-576193870377---------Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early and ad-free access to all our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Lauder started the Radar, F-Beat and Demon labels, worked at Liberty, Stiff and United Artists and signed (or licensed) and helped shape the careers of countess acts we’ve loved over the years, among them the Bonzos, Hawkwind, Captain Beefheart, JJ Cale, Nick Lowe, Creedence Clearwater, Elvis Costello, Can, Dr Feelgood, Stranglers and the Stone Roses. He was one of the main architects of the whole world of independent labels. Mick Houghton has written his memoir – Happy Trails – and talked to us here about … … the Denmark Street days when the music business was just a village. … the complete list of journalists on Brinsley Schwarz’s famously catastrophic press trip to the Fillmore East in 1970. … why ‘the Beat Merchants’ album was the UK Nuggets. … the old world of the ‘70s rock and roll when the record industry was part of the packaged goods business and gigs got stopped for 20 minutes because of a power cut.  … the golden age of rock samplers – Gutbucket, Greasy Truckers Party etc.  … and the LIBERTY WANTS TALENT! ad that brought us the Bonzos, the Idle Race, Family and Elton John & Bernie Taupin.    Order Happy Trails here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Good-Clean-Mick-Houghton/dp/147462359XSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early and ad-free access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whistling, clicking our heels, swinging round lampposts and lobbing the odd shiny florin to a flaxen-haired child, this week’s free-wheeling navigation of the rock and roll boulevard alights upon the following hot topics … … why Indie music is like student drama. … what the Beatles achieved in “the 585 most productive minutes in the history of recorded music" (aka the recording of Please Please Me) and the albums released the same day every decade after.  … Death & Vanilla, Frightened Rabbit and – to deafening applause – the welcome return of the Stackwaddy game. … albums performed as ‘plays’ (by musicians who didn’t make them). A band featuring Clem Burke and Glen Matlock has just toured playing Lust For Life in its entirety. What others would work as well? The Band’s second album? Liege & Lief? The Ramones? Hot Rats? … unappetising song titles. … what Bob Dylan did so “my mother would finally think I'm somebody”. And how his Mum reacted to his success.   … and why bands end sets with Country Roads, Mustang Sally and Twist And Shout.Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!-----------Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive early and ad-free access to all our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Teenage Fanclub are touring the UK in November. Norman tells us here about some of the first and best shows he’s seen and played and life in the group's early days. Which involves … … the band that made him want to start a band. … the Wombles at a YMCA when he was 12. … selling a fridge and a washing machine to buy recording time. … the bouncing balcony of the Glasgow Apollo when the Clash played in ‘78. … having a wee next to Steve Cropper. … the age at which audiences “appreciate having a seat”. … busking etiquette.   ... his mum taking him to see the Kinks and Tom Jones.   … serving John Martyn at McCormack’s Music Shop – “Thanks, wee man!" … a sweet story about a trombone, Terry Hall and the Specials. … Neil Young with Booker T & the MGs. … the fine art of “sprinkling” new material in a set list. … watching the Smiths play the greatest show he’s ever seen, “the stage strewn with flowers”. Dates and tickets here … https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/teenage-fanclub-tickets/artist/736268Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every Word Podcast early and ad-free!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whistling, clicking our heels, swinging round lampposts and lobbing the odd shiny florin to a flaxen-haired child, this week’s free-wheeling navigation of the rock and roll boulevard alights upon the following hot topics … … why Indie music is like student drama. … what the Beatles achieved in “the 585 most productive minutes in the history of recorded music" (aka the recording of Please Please Me) and the albums released the same day every decade after.  … Death & Vanilla, Frightened Rabbit and – to deafening applause – the welcome return of the Stackwaddy game. … albums performed as ‘plays’ (by musicians who didn’t make them). A band featuring Clem Burke and Glen Matlock has just toured playing Lust For Life in its entirety. What others would work as well? The Band’s second album? Liege & Lief? The Ramones? Hot Rats? … unappetising song titles. … what Bob Dylan did so “my mother would finally think I'm somebody”. And how his Mum reacted to his success.   … and why bands end sets with Country Roads, Mustang Sally and Twist And Shout.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early and ad-free access to every future Word Podcast!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sauntering in carefree, conversational mode down the rock and roll bridleway this week, pausing briefly to lean against a tree and tootle upon a mouth-organ, we came across the following … … bands with no original members left - Lynyrd Skynyrd, Motorhead, the Crickets, the Ramones, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Drifters … any more? … things musicians are obsessed with. … albums by acts we love without a single redeeming feature – Blondie’s The Hunter? Bob Dylan’s Saved? The Dead’s Built To Last? It’s Hard by The Who? … the night – exactly 20 years ago – we saw the Dixie Chicks make their career-capsizing comment about George Bush. … the hilarious left-right shift in Russell Brand’s brand values.   … the main reason some people go to Glastonbury. … can you love an act as much if you don’t own their records or CDs and just stream them? … a Northern Soul DJ’s £250,000 box of singles being stolen from his home after a gig. … and Mr Inbetween, the Australian crime drama that’s like Saxondale meets Reservoir Dogs.Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!----Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast early, and ad-free!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Things in the crosshairs this week include … … why it took 34 years to get De La Soul on a streaming service. … Radio 2’s ham-fisted handling of the departure of Ken Bruce – and are R2 and Greatest Hits Radio two bald men fighting over a comb if music radio seems doomed to die? … the new fun-sized Axl Rose. … U2’s stand-in drummer Bram van den Berg is like “Jimmie Nicol on stilts”. … the BBC and Glastonbury re John Peel: never name anything after a celebrity! ... “Jackson Browne would never have been anything without David Lindley”. … what made the Spice Girls successful? … Steely Dan’s Aja, Joni Mitchell’s Paprika Plains and other places to hear Wayne Shorter’s divine embroideries.   … comedy skits on records. … plus David Lindley’s effortless fashion statements – “Jackson Browne could emerge from a plane crash looking like Cary Grant but Lindley could have had stylists working round the clock for three days and still looked like an unmade bed”.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast early and ad-free!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Karen Carpenter died 40 years ago at the age of 32, a life mapped out in a new biography by Lucy O’Brien called Lead Sister. It’s a chilling, cautionary tale of how she and her brother became international stars and the devastating personal repercussions that were the consequence. Our conversation with Lucy covers the waterfront and includes … … the perils of “helicopter parents”.  … why Richard was “The Chosen One”. … a disastrous association with Nixon. … destabilising press comments about weight issues and her “milksop presence”. … what Hal Blaine said about her mother.... the night she met Elvis. … what singers need to survive. … the private bebop language she invented. … “Drummers are like hockey goalies. No-one knows how to talk to them apart from another drummer.”… the howling disaster of her solo album. … and what she discovered about her husband three days before she was due to marry him.  Lead Sister by Lucy O’Brien …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lead-Sister-Story-Karen-Carpenter/dp/1788708245 The Carpenters’ first TV appearance, 1968 …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cz60nGaopMSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early and ad-free access to every Word Podcast!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The teenage Michael Cragg was obsessed with the “glorious shiny ludicrous pop” of the period that began with the Spice Girls, included Hear’Say, Five, Steps, Atomic Kitten, Blue and countless others and ended with the closure of Popworld and Smash Hits ten years later, a tale less about music than the media that covered it and the machinations of the industry. All the key leading players – bands, managers, songwriters, critics – are interviewed in his sparkling and soon-to-be-published account of it all, Reach For the Stars, and our conversation with him includes … ….. why Chris Morris should make a film about it. … why there are no groups anymore. … Russell Brand auditioning for Five. … the secret of the Spice Girls’ success. … which is more cynical, the worlds of TV or music. … why pop stars needed “bullet-proof exteriors”. ... the band that couldn’t go to gigs or football matches without security to protect them. … why Blue would never have survived in the age of social media. … why pop stars were like contract players in 1930s movies. … how TV drained the fun and frivolity. … whether girl groups appeal to 100 per cent of the audience and boybands to only 50? … the extraordinary fall and rise of Whole Again by Atomic Kitten. … and the band mistakenly delivered by private jet to Donatella Versace. @MichaelCragg Reach For The Stars …https://www.waterstones.com/book/reach-for-the-stars/michael-cragg/9781788707244Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive early access to every future Word Podcast!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s crackling logs on the conversational fire include … … the attractively unchanging sound of Joe Henry’s 15 albums (the man PRs still sell as “Madonna’s brother-in-law”). … the 45th anniversary of David and Mark’s first meeting – at an Earth Quake gig at Salford University on February 10 1978. … Neil Tennant’s letter to Janice Long. … the recommended TV tribulations of Kleo, East German intelligence operative. … “Is it a nut? Is it a boy? Is it a wino? No, just Wreckless Eric!” A flick through an old Record Mirror from 1978. … where live music costs £3 a minute. … did the Beatles and Stones ever sound remotely similar even when playing the same song? … the Beatles on Juke Box Jury (and what they said about Elvis).   … Levon Helm’s drum kit. … plus birthday guest David Messer on why everyone should love Bill Wyman. … and birthday guest Adrian Ainsworth recommends three classical albums – Sean Shibe’s ‘Lost & Found’, ‘A Verlaine Songbook’ by Carolyn Simpson and Joseph Middleton, and John Adams’ ‘Shaker Loops’.Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/yourear to get a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + a Bonus Gift! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive early and ad-free access to every future Word Podcast!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Of all the figures who built rock and roll back in the 1950s, Chuck Berry was arguably the most influential and certainly the strangest. In a new biography, which could never have been written when he was alive, R.J. Smith tells a story which is still hard to believe. His conversation with David Hepworth includes:* how the nerd Charles Berry discovered the key to impressing women* How a reckless streak a mile wide saw him put away as a teenager* How a comic turn developed into the greatest act in rock and roll* How he never listened to what his daddy told him about white women* How his record company’s landlord ended up co-writing “Maybelline”* His Mann Act conviction and imprisonment* His rebirth in Britain with the help of the Beatles and Stones* Why he needed a copy of the FT every day* Why he never said thank-you* The part played in his life by Lanchester Poly* His last and most tawdry court case* What was going on in his head all that timeChuck Berry: An American Life by R.J. Smith is out now.https://amzn.to/3IE7K7qSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast ad-free and before the rest of the world!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eels are touring the UK in March/April and E talks here about what he’s learnt about live performance from being onstage or in the audience. And this includes … … a valuable lesson from watching Leon Russell’s deserted matinee at a racetrack in Maryland. … his mum’s reaction to him singing Plastic Ono Band songs in the car when he was 10.   … seeing George Harrison (aged 11) with his sister. … the fascination of formerly big bands now quietly on the way back down (like Steppenwolf). … playing drums at his son’s school concert.   … the “crazy and theatrical spectacle” of Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps tour. … and what fan footage on YouTube can tell you. Eels tour dates …https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/eelsSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early access to every future Word Podcast!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Given the once-over this week in vigorous pursuit of edification and amusement … … should a Fawlty Towers sequel be illegal? … over-refreshed audiences wrecking Jukebox Musicals. … our hunt for the elusive album sleeve with the long-haired girl/Afghan hound. … how acts signal their popularity now the charts no longer matter. … critics who attacked people who attacked back. … the Beatles and ‘the genius of personality’. … how the parental credit card fuels the Springsteen ticket price inflation. … U2 about to play the new Las Vegas venue with an LED screen the size of three football pitches. … what’s the best age to be? … when are we in our prime and when are we at our most stupid? Plus birthday guest Nick Foreman and Danny Baker’s rare album hand-out.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The dazzling super-trouper of gentle enquiry is trained this week upon:- … Sam Smith’s inflatable suit. … “TV kills everything”. … What do producers actually do? Old pal Kate Mossman joins us to talk about the inscrutable working methods of Rick Rubin, “the golden ratio”, the significance of his beard, the concept of being “Rubinised” and his transformation of Johnny Cash (and how the same thing worked later for Loretta Lynn, Glen Campbell and Willie Nelson). … Lawyers will be the only winners in the Roger Waters v Gilmour/Samson spat – “bands tend to start on a whim in a scout hut with a bunch of 16 year-olds and generally end with someone wearing a wig”. … Burt Bacharach’s magical eight-year run of hits from Three Wheels On My Wagon to Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head. … the mystifying story of the re-recording of The Dark Side Of The Moon. … if the BRITS wants to attract a teenage audience, why put it on terrestrial telly on a Saturday night? We’ve got a better idea. … “wearing the iron hat”.  -------- Cilla and Burt Bacharach recording Alfie …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glpIgnmKrZcGrab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Midge Ure starts a UK tour in April (with Band Electronica) and talks here about bands that left an impression and what he’s learnt about live performance. This includes … … audiences “wanting their pound of flesh”. … lessons learned from watching Derek Nimmo in panto. … “cheesy” stage effects - eg Bowie’s mirrorball in Space Oddity.   … Stan Webb of Chicken Shack charging offstage at Green’s Playhouse in Glasgow with a 100 foot guitar lead. … being “a human jukebox” at Clouds discos playing Jo Jo Gunne and Sparks covers. … seeing “The Marmalade” at a Radio 1 roadshow when he was 14. … memories of Taj Mahal, Skid Row, Colosseum and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. … 10,000 people blocking Sauchiehall Street to get tickets for Deep Purple. … and headliners who didn’t turn up. Midge’s tours dates here: https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/midge-ure@midgeure1 http://www.midgeure.co.uk/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Conversational footballs punted about the park this week include … … why George Harrison’s trip to Benton, Illinois, in 1963 would make a great Netflix drama – the $400 Rickenbacker, the local gig billed as “the English Elvis”, the roller-skating waitresses. “I’m in a band called the Beatles back home and we’re doing quite well.” … buskers being allowed to use amplification is a monstrous invasion of our private space: discuss. … is Deliveroo the new generation gap?   … we asked some AI software to write lyrics in the style of certain bands. You need to hear the results. … musicians and the positions they should play on the football pitch. … a deathless picture of McCartney and all-girl crowd at the Cavern. … plus birthday guest Keith Adsley flies the flag for ‘Jaguar Sound’ by Adrian Quesada.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, alongside a whole host of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ron Sexsmith starts a UK tour at the end of April and talks about what he’s learnt about live performance, which includes:- … “notes from girls” after winning the High School Variety Show. … playing for drunks in his local bar when he was underage and being hidden when the police arrived.  … Elton John at the Rich Stadium in Buffalo (and being a member of the Fan Club). … his first performance, singing ‘Ben’ by Michael Jackson. … the influential low-key stagecraft of Gordon Lightfoot and Leonard Cohen, “people who just stood there”. … the rigours of long tours. … being “on Cloud Nine for a year” after seeing the Who. … and watching Cat Stevens from the best seat in the house.   All details about Ron’s upcoming tour here …https://ronsexsmith.com/tours/ @RonSexsmith https://ronsexsmith.com/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, alongside a whole host of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel worked for various labels - Mushroom, Atlantic and Sony among them - and was the man who signed the Darkness. Training to become a psychotherapist, he began trading in rare records, travelling all over the country to buy collections and, during Lockdown, starting a special “mystery vinyl” service where he’d send people albums he thought they’d like based on their musical taste.   He talks here in fascinating detail about what an emotionally charged world this is, seeing people’s entire life stories mapped out in records, becoming a “temporary custodian” of their past, learning about whole new areas of music and obscure genres that suddenly come into vogue and every aspect of what makes a record valuable. And the thrill of finding the odd “holy grail” (Vashti Bunyan’s Just Another Diamond Day, rare Bowie first pressings etc), a process that involves “kissing an awful lot of frogs”. He even pulled out an album by a band neither of us knew, the 1970 psych-folk act Justine. Also featured – buying Roger St. Pierre’s record collection, the magic “fallibility” of vinyl (eg personal messages on sleeves) and the Greatest Record Ever Made! Brighter Day Vinyl runs a weekly Flick-Through Thursday - at the same time Top Of The Pops used to be on! - where you can get to see what’s currently on offer and you’ll find all details about Joel’s shop, its collection and what he buys and sells here …   https://linktr.ee/brighterdayvinyl @BrighterdayvnlSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, alongside a whole lot more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Asher started out as a child actor in films with John Mills, Alastair Sim and Boris Karloff. He was in the Adventures of Robin Hood with his sister Jane but they were eventually “demoted to peasant children”. He then formed Peter & Gordon, had a global number one with A World Without Love (written by his sister’s boyfriend who was living in the family home) and then began a career in production and management that’s still thriving today. This is full of wonderful stories and features … … playing the London club circuit in 1964. … Paul McCartney adding the missing bridge to A World Without Love in eight minutes – “I have the handwritten lyrics and chords in a fireproof safe in case I ever need to run to Sotheby’s and Paul can save the day again!”). … assembling the band for a Paul Jones session – Nicky Hopkins piano, Jeff Beck guitar, Paul Samwell-Smith bass, McCartney drums).  … appalling ‘60s royalty rates. … life as head of A&R at Apple where people sent “100 pages of certifiably mental lyrics in the hope that John Lennon might put them to music”. … signing and producing James Taylor and the album that changed the music business. And Taylor supporting the Who on US tours. … the secret of being a great manager.... Linda Ronstadt singing barefoot at the Bottom End.  … Apple recording artist Brute Force and his non-chart-troubling single The King Of Fuh. … the other role model for Austin Powers. … and why music today is just as good as the past.  David Jacks' memoir, Peter Asher: A Life In Music …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Peter-Asher-Music-David-Jacks/dp/1493061216Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, and ad-free!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Things featured this week in hot pursuit of entertainment and enlightenment … … seeing Television in 1975 for £1.50 - support act, Blondie. … Kaleidoscope, Country Joe & the Fish, Fairport Convention and other origins of the Tom Verlaine guitar sound.   … the mystery voices on The Dark Side Of The Moon, the Clare Torry story and how Pink Floyd used Abbey Road as an instrument. … “It’s Not You It’s Me”: more classic records that leave us cold – eg Pet Sounds and Humble Pie’s Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore. … “If Loving You Is Wrong I Don’t Wanna Be Right”: rotten records we’re devoted to – paging Jobriath, Oasis, Hello …… how the Ashers became Paul McCartney’s adopted family. … that Nick Kent review of Marque Moon – “Cut the crap, junior, he sez, and put the hyperbole on ice. I concur thus. Sometimes it takes but one record – one cocksure magical statement – to cold-cock all the crapola and all-purpose wheatchaff mix ‘n’ match, to set the whole schmear straight and get the current state of play down down down to stand or fall in one, dignified granite-hard focus!” … songs with great intros.  … and birthday patron Kevin Rose flies the flag for ‘Simple Songs’ by Jim O'Rourke.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early access to every future Word Podcast, ad-free!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Long Ryders are touring in May and our old pal Sid Griffin tells us what to expect and looks back here at … … Herman’s Hermits and the Dave Clark Five playing on a steamboat. … his first live performance aged 16 in a glam-rock red dress at a barbecue in Kentucky (fee a colossal $100) playing Paul Revere, Kinks and Byrds covers. … seeing Big Joe Turner with the Lee Allen Orchestra (11-piece horn section!). … the Everly Brothers’ first reunion. … a barely known Carole King onstage in The City in 1968. … his local bluegrass sessions at the Landseer Arms in Archway (“very Greenwich Village 1961”). … and the benefits of touring when you’re older – “the pressure’s off”.  Details and tickets here:https://www.thelongryders.com/The-Long-Ryders-Tour-Dates.html https://www.sidgriffin.com/ @SidCPsGriffinSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early access to content, invites to our get-togethers digital and in person, and a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Crosby was famous for nearly 60 years, a celebrity sustained by records, tours, brushes with the law and serial disagreements with old pals and collaborators (he was the very definition of a non-team player). We look back fondly at various stops along the way - his upscale background, his role in the Byrds, his ‘Will Scarlet in Robin Hood’ haircut and unsexy cape ensemble, CS&N as the soundtrack to a West Coast American fantasy, the time the Beatles played him the unreleased A Day In The Life, a public fallout with Neil Young and a tuxedoed Graham Nash’s last show with the Hollies with the piss-taking Crosby in the dressing-room. Plus “It’s Not You It’s Me” – classic records that leave us cold: fight-starting suggestions include albums by Patti Smith (“that bawling harridan with her jive muse”), Nirvana, Love, Neil Young, Cat Stevens, Arctic Monkeys and the Beatles. Did the Who start to decline from the moment John Entwistle began growing facial hair? Discuss.Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!———-Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, with full visuals, and ad-free!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Suzannne Vega is touring throughout the UK in February. Here she talks to David Hepworth about what she’s learned about live in the course of:….starting off on stage with Pete Seeger at Carnegie Hall….taking her sister to see Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden…learning about communication from the jazz bassist Richard Davis…laying in sufficient snacks for the rehearsal period….playing your old hits again and again….saying your prayers before going on stage….watching Stan Ridgway do the best show she ever saw.Full dates and tickets here.https://www.suzannevega.com/tourSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole world of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our old pal from Word magazine Kate Mossman adored Jeff Beck and the whole range of his recordings and interviewed him recently for the New Statesman. This pod features the outlandish techniques he developed, his cars and Afghan hounds, his “six wives”, his unchanging look (with occasion detours into “satin leggings and boxing boots”), the “Clapton is God” myth, his job offer from the Stones, falling out with the Yardbirds and the Jeff Beck Group, great musical ventures and occasional lapses of taste (like the recent tour with Johnny Depp). And our love of Hi Ho Silver Lining which he hated so much he said it was like “having a pink toilet seat hung around your neck for the rest of your life”. Plus …… the chillingly strange life of Lisa Marie Presley - “opulent neglect” - and her four marriages.… best-ever B-sides (suggested by birthday patron Roger Millington who went for ‘Paris France’ by the Red Guitars). The greatest B-sides never appeared anywhere else “and were like secret messages to the hardcore fans” - eg the Stones’ The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man and the Spider And the Fly. Honourable mentions for Yes It Is, This Boy and You Know My Name (Look Up The Number). … the White Lotus and that fabulous Jennifer Coolidge Golden Globes speech. … what would you do if you were the new Radio 3 boss? … haircut and knitwear issues in ‘the Banshees of Inisherin’. … Peter Sellers in Only Two Can Play. Plus birthday patron Paul Knox joins us with theories about impact of the Incredible String on the Beatles and the sad, mysterious tale of the disappearance of Licorice McKechnie.  Kate Mossman in the New Statesmanhttps://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music-theatre/2023/01/jeff-beck-interview-tribute-guitar-hero The Yardbirds on Shindig!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn6q_jcc0uo And on the Milton Berle Show, 1966https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oNDXsIulXwGrab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tony King was there when it all started, working for Decca in the late ‘50s, plugging records on Housewives’ Choice and Family Favourites and looking after visiting Americans like the Ronettes, Roy Orbison and Phil Spector. He went on to become a close friend of many of the acts he worked with and his memoir ‘The Tastemaker’ is full of wonderful tales and revelations about all of them. As is this podcast which includes … … the day Reg Dwight changed his name (and getting him session work with the Barron Knights). … wearing “lime green trousers, blue moccasins and a kaftan” at the Beatles’ One World broadcast. … the weekend with George and Pattie Harrison in Esher when the Daily Express turned up to tell them McCartney had admitted he’d taken acid. … taking Brenda Lee to the pictures. … holidays with Charlie Watts in France and memories of his wake. … why he used to ring Elton up and ask, “what’s the weather like there, Jean?”  … seeing the Stones at the Scene club with Chrissie Shrimpton. … the advice he gave John Lennon (and getting him on the Old Grey Whistle Test) … and the qualities all stars need to be successful.  Buy ‘The Tastemaker: My Life With The Legends and Geniuses of Rock Music’ here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tastemaker-Life-Legends-Geniuses-Music/dp/0571371930 Tony dressed as the Queen in an ad for John Lennon’s Mind Games album …https://www.facebook.com/johnlennon/videos/mind-games-advert/1009681682383878/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole world of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

… in which we amble fearlessly into the New Year in tireless pursuit of amusement, stopping off at various stations along the way, among them …  … can any song be completely original? … meeting Sun Ra. … the time Gianluca Vialli kissed David’s wife’s hand. … does streaming make us more adventurous? … did Frank Zappa ever appear in Miami Vice? … tortuous puns in music memoir titles. ... singers we’ve had enough of.... Sam Cooke humming.  … some rare and rewarding records – eg Billie Joe Armstrong & Norah Jones’ Foreverly and Mellow Candle’s Swaddling Songs plus Jorma Kaukonen, Jimmy Webb, the Pursuit of Happiness … … powerful feelings of envy provoked by John McLaughlin. .. the diminishing appeal of Jeff Buckley. … why you have to hear Van Dyke Parks’ ‘Super Chief: Music For The Silver Screen’. … and birthday guest (and magnificent repeat winner of our Friday night quiz) Andrew Slattery.  Sam Cooke humming …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cds8YQyFeTI Rolling Stone’s Best 200 singers …https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, alongside a whole host of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Things explored this week in pursuit of entertainment and diversion … … Neil Tennant interviews Malcolm McLaren and other delights in Smash Hits, January 1983. … “there’s no such thing as a finished record!” … the link between Cliff & the Shadows and the Merry Pranksters. … a touching interview with Jim Morrison’s father and sister about the son/brother who cut them off completely - plus would Jim Morrison have made it in the age of social media? … pop stars’ school reports. … when did the ‘60s turn from black and white to colour?   … and when did people start talking about old records as if they were like old books - “first pressings”, “imprints”? … Muriel’s Wedding, Priscilla Queen Of the Desert, Strictly Ballroom and the return of Abba. … the pure unalloyed joy of rubbing a shrink-wrapped box-set against your cheek.… Jack Charlton’s high-rolling £100 spending spree. … guess the ‘80s fan club from its address!… and birthday guest Sandra Austin.  Smash Hits Jan 1983 …https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Smash-Hits/1983/Smash-Hits-1983-01-06.pdf  Jim Morrison’ father and sister …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz63-q8otYMSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, alongside a whole host of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The full and extraordinary story of “the Zelig-like” Cutler – poet, performer, broadcaster, playwright, surrealist, humorist – is mapped out in Bruce Lindsay’s exceptional new book, ‘Ivor Cutler: A Life Outside the Living Room’. Most of us discovered him through the patronage of fans like John Peel – or first saw him as part of the Magical Mystery Tour cast – but this fascinating conversation covers the early years too, his time as a progressive schoolteacher, the formative influence of Kafka and the Goons, his big break into TV via Ned Sherrin and his immediate adoption by the counter-culture. Has there ever been anyone remotely like him before or since? At one point Bruce reads a section of Life In A Scotch Sitting Room - with its echoes of Under Milk Wood and Sir Henry At Rawlinson End - and there are tales of gruts for tea, his fear of noise, the time he left an overheated hotel room to sleep on a station platform and a Denmark Street agent weeing in a sink. Order Bruce’s book here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ivor-Cutler-Outside-Sitting-Popular/dp/180050294X/ref=sr_1_6?qid=1671698453&refinements=p_27%3ABruce+Lindsay&s=books&sr=1-6 @bruce956Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole world of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Army greatcoats, plastic trousers, cowboy boots, scoop-neck t-shirts with bell sleeves … the list of laughable clobber and accessories we briefly thought were acceptable because rock stars wore them is delightfully long and shameful.Also in the crosshairs this week …… the rudest line the Beatles ever wrote. … Randy Newman – ‘the poet of the unworthy thought’.… do bands with comic lyrics get the credit they deserve?… a double Stackwaddy: real or invented Christmas singles.… falling though a wormhole in time into a copy of the NME from February 1969: “The age of Supergroups! – set band members will be a thing of the past” – Klaus Voormann.… “These days no two of us are on the same stream.” What we learn from discovering music separately.  … Dead Eyes: the Tom Hanks’ comment that sparked a three-series podcast.… why scat-singing brings us out in hives.… the magic of Seinfeld – ‘four shallow self-obsessed people’ in a world where there’s ‘no growing and no hugging’.… why you should listen to Joachim Cooder’ Over That Road I'm Bound: The Songs of Uncle Dave Macon.… and what birthday guest John Innes learnt from re-listening to his entire music collection in chronological order – and the bands he decided to abandon.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, alongside a whole heap of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gordon Raphael was the sonic architect of arguably the two most important and influential albums of the noughties - The Strokes' 'Is This It' and its follow-up 'Room On Fire', and in this special Word In Your Ear chat with 'Magic' Alex Gold he talks about the creation of those seminal records alongside other key moments in his life as told in his memoir 'The World Is Going To Love This: Up From The Basement With The Strokes', including working with Regina Spektor and the impact of seeing her perform at their first meeting, grunge-era Seattle and its legendary music store The Trading Musician, and his time with the pre-fame Libertines.Buy 'The World Is Going To Love This: Up From The Basement With The Strokes' here: https://www.wordville.net/product-page/the-world-is-going-to-love-thisGordon's website: https://www.gordotronic.com/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole world of early, extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we boldly tackle the burning issues des nos jours in our restless forage for entertainment. Nutritious items on the tasting menu this week include … … albums whose cover was over half the sell. … was Jet Black older than all the Beatles and Stones? Dave Greenfield and Edgar Allan Poe – separated at birth. … that brief moment when Creedence Clearwater were the biggest thing on the planet. … what people paid for the wooden balls on the Rumours cover and one of Christine McVie’s dresses.  … Stackwaddy: Abba v Zappa song titles - spot the ringer! … a Marshall Crenshaw 40th anniversary covers album? The race to find the next bizarre obscurity. … Little Feat, Fragonard and a cake on a swing.   … plus Anthony Blunt, Elton John will never retire and new Patreon supporters (and their fictional jobs).Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danny’s done two hysterically funny, cartwheeling canters round the UK in the last few years and sets out again in February for 49 nights with ‘At Last …The Sausage Sandwich Tour’, another ‘panjandrum of unstoppable anecdote’. His memories of old rock and roll and theatre shows are high in the mix in this crackling exchange. Among the highlights … … Anita Harris at the ABC in Yarmouth. … appearing with the Millwall squad and Jimmy Tarbuck singing ‘New York New York’ in top hat and tails. … the joy of Keef Hartley’s Half-Breed. … arriving to see Frank Zappa to discover he’d been thrown offstage in the afternoon show “but Cochise were still appearing!” … his dad Spud’s amateur doctor who did a good sideline in racing tips. … why selling his 14,000 albums is like being “unchained from a lunatic”. … Black Sabbath playing ‘unplugged’ in a powercut at the Albert Hall. … and an honorary mention of the pith helmet full of saveloys. Tickets here: Danny Baker: At Last… The Sausage Sandwich Tourhttps://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/danny-baker @prodnose https://www.dannybakerstore.com/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole host of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which the piercing searchlight of conversational scrutiny points in the direction of … … Christine McVie’s early adventures, our burning love for Chicken Shack’s ‘40 Blue Fingers’, her Sliding Doors moment in a Dickins & Jones window display, supporting the Shadows at the 2I’s coffee bar in ‘59, writing Songbird, the forgotten years of Kiln House and two film clips that point up Fleetwood Mac’s luckless mid-‘70s slog with the bank-breaking success to come. … records you never connected with that suddenly make sense 50 years later. … the deep-seated, underrated pleasure of ‘Electric Arguments’ by the Fireman (aka Youth and McCartney). … what your InstaFest line-up reveals about your listening habits. … and a rare mention of ‘Deed I Do’ by Blossom Dearie!Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world alongside a whole host of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phil and his brother Steven started a market stall in Cheltenham in the mid-‘80s and made enough money selling rare records to open the world-famous Badlands (now occupying three floors of an old coach house). It’s been thriving ever since specialising in Springsteen and Dylan, collectible vinyl, books and box-sets and branching out into concert package tours all over Europe. Here he talks about the first records he ever bought, XTC at Cheltenham Town Hall, the cassette and CD booms, the return of vinyl, new threats to the record shop world, taking Steve Van Zandt round Cheltenham (in full Little Steven attire) and the Greatest Record Ever Made. https://badlands.co.uk/ @BadlandsUKSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole host of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

… in which we remember watching and talking to the magnificent Wilko Johnson and look back at extraordinary moments in his life – the hippie trail to India, his appearance on Question Time, the three albums the Feelgoods made in a year, how they discovered what made them unique and the effect on everyone from Television to the Clash, Gang of Four, Blur and Franz Ferdinand of the band “who could start a fight in an empty room”. Plus … Pet Shop Boys on the Archers. … the 40th anniversary of Thriller and Quincy Jones’ speech about how “we’re here to save the music business”. … the extraordinary - possiby incendiary - story of Bob Dylan and the faked autographs. … Lil Peep, Lil Flip, Lil Plum, Lil Dicky … spot the fictional rapper! ... and birthday guest Kevin Walsh on why everyone should hear ‘Electric Arguments’ by the Fireman (aka McCartney and Youth). And here’s our Word podcast with Wilko Johnson (plus guitar) from 2010 …https://shows.acast.com/word-in-your-ear-2/episodes/5fe229acf896715ee83196eaSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early access to every future Word Podcast alongside a whole world of additional and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ken’s a world authority and he’s been on the pod twice before, talking about his books about George Martin and the last days of John Lennon. He’s just revised and updated the one he wrote in 2007, ‘Long And Winding Roads’, partly to add new observations and material, especially in the light of Peter Jackson’s Get Back, and partly because the beleaguered world now needs the Beatles more than ever. It’s written like a literary biography, as much about the art as the story. This covers the waterfront - thoughts about their deal with EMI, pivotal events in their trajectory, the recent re-evaluation of McCartney (“the convenor”), the gorgeous “guitar embroideries in the margins of their music”, the key role of Mal Evans (“found crying in McCartney’s garden when he heard it was all over”), the artistic touchstones of I Am The Walrus and the sheer and comforting delight in hearing the Beatles’ music - “returning to the font” - when the world finds itself in times of trouble. As well as being a writer and historian, Ken is Professor of Popular Music at Monmouth University in New Jersey and you’d kill to be in his class. The revamped ‘Long And Winding Roads: the Evolving Artistry of The Beatles’ is just out and he’s working on a new book about Mal Evans which should appear in June 2023. Long And Winding Roads …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Winding-Roads-Evolving-Artistry/dp/0826417469The Mal Evans book ...https://kennethwomack.com/mal-evans-the-biography-archives/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole world of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Further free-wheeling conversational detours include … … “like the consequences of mating Patti Smith with a Hoover vacuum cleaner”: barbed reviews in the Rolling Stone Record Guide.… ‘Bowie and Bing in a bauble’? The Taylor Swift ‘Merry Swiftmas’ t-shirt? Real or fictional Christmas accessories.… the four tracks by women - and there are only four! – among the 66 records Bob Dylan considers in The Philosophy Of Modern Song.   … “and any eye for detail caught a little lace along the seams”: exquisite descriptions of clothes in Joni Mitchell songs. … the NME Encyclopedia Of Rock revisited, that well-thumbed, much-loved and indispensable bible from the world before the internet. … who were Sons of Champlin, the Butts Band and Michael Fennelly?… magnificent rock books, Nik Cohn’s A Wop Bop A Loo Bop A Lop Bam Boom and Barney Hoskyns’ Hotel California among them. … and playing Mozart on a ukulele. Plus birthday guest Simon Poulter.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, alongside a whole host of additional content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Things run up the flagpole this week in pursuit of entertainment … … Irish/American punk rock group or 19th Century criminal gang? … the eternal dependability of the first Stones album. … does ANYONE not like ska? …. seven “legends” you can still see for under £30. ... the now-for-sale cache of ‘50s love letters by a besotted Bob Dylan (and would you want anyone reading your teenage correspondence?). … the story of Bill Wyman trying to leave the Stones 30 years ago and the rest of them refusing to take him seriously.   … do audio books with a stellar cast really work? … why Elvis and the Beatles never did encores. … butt-dialling Boo Hewerdine. … and if you want to know why rock stars keep in touring read ‘No More Champagne: Winston Churchill And His Money’. … plus birthday guests Mike Sketch and Peter Petyt.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world... and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the radar this week in an enquiring, celebratory or goat-getting capacity … … has the World Cup balloon already been unmendably punctured? … and is the same thing happening to Twitter? … “if social media had come along earlier would Sergeant Pepper exist?” … Richard Osman-created fictional sleuth or rock stars’ real names: you decide. … a chance meeting with Jaco Pastorius. … speaker-testing moments of bass guitar brilliance. … the general public armed with a mouse are infinitely crueller and more aggressive than the very worst journalists: discuss.   … plus two thousand years of gruesome mortal combat.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The teenage Trevor Horn could be found playing bass in dance bands on the Top Rank circuit supporting acts like Tommy Cooper (and singing Long-Haired Lover From Liverpool and Hi-Ho Silver Lining). He began writing songs for Tina Charles, had a worldwide hit with Buggles and went on to produce Dollar, ABC, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Malcolm McLaren, Grace Jones, Pet Shop Boys and countless others. In this terrific exchange he talks about life in covers bands (“big money, £150 a week”), how the Fairlight changed the landscape, the diplomacy all producers require, his “pictorial sense” of how ABC should sound, his regrets about Frankie, bands’ paranoia about their record companies, Rod Stewart and the “farting post”, why he’d like to work with Bob Dylan and the drama of making Owner Of A Lonely Heart. Worth it for his uncanny impersonations of Dylan and Rod Stewart alone, and further stories from his just-out memoir ‘Adventures in Modern Recording: From ABC to ZTT’. Which you can buy here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventures-Modern-Recording-ABC-ZTT/dp/178870603X @Trevor_Horn_Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

… in which we remember the luminous music and diabolical life of the last of the old rock and roll guard standing. And this includes … the weird old America he came from (backwoods country, religious sects with their transporting songs), the career-cancelling British tour in 1958, the electrifying Live at The Star Club album, the Steve Allen Show breakthrough and the Seven Wives of Jerry Lee Lewis. Much to applaud, much to deplore. … and some of his deathless lyrics eg ‘39 And Holding’ – ‘Dim lights hide the mileage line/ Clairol hides the grey/ And he won't mention anything to give his old age away’. Stevie Wonder’s ‘Talking Book’ was released 50 years ago this week. How did it change the landscape of electronic music forever? Jockstrap, First Aid Kit, Dry Cleaning, Small Feet, Thermos and Diarrhea Planet. One of these is not a real band. But which? The new ‘Revolver’ remix. A technological masterpiece but don’t we prefer music to sound the way we first heard it on the equipment at the time?   The Giles Fraser parlour game. You have to go back to school and can appoint all the staff yourself but they have to be from the music world. Who’s headmistress (Dolly Parton? Annie Lennox?). Head of Art (Ferry? Eno?). Head of English (Richard Thompson?). Head of Science (Tom Dolby?). Matron (Clare Grogan? Lulu?). Plus birthday guests Giles Fraser and Ian Martin and new patrons recast as TV presenters. Jerry Lee Lewis on the Steve Allen Show in 1957: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw7SBF-35EsSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sheila’s portraits of ‘80s musicians and the club circuit filled the pages of magazines like the Face and Smash Hits at the time and now feature in her book ‘80s: Sound And Vision’. You’ll know a few from album sleeves too. She talks here about some favourites – Nick Logan in the Face office, Bryan Ferry, Bowie with Marc Bolan, Martin Fry in the famous gold lamé suit, Siouxsie in ‘Japanese chic’, Steve Strange and the day Frankie Goes To Hollywood turned up dressed as cowboys and swinging a lasso. The description of Leigh Bowery bursting out of a cab, festooned with piercings and painted blue, is worth the price of admission alone.  ‘80s: Sound and Vision’ by Sheila Rock …https://www.amazon.co.uk/80s-Sound-Vision-Nilgin-Yusuf/dp/0711278776Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, alongside a whole host of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the crosshairs this week … Sampha, Skepta? Mercury Prize winner or Italian sports-shoe brand? Was Revolver really the Beatles’ most “consequential” album? James Corden v Balthazar: fame in the age of social media. Liz Truss, Steven Gerrard, Bruce Springsteen and knowing “what it’s like to have failed with the whole world looking on”. Danny Baker’s selling 12,000 records: unsettling life-stage moments when you put your foot on the ball and look around the pitch. The joy of old books and finding pencil marks in the margin by other readers. Noel Coward in ‘In Which We Serve’ and were the Mountbattens “the orginal hot couple”? … and Simon Sebag Montefiore’s brilliant 213-song playlist of songs to accompany his new book “The World: A Family History” …https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0bXOS1k3hGKmfQCmbg21W4?si=CbdtROxeQie0rZyg_KA-SQ&nd=1Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, ad-free, and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Craig was on the pod last year talking about his glorious Beatles book ‘One Two Three Four’ and he’s just published a collection of his writing called ‘Haywire: the Best of Craig Brown’ – Private Eye diaries, columns, reviews, essays and other assorted comic gems. It’s very good indeed. “Satirists,” he reminds you, “are on the side of things going wrong.” Here are just a few of the topics that stumble into view in this very funny and illuminating ramble – John Stonehouse, the strange life of Arthur Lowe, “all entertainers are disturbed”, Bruce Springsteen as dictatorial bandleader, Liz Truss’s speech patterns, meeting people he’s lampooned in print, Kenneth Williams, Bruce Robinson’s preposterous Jack the Ripper book and how Lieutenant Pigeon is anagram (but of what?). Buy ‘Haywire: the Best Of Craig Brown’ and his other wonderful books here … https://www.amazon.co.uk/Craig-Brown/e/B001HCVLIU%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, alongside a whole host of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of them is Sympathy For The Devil. The Stranglers are in the Top Five too, as are the Strawbs. The best-selling historian and documentary-maker has spent the last three years working on his monumental, all-encompassing new book, ‘The World: A Family History’, much of it hammered out to the sound of very loud music. And he’s made a playlist to accompany it that connects with this vast human drama – Billie Holiday, Billy Bragg, Ava Max and Elvis Costello all in the mix. He talks here about songwriters who are obsessed with history (Mick Jagger, Leonard Cohen, Dylan, Elton John), global events immortalised in song (“he got an ice pick that made his ears burn”) and about hangmen and papists, murderous 15th Century Moroccan pirate-queens, the “underrated” Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and the mystery of “the great Elmyra”. It’s well worth a listen. And do send suggestions for any other great pop songs about history he could include.  Simon’s playlist for ‘The World’ …https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0bXOS1k3hGKmfQCmbg21W4?si=CbdtROxeQie0rZyg_KA-SQ&nd=1 Order ‘The World’ here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Simon-Sebag-Montefiore/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ASimon+Sebag+Montefiore http://www.simonsebagmontefiore.com/ @simonmontefioreSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, alongside a whole host of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we waspishly suggest the odd nip and tuck is now standard practice - and name a few obvious suspects. And alight upon … … Nick Hornby’s new book and the connections he’s found between Dickens and Prince.   … support acts we’ve seen who became household names. … David’s dinner with Jess Phillips MP and what happened the day JK Rowling got a tour of the House of Commons. … the former hospital orderly who walked into Muscle Shoals studios and had a worldwide hit with his first recording. … the real identities of S. Flavius Mercurius and Bijou Drains. … the all-round wonderfulness of the London Palladium. … extracts from Bob Dylan’s new book and some of the songs he’ll be exploring.… and a query from birthday guest Cathal Chu. Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast early, ad-free and with full visuals... alongside a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Things picked up by the ankles this week and given a light shaking to see what falls out of their pockets … … why King Crimson is like no other band on God’s green earth. ... a sweet story about a Let It Rock writer David's just met at a book event. … a McCartney Stackwaddy game. … when did rock souvenir posters become a thing? ... why Robert Crumb didn’t apologise. ... how we scored on the new life Questionnaire. … “the longer I practice, the luckier I get”. … Burke Shelley, poet laureate. … and an almost encounter with Colin Firth. Plus birthday guests Paul Cook and Steve Cadman. These are Paul Cook’s excellent Furlough Fashion posts and videos …   https://furloughfashion.co.uk/ And a trailer for the new King Crimson doc ...https://www.imdb.com/video/vi4222272025/?playlistId=tt10148150&ref_=vp_rv_2Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Things given a grilling this week in hot pursuit of revelation and entertainment … .. would YOU pay £45 to see Ian Brown and some backing tracks? … the life of the late Joe Bussard, collector of 25,000 78s “who partied like it was 1929”. Joe thought real jazz ended in 1933 and the last great country record was Jimmy Murphy’s I’m Looking For A Mustard Patch. We love this man. ... career-shrinking band names. … Chunkz, Pieface and the Beast: new adventures in stadium-filling entertainment. … is Nuggets the most famous and influential compilation ever released? … best albums of cover versions – among them Moondog Matinee, the Seeger Sessions, Irish Heartbeat, McCartney’s Back In The USSR, Pin-Ups, These Foolish Things. … Paul Scholes meets Gary Neville. … rock stars separated by a single letter. … and more songs about seagulls and chips.   A short film about Joe Bussard here …https://youtube.com/watch?v=OPhtR09p6zM&feature=share&utm_source=EKLEiJECCKjOmKnC5IiRIQhttps://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/14/arts/a-loving-obsession-with-oldtime-jazz.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare Desperate Man Blues …https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375702/Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast early, ad-free and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In powerful pursuit of amusement and distraction we aim the piercing supertrouper of scrutiny this week in the direction of … … why Ry Cooder MUST write a memoir. … records that sounded like nothing you’d ever heard before, eg the Message by Grandmaster Flash and Donna Summer’s I Feel Love.   ... nighttime footage of the State Funeral rehearsal. … why ‘Delhi Crime’ on TV makes the Wire’s Baltimore look like Stoke Poges. … dinner with the “fantastically indiscreet” Tony King. … why Hilary Mantel was such a phenomenal writer – and an extract that demonstrates it. … the return of the Stackwaddy game: James Brown/Frank Zappa track or advertising slogan? … Beefheart selling Aldous Huxley a vacuum cleaner. Plus … birthday patron Ed Newman beams in from his shift at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary with thoughts about Ravel’s Bolero, Dylan and Beatles podcasts and an inspired music book idea with a medical twist that someone must – MUST! – publish!Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast ad-free and before the rest of the world!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Eiffel Tower dimmed its lights, the radio played “music for a solemn occasion” and this week’s pod is a reflection about the woman who’s been Queen all our lives (and we’re old enough to remember the national anthem being played in cinemas), why she looked so heroically bored, her diplomatic approach to clapping, whether she viewed life “through binoculars held the wrong way round” and how hard it will be – and how long it will take - to adjust to a world without her. And the wonderful tale of Dave’s personal wave.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole world of extra and exclusive content and benefits: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Among the thoughts, theories and assorted old hokey in the firing line this week you will happily find … … rock biopics someone ought to be making … memories of Drummie Zeb and Aswad at Nottingham Boat Club … the time British Forces radio turned down Whitney Houston … the “awful fat man that spoilt Lady Di’s memorial for everyone” … the slight return of the Stackwaddy game - Prince’s pseudonyms! … Louis Armstrong at Batley Variety Club … Pete Drummond’s hilariously goofy intro to Tim Buckley’s Dream Letter live album ... Townes Van Zandt reissued on 8-track: bizarre technology twist or inspired-but-fictional PR stunt? ... ‘70s festivals that made the tent-torching Reading of 2022 look like a picnic … why even Pitbull, U2 and Usher are playing residencies in Las Vegas … the extraordinary early life Anni-Frid of Abba … movies under construction – Martin Scorsese and the Grateful Dead, Sam Taylor-Johnson and Amy Winehouse ... and a birthday encounter with cornerstone Word In Your Ear supporter Jelltex.  Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, ad-free and with full visuals... alongside a whole host of brilliant and exclusive extra content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to this week’s pod in which various white-hot topics are brought in for questioning, among them … … Whatever happened to Dando Shaft? … Alastair Sim, Terry-Thomas and flowsy saxophones in The Belles of St Trinian’s … Does it matter if music-making acts are fictitious or that rappers are artificial and produced by computer graphics and AI? … how many people were in Keith Tippett’s Centipede (the clue’s in the name)? … Titus Groan and Demon Fuzz … is there anything the lily-livered music business is prepared to defend? … puddings delivered by Deliveroo … Jann Wenner and the caviar spoons … the ‘greening’ of Reading Festival … and what kind of sane world allows pop music at hotel breakfasts?----------Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!----------Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, with full visuals, and ad-free!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In bold and vigorous pursuit of entertainment we steer via the following topics … … Thora Hird with a rifle. … acts who wrote rejected songs for Bond movies. … the legend of Van Duren. … hilariously awful revelations about the private plane use of Taylor Swift, Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg etc on @CelebJets.   … is pop music now largely about an old thing re-discovered? … the late Judith Durham of the Seekers and other great ‘stirring’ voices of our time. … a record we haven’t played for 44 years. … Beyoncé and her re-written lyric (and can it really need 25 people to write a song?). … exploding gas cylinders, toppled lighting towers, mass arson and looting, State troopers … the new Netflix three-part doc ‘Trainwreck: Woodstock 99’, the gripping – genuinely shocking – chronicle of one of the lowest points in entertainment history. … and BJ Cole in an ale shop.Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 1 additional month for free + a bonus gift! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!——–Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole load of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our weekly stroll through the sunlit uplands of rock and roll visits the following topics …… Bob Dylan’s worst lyrics… musicians in movies, actors who made albums (Judi Dench?) and the slight return of the Stackwaddy game… why Hole in The Ground is the greatest comedy record ever made, plus the staggering versatility of Bernard Cribbins… the contents of the basket at the beginning of Two-Way Stretch… the incomparable comic genius of Clive James… the achingly self-conscious Barack Obama summer reading and playlist. Kendrick Lamar? Bad Bunny & Bomba Estéreo? You sure?… the night at the Railway Tavern in 1964 that Pete Townshend accidently invented “auto-destruction”… and live consumption of fruity summer ale from the Ink Spot micropub in Newbiggin by the Sea (thanks to Simon and Ange).  ‘Hole In The Ground’ by Bernard Cribbins …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-JVnlB7Onk The Ink Spot microbrewery …https://www.theinkspot49.co.uk/Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 1 additional month for free + a bonus gift! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While Mark Ellen is away in his French chateau, David Hepworth goes off on one about Bruce Springsteen tours and why you can't use "dynamic pricing" in the world of live music and why the concert-going audience can always be divided into the bringer and the brung.Plus Alex Gold explains why he chose to go to southern Italy in the middle of an unprecedented heat wave with not one but two pairs of Doc Martens while also throwing light on the eternal mystery of why young men will put up with discomfort and privation on a medieval scale as long as they're in a band.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we paddle our conversational canoe through the rock and roll backwaters, stopping off this week at … … the closure of Word magazine ten years ago and what we miss – and don’t miss - about it. … who in their right mind in this day and age would possibly want to be famous? … Bruce Findlay, the country’s only famous record store owner. … the energetic sexual activities of Dave Davies in his new memoir and the uniquely mid-‘60s British concept of ‘kinkiness’. … Dave Grohl reaches ‘the Meldrew Point’ – as old as Richard Wilson when he first played Victor Meldrew (who was a year older than Wilfred Brambell when he played Paul’s grandad). .. the documentary someone should make about the Rubettes. … Manny Charlton of Nazareth RIP and the bizarre pop fact that one of their biggest hits was a Joni Mitchell cover. … handcuffed men in court for stealing rare Eagles artefacts. … whether the legendarily awful Be Here Now album deserves a gentler appraisal 25 years later. Don’t forget it starts with “a minute of helicopter noise and morse code”. … and birthday patron Allan Williams’ collection of Hipgnosis album sleeves – paging Picnic, Helloe’en and Music From Free Creek! You can buy Dave Davies’ memoir Living On A Thin Line here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Thin-Line-Dave-Davies/dp/1472289773Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world... and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

High in the conversational mix this week …  … the return the Stackwaddy game! - do Ben & Jerry’s do a Bohemian Raspberry? Are there really Apple Music genres called Pillow Talk and Countrypolitan? … Errol Flynn and his dachshund water-skiing. … James Caan’s opening scene in Misery.… is Nick Kyrgios the first ‘rap’ tennis star? … why ‘Indie’ doesn’t tolerate non-conformity (or success) – plus Razorlight and other bands who let you down. … bizarre combinations of celebrities we’ve bumped into at the BBC – eg Ronnie Corbett and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. .. the vital importance of communal suffering at rock festivals. … and can you get your money’s worth from a £1.5m one-off original Bob Dylan musical ‘artwork’?--------Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 1 additional month for free + a bonus gift! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!--------Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole load of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nearly every Island act seemed impossibly hip, characterful and charismatic and much of that was down to the vision and long-term belief of the man who founded the label and ran it for 30 years. Chris Blackwell beams in from Goldeneye, the Ian Fleming estate he bought in Jamaica, to remember Errol Flynn and his dachshund waterskiing, the wit and charm of Noel Coward, record-buying trips for the local jukeboxes and sound-systems and the story of Millie’s My Boy Lollipop, and talks about his relationship with Free, Traffic, Tom Waits, U2 and Roxy Music (also the ones that got away like Madonna). At one point he explains how he and Bob Marley modified Jamaican reggae to give it international appeal and there’s a great moment where he relives the overpowering effect of first hearing Trevor Horn’s production of Two Tribes. Chris’s memoir The Islander is published by Bonnier Books. The Islander by Chris Blackwell … https://www.amazon.co.uk/Islander-My-Life-Music-Beyond/dp/1788705750\1Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https//www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On June 18, along with four guests, we held a party for Paul McCartney on his 80th in front of a big crowd in the magical tented arena at Opera Holland Park in West London. This was a lot of fun from start to finish, fond memories, forgotten songs, new angles, personal meetings, fresh theories and fascinating unknown tales.In this second part of the show Danny Baker talks about a lost masterpiece, does the McCartney walk, fights the corner for some of his least loved songs, puts him in perspective, sings impressively and tells the Besame Mucho/TFI Friday story.And our last guest is Graham Gouldman who was writing big hits for the Hollies, the Yardbirds and many others in the ‘60s before he co-founded 10cc. How did songwriters react to a new Beatles single? What did he nick from Things We Said Today? What are the McCartney signatures? How is it humanly possible to play those bass parts and sing at the same time?This episode comes rammed with revelations about McCartney’s life and songs and what he’s meant to us over the years.Part One - https://shows.acast.com/word-in-your-ear-2/episodes/word-podcast-459-word-in-the-park-1 - features the broadcaster Geoff Lloyd and the writer Andy Miller.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - alongside a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On June 18 we laid on a celebration of all things McCartney on his 80th in the magical tented arena at Opera Holland Park in West London. People came from all corners of the globe. It turned out to be a feast of fond memories, forgotten songs, fresh perspectives, personal encounters, original theories and fascinating unknown tales. In this first half, David and Mark talk to the broadcaster Geoff Lloyd – who once had him on his radio show and gave him random instruments to see if he could get a tune out of them and part-written songs to finish off. Geoff was born in ‘73 and pieced together the McCartney story via an interesting route. His account of meeting him is electrifying.  Our second guest is the writer, star of the literary world and co-host of the Backlisted podcast Andy Miller, onstage wearing very special McCartney-related clothes for a very special reason. Like all of us, he watched Get Back and was astonished by what he learnt about the way the band worked. Also in this episode… the effect of All My Loving on a 13 year-old, what our parents thought of the Beatles, Cynthia Lennon’s lost letter and four of our favourite songs and why.  Find a sunhat, fix a cold drink, pull up an imaginary deckchair and get stuck in …------------Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - alongside a whole lot more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Appetising items on our lavish tray of conversational hors d'oeuvres this week include:- Billie Eilish, 20, (“the youngest at headliner at Glastonbury”) and pop stars who started even younger – “Little” Stevie Winwood, Stevie Wonder, Ranking Roger, Annabella Lwin, Alex Chilton and Peter Frampton. “The poison of criminal violence and gang warfare” (supposedly Brighton in 1948) and other highlights of Brighton Rock. The Stones – what they heard when the screaming stopped and the Hyde Park show 53 years ago. Kate Bush on Woman’s Hour. Found in the attic: an old copy of Smash Hits from 1982 and the rich variety on offer - the Belle Stars, Monsoon, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, The Teardrop Explodes on a bill with Queen, Vic Godard goes swing, Scritti Politti, Neil Tennant on Hambi & The Dance. A did-they-play-day-or-night-at-Woodstock parlour game. TLC v Sam Fender in the Glastonbury highlights. One of them was "monumentally boring". Famous quotes that were invented – “Let them eat cake”, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting its shoes on”, “Ringo isn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles” etc.… and the winner(s) of this month’s quiz.-------Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 1 additional month for free + a bonus gift! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!-------Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole load of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Among the things of great import we ran up the flagpole this week:- Why Baz Lurhmann’s new movie will do for Elvis what Get Back’s done for the Beatles. Highlights of our Word In Your Park show – what happened on Geoff Lloyd’s McCartney radio special involving a flugelhorn? What was Andy Miller wearing and why? What obscure McCartney track did Danny Baker say was a masterpiece? What did Graham Gouldman nick from Things We Said Today when writing hits for the Hollies? The John Peel auction and the prices people paid for an Oz Obscenity Trial vest, copies of Sniffin’ Glue and a postcard from John Lennon. Is punk the new pop memorabilia sweet spot?Why gigs are getting longer. How music hall shaped the first pop package tours. Dads and daughters at concerts. Plus patron birthday guest Andrew Stocks and a Fava’s Day gift from Keith Adsley.-------Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 1 additional month for free + a bonus gift! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!-------Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole load of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Topics off the leash this week include … The Talent v Charisma pie chart you can apply to any act. “Double-concentrated Liam” versus “diluted Noel”, an update on the Oasis land-grab. A second helping of the “Pete Doherty swaps crack for Camembert” story. Liverpool taxi-driver, 25, claims to have never heard of the Rolling Stones: could this be possible? Pop stars infinitely older (or younger) than you imagined. Learning to speak fluent tabloid – “the Here Comes The Sun hit-makers”, “the Paint It Black chart-busters” etc …Marc Bolan is a “thin” concept. Bolan + Pies/Booze doesn’t work. Plus Petula Clark, Andy Summers, Japan, Michael Owen and Toni Basil.----------------Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 18th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/were-throwing-a-party-for-paul-mccartneys-80th-and-youre-invited-tickets-259008229587  Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We give the week a spirited shakedown to see what falls out of its pockets. And this includes … The late Ronnie Hawkins – road hog, stunt diver, bootleg liquor smuggler! Who’s the only original rock and roller now still alive? If you went to see Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp lumbered on to “jam”, how monumentally hacked off would you be? Kiss have handed in their lunchpails and eyebrow pencils. Shouldn’t more hoary old rock acts “retire out of self-respect”? What Danny Boyle’s Pistol mini-series explains about the band’s urge to succeed – and its corniest moments revisited. Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Lady Gaga ... any other musicians who cut it on-screen?  What are the great songs about communal experience along with Thanks For The Memory, I Will Survive, Born To Run, Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) and Airhead’s Funny How? What Americans call “hiking” we call “walking”. Sir Tim Rice, Sir Bob Geldof, Sir Ian Rankin … our expanding list of beknighted podcast guests.-------Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 18th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/were-throwing-a-party-for-paul-mccartneys-80th-and-youre-invited-tickets-259008229587Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Framed in the piercing super-trouper of perusal this week … The highs and lows of Danny Boyle’s new Sex Pistols biopic. The best in-car music for road trips (Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Rufus Wainwright …). How do Thom Yorke’s children feel about their father’s brilliant new album (the Smile) still sounding like the work of a bleating teenager? The late Alan White (of Yes), a working drummer since the age of 13.  Has social media destroyed the celebrity interview by revealing how star-struck we all are? The joy of never googling an artist and allowing them to remain a glorious mystery. The unusual position in Depeche Mode occupied by Andy Fletcher.  Can classical musicians understand pop music? When Pink Floyd met Yehudi Menuhin. The Common ground between cricket and Spinal Tap. Irritating scenes in the new Operation Mincemeat movie.  … and birthday patreon guests Ann Kember, Paul Thompson and Ray Roscoe.———Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 1 additional month for free + a bonus gift! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!———Tickets for Word In The Park in London on Saturday June 18th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/were-throwing-a-party-for-paul-mccartneys-80th-and-youre-invited-tickets-259008229587Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, ad-free and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we've been mainly talking about....Could The Smile be the first side-project to eclipse the mothership?Is the kitchen the place we mainly listen to music these days?Bob Neuwirth - the man who helped Dylan become DylanVangelis - the man whose music was more famous than the filmWhy do American newspapers make pop records sound as dull as set books?Here's friend of the pod Owen Parker.https://www.owenparker.co.uk-----------------Make a pact to make better coffee. If you haven’t tried Pact Coffee yet, we’ll help you get started with 50% off your first and third order when you create a new Pact Plan.Go to https://www.pactcoffee.com/Create your flexible coffee subscription.Enter the code YOUREAR at checkout.And get speciality coffee, through your letterbox.-----------------Tickets for Word In The Park in London on Saturday June 18th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/were-throwing-a-party-for-paul-mccartneys-80th-and-youre-invited-tickets-259008229587Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, ad-free and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Entertainments, thrills and diversions at the end of the rock and roll seaside pier this week include … Things we want to see in a Bob Dylan museum. Why the upcoming Spinal Tap sequel fills us with excitement and dread in equal measure. The pub in Cornwall that Vogue magazine tried to sue.  Is ‘Exile’ the best Stones album or just their most fashionable? And a new book about Nellcôte – “urchins living in wealth and splendour”.   The brief return of the Stackwaddy game - Springsteen or Taylor Swift lyric? YOU be the judge!  The fizzing cacophony of the Smash Hits office. Why do most TV series (apart from Breaking Bad) start well and fizzle out? A trailer for ‘The Curious Chronicles of Villa Nellcôte’ by Geir Hornes here …http://www.nellcotechronicles.com--------- Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 1 additional month for free + a bonus gift! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!---------Tickets for Word In The Park in London on Saturday June 18th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/were-throwing-a-party-for-paul-mccartneys-80th-and-youre-invited-tickets-259008229587Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, ad-free and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The dazzling super trouper of gentle enquiry is trained this week upon:- Our recent encounter with John Lydon – his high viz shirt, his smoking habit and his usefully commercial righteous indignation about the upcoming Danny Boyle-directed ‘Pistol’ TV series. Why Spinal Tap was a blessing and a curse for their real-life drummer Ric Parnell (RIP). The magnificent bucolic frolic held in the memory of the Old Grey Whistle Test producer Mike Appleton. The sad fate of Jackie Wilson. The “pleasant illness” of record collecting. Musicians who died onstage. Why comedians might start to need bodyguards The curious meaning of a “stone fox chase”.----------Make a pact to make better coffee. If you haven’t tried Pact Coffee yet, we’ll help you get started with 50% off your first and third order when you create a new Pact Plan.Go to https://www.pactcoffee.com/Create your flexible coffee subscription.Enter the code YOUREAR at checkout.And get speciality coffee, through your letterbox.----------Tickets for Word In The Park in London on Saturday June 18th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/were-throwing-a-party-for-paul-mccartneys-80th-and-youre-invited-tickets-259008229587Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, ad-free and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Folk deity, songwriter and festival figurehead, Kate Rusby was raised on Planxty and De Dannan but staged a rebellion with Smash Hits and “storytelling songs” by A-ha. High in the mix in this splendid pod are “people who sing like a bird”, Nanci Griffith, Nic Jones’ Penguin Eggs, being on Top Of The Pops with Ronan Keating, “2p bus rides anywhere in Yorkshire”, Lyle Lovett, stage fright in Hyde Park, winning a folk competition aged 15, Dan Tyminski as George Clooney and why she’s evangelical about Bob Fox and Stu Luckly. 30th Anniversary album …https://www.amazon.co.uk/30-Happy-Returns-Kate-Rusby/dp/B09VPMYB1F Tour dates …https://katerusby.com/gigs/ Underneath the Stars Festival …https://underneaththestarsfest.co.uk/ https://katerusby.com/ @katerusbyTickets for Word In The Park on Saturday June 18th in London here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/were-throwing-a-party-for-paul-mccartneys-80th-and-youre-invited-tickets-259008229587Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word In Your Attic before the rest of the world - alongside a whole lot more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

… which may or may not feature Noel Coward, Slade, the KLF and the Spice Girls. Other key items in pursuit of entertainment this week include:- When did British pop turn female? The glorious notion that boyfriends who don’t work out are “Near Mrs”. The best band this decade! (clue: it’s Wet Leg). The endlessly rewatchable qualities of Moneyball and The Big Short. Cary Grant: “All men want to be Cary Grant? I want to be Cary Grant!” The singular magic of the Hot Club of Cowtown. Who invented the term “rock and roll”? Who bought a song called Real Ugly Woman from the teenage Leiber & Stoller?  Band members who slept with each other. Alan Freed being sued by Moondog. And the certifiable fact that only one person was ever better as a solo artist than in their original band (and we name him).-------------------------------Make a pact to make better coffee. If you haven’t tried Pact Coffee yet, we’ll help you get started with 50% off your first and third order when you create a new Pact Plan.Go to https://www.pactcoffee.com/Create your flexible coffee subscription.Enter the code YOUREAR at checkout.And get speciality coffee, through your letterbox. --------------------------------Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 1 additional month for free + a bonus gift! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!--------------------------------Tickets for Word In The Park in London on Saturday June 18th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/were-throwing-a-party-for-paul-mccartneys-80th-and-youre-invited-tickets-259008229587Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, ad-free and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

White-hot topics examined this week include:- The sweeping return of Britpop (Shed Seven, Reverend and the Makers, how did they get so huge?) Has Nick Mason won Pink Floyd? Has Liam Gallagher won Oasis? Record shops that shaped our lives like the Record Bar in Wakefield. The amazing Nick Cave merchandise range (now encompassing tea-sets, crockery, tiles, wallpaper, jewellery and “the Warren Ellis Pure Exploitation Egg Cup”). What Frank Sinatra claimed was a “filthy Communist lie”.Is there a better chronicler of the shades of middle age than Nick Lowe? Can the current Little Feat line-up really be called Little Feat? Acts that stand for something. Happy 40th birthday to Moon Zappa’s Valley Girl! Is there a more irritating adjective than “awesome”? ‘Dogs with fleas, allergies/A book of Greek antiquities …’ Plus birthday patron John Montagna gets to call a meeting. --------------------------------Make a pact to make better coffee. If you haven’t tried Pact Coffee yet, we’ll help you get started with 50% off your first and third order when you create a new Pact Plan.Go to https://www.pactcoffee.com/Create your flexible coffee subscription.Enter the code YOUREAR at checkout.And get speciality coffee, through your letterbox. --------------------------------Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 1 additional month for free + a bonus gift! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!--------------------------------Tickets for Word In The Park in London on Saturday June 18th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/were-throwing-a-party-for-paul-mccartneys-80th-and-youre-invited-tickets-259008229587Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, ad-free and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Among the key questions being booted round the block this week in hot pursuit of entertainment:- Why is the billing of the Rolling Stones as just “Stones” on the current tour posters a monstrous affront to human decency? Why are Mozart and PG Wodehouse “like two peas in a pod”? Is there a better literary simile than “the drowsy stillness of the afternoon was shattered by what sounded like GK Chesterton falling on a sheet of tin”? Would pub rock, punk and the ‘80s club boom have ever happened if it hadn’t been for the mighty Time Out?   What’s the howling error in all the Battle of Britain movies? And what pitiful fee did Yvonne Elliman choose to accept instead of royalties for the Jesus Christ Superstar album? And birthday patron guest Stephen Lambe has a couple of questions for the panel.  ----------"Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 1 additional month for free + a bonus gift! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!"----------Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 18th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/were-throwing-a-party-for-paul-mccartneys-80th-and-youre-invited-tickets-259008229587Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world... and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Among the delights this week:- Pink Floyd’s single for Ukraine (the best peace anthem ever?) and the song Bruce Springsteen played the night Saddam Hussein’s statue came down in Baghdad. A man who has 227 Kiss albums. Warners’ talent scout Andy Wickham (RIP), the house hippy who opened the door for Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Gram Parsons and a-ha (a movie waiting to happen).   The members of Big In Japan (a book and documentary waiting to happen). The snack bar Brimful Of Rasher, the Greek restaurant I Should Be Souvlaki and other sparkling retail puns.   The welcome return of “What gets my goat?” And birthday patron Chuck Loncon on the comedy classics of Kinky Friedman and Bob Newhart. -------- Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Ukrainian band Boombox singing the WW1 folk protest song "The Red Viburnum In The Meadow" by St Sofia Cathedral in central Kyiv: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYpOrwksgbA Pink Floyd’s video for Hey Hey Rise Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saEpkcVi1d4--------Tickets for Word In The Park in London on Saturday June 18th: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/were-throwing-a-party-for-paul-mccartneys-80th-and-youre-invited-tickets-259008229587Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Smith did something at the Academy Awards which showed what he cared about most - did you notice it too? Our blow-by-blow account of the moment everyone missed. * Plus … a man who has 25 Big Country albums (and other unlikey acts whose records we obsessively collect).* Is there any band still going after 50 years with more original members than Roxy Music?* The enduring joy of Joe Jackson’s Look Sharp! and Night And Day.* And the kind of thing they let you put on an album cover 50 years ago.Tickets for Word In The Park in London on June 18th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/were-throwing-a-party-for-paul-mccartneys-80th-and-youre-invited-tickets-259008229587Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute the charismatic Taylor Hawkins – and the magnetic appeal of brothers in arms (Taylor & Dave, Pete and Carl, Bruce and Clarence, John and Paul) - invent some rock and roll retirement homes (Itchycoo Park, Barrytown, In The Land Of Grey And Pink), stage an album sleeve style-off and wonder if ‘80s hair will ever make a comeback. Other things mentioned in despatches include Cruising With Ruben & the Jets, the Wailing Wailers, Broadcast News, Working Girl and whether Strawberry Switchblade and Pete Wylie have their Smash Hits covers on their living room walls. Steve Lamacq’s Drumming Masterclass with Taylor Hawkins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwjEc8S0PRoTickets for Word In The Park in London on Saturday June 18th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/were-throwing-a-party-for-paul-mccartneys-80th-and-youre-invited-tickets-259008229587Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Entertaining things subjected to wry and rigorous scrutiny this week include:- * The most bizarre and tenuous rock autobiographies – eg the tell-all revelations of Elvis Presley’s nurse, Primal Scream’s tambourine player, Sinatra’s valet and the girl who made John Lennon a cheese sandwich.* How Roger Daltrey wound up living in a van.* Aimee Mann v Steely Dan and the curious world of support acts.* Would you rather see a “legend” or the next big thing? * The noble tradition of song stealing in reggae. * “Your bus leaves in ten minutes, be under it!” and other inspired ways of dealing with hecklers.  * If you mailed a letter to 'Andy Partridge, Swindon' or 'Rod Stewart, Essex', would they get it?   * And Dolly Parton’s dignified escape from the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Plus there’s a ceremonial reading of Bono’s piss-poor poem about Ukraine.  Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever heard a band but couldn’t work out where their sound came from? We’re saying: only once. What connects the Sweet’s Blockbuster! to Willie Dixon’s Hoochie Coochie Man? How can Noel Gallagher complain that musicians can’t afford instruments when instruments have never been cheaper? Why is songwriting now like VAR? Has anyone had more preposterous names than the offspring of Grimes and Elon Musk? How did Nile Rodgers transform Let’s Dance? … plus literary theft, smoking in films, Eno’s Music For Airports, Dylan’s new book, NordVPN and the movies you can watch endless times and why (Master And Commander and Brief Encounter among them).Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/yourear or use the code yourear to get a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 1 additional month for free + a bonus gift! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee! And it’s our anniversary! We started our Word In Your Attic Zoomcasts exactly two years ago and we’ve now done 159 of them. Here’s a little taste of what you might have been missing …   Edgar Wrighthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUePw4TUvEY Andy Partridgehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvQiDJ3vwi0 Shamira Ahmedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6nLk50vR6Y Bob Geldofhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ssIPRMrYzU Ian Rankinhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pawySOxKUAk Stewart Leehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7lOJUYSY9c&list=PL4BuS5rDGKiPB8-eIUxSPTbajC-l2FyuE&index=141 Laura Bartonhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD7815zq9yc&list=PL4BuS5rDGKiPB8-eIUxSPTbajC-l2FyuE&index=93 Alexis Petridishttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsKuIjlMBrs Jon Ronsonhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqiMN2QKVZE&list=PL4BuS5rDGKiPB8-eIUxSPTbajC-l2FyuE&index=159Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s “pop star good looks” - as opposed to “film star good looks” - and there’s “indie good looks” ... but which acts were a hundred per cent hot? Plus … is there any such thing as an original pop song? How did the Linn Drum make us accept the mechanical? What’s the source of a lot of canned laughter? What was Springsteen’s great act of betrayal? And we explore the benefits of Nord VPN by way of South Korea’s favourite comedy and Peter Sellers and Bernard Cribbins in Two-Way Stretch. And birthday patron Jon Collins gets to call a meeting.Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/yourear or use the code yourear to get a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 1 additional month for free + a bonus gift! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee! Maximum pulchritude: the Small Faces and PP Arnold doing Tin Soldier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vWTtx_PxPoSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we skip the light fandango through live recordings full of extraneous noise – hecklers on a Lou Reed track, barking dogs on a Joe Henry album, the audience chatter on Bill Evans at the Village Vanguard – remember why Gary Brooker’s voice was so affecting and applaud PJ O’Rourke’s wisdom about the art of childrearing. And turn cartwheels in the direction of a guesthouse run by a member of Horslips, an early sighting of “Little” Stevie Winwood, the Queen track not to play at funerals and a touching encounter with Dave Clark. Plus birthday patron guest Avi Chaudhuri gets to set the agenda. PJ O’Rourke …https://youtu.be/n775HebQKMI?t=197 Joe Henry and barking dog …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0KmtMgiTuo Dylan’s Every Grain Of Sand with barking dog …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPzXz-N1NaMSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Piping hot topics fondly booted round the park this week include … are any actors ever convincing when playing a famous rock star? Does it matter if movies “based on a true story” are largely fiction? Why David’s never got on with Love’s Forever Changes. Did Entertainment Weekly exist just to provide a pleasant lifestyle for the people who worked on it? Plus … the connection between Captain Beefheart and blue cheese, Eddie Izzard’s drilling cats, memorable art theft, tambourine players in rock and another great story about ‘Under My Thumb’ being played at a wedding reception. And birthday-partying patrons David Carroll and Adrian Ainsworth put their questions to the panel and flag up Japan and ‘Strange Kind of Love’ by Love And Money.  Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis …https://youtu.be/OWi2lFLe4Cg Inventing Anna …https://youtu.be/65xa8TG2G8oThe Duke …https://youtu.be/65xa8TG2G8oSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Among the items for your distraction and entertainment this week … Do people still form bands? The tangled story of the Aqualung artwork. The skull-cracking number of albums released every day. Instructions on record sleeves – “Horslips: “file under reasonably popular”. The Atom Heart Mother cow. The Wagatha Christie legal costs. Art critics’ lofty pronouncements about the fate of “the average band”. The link between the 12-inch sleeve and the shield of the native American warrior. And the thrilling and imminent arrival of David Hepworth’s 4-CD compilation ‘Deep 70s: Underrated Cuts From A Misunderstood Decade’ and the monstrous fun he had compiling it (paging Patto, Sharks, Bridget St John …). Plus birthday patreon guest Nick Foreman calls a meeting. David Hepworth’s Deep ‘70s compilation …https://www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk/catalogue/releases/david-hepworth-deep-70s-underrated-cuts-from-a-misunderstood-decade-signed-edition/ https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the crosshairs this week … how Mike Campbell’s masterpiece was almost eaten by machinery, who made five great albums in five years?, “a mix is never finished it’s merely abandoned”, Robert Plant at Kidderminster Harriers, hand-written notes from Half Man Half Biscuit, god bless Alex Harvey, the expulsion of the vax-free Woody Woodmansey and birthday guest Keith Adsley explains the Temple of Seitan. Mike Campbell talks about the Boys Of Summer …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxBYBnPJfGQSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who invented the rock spectacle? Has Adele got a touch of Imposter Syndrome? What was Barry Cryer’s gag about the Pretenders? Which bands devised their own mottos? Who’s Floating Points? How did they mic up the bagpipes on the Jeff Beck’s Truth? What the juggins is “paralinguistics”? Where did the Velvet Underground reunion go wrong? Plus a birthday visit from patreon supporter Kevin Rose, aka the manager of Athenlay Park U12.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A candlelit episode boldly addressing the burning issues du jour, among which you’ll find … Is old music killing new music?; actors that should play rock stars (Keeley Hawes IS Kirsty MacColl, Martin Freeman IS Noel Gallagher); legendary Procol Harum roadie and whistle-blower Kelloggs; a riot at a Dutch Stones gig in '64; fast songs done as ballads; a roll-call of Smash Hits’ pop nicknames; Magic Alex in a strip club in High Wycombe (cue the old gag “my mother doesn’t know I’m in advertising, I told her I play piano in a brothel”); selling your children to see the Who; roadies who should be immortalised on film; and our advice to the BBC re the licence fee farrago.   https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/is-old-music-killing-new-music The riot at the Stones’ gig in 1964 …https://mobile.twitter.com/songsphilosophy/status/1483276093939458048?s=10Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What’s the difference between “chin music and beard music”? What’s the most you’d pay for a ticket? What happened when the Pope went record shopping? Will the Beatles’ Get Back be used in management instruction videos? What 45s sound good at 33? Who’s the classic Dad Rock band? ... these and other burning issues are addressed in this episode along with Fleetwood Mac: The Rugby Shirt Years, Brian Epstein’s A Cellarful Of Noise and the powerful romantic fantasies of the Ronettes’ first album. Plus self-isolating birthday guest Paul Knox beams in from Hong Kong.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we choose a new National Anthem, tell the story of Hamish Grimes and the Clapton graffito, salute the best moments in Frasier and feel the powerful effect of the 'You Can All Join In' sampler on male fashion. Plus … swearing, albums to test your hi-fi and David Hepworth’s fantasy rock band in 1963. Our Spotify playlist of new National Anthems …https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ZGUB014llDjmDyH1nPK7K?si=ox2lqc5IRW6-c-efaZdKaQ Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we look at Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, the Staple Singers and Gladys Knight in the fabulous Harlem concert film from 1969. And think what possessions we might bother to keep in a house fire. And wonder if Stop Making Sense is the greatest live performance ever filmed. And talk to someone – birthday patron Andrew Slattery, no less! – who listened to 1,000 albums in 2021. Plus ... Coldplay's recording retirement and the short list of acts who still make good records after 25 years.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world... and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute the comic genius of Ronnie “Fletcher” Barker and Fulton “Mackay” Mackay, fantasise about autobiographies still to come (Neil Tennant, Pet Clark, John Paul Jones, Noel Gallagher), are mildly appalled by the new My Sweet Lord video and play two bracing rounds of Spot the Genuine Christmas single (Beck’s Little Drum-Machine Boy? Half Man Half Biscuit’s Deck The Halls With Buddy Holly?). Gary Chrimble to all, and a gear New Year!Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we remember the lightness of touch and winning gallows humour of Mike Nesmith and the interesting ways he made and spent his fortunes. And it’s 50 years since There’s A Riot Goin’ On, the most radical record to ever top the US charts, and 40 years since the girls transformed the Human League. Plus Hepworth’s “confessions of an amateur weed smoker”, the less you pay for records the better they are, and the gloriously daft reason ELO’s first album was called “No Answer” in the States. New patrons are literally piped aboard with a bosun’s whistle!Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we remember the “Smoke On The Water” fire at Montreux Casino, the soft melancholy of some underrated Christmas records, wonder which documentaries could get a Get Back remake and address the burning issues of the day: eg worst perms in rock, Ed Sheeran & Elton John, vegan bands in waiting, legendary pop recluses and what our ‘most played’ Spotify tracklist says about us.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every Word Podcast before the rest of the world!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter’s been on the pod before talking about the Beatles and Crosby Stills Nash & Young, and he’s just published a fascinating account of the ‘60s sexual revolution, a time when a new and unimaginable freedom collided spectacularly with the hand-wringing Victorian values of the media. We talked to him at the West Hampstead Arts Club about Mick Jagger v Mary Whitehouse, the Avengers, Jenny Fabian’s Groupie, Bond movies, Germaine Greer, the Killing of Sister George, Dirk Bogarde, Cliff Richard as an unconvincing sex symbol, Jane Birkin, Michael Caine in Alfie, John & Yoko, the concept of ‘Kinkiness’ and the pop records that sailed close to the wind. @Peter_Doggett Growing Up: Sex In The Sixties …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Growing-Up-Sixties-Peter-Doggett/dp/184792428XSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - alongside Early Bird access to WIYE live tickets!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recorded at the West Hampstead Arts Club - we're back in the outside world! - the band’s bassist remembers their label’s hopes of selling 5,000 copies of their first album in the autumn of ’77. His just-published memoir recounts the rollercoaster that followed, from the London pub circuit to Compass Point, Live Aid, the gigantic world tours that took in the Eastern Bloc, the sales-boosting arrival of MTV and the CD boom, and how it felt to land back on earth when they called a halt in the mid-‘90s. The early days are fascinating too, a friendship forged with Mark Knopfler over Little Feat, JJ Cale and Ry Cooder albums and the dream-like events of their record deal and rapid ascent.   @John_Illsley My Life In Dire Straits …https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Life-Dire-Straits-Biggest-ebook/dp/B08WBXZCQ1Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive early access to Word In Your Ear Live tickets, and every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we remember being at Sarm Studios 37 years ago as Bob Geldof and Midge Ure marshalled the troops, and look at the reaction to the Get Back movie, Alan Hull, Al Stewart’s energetic love life, Billy Preston and others flown in to keep bands together, Lenny Kaye’s record-filing ruse and why John Illsey had the best job in the world. Plus the return of the Stackwaddy Game - spot the made up musical genre (Skweee, Simpsonwave, Soyabilly etc).Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - plus loads more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lenny Kaye’s just published ‘Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments In Rock And Roll’, events in particular times and places that changed the landscape, among them (and discussed here) Liverpool in 1962, New York in 1975 and Seattle in 1991. In the digital world, will we ever have that kind of local music scene again? His fascinating observations include driving to San Francisco for the Love-In, the world of CBGBs, Norwegian Black Metal, life in the Patti Smith Group and some of “the eccentric characters I feel naturally drawn to” which include Joe Meek, Stiv Bators and the Ramones. Among the questions: what’s the correct way to file Captain Beefheart, under ‘C’ or ‘B’? This is a man whose record collection is divided into “food groups” and includes “a wacko section”. He’s wonderful company.  Lightning Striking …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lightning-Striking-Lenny-Kaye/dp/1474615074 https://lpr.com/lpr_artists/lenny-kaye/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world... plus a whole lot more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we watch a breathtaking 40-minute piece of oratory by EC that takes in David Hockney, TikTok, Laurel & Hardy, what Pete Thomas did during Lockdown and how to avoid your new album being “just another bucket of herring tossed into the stream”. And go to the Premiere of Peter Jackson’s Get Back. And remember some slightly hopeless second albums (ABC, Stones, Arctic Monkeys, Tracy Chapman) and some prime examples of the “front-loaded” LP (Let’s Dance, the Joshua Tree etc). And delight in discovering the snobbery of people who work in record shops is still apparent when you’re trying to buy an Ornette Coleman CD.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute the great ‘60s pop writer and Beatles associate Maureen Cleave, find a copy of Melody Maker from the week Hunky Dory was released (the Rainbow opens, Lindisfarne banned from Brighton Dome after fans dance in aisles! etc), talk to Chris Topham of the Plane Groovy label about the vinyl crisis (there’s a seven-month wait to get a record pressed), check the map of the biggest-selling music acts from each UK county and get to the root of the old Sounds headline “My naked bath-nights with Olivia Newton-John”. Chris Topham’s Plane Groovy Records …https://www.planegroovy.com/toppo.html Maureen Cleave’s famous ‘How Does A Beatle Live?’ piece …http://headsup.freeshell.org/beatles-articles/standard.html Map of the biggest-selling music acts from each UK county …https://brilliantmaps.com/best-selling-england/Word In Your Ear live in London on November 22: https://john-ilsley-more-tba.eventbrite.co.ukSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we kick about with music at weddings, spin-off groups, the bracing challenge of Trout Mask Replica, why pop music needs no awards, the Lionel Blair gag on I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, a 42-disc boxset, skippable album tracks, the Stones still playing Midnight Rambler, McCartney on LP Hartley, Hamlet and Dylan Thomas, and rhyming slang we’d never heard – eg lunch: “a pint of Shaun Ryder, two Bills and a Giorgio Armani”. Plus the tragedy of the Astroworld Festival. That Lionel Blair and Sammy Davis tap-off in 1961:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrS_XEBuFSU Bob Lefsetz on the rock festival safety crisis:https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2021/11/06/astroworld/Word In Your Ear live in London on November 22nd: https://john-ilsley-more-tba.eventbrite.co.ukSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world... and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we debunk the eye-watering Adele Hyde Park ticket prices, note the crowd-losing absence of choruses in Nick Drake songs, remember the strangest onstage guests, marvel at McCartney’s childhood memories and applaud Steve Van Zandt’s theory about the beginning and end of rock music. And birthday patron Giles Fraser is piped aboard plus his proposition about rock and roll legacy.Giles Fraser's Let's Fly: https://www.troubador.co.uk/bookshop/contemporary/lets-fly/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world... alongside a whole lot more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniel Rachel, old pal of the pod, has just published ‘Like Some Forgotten Dream: What If The Beatles Hadn’t Split Up?’, much of it drawn from his access to the Let It Be tapes and full of enthralling details about the highs and lows of the band’s last year. This includes precisely what happened after George stormed out in Jan ’69, the stories of Gimme Some Truth, Cold Turkey and All Things Must Pass, missed press news opportunities, the Scottish car crash, the Toronto Peace Concert and a fantasy tracklist for the double album they could have made in 1970. And much fond talk of their personal chemistry. “There was no showboating, everybody served the song and the idea of making music surpassed everything.”@DanielRachel69https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Some-Forgotten-Dream-Beatles/dp/1788403207Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every Word Podcast before the rest of the world... alongside a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the great Lockdown success stories now has a book attached. This magnificent invention started in March last year and, at one point, Tim was hosting 10 Listening Parties a day. He looks back here at some of the ones he loved the most and how the Four Lions movie got the ball rolling. And talks about the Beach Boys, Iggy Pop, Discharge, Vashti Bunyan’s horse-drawn trip to the Hebrides and (aged 13) seeing Crass in a scout hut in Winsford.   https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/ All past editions … …https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/pages/all.html @LlSTENlNG_PARTY The Listening Party book …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Listening-Party-Artists-Reflect-Favourite/dp/0241514894 Charlatans tour dates …https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/the-charlatans-tickets/artist/1328349Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every Word Podcast before the rest of the world... alongside a whole lot more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we watch the Harmony Game (the fabulous doc about the making of Bridge Over Troubled Water), wonder if the British are qualified to play Country, hear the new Let It Be outtakes (the Fabs playing ‘Fancy My Chances With You’ and George ordering cauliflower cheese), consider the genius of Every Breath You Take, the Stones dropping Brown Sugar and the moment dance music changed from songs to grooves, and salute the Apple Scruff who sang on Across the Universe. The new Let It Be outtakes on Spotify … https://open.spotify.com/album/1BdxbYp1FaNejpDgtDo25V?si=SDCZXciQRUqQTG0dcsP2dA Paul Simon and fan … https://youtu.be/AXBlY5CImUUSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive each Word Podcast - with full visuals! - before the rest of the world... plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we remember when one of the Stones was in the Air Force, the agony of loons pants, the genius of Irene Handl (and her screen roles: Mrs Crumbling, Miss Harker-Parker, Miss Slenderparts) and Bowie as the Goblin King in Labyrinth. Plus Cliff Richards’ new ‘perv breeks’, Steve Van Zandt visits Brian Jones’ grave, the best short songs, when haircuts wreck a band and Ian Martin’s live review of Rick Astley doing the Smiths. Irene Handl and Peter Sellers in Shadows on The Grass: https://open.spotify.com/track/5cdRF3u4UsywY4dZ2g0imJ?si=3967f42723834402Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world... plus a whole lot more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘A Furious Devotion' is just out, written by Richard Balls after long conversations and nights spent with Shane and interviews with members of the Pogues, old girlfriends, former teachers and collaborators (Nick Cave, Sinead O’Connor and Christy Moore among them). This covers childhood times in Tipperary, his ‘genius’ school years, fierce debates about his Irish identity, the full story of Fairytale of New York, his marriage, how the band put up with him and the cussed old curmudgeon he is today (a taste: this is a man who shuns computers, mobiles and email and won’t turn the TV down when being interviewed). A revelation from start to finish.@RichardBalls https://omnibuspress.com/products/a-furious-devotion-the-life-of-shane-macgowan-published-on-7th-october-2021 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Furious-Devotion-Life-Shane-MacGowan/dp/1787601080 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Richard-Balls/e/B0034Q6Q8C%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_shareSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every Word Podcast before the rest of the world: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

White-hot, pressing topics kicked around the rock and roll park this week include … can heavy metal ever be sexy?, why the Beatles would have made the greatest Unplugged act, the return of Scritti Politti, good deals in charity shops, what made Status Quo swing, how Jim Morrison wrecked the legacy of the Doors, the Floyd and the Stones discovering disco, Barry Ryan RIP and why Best Record polls in old music papers still get our goat. Rock stars smoking: https://art-sheep.com/old-photographs-of-musicians-smoking-their-cigarettes/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every Word Podcast before the rest of the world... alongside a whole lot more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we re-watch the Graduate, wonder when Yes songs stopped making sense, salute the best rock stage names and the Björn Ulvaeus song credit campaign, ponder the curious UK launch of Rolling Stone, note the bands who never did cover versions and wonder if - and this may be stressful - Queen could become more popular than the Beatles. Keith Adsley's beard-losing fund-raiser: https://www.hertsad.co.uk/news/new-recovery-home-opens-in-city-8344686?fbclid=IwAR2R1AlZgV2qsTqYh9JrWSdMlw3yhB-ztYDsvm05MDGhqHAjhbixHqrPktsSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive each Word Podcast before the rest of the world... plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘The Best Of Jamming!’ is a powerfully nostalgic collection of extracts from the fanzine Tony launched in 1977 when he was 13, born of the lost age of spraymount, cow gum, Tippex, typewriters and cut-and-paste issues stapled together on the bedroom floor. He looks back at the hand-drawn covers, letters from Paul Weller, cash loans from his Mum, in-office debates (“Can we have American acts on the cover?”) and the magazine’s eight glorious years on the edge of insolvency, a story someone really ought to make into a movie. Copies of Jamming! now fetch £50 on eBay.    @tonyfletcher Best of Jamming!https://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Jamming-Tony-Fletcher/dp/1913172309 Tony’s books …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Tony-Fletcher/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ATony+FletcherSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole load of brilliant extra content and benefits: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

.. where we consider the brave new world in which Rick Astley plays the Smiths, a documentary explores the reasons people detest Kenny G and Rolling Stone rather self-consciously revise their list of the Best 500 Songs Of All Time (should they declare 2001 the new Year Zero and just reset the clock?). And featuring ... worst supergroups, acts who've never put out any cover versions, bands who arrived at the venue but never played and Morrissey answering the phones on Rock Around the Clock.  Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and with full visuals!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Among the white-hot news items fondly examined this week you’ll find … the eternal wars in Fleetwood Mac, how we broadcast our love of bands before the rock t-shirt arrived (involves a canvas bag, a biro and the words ‘Chicken Shack’), Michael Chapman, Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts, the one good thing about the pandemic, albums that were too long and a night featuring a navy surplus greatcoat and the non-appearance of the Move’s Ace “The Singing Skull” Kefford.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and gain access to each future Word Podcast early - and in full audio-visual glory! Plus a load more exclusive content and benefits: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we consider the melancholy of Abba (and find a 45 year-old bar of Abba soap), applaud the hidden message in Lee Perry's Cow Thief Skank, wonder how Judee Sill would be marketed today, remember the Beach Boys' purple patch and note the only two things of any worth ever achieved by Iron Butterfly.Support Word In Your Ear on Patreon and gain access to each Word Podcast early... and in full audio-visual glory!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we wonder if it's the Stones without the drummer, tell the whole story of the "work five years and 20 years hanging around" interview, salute the great Charlie album sleeve moments and investigate "the Rolling Stones wobble". And there's Reading Festival '79, the Nirvana Nevermind saga and other random folk on record sleeves (the US marine on a Smiths cover, the Russian presidential candidate on a Pulp album, Supertramp's singing waitress, the Bauls of Bengal) and a search for the origins of Prog.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and gain access to a whole bunch of brilliant extra content and benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘I Wanna Be Yours’, the superb memoir by “the bargain basement Baudelaire”, is now out in paperback, much of it an account of growing up in Salford. Here he looks back at the days when “the Rialto cinema was my babysitter”, seeing Little Richard aged 11, the fine details of the Beatles’ tailoring, old TV ads, Stanley Holloway, Joe Loss, “Woodman, Spare That Tree”, the Mecca ballrooms, the Bernard Manning audition that launched his career, the pure sensory overload of hearing rock and roll in fairgrounds and life in a flat with two members of the Velvet Underground. It’s extremely funny and revealing – and, for anyone old enough to remember those times, exquisitely nostalgic. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wanna-Yours-John-Cooper-Clarke/dp/1509896104 @official_jcc http://johncooperclarke.com/gigs/ https://johncooperclarke.com/ Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Topics this week given a vigorous shakedown include ... the magical story-telling of the late Tom T Hall, best-preserved '80s rock stars, the construction of John Cooper Clarke's pickled onion "pork pie doorstep", the line-up and health risk of the 1971 Weeley Festival (Gnidrolog! Tir Na Nog! Castle!), a chance meeting with Una Stubbs, how Spotify changes your Greatest Hit, best opening songs on a debut album and what's the annual miserabilis of rock?Support Word In Your Ear on Patreon and gain access to every future Word Podcast early - and in full vision!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourearKeep up-to-date with our now-legendary Word In Your Attic series on YouTube: https://youtube.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The fourth and last guest at our sun-roasted live event in Holland Park on July 17 was the ever-supercharged Danny Baker. Straw-hatted, drink-toting and delighted audience members were treated to a series of superb comic monologues which featured his idea for a Beatles movie, the South London promoter who locked himself in a portakabin to evade the wrath of his acts and a magnificent riff about how the music-hall legend Bud Flanagan conned his way onto an ocean liner (aged 14) and joined a travelling show in America. @prodnose Tour dates with Bob Harris …https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/danny-baker Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Topics subjected to the usual forensic scrutiny this week include ... Jan & Dean's role in the kidnap of Frank Sinatra Jnr, is it still the Stones without Charlie?, the Offspring drummer kicked out for being an anti-vaxxer, buying Revolver 55 years ago, Bobby Whitlock's roasting of the All Things Must Pass remix, how Tot Taylor gatecrashed the music industry in '73 and the least rock and roll leisure pursuits.https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-the-grand-scheme-snatching-sinatra/id1435516849?i=1000530258036 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We staged our first live event for 18 months on July 17, a sun-baked day at a spectacular outdoor venue kindly lent us by Opera Holland Park. A vast amount of fun was had. We’re putting up podcasts of all four of our guests, this one featuring the world’s pre-eminent fount of all Beatles knowledge and wisdom, the great Mark Lewisohn and including his thoughts about Peter Jackson’s upcoming Get Back movie, why Brian Epstein is underrated, a pivotal moment in the Beatles story (1961), the treasures you find when leafing through old magazines (as opposed to googling), and the revelation that Mean Mr Mustard was based on a real life character whose wife has numerous grounds for divorce. @marklewisohn https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mark-Lewisohn/e/B00J6BJQYK%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share Tune In (paperback)https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beatles-All-These-Years-Tune/dp/1408705753/ref=asc_df_1408705753/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=311328387040&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14467137111273568288&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045943&hvtargid=pla-525100023999&psc=1&th=1&psc=1 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Topics plumbed to their very depths this week include .... are tears for Olympic athletes now compulsory? The absurd names of Usain Bolt's children. The backstage chaos of the Concert For Bangladesh. Dusty Hill's mid-ZZ Top job at an airport. Can Ryan Adams ever get another record deal? Why the Sparks story is unique and extraordinary. Can you ever feel as attached to music you don't own in physical form? Bands you hated when young. Plus ... Magic Alex on impersonating members of the Stones for a living.Support Word In Your Ear on Patreon and gain early access to each and every Word Podcast... in full audio-visual glory!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matters of high import thrashed out this week include Dylan's Shadow Kingdom livestream, the Thunder Road lyric farrago, Apple Venus and Wasp Star - separated at birth!, the best reggae album ever, laughter on records, underwhelming follow-up albums and why Hot Rats makes the perfect crime thriller soundtrack. Supporting cast includes Kevin Turvey, Philip Glass, Brian Auger's Oblivion Express and Dave "Bucket" Colwell of Humble Pie.Support Word In Your Ear on Patreon and gain access to hours of extra content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We had our first live event for 18 months on a fabulous, sun-baked afternoon in Holland Park on July 17 and the writer and former Fleet Street columnist Lesley-Ann Jones was one of the four guests (there’ll be a podcast of each of them). These are her crowd-pleasing, colourful memories of Queen backstage at Live Aid, living with Raquel Welch and tea with Bowie at Haddon Hall. The Stones are in there too. @LAJwriter LAJ’s books …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Lesley-Ann-Jones/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ALesley-Ann+Jones Podcast …https://podcasts.apple.com/sn/podcast/11-porkys-pals-lesley-ann-jones/id1463527178?i=1000442129335Support Word In Your Ear on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our sun-baked return to live events on July 17, we had four guests onstage at a spectacular outdoor venue kindly lent us by Opera Holland Park in West London, the first our old pal the shy, retiring, hard-to-prise-a-word-out-of-him broadcaster Gary Crowley. Stories here include the time he was invited round to the Clash HQ for an interview (when still at school), the giddying sensation of meeting Paul McCartney and some unsung heroes of '80s pop. @CrowleyOnAir Radio London …https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001d7z2 Gary's 'Lost '80s' CD box-sets … …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gary-Crowleys-Lost-Various-Artists/dp/B07L51CSKHhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Gary-Crowley-Lost-80s-2/dp/B093XGSJKWSupport Word In Your Ear on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sports writer and old pal Nige Tassell traces the story of Sweet Caroline, You’ll Never Walk Alone and Yes Sir I Can Boogie – with fond memories of the Tranmere Rovers’ spontaneous vegan chant moment. Other piping hot topics include Dua Lipa and the stolen photo, have you ever booed a band?, the exact number of onstage hours Dylan’s played All Along The Watchtower, the magic of Freddie King and the Jayhawks, does Richard Branson like music?, indie weddings and are there any rap covers bands? @nigetassell Nige’s books …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Nige-Tassell/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ANige+Tassell Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute Frogspawn Candy, Lord Snooty & his Pals and Steppenwolf, rejoice in the Onion's coverage of Lorde, applaud the return of the Siffleur and pop tunes that feature whistling, back Elvis Costello on song-stealing, have a CD Date Night with the Decemberists and A Tribe Called Quest (while unravelling their Lou Reed court case), and inspect a new theory about the Manson murders. Elvis Costello on song stealing …https://uk.news.yahoo.com/elvis-costello-defends-olivia-rodrigo-150635978.html Lorde in the Onion …https://www.theonion.com/lorde-slammed-and-condemned-because-it-seems-like-it-s-1847175966 Chris Pratt’s former band names …https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x9obbpaVIvw&feature=youtu.beTickets for Word In The Park on July 17th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nobody is better qualified to talk about music as he's seen it from every angle. Bob Geldof broke into the Beatles' hotel room aged 12. He saw Dylan and the Stones when he was 13. Radio Luxembourg sent him messages from the ether. He worked out why the great lyrics work ("and the best opening line"). He studied the stagecraft of a host of musicians and formed a band of his own. He felt the lure of "screaming stadium whores and sex on tap". He staged Live Aid. And he ended up a close friend of many of "the people at the top of pop's Mount Olympus". This extraordinary interview has revelations about what's required to be a rock star you may never have imagined. And he nominates some Greatest Records Ever Made. https://www.theboomtownratsofficial.com/ Citizens of Boomtown …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Citizens-Boomtown-Rats/dp/B083MVDKMWTickets for Word In The Park in London on July 17th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699Support Word In Your Ear on Patreon to gain access to a load of extra content and benefits: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matters of high import discussed this week include ... having a 'date night' with your old CDs. Can the one-piece jumpsuit ever return? The whole Billie Eilish apology saga. Do all first girlfriends have names like Deidre Birchwood? What pop location deserves a blue plaque? Why Court And Spark outranks Blue. The Foo Fighters' Bee Gees moment. Rock's second best year. And would you pay $998 to get some All Things Must Pass garden gnomes? Plus James Brown, Black Grape, Chicken Shack, Duckworth Lewis, Tom Petty and Robert Plant's Band Of Joy. And David's mist-filled 30-second reverie about a romance in summer '67.Tickets for Word In The Park in London on July 17th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we shake down the piping hot topics du jour, among them ... the 50th anniversary of Glastonbury, the genius of Miles Copeland's management method, the new six-hour Beatles movie, Bob Geldof on what it takes to be a rock star, would Oasis have worked in the '70s, why current songwriters are afraid to experiment, and whatever happened to Terry Reid? Terry Reid at the first Glastonbury in 1971 ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFtPnpDMxyITickets for Word In The Park in London's Holland Park on July 17th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's pod we explore whether Apple's new spatial audio is actually worth it, ponder urgent listener questions such as "is pop music all about cymbals?" and "should we be paying attention to Van Morrison right now?" and chat to old pal Paul Burke about advertising in music and why the art of discotheque DJing is a little bit like foreplay.http://www.paulburkecreative.com/Tickets for Word In The Park in London on July 17th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699Support Word In Your Ear on Patreon and gain access to a load of extra content and benefits: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's burning hot topics include .... the 50th birthday of Joni Mitchell's 'Blue’. Songs about the joy of spending "a bankroll big enough to choke a donkey". When Whistle Test went all Tomorrow's World. Books or records: which could you survive without? Is there the Who without Pete Townshend? Films we've watched the most. Music that's unfailingly cheerful. Is "Play Loud" the daftest thing ever put on an album cover? Was there ever a posher musician than James Lascelles of Global Village Trucking Company (in line of succesion to the British throne)? And the sweet story of Gravesend's own rock gods Kinky Machine and their 50-year anniversary video.  Kinky Machine's reunion ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn8MyQH-gu0Whistle Test tackles the new technology, 1983 ...https://youtu.be/iQ76xlMF8r4Tickets for Word In The Park in London's Holland Park on Saturday July 17th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute some much-loved writers (Clive James on Rod Stewart: "he was hopping about like a bifurcated marrow"), investigate the Friends Reunion, predict the next pop acts on postage stamps (a round of Stamp Waddy, anyone?) and tackle the burning issues of the day - aka What's the longest you've ever waited for a band to appear? And who's best: Britney Spears or Taylor Swift (and which would you want to organise your bungee jump)?Tickets for Word In The Park on July 17th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699Support Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a cornucopia of additional content and fabulous benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bernie's memoir - 'Where's My Guitar?' - is just out in paperback and this highly entertaining encounter with the old rock and roll trouper features his early bands (Clockwork Mousetrap, Skinny Cat), Cream and Fleetwood Mac at Dunstable's California Ballroom, auditioning for Renaissance and East Of Eden (then turning the job down), 'secret police' on the Wild Turkey tour, thumping Phil Mogg, Mickie Most's butler and Rolls Royce car phone, sessions for Hot Chocolate, the Spinal Tap moment of Whitesnake's Lovehunter sleeve, the extraordinary tale of his co-writing Here I Go Again and the perils of trying to prise Tony "Dear Boy" Ashton out of a pub.  @Bernie_Marsden https://berniemarsden.com/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wheres-My-Guitar-Inside-British/dp/0008356556Tickets for Word In The Park on July 17th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699Support Word In Your Ear on Patreon and gain access to a whole load of benefits and extra content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which three old lags who've been following Dylan most of their lives - David Hepworth, Sid Griffin and Mark Ellen - offload a passionate personal theory and fly the flag for a favourite track. As Sid points, "How many times do you find yourself saying, 'Who does that? Only Bob Dylan!'" Includes 'Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues' as a quiz and the three albums sleeves where he wears the same jacket. Also .... the John Lydon/Pistols/Danny Boyle legal stand-off and memories of the much-loved Fred Dellar, the Rock Wikipedia of his day. Sid's books about Dylan ...https://www.amazon.co.uk/Million-Dollar-bash-Dylan-Basement/dp/1908279699Tickets for Word In The Park on July 17th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699Support Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a smorgasbord of benefits: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which the beloved entertainer talks about his memoir 'Beeswing: Fairport, Folk and Finding My Voice 1967-1975', a rich and circuitous ramble that features Jimmy Shand, Louis Armstrong, a school band with Hugh Cornwell, sitar lessons with Andy Summers, the word game that invented 'Unhalfbricking', the genius of Sandy Denny, the 'backstabbing' folk community, the perils of the British stiff upper lip, a cardboard cut-out of Nick Drake, the Henry the Human Fly photoshoot, disinfecting sheep, the writing of Meet on the Ledge and the enduring mystery of the best song lyrics.   @RthompsonMusic https://www.richardthompson-music.com/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beeswing-Fairport-Finding-Voice-1967-75/dp/0571348165Tickets for Word In The Park on July 17th here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we look at the light-fingered early lives of Camden's Magnificent Seven and the soundtrack of the Pursuit of Love, note the collapse of the BRITs and the Oscars and tell the extraordinary tale of the writer who thinks Bob Dylan's his dad. Plus ... Never Mind The Quality, Feel the Length (long things that only work because they're long - eg the Irishman, the Dead's Dark Star, Lawrence Of Arabia). And... what items of girls' clothing is Alex wearing this week? The Madness doc ...https://www.bt.com/tv/documentary/madness-before-we-was-we-channel-amc-date-music-band-history-trailer Bob Dylan Knew My Mother: Sam Sussman's piece in Harpers ... https://harpers.org/archive/2021/05/the-silent-type-on-possibly-being-bob-dylans-son/Word In Your Ear is back and in the great outdoors, tickets here ... https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699Want exclusive early access to every future Word podcast - and in full audio-visual glory! - alongside a whole load of other benefits? Of course you do! Sign up to our fabulous Patreon where deep joy awaits: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The great Joel Selvin has just published 'Hollywood Eden: Electric Guitars, Fast Cars and the Myth of the California Paradise', a thumping account of the West Coast pop revolution between 1958-1968 beginning with the rise of Jan & Dean and ending with "the greatest record ever made", Good Vibrations. He beams in from San Francisco, a substantial cigar on the go, to talk about the shamefully uncelebrated Nancy Sinatra's pioneering records (and '57 pink Thunderbird), the Beach Boy who invented the surf market, the "poisonous" Kim Fowley, the genius of Phil Spector and Lou Adler and the rise of Sunset Strip. @Joelselvin https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hollywood-Eden-Electric-California-Paradise/dp/1487007213 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we remember the Wailers' London shows and what made them unique, salute the fond but sceptical rock photographs of our old friend Ken Sharp, unravel the brilliant mechanics of Jerry Seinfeld's 'Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee', discover why Steve Martin gave up comedy, tell an old Barry Cryer gag and play a bracing round of 'Irritating Electoral Candidate or Fun-Loving Calypso Songbird?' (Lord Buckethead? Attila the Hun? etc).Tickets for Word In The Park here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699Want exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast, and in full audio-visual glory? Of course you do, you're only human! Make sure you're subscribed to our fabulous Patreon for this and much more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Forty-two years after her meteoric ascent, Rickie Lee Jones has put out a memoir, 'Last Chance Texaco: Chronicles of a Troubadour'. And this we strongly recommend, a candid, salty, high-octane account of her breakthrough and early adventures criss-crossing America, many of which were turned into songs. Among her cast of fellow travellers are her Vaudevillian song-and-dance grandparents, Tom Waits, Dr John, Lowell George, Lenny Waronker and Chuck E Weiss, all of whom feature in this delightful pod. As do tales of her famous Saturday Night Live slot, West Side Story, her Beatles obsession (aged 8), the Damon Runyan world of late '70s L.A., current life in New Orleans and the "firece fire of fans who've stayed with me".  @RickieLeeJones https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Chance-Texaco-Chronicles-Troubadour/dp/1611856469 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we're joined by old pal Kate Mossman who's had a colourful encounter with Tom Jones, we look at the legal battle for Nirvana's logo and the bands who sell more t-shirts than records, we're convinced we know why the England Squad don't make football singles any more, we dig out some surely bank-busting white labels and play a round of Hip Hop Star or Character From A '60s Comic?Kate's terrific piece about Tom Jones in the New Statesman ...https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music-theatre/2021/04/tom-jones-interview-i-wanted-be-man-desperatelyWord In Your Ear is back and in the great outdoors, tickets here ... https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699To contribute to WIYE Patron Jeff Rees' time capsule project, email us your suggestions at wiye.london@gmail.comWant to receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world - and in full audio-visual glory! - alongside a whole load of additional content and benefits? Of course you do, you're only flesh and blood! Make sure you're subscribed to our fabulous Patreon, deep joy awaits: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we shake down the Bat Out Of Hell saga and Morrissey v the Simpsons, wonder what happened to the Bay City Rollers billions, explore Richard Thompson's theory of folk-rock snobbery, salute pop memoirs that end early and remember how people reacted when Kraftwerk and the Ramones first appeared. And announce our Word in the Park live event in July! ... WORD IN THE PARK TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-word-in-the-park-a-summer-afternoon-of-socially-distanced-storytelling-tickets-152091141699 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A world-put-to-rights-special that tells the story of the man who hid in a crate on a three-day flight with only a book of Beatles song lyrics for entertainment, looks at the stupidity of 19 year-olds, considers Rob Lowe’s belief that "there's no point in being famous today", predicts that CDs will become as treasured and collectable as vinyl, and wonders if musicians could still play if as pissed as they claimed to be. Also includes Shit-faced Shakespeare and a round of Song Title By the World's Most Pretentious Band or Artwork By Damien Hirst?Want exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast - and in full audio-visual glory! - plus LOTS more? Of course you do, you're only human! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tessa and Bob are lifelong Mark E Smith devotees and have just published 'Excavate: the Wonderful And Frightening World of The Fall', a collection of essays inspired by the band’s unique and eternally beguiling back catalogue and divinely cranky modus operandi - along with artwork, ephemera, lyrics sheets, letters to fans and self-written press releases. It's an atlas that navigates the Fall’s outer reaches rather than an investigation of the man himself "as you can't look directly at the sun". This terrific free-wheeling conversation touches on football, architecture, working men's clubs, self-made mythology, the nature of Fall fans, the powerful impact of Kenny Everett's World's Worst Records Show album and the plastic carrier-bag left onstage that Tessa still has 25 years later. @rocking_bob @tessanorton https://www.amazon.co.uk/Excavate-Wonderful-Frightening-World-Fall-ebook/dp/B0873XZ21B Yeah Yeah Yeah by Bob Stanley …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yeah-Story-Modern-Pop/dp/0571322409/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&qid=1617954172&refinements=p_27%3ABob+Stanley&s=books&sr=1-4 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which David delivers a tremulous rant about the curse of the two-minutes' silence at sport events, we note the Duke of Edinburgh's Beatles connection, rummage through the BBC's 'black box', salute the longest-lasting line-ups (Damned, Golden Earring, ZZ Top, Blind Boys of Alabama?), weep at the worst rock and roll tattoos, remember the Bowie album with three different covers and play 'Oi! band member or friend of the Krays?' and 'no-frills Seventies drummer or cast member of Corrie?'Want exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast - and in full audio-visual glory! - alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we applaud Paul Simon's light-fingered songwriting skills, delight in the fake Roxy Music rejection letter, trace the origins of rock's black uniform (which Keith Richards reckons has it roots in cowboy movies), discover powerful new chemical benefits from being in bands, reveal the Spandau Ballet hit based on If I Had A Hammer, hear Philip Roth's advice to an aspiring novelist and play rock band or children's entertainment option (Angry Beavers?).Want exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast - and in full audio-visual glory! - alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we play theatrical moments from great live albums - Humble Pie, ELP, the Stones, James Brown, Sinatra & Count Basie, Free, the Who, the Allman Brothers ("Whipping Post!") - relive the wit and wisdom of James Blunt on Twitter, examine the raw agony of having a rock star as a parent (warning: Eve Hewson's Bono story involves public dancing to the Backstreet Boys in a dressing-gown) and reveal whose tour rider includes "oxygen tanks and a doctor available to give mid-set B-12 injections".Want exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast - and in full audio-visual glory! - alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we're joined by old pal Trevor Dann who was one of the 200 people sitting on the floor of the Nottingham Boat Club 50 years ago hearing the unreleased Stairway To Heaven ("maximum volume as it was on the river and there were no houses next door"). Plus memories of Nick Drake in 1971 (Trevor wrote the memoir Darker Than The Deepest Sea) - the underwhelming live shows, the mistakes on his album sleeves, the family tensions, why his legend is still expanding and what he might be doing if he was still with us today. And ... the Stack Waddy game: real or fake Half Man Half Biscuit tracks (Eamonn Holmes Under The Hammer?) and Indie Rock Band or lower league football team?  @TrevorDannTrevor's excellent Nick Drake memoir ...https://www.amazon.co.uk/Darker-Than-Deepest-Sea-Search/dp/0749951338Want exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast - and in full audio-visual glory! - alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we relive the joys of cassette mixtape pop snobbery, discover a rock star's mum who was a WW2 secret agent, name the best songs about mothers, salute Tony "Ian Faith" Hendra RIP and his part in Spinal Tap (and his National Lampoon gags eg 'Yoko Is A Concept By Which We Measure our Pain'), note the coded messages in Dylan's 'Bringing It All Back Home' sleeve and play 'Lee Perry Tune or Item of Jamaican Cuisine?'Want exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast - and in full audio-visual glory! - alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute Chris Barber and Bunny Wailer, listen to Robert Fripp's £80-a-pop personal message service, marvel at the Kings Of Leon's new crypto-currency, relive the agony of the Bob Harris vinyl flood, wonder if Bob Weir's was the only decent rock ponytail, reconnect with the Drifters, Lonnie Donegan and Lewis Taylor ("the great undiscovered jewel of 20th C popular music"), and play 'Van Morrison song or Richard Littlejohn headline?', 'Oasis track or children's book?' and '50s wrestler or member of the Bonzo Dog Band?'.Want exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast (and in full audio-visual glory!) alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we try the Obama/Springsteen pod, view astonishing footage of Sinatra recording in 1965, watch films we've never seen (eg "Life Of Brian" - merchandise at the stoning scene? "Two rocks and a bag of gravel"), remember the Stones' satin-clad tax-dodging flit to the south of France, applaud the greatest one-man albums ever made, and play 'Children's book or rare psychedelic single?', 'European rave palace or Gwyneth Paltrow lifestyle accessory' and 'Spot the fake DJ' (Spinston Churchill?).WIYE Merch: http://www.wiyelondon.com/merchFrank Sinatra recording in 1965 ...https://www.openculture.com/2017/04/watch-frank-sinatra-record-it-was-a-very-good-year-in-the-studio-in-1965.htmlWorking with Frank ... https://youtu.be/ogC-D3jneGECilla recording with Burt Bacharach ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7-saWB4eQWant exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast (and in full audio-visual glory!) alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the event of the temporary indisposition of Mr Mark Henry Ellen his part is taken for today's podcast by Mr Alexander Karl Gold and he and David Hepworth talk on the subject of which other songwriter-band leaders might arguably give Ray Davies a run for his money when it comes to sustained creation of brilliant singles, what it's like to go to Dolly Parton's home town and the contrasting accounts of the popular song experience which are available in the films "Framing Britney" and "Travelling For A Living" (https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-travelling-for-a-living-1966-online), a 1966 film of life with the Watersons. Plus, of course, the Stackwaddy Game.Want exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast - and in full audio-visual glory! - alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

... a Valentine's Day Special (which naturally involves Jackie DeShannon and Lucinda Williams), the curious case of Bruce Springsteen, the Jeep ad and the shot of tequila, and the 50th birthday of Tapestry. Plus Stack Waddy: 'leafy English village or colourful minor celebrity?' and 'Tom Waits track or story by Damon Runyon?'Want exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast - and in full audio-visual glory! - alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we navigate by way of pay-for-play bribery, Elvis Costello's mum, the songs the Bonzos taught us, the man who helped cook the Beatles' books, the eternal trials of posh pop stars, and Farrah Fawcett-Majors and the story of the Midnight Plane To Houston. And play 'Pulp song or episode of Are You Being Served?'The Bee Gees record a message for Pete Paphides' ansaphone in 1997 ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcKi3-pYutQ&lc=UgwqHWpFK3w9utgLeH54AaABAg&feature=em-commentsWant exclusive access to every future Word Podcast - and in full audio-visual glory! - alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which the conversational spotlight alights upon the great Hilton Valentine (RIP), adventures with the KLF, Phil Collins' disastrous session for All Things Must Pass, DJ EZ's marathon, Clare Torry on the Great Gig In The Sky, Carey Mulligan v Variety magazine and John Otway's version of House of the Rising Sun. Plus be prepared to play ... "Rave DJ or Household Cleaning Product?" and "Queen track or fantasy novel by George RR 'Games Of Thrones' Martin?".Want exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast (and in full audio-visual glory!) alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A snow-filled scenic ramble featuring the appeal of Dolly Parton for the under-fives, the Cilla Black/Phil Spector chart battle of '65 (and Phil's unsettling appearance at the Q Awards), a John Lennon birthday lunch in Paris, the post-Brexit future for musicians on tour, Midge Ure, Tucky Buzzard and Eddie Izzard ... plus a bracing round of 'Wodehouse character or rock musician?' and 'Morrissey song title or quote from Oscar Wilde?'.Midge Ure on the impact of Brexit on touring the EUhttps://twitter.com/BBCSounds/status/1352594601434099716Want exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast - and in full audio-visual glory! - alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we're joined by Sam Pope - the man who shantyised Eminem - on the new mass appeal of seafaring folk tunes, applaud the value of Happy Music (and name the tracks that never let you down), wonder why no-one's made a biopic about Fleetwood Mac, Blondie or the Ramones, and watch Fran Lebowitz in Pretend It's A City and wish we could have had breakfast with Charles Mingus and Duke Ellington. And play 'Film noir or Springsteen song?' and 'Reggae soundsystem or Marvel superhero?'.Sam Pope on Tik Tok and Instagram - @sampopemusicWant exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast (and in full audio-visual glory!) alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we tell the story of James Taylor's tattoo, Bowie's coded message to Hermione, Tracy Chapman v Nicki Ninaj, Gerry Marsden stealing George Harrison's girlfriend, and the real life girls from Valerie and My Sharona - plus bracing rounds of 'Republican Senator or Country Music star?' and 'Joanna Newsom song title or vegetarian restaurant in Brighton?'. And the lost Wombles-style Oasis tribute album (What's the Story) Tobermory?. James Taylor's tattoo story is at 4.20 ...https://youtu.be/ouR_PDffp40Want exclusive early access to each and every future Word Podcast - and in full audio-visual glory! - alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do! Make sure you're signed up to our fabulous Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Surely the only podcast on God’s Earth that covers Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera, Pulp’s Disco 2000, Zulu, voter fraud in Citizen Kane, Mother’s club in Birmingham, Prudence Farrow, the Alan Parsons Project, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly!, the Maharishi, ‘Lennon Remembers’, Gothmog (lieutenant of Morgul) and ‘Is it a craft beer or a Mercury Prize Nominee?’ The Beatles recording of ‘There You Go Eddy’, a song about Hunter Davies …https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=beatles+there+you+are+eddy+youtube&docid=608013219034040298&mid=427E49A4B90193F58E80427E49A4B90193F58E80&view=detail&FORM=VIRE Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Surely the only podcast that's ever included tantalising Beatles film outtakes, the knock-down sale of Michael Jackson's Neverland, 'the Great Fatsby' by Leslie West, Frank Sinatra, E17 with sleigh bells and and Ladbaby's We Built This City On Sausage Rolls. Plus we play energetic rounds of 'Farrow & Ball paint colour or Tyrannosaurus Rex track?' and 'Lilith Fair acoustic act or Lush beauty product'?Want exclusive early access to this - and every future - Word Podcast, and in full audio-visual glory, alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do. Make sure you're signed up to our fantastic Patreon for all this and more. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Surely the only podcast that's ever included tantalising Beatles film outtakes, the knock-down sale of Michael Jackson's Neverland, 'the Great Fatsby' by Leslie West, Frank Sinatra, E17 with sleigh bells and and Ladbaby's We Built This City On Sausage Rolls. Plus we play energetic rounds of 'Farrow & Ball paint colour or Tyrannosaurus Rex track?' and 'Lilith Fair acoustic act or Lush beauty product'? Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we dust down a great new Bee Gees doc (How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?), applaud Bill Bailey, remember the absurdity of the Best Guitarist polls (and then name our favourite guitarists), mine the folklore of John Le Carre for possible band names (the Scalphunters, Madame Ostrakova), shake down the ‘river of dimes’ world of music copyright, and play a bracing round of ‘Black Metal Band or Item Of IKEA Furniture? Bill Bailey doing U2 having a Catastrophic Technical Failure …https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=bill+bailey+impression+of+U2++youtube&docid=608004010494658780&mid=093D1A58807BF3F7B1D8093D1A58807BF3F7B1D8&view=detail&FORM=VIRE And his impression of Billy Bragg …https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=bill+bailey+billy+bragg+youtbe&docid=608046294460467055&mid=933388ED5A44F42CF025933388ED5A44F42CF025&view=detail&FORM=VIREWant exclusive early access to every future Word Podcast - and in full audio-visual glory! - alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining content and benefits? Of course you do. Make sure you're signed up to our fantastic Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we dust down a great new Bee Gees doc (How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?), applaud Bill Bailey, remember the absurdity of the Best Guitarist polls (and then name our favourite guitarists), mine the folklore of John Le Carre for possible band names (the Scalphunters, Madame Ostrakova), shake down the ‘river of dimes’ world of music copyright, and play a bracing round of ‘Black Metal Band or Item Of IKEA Furniture? Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute the Taylor Swift publicity machine and the "sixth Stone" Ian Stewart, marvel at the money-spinning value of song copyrights (Dylan, Gershwin, Third Man Theme etc), listen to albums in the dark, point up McCartney's superhuman achievement on June 14 1965 and spot fictitious music magazines (the Amazing Pudding?) and emo bands (Moose Blood?). Ian Leslie's 64 Reasons To Celebrate Paul McCartney ...https://ianleslie.substack.com/p/64-reasons-to-celebrate-paul-mccartneyWant exclusive early access to this - and every future - Word Podcast alongside a whole host of additional exciting, enlightening and entertaining benefits? Of course you do. Make sure you're subscribed to our fantastic Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute the Taylor Swift publicity machine and the "sixth Stone" Ian Stewart, marvel at the money-spinning value of song copyrights (Dylan, Gershwin, Third Man Theme etc), listen to albums in the dark, point up McCartney's superhuman achievement on June 14 1965 and spot fictitious music magazines (the Amazing Pudding?) and emo bands (Moose Blood?). Ian Leslie's 64 Reasons To Celebrate Paul McCartney ...https://ianleslie.substack.com/p/64-reasons-to-celebrate-paul-mccartney Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Choice items discussed include Dua Lipa's 5-million-tickets-sold online show, the full list of Altamont catastrophes, the magic of the rock press 'on the road' feature, Maslow's hierarchy of needs (oh yes!), Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter's move into military defence and US Spy Satellites, David's disastrous cinema outing, whether going to gigs is now largely about the 'being there' on social media, cult Xmas singles and the mystery of Griselda Pugh & the Horses of Instruction.Want to receive this - and every future - Word podcast before the rest of the word, and in full audio-visual glory, alongside a whole host of other exciting, enlightening and entertaining benefits? Of course you do. Make sure you're signed up to our fantastic Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Choice items discussed include Dua Lipa's 5-million-tickets-sold online show, the full list of Altamont catastrophes, the magic of the rock press 'on the road' feature, Maslow's hierarchy of needs (oh yes!), Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter's move into military defence and US Spy Satellites, David's disastrous cinema outing, whether going to gigs is now largely about the 'being there' on social media, cult Xmas singles and the mystery of Griselda Pugh & the Horses of Instruction. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we look at pop conspiracy theories (eg Britney Spears), the Christmas songs that work for 2020, the 36 different versions of the new McCartney album, the howling mundanity of Arsene Wenger's Desert Island Discs, folk box-sets made in China, Gary Barlow in Sainsbury's, "America's truth crisis" and mangled celebrity band names. And the time David spent Christmas alone. The #FreeBritney story in Vanity Fair …https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/11/the-oracle-of-britney-spears The ‘Harry Smith B Sides’ in the New York Times ...https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/14/arts/music/anthology-of-american-folk-music.html Nick Lowe’s ‘Christmas At The Airport’ …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQoVB3Rd28E Davitt Sigerson’s It’s A Big Country … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDXZsydJU2cWant to receive this - and every future - Word Podcast before the rest of the world, and in full audio-visual glory, alongside a whole host of other exciting, enlightening and entertaining benefits? Of course you do. Make sure you're signed up to our fantastic Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we look at pop conspiracy theories (Britney Spears!), the Christmas songs that work for 2020, the 36 versions of the new McCartney album, the howling mundanity of Arsene Wenger's Desert Island Discs, folk box-sets made in China, Gary Barlow in Sainsbury's, "America's truth crisis" and mangled celebrity band names. The #FreeBritney story in Vanity Fair …https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/11/the-oracle-of-britney-spears The ‘Harry Smith B Sides’ in the New York Times ...https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/14/arts/music/anthology-of-american-folk-music.html Nick Lowe’s ‘Christmas At The Airport’ …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQoVB3Rd28E Davitt Sigerson’s It’s A Big Country …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDXZsydJU2c Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we fantasise about what happened after Clooney gave 14 friends $1m in cash, note the sale of Dylan's private letters, miss the great North London record shops, unravel Radio 1 v the Pogues, pitch pop stars' dogs against Nigerian Highlife entertainers and name the second greatest Christmas record ever made.--------------Want to receive this - and every future - Word Podcast before the rest of the world, and in full audio-visual glory, in addition to a whole host of other exciting, enlightening and entertaining benefits? Of course you do. Make sure you're signed up to our fantastic Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we fantasise about what happened after Clooney gave 14 friends $1m in cash, note the sale of Dylan's private letters, miss the great North London record shops, unravel Radio 1 v the Pogues, pitch pop stars' dogs against Nigerian Highlife entertainers and name the second greatest Christmas record ever made.Bob Dylan chronological playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4yakVhk1BBXS3nXUEMh1RR?si=qRSBLUjPRzCdC97yreie_g Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Acts that wrote songs about themselves (Animals, Monkees, Manfreds, Devo, NWA, Ants etc), Lloyd Cole does handwritten lyrics to order, the welding of Bob Dylan, Des O'Connor's UK tour with Buddy Holly, the West Wing v The Thick Of It, amusingly named skate-punk bands and does Terminator X own a black ostrich stud farm in North Carolina?Want to receive this - and indeed every future - Word Podcast before the rest of the world, and in full audio-visual glory, alongside a whole host of other exciting, enlightening and entertaining benefits? Of course you do. Make sure you're signed up to our fantastic Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Acts that wrote songs about themselves (Animals, Monkees, Manfreds, Devo, NWA, Ants etc), Lloyd Cole does handwritten lyrics to order, the welding of Bob Dylan, Des O'Connor's UK tour with Buddy Holly, the West Wing v The Thick Of It, amusingly named skate-punk bands and does Terminator X own a black ostrich stud farm in North Carolina? Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the menu this week - the genius of the late Geoffrey Palmer in the Kipper And The Corpse and Reginald Perrin ('rum cove, Johnny Woman' etc), four anniversary albums - Badfinger's No Dice (Nov '70), Prince's Dirty Mind ('80), the Traveling Wilburys' Vol 3 ('90) and the Beatles' #1 (2000), pop careers that kicked off early, fictitious new age groups, pseudonymous secret gigs, the joy of CNN and the entertaining notion of Trump fleeing to a secret bunker to evade ruinous lawsuits.Want to receive this - and every future - Word Podcast before the rest of the world, and in full audio-visual glory, alongside a whole host of other exciting, enlightening and entertaining benefits? Of course you do. Make sure you're subscribed to our magnificent Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the menu this week - the genius of the late Geoffrey Palmer in the Kipper And The Corpse and Reginald Perrin ('rum cove, Johnny Woman' etc), four anniversary albums - Badfinger's No Dice (Nov '70), Prince's Dirty Mind ('80), the Traveling Wilburys' Vol 3 ('90) and the Beatles' #1 (2000), pop careers that kicked off early, fictitious new age groups, pseudonymous secret gigs, the joy of CNN and the entertaining notion of Trump fleeing to a secret bunker to evade ruinous lawsuits. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which the author of 'Ready Steady Go!: the Weekend Starts Here' talks about the show that revolutionised pop TV - the people who made it, the acts that appeared, the dancers, the clothes, the James Brown shock-the-nation-special, the Troggs auditioning in reception, the '60s scene-makers packing its Green Room and how it captured what Mick Jagger calls "the wonderful chaos of the times". Andy's book is the most detailed and affectionate tribute imaginable and you're strongly advised to take a look at it. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ready-Steady-Weekend-Starts-Here/dp/1947026348Want to be 'in the room' when we record these special guest podcasts? Sign up to our fabulous Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we tell the real story of Stardust (the new Bowie biopic), lampoon Kanye West's Kardashian hologram, brace ourselves for the arrival of 'synthetic media', dream up the fictional indie band generator, name some great autumnal albums (eg the Finn Brothers' Everyone Is Here) and remember Roger Moore and Dorothy Squires' cavalier mistreatment of records. The Kardashian hologram ...https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54731382Computer inventions of fictitious people ...https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/Want to receive this - and every future - Word Podcast - before the rest of the world, and in full audio-visual glory, alongside a whole host of other exciting, enlightening and entertaining benefits? Of course you do. Make sure you're signed up to our fantastic Patreon for all this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we tell the real story of Stardust (the new Bowie biopic), lampoon Kanye West's Kardashian hologram, brace ourselves for the arrival of 'synthetic media', dream up the fictional indie band generator, name some great autumnal albums (eg the Finn Brothers' Everyone Is Here) and remember Roger Moore and Dorothy Squires' cavalier mistreatment of records.The Kardashian hologram ...https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54731382Computer inventions of fictitious people ...https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/ Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute Jerry Jeff 'Mr Bojangles' Walker and Spencer Davis (at the ABC in Wakefield!), comedians with catchphrase singles, the marketing genius of Lily Allen and the grand tradition of pop songs about - how can we put this? - "self-love".Want to receive this - and every future - Word Podcast before the rest of the world, and in full audio-visual glory, alongside a whole load of other exciting, enlightening and entertaining benefits? Of course you do. Make sure you're signed up to our fantastic Patreon for this and more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute Jerry Jeff 'Mr Bojangles' Walker and Spencer Davis (at the ABC in Wakefield!), comedians with catchphrase singles, the marketing genius of Lily Allen and the grand tradition of pop songs about - how can we put this? - "self-love". Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rob Halford - still proudly "a big daft kid" - remembers old music hall acts at the Wolverhampton Grand, wearing polyester suits and kipper ties when the manager of Harry Fenton's, slogging round Europe in a Transit van, booze, drugs, bullwhips, "being head-to-toe in leather", standing in for Ozzy, coming out on MTV and "wearing my sister's purple top Old Grey Whistle Test". Rob's memoir Confess ...https://www.amazon.co.uk/Confess-Rob-Halford-ebook/dp/B07ZL2ZQSFRob on Instagram@robhalfordlegacy@judaspriestWhistle Test ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=957N7EAtpY4&list=PL5jPQshWo8ry-36NEo4AudZMn2iP9CW8P&index=61 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we remember Peter Frampton and the second golden age of the Scream Idols (and his hard-nosed manager Dee Anthony), are weirdly gripped by the recent screening of Cliff's Summer Holiday, look at rock stars' cars, Krautrock acts and rejected album titles, and name "the shabbiest sleeve notes ever written".Want to receive this - and indeed every future - Word podcast before the rest of the world, and in full audio-visual glory? Course you do. Make sure you sign up to our fantastic Patreon for this and much more: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we remember Peter Frampton and the second golden age of the Scream Idols (and his hard-nosed manager Dee Anthony), are weirdly gripped by the recent screening of Cliff's Summer Holiday, look at rock stars' cars, Krautrock acts and rejected album titles, and name "the shabbiest sleeve notes ever written". Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute National Album Day by digging out some much loved '80s LPs, the Telegraph’s Neil McCormick tells us about the tyranny critics now endure from aggrieved pop fans and we invent fictitious Emo bands and live album titles.To receive this - and indeed every future - Word Podcast before the rest of the world, and in glorious audio-visual magnificence - make sure you're subscribed to our brilliant Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute National Album Day by digging out some much loved '80s LPs, the Telegraph’s Neil McCormick tells us about the tyranny critics now endure from aggrieved pop fans and we invent fictitious Emo bands and live album titles. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we unearth NME's best albums and singles polls from the '70s (Jethro Tull? Spirit? Country Joe?), invent fictitious Calypso and Blues stars, rave about Call My Agent, remember Lennon's Aunt Mimi and Steve Strange versus Mick Jagger, wonder if it's curtains for the age of the movie star and hear our producer Magic Alex on the joys of "flying and explosions" as he binge-watches all 23 Marvel movies.Want to receive this - and indeed every future - Word podcast before anyone else, and in glorious audio-visual splendour? Course you do. Make sure you sign up to our marvellous Patreon to make this dream a reality: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we unearth NME's best albums and singles polls from the '70s (Jethro Tull? Spirit? Country Joe?), invent fictitious Calypso and Blues stars, rave about Call My Agent, remember Lennon's Aunt Mimi and Steve Strange versus Mick Jagger, wonder if it's curtains for the age of the movie star and hear our producer Magic Alex on the joys of "flying and explosions" as he binge-watches all 23 Marvel movies. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We look at Rolling Stone's new Best 500 Albums update and think ... where's the 80s? Where's the British stuff? Where's the jazz, country, dance music, electronic, heavy metal? Is it just the classics plus hip-hop? Is it as useful as Elvis Costello's Best 500 albums in Vanity Fair or Dave Marsh's 1001 singles? Plus Michael Kiwanuka, the Mercury Prize and the Booker. And '80s Peel Show acts with amusing names.If you'd like to receive this - and indeed every future - Word Podcast before the rest of the world, and in full glorious audio-visual splendour, make sure you're subscribed to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We look at Rolling Stone's new Best 500 Albums update and think ... where's the 80s? Where's the British stuff? Where's the jazz, country, dance music, electronic, heavy metal? Is it just the classics plus hip-hop? Is it as useful as Elvis Costello's Best 500 albums in Vanity Fair or Dave Marsh's 1001 singles? Plus Michael Kiwanuka, the Mercury Prize and the Booker. And '80s Peel Show acts with amusing names. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Old pal Owen Parker on Street Life, Message In A Bottle, Superstition and other recordings that accelerate and the nightmarish complexity of playing stadiums to a click-track. Plus we predict the fate of CDs, invent 'record collection wallpaper' and look at Vertigo label landfill prog bands and the songs of John Shuttleworth.If you'd like to receive this - and indeed every future - Word podcast before the rest of the world, plus a veritable treasure trove of other benefits, make sure you sign up to our marvellous Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Old pal Owen Parker on Street Life, Message In A Bottle, Superstition and other recordings that accelerate and the nightmarish complexity of playing stadiums to a click-track. Plus we predict the fate of CDs, invent 'record collection wallpaper' and look at Vertigo label landfill prog bands and the songs of John Shuttleworth. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Ellen talks to David Hepworth about his new book "Overpaid, Oversexed and Over There" which describes how British imitations came out from under the shadow of American originators in the early 60s, how a handful of acts from the UK went on to command the heights of the worldwide music industry, the things they learned, the things they taught and the transatlantic traffic in sounds and styles which led from the Beatles to Boy George. Also includes: the amazing story of the Dave Clark Five, the strange genius of the Animals, how the British invented the guitar hero, what the Stones learned in America, the bands that were built in the UK with the US in mind, why punk rock took years to detonate in America, the one thing that makes American music stars different from their British counterparts and the reason 2020 may turn out to be just like 1961. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we rope in a real musician – aka our producer Magic Alex – to discover why bands always play their big hits too fast (‘are you a dragger or a pusher?’), decode stage names (Perry Farrell, Lipps Inc, Fay Fife ...), delight in Trump’s recent campaign trail faux pas with John Fogerty’s Fortunate Son and remember pop exploitation films (Gonks Go Beat!) and ill-advised rock star advertising capers.If you'd like to receive this - and indeed every future - Word Podcast before the rest of the world, and if you so wish in full audio-visual glory, then make sure you're subscribed to our Patreon: https://www/patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we rope in a real musician – aka our producer Magic Alex – to discover why bands always play their big hits too fast (‘are you a dragger or a pusher?’), decode stage names (Perry Farrell, Lipps Inc, Fay Fife ...), delight in Trump’s recent campaign trail faux pas with John Fogerty’s Fortunate Son and remember pop exploitation films (Gonks Go Beat!) and ill-advised rock star advertising capers. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we dig out a Smash Hits from ‘79 (entirely written by D Hepworth), wonder if Ian Brown’s gone stir crazy, watch it kick off between Dylan and the Beatles (in ’66), navigate the enriching waters of NTS Radio, remember when Kevin and Perry went Mancunian and stage a stand-off between ‘60s folk revivalists and punning rock memoir titles (‘Kiss And Make-Up’ – Gene Simmons’; ‘I Did It Otway!’ etc). Smash Hits, Sept ‘79https://www.flickr.com/photos/51106326@N00/sets/72157622155198859/ NTS Radio…https://www.nts.live/If you'd like to receive this - and indeed every future - Word Podcast before the rest of the world, and in full audio-visual glory, please subscribe to the marvel that is the Word In Your Ear Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we dig out a Smash Hits from ‘79 (entirely written by D Hepworth), wonder if Ian Brown’s gone stir crazy, watch it kick off between Dylan and the Beatles (in ’66), navigate the enriching waters of NTS Radio, remember when Kevin and Perry went Mancunian and stage a stand-off between ‘60s folk revivalists and punning rock memoir titles (‘Kiss And Make-Up’ – Gene Simmons’; ‘I Did It Otway!’ etc). Smash Hits, Sept ‘79https://www.flickr.com/photos/51106326@N00/sets/72157622155198859/ NTS Radio…https://www.nts.live/ Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author Justin Quirk on ‘the direct link between Kiss and Trump’. Writer and highly entertaining metal connoisseur Justin Quirk – the man behind Nothin’ But A Good Time: the Spectacular Rise and Fall of Glam Metal – on the age of big hair, frocks coats, cowboy boots and fabulously cartoonish stage acts that began with MTV in ’83, developed a ‘slow puncture’ with Guns N’Roses and was killed off by Nirvana in ‘91 - includes the WWF Wrestling connection, the ‘branding exercise and pyramid selling scheme’ of Kiss, the key role of Ozzy Osbourne (‘the world’s least convincing werewolf’), the Thiller-like construction of Def Leppard’s Hysteria, the highs of Wasp and Motley Crue, the lows of Tigertailz and Wrathchild, and Glam Metal’s last hurrah before the arrival of the age of irony. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nothin-But-Good-Time-Spectacular-ebook/dp/B08CGJN334 @justindquirkTo be 'in the room' as these podcast interviews are recorded, subscribe to our brilliant Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we're joined by our producer Magic Alex for a scenic tour of 'Landfill Indie' ("the Libertines were our Beatles!"), check the musicians incensed by Trump's use of their music, applaud the best wearers of Shorts In Pop (where Andrew Ridgeley meets Bob Weir), navigate the mob-handed hook-and-track systems of 21st Century songwriting, and invent fake psychobilly bands and rock star film cameos.If you'd like to receive this - and indeed every future - Word podcast before the rest of the world, and in full audio-visual splendour, subscribe to our frankly marvellous Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we're joined by our producer Magic Alex for a scenic tour of 'Landfill Indie' ("the Libertines were our Beatles!"), check the musicians incensed by Trump's use of their music, applaud the best wearers of Shorts In Pop (where Andrew Ridgeley meets Bob Weir), navigate the mob-handed hook-and-track systems of 21st Century songwriting, and invent fake psychobilly bands and rock star film cameos. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author, renowned Beatles authority, 'Pop Professor' and old pal of the pod Kenneth Womack talks about 'John Lennon 1980: the Last Days In The Life', his riveting account of events in the Dakota and beyond. Things covered in fascinating detail: the fond and complex relationship with McCartney, the tangled friendship with Dylan, TV watched, stuff bought and sold, the return to the studio and not-so-secret recordings, the withering album reviews, the future plans and the trials of a life lived at this level of celebrity. @KennethAWomack https://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Lennon-1980-Last-Days/dp/1787601366 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Kenneth-Womack/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3AKenneth+Womack https://kennethwomack.com/ Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we look at Chris Frantz's memoir and its exasperated take on David Byrne (bang goes the Talking Heads reunion), revisit late '60s Laurel Canyon, unravel some Zappa album titles, marvel at brave new adventures in vinyl sales and how Freddie Mercury's teeth got the Pistols their big break, and get Hilary Mantel's tilt on Madonna ("the plain girl's revenge").To receive this podcast - and every future one - before the rest of the world, and in glorious audio-visual splendour, subscribe to our frankly fantastic Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we look at Chris Frantz's memoir and its exasperated take on David Byrne (bang goes the Talking Heads reunion), revisit late '60s Laurel Canyon, unravel some Zappa album titles, marvel at brave new adventures in vinyl sales and how Freddie Mercury's teeth got the Pistols their big break, and get Hilary Mantel's tilt on Madonna ("the plain girl's revenge"). Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writer and counter-cultural connoisseur Joe Banks joins us to talk about Hawkwind: Days Of The Underground, his sparkling account of the rise and 51 year trajectory of the unsung revolutionary heroes. All the following are entertainingly included - their 'creation myth' in the white heat of Ladbroke Grove and days as the house band of Radical Politics, the sci-fi adventure with Michael Moorcock and Robert Calvert, the Silver Machine saga, the pioneering rock theatre of Space Ritual, their roles in punk and Krautrock and the saucer-eyed cast members who've kept them "the alternative to the alternative". Key fact: Joe has a Labrador puppy called Lemmy. @JoeBanksWriterhttps://www.daysoftheunderground.com/The famous Hawkwind clip that was shown on TOTP ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NysxdHSIs4I Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute the game-changing inventions of the Stones, Kinks and Louis Armstrong, watch the song catalogue sales boom, wonder if the age of spectacle is over, spot the fake alt.country and dark metal bands and take a closer look at the Williams twins v Phil Collins.To receive this Word Podcast - and indeed all future ones - before the rest of the world, subscribe to our marvellous Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute the game-changing inventions of the Stones, Kinks and Louis Armstrong, watch the song catalogue sales boom, wonder if the age of spectacle is over, spot the fake alt.country and dark metal bands and take a closer look at the Williams twins v Phil Collins. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we applaud the great rock and roll name changes (eg the late Wayne Fontana), get unsettled by 'Stan' culture and over-zealous Taylor Swift supporters, take the temperature of the Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, remember some footballers' hits and wonder how any rock star could be gauche enough to display their gold discs.To receive this - and every - Word Podcast ahead of the rest of the world, subscribe to our frankly marvellous Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we applaud the great rock and roll name changes (eg the late Wayne Fontana), get unsettled by 'Stan' culture and over-zealous Taylor Swift supporters, take the temperature of the Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, remember some footballers' hits and wonder how any rock star could be gauche enough to display their gold discs. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we we marvel at the Beatles' 12-song set 55 years ago (four of them covers), applaud a virtual gig in the Natural History Museum, ponder Alan Bennett and Ellen DeGeneres, wonder when musicians became "creative artists", spot the fake band (Canadian rock acts v 1972's 'Giants of Tomorrow'), and remember Fame, Bugsy Malone and the great Alan Parker. I'm Down at Shea Stadium ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6D11NTWwUBackstage at Shea Stadium ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QElpSMJiLv0To receive this podcast before anyone else, subscribe to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we we marvel at the Beatles' 12-song set 55 years ago (four of them covers), applaud a virtual gig in the Natural History Museum, ponder Alan Bennett and Ellen DeGeneres, wonder when musicians became "creative artists", spot the fake band (Canadian rock acts v 1972's 'Giants of Tomorrow'), and remember Fame, Bugsy Malone and the great Alan Parker. I'm Down at Shea Stadium ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6D11NTWwUBackstage at Shea Stadium ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QElpSMJiLv0 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Novelist David Mitchell on Utopia Avenue, his fictional account of life in a band (Sunday Times No 1 best-seller!) - plus Bucks Fizz at the Malvern Winter Gardens, the lure of Marillion, the effect of Abba on tooth enamel, "the high register vocabulary" of Rush, the novelistic tangles of the White Album and Tales From Topographic Oceans, and Bowie's piercing predictions about the internet in 1999 - plus "the Greatest Record Ever Made".@david_mitchell Utopia Avenue …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Utopia-Avenue-David-Mitchell/dp/1444799428 https://www.davidmitchellbooks.com/books/ Bowie talks to Jeremy Paxman about the internet …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiK7s_0tGsgReceive each Word Podcast before anybody else by subscribing to our brilliant Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Novelist David Mitchell on Utopia Avenue, his fictional account of life in a band (Sunday Times No 1 best-seller!) - plus Bucks Fizz at the Malvern Winter Gardens, the lure of Marillion, the effect of Abba on tooth enamel, "the high register vocabulary" of Rush, the novelistic tangles of the White Album and Tales From Topographic Oceans, and Bowie's piercing predictions about the internet in 1999 - plus "the Greatest Record Ever Made".@david_mitchell Utopia Avenue …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Utopia-Avenue-David-Mitchell/dp/1444799428 https://www.davidmitchellbooks.com/books/ Bowie talks to Jeremy Paxman about the internet …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiK7s_0tGsg Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

... 50 and 40 years ago this week! In which we salute the magnificent Peter Green (and hear Owen Parker's memories of recording with him in the '90s), look back at the great Q headlines - CarelessTalk Costs Wives! The Hoarse Foreman of the Apocalypse! - flick through a Melody Maker from 1970, spot the fake deejay, applaud the recent Springsteen radio shows and find Bob Marley & the Wailers photographed in lift.To receive this podcast early - and in full audio-visual glory - subscribe to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we salute the magnificent Peter Green (and hear Owen Parker's memories of recording with him in the '90s), look back at the great Q headlines - CarelessTalk Costs Wives! The Hoarse Foreman of the Apocalypse! - flick through a Melody Maker from 1970, spot the fake deejay, applaud the recent Springsteen radio shows and find Bob Marley & the Wailers photographed in lift. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Live Aid's "2,000 million global audience": surely some mistake? In which we remember Lady Di rollerskating in Kensington Palace with Duran Duran on her Walkman, invent fake rap stars and Mod Revival bands, applaud the world's first DJ, light a candle for Judy Dyble, relive a Nick Lowe parlour game and watch a sensationally dreadful pop documentary.Subscribe to our Patreon for exclusive content and benefits: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which we remember Lady Di rollerskating in Kensington Palace with Duran Duran on her Walkman, invent fake rap stars and Mod Revival bands, applaud the world's first DJ, light a candle for Judy Dyble, relive a Nick Lowe parlour game and watch a sensationally dreadful pop documentary. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Graeme Thomson on John Martyn's "lifelong grudges and huge, messy explosion of records"Music writer, author and old pal from Word magazine, Graeme Thomson on his spledid new book, "Small Hours: the Long Night of John Martyn", a tale involving immaculately delicate music, dark undercurrents, Glaswegian folk clubs, Nick Drake, Lee Perry, Joe Boyd, countless chaotic relationships, oceans of booze and a manager with two broken ribs. @GraemeAThomson https://www.amazon.co.uk/Small-Hours-Long-Night-Martyn/dp/178760019X https://www.amazon.co.uk/Graeme-Thomson/e/B001JS877A%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share https://www.graemethomson.net/Subscribe to our Patreon for exclusive content and benefits: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.