Word Podcast

Novelist and journalist Tom Piazza struck up a friendship with the irreplaceable John Prine in the last years of his life. This relationship, which began as a profile for a magazine, almost blossomed into an autobiography and involved a road trip in an inadvisable vehicle, has resulted in a new book “Living In The Present With John Prine”. Which involves:•⁠ ⁠setting off in a 1977 Coupe De Ville and driving “until the engine burns up”.•⁠ ⁠sitting up all night playing old country songs.•⁠ ⁠remembering how he came to write some of the greatest songs of the last fifty years•⁠ ⁠an evening's swapping stories with Elvis Costello which ends with the alarming word “the jukebox is on fire!”•⁠ ⁠what Prine's last album “The Tree Of Forgiveness” has in common with Beethoven's late quartetsBuy Living In The Present With John Prine: https://amzn.eu/d/9vWv9rgFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Having disposed of the surprising history of pop stars who posed for Playboy, discussing whether the universe really needs another album called "Play", come up with a couple of nominations for Best Album Title Of All Time, we hear about Alex's experiences seeing Oasis in the midst of 90,000 who have never been to Manchester and how he "used the force" to get some face time with Jack Black and Dave Grohl.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Hammill, adored by Bowie, Mark E Smith and many others, co-founded Van Der Graaf Generator when he was 19. And he's made 47 albums since, powered by “hubris, enthusiasm and sheer bloody-mindness” and celebrated in a new 18-CD box set. He talks to us here from Somerset about … … supporting Hendrix at the Albert Hall and being ‘the Shirley Bassey of the Underground' … meeting David Bowie - who asked for Hammill's new music to be sent to him all his life … Van Der Graaf Generator being bottled off by medical students in the days when you rang from a phone-box to see what gigs you were playing … the Bee Gees, Eric Clapton, Champion Jack Dupree and Jimmy James & the Vagabonds at the Locarno in Derby … Tony Stratton-Smith and the Six Bob Tour – 30p! – with Lindisfarne and Genesis … Nut Rocker, Theme Of Exodus and other teenage keyboard staples … the value of “Boswellian superfans” who know more about you than you do … breaking the £100 barrier for a live performance … writing blues songs, aged 16, with “a gnat's experience of life” … the unsettling lyric to Rodgers & Hammerstein's ‘You've Got to Be Carefully Taught' … and his new young audience via the internet and “that right of passage, your parents' records” Order The Charisma & Virgin Recordings 1971 - 1986' here: https://peterhammill.lnk.to/CVRecordingsPRAnd Peter's memoir 'Kingmaker' is published in November. Pre-order here: https://burningshed.com/store/kingmakerFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Has there ever been a group like Talking Heads? Jonathan Gould's Burning Down The House explores their affluent background, the root of their ambition and the springboard of the New York scene of the late ‘70s (he was a regular at CBGB). Along with … ... the romanticised image of CBGB and the reality … their black music roots: “the same instrumentation as Booker T & the MGs” … the influence of the Modern Lovers: “Jonathan Richman and Byrne were both oddballs, appealing but peculiar” … how the economy of New York's real estate let them rent a 2,000 square foot loft for $289 a month … bands from affluent backgrounds take greater commercial risks: “there was always a Plan B” … the art-school drop-out lineage that began John Lennon and Keith Richards … how different they were from the CBGBs acts, a band that sang verses in French and “didn't dress like the New York Dolls” … the band's dynamic, Chris and Tina “effectively one person” ... did Byrne really make Tina Weymouth “re-audition”? … the success of the Tom Tom Club and the tension that caused … Byrne's invention of his own “white choreography” … Stop Making Sense, as big a part of their legacy as any album … and why there can never be a reunion Mentioned in dispatches: Brian Eno, Adrian Belew, Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Ramone and Fela Kuti. Order ‘Burning Down The House' here:https://www.waterstones.com/book/9780063022980Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freddie Mercury had an affair with a close friend's wife and, in 1977, became a father. He's now a grandfather. That's the foundation of a new book ‘Love, Freddie' by his highly respected biographer Lesley-Ann Jones which details a four-year, detailed exchange with his daughter ‘B', now 48, and the contents of the 17 notebooks he gave her before he died in 1991. We talk to Lesley-Ann here about this gripping new tilt on his story which covers … … the 41-page document B sent her in 2021 and how the author assumed it was a hoax … why B was outraged by his portrayal in the Bohemian Rhapsody biopic … how the notebooks Freddie gave her are legally owned by Sony “and she would burn them if they tried to collect them” … Freddie's turmoil at the time of her conception - engaged to Mary Austin, a love affair with David Minns … B's secret life in Kensington and Montreux and her father's “scary knitwear” disguises … “in the age of AI, even a real photo of Freddie and his daughter would be reckoned a scam” … the unheard – surely priceless - recordings Freddie made of the two of them singing together … how B's existence stayed a secret and the members of Queen's inner circle who might have known about her … the photo of B, aged four, with her dad and David Bowie … and how there were no denials about B's existence from Queen or any Cease & Desist demands when the book extracts published. Order ‘Love, Freddie' here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Freddie-Mercurys-Secret-Life/dp/1916797962Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All the leaves are brown and the sky's a bit unruly but mellow fruitfulness abounds in this week's pick of the rock and roll news. Add to basket … … is Morrissey hacked off, broke or just desperate for attention? … are stadium gigs the new tourism? … bucket hats, Man City, lads culture … how did America finally ‘get' Oasis? … singles that weren't on albums … are we sated by an overabundance of music? … how Gary Numan got a record deal … why Gene Loves Jezebel are the new Sam & Dave! … the new age of the rock and roll pilgrimage … did Slade record the Hokey Cokey? The Dave Clark Five did Neil Young? The Troggs did Foxy Lady? … the Jam, the Yardbirds, The Nice, the Smiths: bands who broke up because they couldn't crack America … selling Barry White records to Middle Eastern airline pilots Plus Tubeway Army, the Scaffold doing Ging Gang Goolie, “Mister Ferry's diction” and birthday guest Jelltex.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Immortalised by Hendrix, ‘Hey Joe' had its roots in 18th century murder ballads, ‘60s folk and rock clubs before the world got to hear it. Jason Schneider unravels its twisted genesis in ‘That Gun In Your Hand', and talks to us here about the miracles that allowed it to happen and the sad fate of Billy Roberts, the man who claimed he wrote it. Along with … … “all pop records are built on the back of other pop records” … the allure of violent songs: “we get our kicks from real-life murder” … the bit-part players in the story – David Crosby, Dino Valenti, Tim Rose, Cass Elliot, the Byrds, the Leaves, the Creation and Bob Dylan … the final twist: how Chas Chandler was looking to make Hey Joe a hit when Linda Keith pointed him at Hendrix … “a song with no chorus and a circle of fifths”: why it was a rock staple alongside Gloria and Louie Louie … the cruel fate of Billy Roberts who never recorded Hey Joy as couldn't bear to give away 50 per cent of the royalties … the girl murders the man? “It's a song still in evolution” … how Andy Summers was the first person to hear Hendrix play in the UK … 1,881 guitarists mass-performed Hey Joe in 2007 but could you even release a version of it now? You can order ‘That Gun In Your Hand: The Strange Saga of Hey Joe and Popular Music's History of Violence' from Anvil Press here: https://www.anvilpress.com/books/that-gun-in-your-hand-the-strange-saga-of-hey-joe-and-popular-musics-history-of-violence And from the US distributor Asterism here: https://asterismbooks.com/product/that-gun-in-your-hand-the-strange-saga-of-hey-joe-and-popular-musics-history-of-violence-jason-schneiderFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maddy Prior – folk royalty, an absolute hero of ours – is touring with Steeleye Span again this autumn 66 years after they started, a life someone should make into a movie. She talks to us here about her undimmed love of live performance and … … when the height of your ambition is a £3 ticket to Blackpool Pleasure Beach … “Rod Argent, the first boy I ever kissed” … her fox-fur-trimmed Lambretta when a teenage mod … the night Steeleye Span showered their audience with £4,000 … seeing Acker Bilk, Chris Barber, Josh White and Sony Boy Williamson in St Albans clubs … driving Rev Gary Davis round Britain in a Triumph Herald: “Miss Maddy, you'd make a great nurse! Was that a compliment or an insult?” … “Traditional music is great material to work with. It's like steel – you can bend it but you can't break it” … hearing Dylan for the first time (with Donovan) and thinking “this man can't sing” … memories of her father who wrote Z Cars … life with Tim Hart: “Living in sin? No, we're living in Archway!” … Tony Secunda, his spray-can and his promotional stunts – “Win 24 hours with a member of Steeleye Span” … Alan Partridge and the great ‘Gaudete' moment … the new Steeleye Span album Conflict “about the rip and tear relationship we have with the planet that hosts us” … and Singing For The Uncertain, her course for singers who think they can't Steeleye Span tour dates here: https://steeleyespan.org.uk/sample-page/tour-dates-2025/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our pencil-chewing, critical assessment of this week's news gets mainly * and *** reviews, among them … …. Sting v Summers & Copeland over Every Breath You Take, the goose that laid the golden egg … what John Lennon would have thought about the ‘cancelled' track on Some Time In New York City … when did “critically acclaimed” come to mean unpopular? … the knock-about days when a critic was “a jerk, a crank and a spoilsport” … Jonny Greenwood's dad was a bomb disposal expert? Pete Doherty's mum was a Lance-Corporal in the Royal Army Nursing Corps? … what matters more, the song or the record? ... Anthony Fantano, Rick Beato and the rise of the YouTube rock review … “negative comments about a famous act's new album are like graffiti on the walls of a hallowed institution” … Bob Dylan's Self Portrait, Andrew Ridgeley's Son Of Albert (“half a star”) and the lost age of the crushing review … and “you never mention Depeche Mode!”Find out more about how to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Debsey Wykes was in Dolly Mixture, one of the very few all-girl groups in post-punk London, a time when bands with charisma won the battle for attention and you promoted singles on the back of a truck. Her memoir Teenage Daydream perfectly captures a slice of late ‘70s life, the thrill of playing the pub circuit and trying to storm Radio One. Along with … … the agony of re-reading teenage diaries … being supported by U2 then watching their “annoying” ascent … Girls With Electric Guitars and why rock hacks couldn't take them … forming bands for self-expression: “you reach that moment when all you want to do is scream!” … “when Jean-Jacques Burnel rests his boot on your head you don't wash your hair for a week” … early adventures with Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, David Cassidy and Bowie: “Cassidy was normal, Bowie was weird” … diary entries: “the lead singer of the Only Ones has fantastic legs and glittery plimsolls” … “Sugary Sweets Cause Youth Decay!”: the NME's withering interview … the satin-and-silk allure of Stevie Nicks … violence at ‘70s gigs: “we were locked in the dressing-room with the sirens going off” … “a cross between the Slits and the Nolans”: John Peel's producer's loathing for Dolly Mixture … the vicious rivalry between ‘70s girl singers … letters from her old boss and headmaster after she appeared on Top Of The Pops Order ‘Teenage Daydream: We Are The Girls Who Play In A Band' here: https://linktr.ee/new.modern?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=008bc73f-2400-4a67-81df-04fa9758dc06Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A tub-thumping, snare-cracking, cymbal-simmering, two-way backbeat to this week's rock and roll news, the on-beats including … … “Trauma-bonding?” Why being ‘a fan' is like a love affair … Ian Brown, Morrissey, Siouxsie, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison … why singers who don't play an instrument are a different species … the stadium-rock drummer transfer window … Sigourney Weaver at Shea Stadium in '65 … singers who don't sound like their personalities … what can a singer-songwriter write about if they get famous at 18? … the unreleased Beatles Holy Grail? … can you be a fan of someone younger than you are?Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear … how do you know a drummer's knocking on your door? … plus Leonard Cohen, Phil Oakey and are you ever too old to be wearing a Libertines military tunic? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can you not love the Divine Comedy whose inspirations include Tom Lehrer and “Landfill Indie”? And Neil Hannon wrote music for Wonka, Father Ted and the IT Crowd. There's a new album, Rainy Sunday Afternoon, and a tour in October and all bases are covered in this conversation from Kildare, these among them … … seeing U2 at Croke Park “and feeling as though I'd won the Wonka Golden Ticket”. … favourite bands of the ‘80s and ‘90s - Pixies, Sugarcubes, Sonic Youth and Ride.… the miserably cancelled Father Ted musical and how he's recycled the songs he wrote for it. … a research trip to an Indie Disco with Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian. … how it feels to record at Abbey Road. … his teenage band inventing new words to R.E.M songs in an Enniskillen youth club. … how new songs begin. … supporting Carter USM and Suede, “the moment I first felt like a pop star”. … Mar-A-Lago, a childhood trip to London and further melancholia on his new album Rainy Sunday Afternoon.… rocks on the street in Derry en route to Primary School during the Troubles. … Hepworth and Ellen appearing on a Duckworth Lewis album - “nudging and nurdling!” … his first stab at “witty pseudo-intellectual lyrics”. … “never leave your tour bus, be rehearsed before you start rehearsals” and other ways touring saves money. … and the five songs he always plays.Divine Comedy tickets here: https://thedivinecomedy.com/livePre-order Rainy Sunday here: https://lnk.to/RainySundayFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tanita Tikaram's second gig had an audience of three – one paying customer and two concert promoters. When one of them wanted to talk to her afterwards she said, “sorry, I've got to get the train home.” She was 17. In this podcast she tells us the story of the one of the fastest career ascents on record which stops off at … … an open-mic night with a girl who cut up newspaper – “what happened to her?” … Basingstoke alumni –Tanita Tikaram, Jane Austen, Liz Hurley … … ignoring Wham! in favour of Suzanne Vega and Tom Waits. … the lure of school theatre groups – “a skive, you could basically be arty and smoke”. … “Ringo Starr gave me an award!” … supporting Warren Zevon and Jonathan Richman - and John Martyn (with Tracy Chapman). … the faint absurdity of promoting Twist In My Sobriety on Kids TV. … “when you're young, you're adaptable”. … mourning the loss of mainstream music. … a summer spent miming on European pop TV shows. … the thrill of hearing Ancient Heart was Top Ten when playing the Cambridge Folk Festival – “they all thought, that's one of us in the charts!” … and today's imbalance between new music and nostalgia. Order Tanita Tikaram tickets here: https://www.tanita-tikaram.com/live/ Order Liar: Love Isn't A Right here: https://www.tanita-tikaram.com/music/Find out how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bob Mould, whose records with Hüsker Dü had such impact on Nirvana and Pixies, is back on tour again, both solo and with a band. “I've built this tiny soap box - and if you don't like it, it's been nice knowing you!” He talks to us from San Francisco about … … March 30 1979: “the day that changed my life” … over-refreshment on the bus to see Rush and Aerosmith, aged 16 … the influence of Hüsker Dü on Nirvana, Pixies and My Bloody Valentine – “it's a game of hot potato. YOU take this sound now!” … seeing the Ramones opening for Iggy Pop – “simplistic on the surface but I got all their ‘60s pop references” … the art of the three-song set-opener … playing Buzzcocks and Ventures covers in ‘three-two' bars … opening for the Foo Fighters, playing for 100,00 people – and for crowds wearing masks during Covid … “the more the production, the less the spontaneity” … visual clues playing solo to let the audience know where the beat is … “I'm one of those others”: inter-song riffs about politics, protest and oppression Order Bob Mould tickets here: https://bobmould.com/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Damping down the wildfires of rock and roll news this week we focus on the following … … Oasis, Taylor Swift and Coldplay and the new age of Winner Takes All … did Bob Dylan write a song with Gene Simmons, advertise lingerie or appear on a telethon with Harry Dean Stanton? … movies that need making eg the Molly Drake Story, the Rock And Roll Mitford Sisters (Pattie, Jenny and Paula Boyd) … surely what makes the rock business ‘unfair' are the people spending the money on it? … is the Golden Age of TV over? … Paul Weller's magnificent Find El Dorado and the songwriters he's rebooting - Willie Griffin, Bobby Charles, Duncan Browne, Eamon Friel … a JR Hartley moment: Brian Protheroe taking his grandson to watch his album being re-mastered at Abbey Road … ‘Programmes made for older viewers always have a lot of green in them' … will we ever get another comedy record? … why did we love Succession, Breaking Bad, the Queen's Gambit and Six Feet Under yet have no burning desire to ever watch them again? … how 200 Go-Betweens box-sets came with books from the late Grant McLennan's library signed by Robert Forster … ‘Never glad confident morning again!' … new acronyms – RIYL, anyone? … do any new TV comedies merit an Xmas Special? ... plus the Trump Awards, main character syndrome, Black Pudding Bertha (the Queen of Northern Soul) and birthday guest Ed Newman on box-set addiction – “this way madness lies!”Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul Weller has just covered it on his new album. Morrissey played it to Noel Gallagher who took the idea and ran with it. What explains the enduring appeal of a record that stalled at number 22 all those years ago? Actor/musician Brian Protheroe doesn't know but he's certainly grateful that it's being reissued once again. His story takes us back to:…the days when young musicians hitch-hiked to London…the way the sun shone on the day “Sgt Pepper” came out…when Soho was a village and an out of work actor could afford to live in Covent Garden…when being dumped by a girl could inspire that actor to diarise his daily routine…when the jazzman who played the solo on the record couldn't remember it for “TOTP”…how it feels to take your grandson to Abbey Road to watch your album being remastered.Pre-order the Chrysalis Red reissue of the first Brian Protheroe album: https://brianprotheroe.lnk.to/PNBFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Other, weaker podcasts may take the summer off. Not this one.…the story of Jerry Garcia's alligator strat, Paul McCartney's violin bass and the instrument Peter Frampton thought had gone forever…the long story of Terry Reid, who turned down Led Zeppelin, and the golden afternoon when he was the most charismatic figure in roc…the real reason why you wouldn't have wanted to be at Keith Richards' place on that day in 1967…why there's nothing more boring than hedonismMick Jagger's 1967 affidavit is here: https://www.ewbankauctions.co.uk/20250821M1-lot-4008-The-Rolling-Stones-typed-documents-that-appear-to-relate-the-infamous-Redlands?auctionFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

word-podcast-798-peter-ames-carlinFriend of the pod and chronicler of the careers of Springsteen, Paul Simon and REM, Peter Ames Carlin has heard all the recordings that went into the album which was Springsteen's last chance saloon and spoken to the people who were there to put together the story of how it was all done.….the lucky break that came when the boss's son went to a Springsteen show….the man who played on Bruce Springsteen's greatest record and then left….how Springsteen learned that the way to make a live-sounding record was not to record it live….the reconnecting of 70s rock with the great American rock & roll of the 50s…the thinking behind one of the few album covers deserving of the adjective “iconic”…what happened when Steve Van Zandt told the Brecker Brothers what to play….the fundamental difference between American and British musicTonight In Jungleland: The Making Of Born To Run: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tonight-Jungleland-Making-Born-Run/dp/0385551533Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jah Wobble - touring in October - is outstanding company and rattles on here like a steam train, sparking off at tangents in a brilliant, barely steerable monologue with a crackling cast of characters. It's not often a podcast gets a visitor mid-recording who says, “I've put more poison in - but the good news is, there's nothing in your traps!” Here you will find … … an afternoon with Anthony Hopkins … the time Ginger Baker got the wrong dessert - “a bowl of rhubarb went flying” … East End violence: the Whitechapel firm v the Mile End mob … why bands are like short-order cooks … his first gig with Public Image – teargas, barricaded in the dressing-room and the head of security getting kicked in the throat … and his second gig – “someone threw a frozen pig's head and it lay there looking balefully up at me” … Wilko Johnson (“a caged tiger”) and Lee Brilleaux tying his shoelaces to the mic lead … Bob Marley at the Lyceum and how Aston Barrett changed the game … tour managers whose metal briefcases have a cosh and a pepper spray … onstage exorcisms with the Invaders Of The Heart … John Lydon meeting Arthur Brown, the Heavy Metal Kids, Woody Woodmansey and the man with six fingers in Get Carter … and his community music project ‘Tuned In' at Merton Arts Space, Wimbledon Library. Order tickets here: https://www.songkick.com/artists/13218-jah-wobble/calendarFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's a widely accepted view of the relationship between Elvis and his manager Tom Parker, the one sustained by the recent Baz Luhrmann movie, but a new and fascinating archive of unseen letters makes you see it differently: it was warmer, deeper and infinitely more complicated. Peter Guralnick – rock book royalty! - met Parker towards the end of his life and has just published ‘The Colonel And The King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley and the Partnership That Rocked The World'. He talks to us here about separating the myth from reality which touches on … ... overturning the conventional wisdom “that Elvis was the puppet, Sam Phillips the genius and Tom Parker the manipulator”. ... how theirs was “a partnership of equals” – though Elvis was in charge, not the Colonel. … how Presley's “security risk” – carrying guns and drugs across borders – was a factor in his refusal to accept world tour offers. … two men powerfully motivated by money – Elvis liked spending it, Parker liked losing it. … humour, charisma, intelligence, a force of nature: how Parker's letters paint a different picture. … “he was an entirely self-invented man. And there was no-one more American – which was ironic as he was Dutch.” … the full story of the Elvis TV Christmas Special. … how Parker grossly undersold Presley's catalogue rights to RCA in 1973 for $5.4m. … the Colonel's Honesty game – “think of the number I'm thinking of and I'll pay you if you're right!” … how Parker tried to curb Presley's “smutty humour” and sell his “James Dean enigma” to the film industry after Dean's death in 1955. … how the only time he didn't carefully manage an Elvis appearance was the Steve Allen Show hound dog debacle. … why Parker couldn't control either his or Presley's self-destructive habits. … his gambling addiction and a miserable 72-hour stint in a Vegas casino. … and would the first internationally-known artist's manager have been as famous had he not called himself “the Colonel”? Order ‘The Colonel And the King' here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/peter-guralnick/the-colonel-and-the-king/9780316399449/?lens=little-brownFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lowering the magnet of curiosity into the scrapyard of news and seeing what's attracted, which includes … … does anyone still write satirical songs? … Four Sides of the Circle, Margaret On The Guillotine, From Here To Infirmary … real or fictitious working album titles? … the rarity of hearing new music without knowing what the musician looks like … the Strokes, the Faces and other confident gangs you wanted to join … Poisoning Pigeons In The Park, the Vatican Rag and the moment Tom Lehrer claimed was the death of satire … the dwindling need to feel ‘contemporary' - Blur, Primal Scream and the Libertines have made one album in the last ten years … when MTV went ‘lifestyle' … how ‘a 60 year-old rock star' still feels young … bring on the ‘90s package tour! … “Please give my regards to Mr. Chainz, or may I call him 2?” … and honorary mentions of Chappell Roan, Blink 182, Henry Kissinger, Wet Leg, Randy Newman, PP Arnold and ‘Kicking Pigeons' by Spunge.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Wedding Present formed 40 years ago – why does that seem astonishing? - and have a new box set and tour to celebrate. David Gedge digs out his old notes about the first gigs he ever saw and played and looks back at what four decades onstage might have taught him. Among the delights … … Rick Wakeman in full cape attire at Manchester Free Trade Hall in '76 and how Be-bop Deluxe pointed to the future … the bone-dry humour of the Ramones – “the only time I ever pogo-ed” – and memories of seeing Wire and Queen. … how Leeds' goth culture coloured his early band the Lost Pandas (who had the nerve to play “minor chords”) … ‘Reception: The Wedding Present Musical', about to open in Leeds and built around stories, characters and relationships in his songs. “Musicals are very divisive and I wasn't sure I liked them” … “meticulous and geeky”: how the set lists flow and the two songs he never omits … how John Peel playing Go Out And Get 'Em, Boy! ten times launched the Wedding Present: “he was like the Emperor Nero really, almost too powerful. If he didn't like you, you could vanish without trace” ... the unexpected challenge of band member manipulation … “if anything gets a laugh, repeat it” … and costly future visions of the Wedding Present plus orchestra! Order tickets to the Wedding Present 40th anniversary tour here: https://www.scopitones.co.uk/forthcomingconcerts And the box set here: https://www.scopitones.co.uk/post/the-wedding-present-to-release-career-spanning-40th-anniversary-compilationFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bret McKenzie now mainly works on movie soundtracks, the Simpsons, Minecraft and the Muppets among them, which brings the pure delight of hearing his songs sung by Lady Gaga, Benedict Cumberbatch, Miss Piggy and Tony Bennett. He talks here about his early life in Wellington (ballet teacher Mum, racehorse trainer Dad), narrative comedy, songwriting heroes and his new album Freak Out City, and unravels New Zealand's double-edged sense of humour. Along with … … how Randy Newman pitches songs for soundtracks … “the test of a good song works is if it works with just one instrument” … lyrics he loved growing up like 16 Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford – ‘Some people say a man is made out of mud/ A poor man's made out of muscle and blood' … Morrissey's wounded reaction to his sausage-firing Quilloughby on the Simpsons ‘Panic On The Streets Of Springfield' ... solving the “fun puzzles” of a song brief and writing for “donkeys who have a dream” … the ingenious humour of John Prine, Harry Nilsson and Leonard Cohen … the moment in his live shows where he asks the audience for a story and creates a song around it – “one woman suggested ‘falling out of love' with her husband standing right beside her” ... playing the local girls schools aged 15 as the drummer in a James Brown funk band … reworking rejected songs – “which was hard with one from Paddington with its multiple rhymes for marmalade and Peru” … Flight Of The Conchords lampooning the acts they loved (Bowie, Pet Shop Boys) and playing the O2 – “pretending to be a stadium band and the audience pretending to be a stadium audience” … live on-stage application of the John Lennon “pomegranate” lyric-solving technique … “Play like a used car salesman! I need a Steely Dan solo here!” Recording with LA session legends like Leland Sklar. Order Bret's ‘Freak Out City' album here: https://music.subpop.com/bretmckenzie_freakoutcityFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Tour dates and tickets …https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/bret-mckenzie-tickets/artist/5380913 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Justin Currie recorded and toured with Del Amitri and solo for 30 years and his travelogue The Tremolo Diaries perfectly captures the rhythm of life on the road. He talks to us here about combative crowds, the curious bubble you occupy and a recent shock diagnosis that's forced some adjustments. This includes … … hard-won rules for life on tour: “Never leave the boat, stay in the bubble, never interact with real life, always maintain low-level adrenaline.” … seeing Dr Feelgood in '77 “who passed the punk rock smell test”. … choreographed abuse from rugby club members; a Liberal Party benefit with his Beefheart-like school band; following rock antagonists Jackyl at Woodstock 2; being pelted with toilet rolls at an ice hockey stadium in Minneapolis. … the tensions between the Glasgow acts from the Gorbals and the “influx of enormous middle-class twats like us”. … bands who look exactly like they sound. … Edwyn Collins as style icon – fringe, corduroy, plaid – and how it took courage to walk round Glasgow dressed like that in the early ‘80s, “a scary place full of pitch battles and hooligans”. … the loss of the pop tribes when pop music was subsumed into the entertainment business. … Michael Stipe's advice about life on the road and how that changes when you're over 40. … “if an audience doesn't like you, the smaller that audience, the worse it is”. … and his medical diagnosis in 2022 “and my negotiations with the disease”. Order the Tremolo Diaries here: https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/The-Tremolo-Diaries/Justin-Currie/9781917923002Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Just when you thought it was safe to listen to a weekly rock and roll podcast … … how Black Sabbath discovered the dark side … why Elvis went onstage with a pistol in both boots … rock stars out of their comfort zone … five perfect things about Jaws we'd never taken onboard … Ozzy Osbourne, the bungled burglary and the fingerless gloves … Tony Iommi's accident and how limitations are always strengths … beautiful men in military jackets and “an Account of the Misfortunes and Disasters Which Befell Barry Lyndon" … was Presley's Americanness the most appealing thing about him? … rock stars managed by their wives … “everything was derived from American R&B and then we were plunged into this medieval graveyard. How could that possibly be entertainment?” … Syd Barrett outtakes? Rare Nina Simone? Richly competitive tape-making in music magazine offices … Colonel Tom Parker's ‘Honesty' game – “think of the number I'm thinking of and I'll pay you if you're right!” … and birthday guest David Cook on how meeting musicians changes your view of their music.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cally Colomon looks after the legacy of Nick Drake, who died in 1974 but attracts new teenage admirers all the time. Here he talks to David Hepworth about just some of what that involves, including: …chancers getting in touch with a bogus live recording when they've got a tax bill to pay … film producers wishing to superimpose their image of Nick Drake on everybody else's…spending months in the archives finding out exactly what is on every tape…listening to people who claim they know exactly what happened on a Tuesday sixty years ago…sorting out the real material from the bogus to put together a set which expands our understanding of the 1969 recording…responding to people who think all this work should somehow be available for free.The Making of Five Leaves Left: https://NickDrake.lnk.to/TMOFLLFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Suzi Quatro's been onstage from the age of 14 as the bassist in the all-girl showband the Pleasure Seekers and the rock act Cradle. And then moved to England in 1971 when signed by Mickie Most. This podcast is a testament to the power of self-belief – she's got more front than Woolworths! - and the two things her father told her. She's just started another world tour and talks to us here about … … how British “island humour” took a while to get used to. … two deals in a week: “Elektra wanted the second Janis Joplin. Mickie Most wanted the first Suzi Quatro.” … seeing Elvis on Ed Sullivan aged five and thinking “that's what I want to do”. And how his comeback changed the clothes she wore. … why playing a disastrous Sgt Pepper set at a ‘60s festival was a fork in the road. … knowing she had “the X-Factor, the charisma button”. … hard times in Crouch End while waiting for a hit and how Chinn & Chapman turned her sound in three-minute singles. … supporting Slade and Thin Lizzy – and being supported by Kiss and Blue Oyster Cult. … wise advice her father gave her. … playing Leather Tuscadero in Happy Days and reunions with Henry Winkler. … Michael Aspel wandering on from the wings for ‘This Is Your Life' at the Palladium.Order tickets here: http://www.suziquatro.com/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A rain-splashed, dub-filled, cash-scattering foray into this week's news and events which happily lands upon … … meeting Maddy Prior – a Prior engagement? – and the time Steeleye Span showered their audience with £8,000. … hearing Nick Drake's demos on a narrowboat in the pitch dark a few hundred feet below London. … Steve Miller's cancelled tour, absurdly blamed on the weather. … who's older, Lulu or the King? Kim Wilde or William Hague? Neil Tennant or Andy Fraser of Free? … Bob Marley at the Lyceum in 1975 – the confidence of their pace, the heft of their sound, what the audience wore. And David's backing vocal on No Woman No Cry. … the ugliest group in history – “they make Crabby Appleton look like the Walker Brothers”. … an imagined duet by Rick Astley and David Cameron. … is Bob Dylan the Tommy Cooper of rock and roll? … David Ackles and the curse of “the greatest album ever made”. … the Coldplay ‘Kiss-cam' clip – “either they're having an affair or just very shy”. … the crackle of crime at ‘70s gigs. … how someone could have seen the opening night of Charlie Chaplin's Gold Rush and – 50 years later - Bob Marley at the Lyceum. … why aren't there still fanzines with names like Ptolemaic Terrascope? … and birthday guest Gianluca Tramontagna claims Bob Dylan is neither sage, seer or prophet but an immensely comic “song and dance man”.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Picked up in the great singer-songwriter sweep of the late 60s and signed to Elektra Records, David Ackles made four albums which went over the heads of the record-buying public, attracted over-the-top reviews and earned the undying devotion of fans like Elvis Costello and Elton John. Now Mark Brend's book brings together an appreciation of his work with an account of his career before and after the three period when he was going to be the next big thing, taking in…….the night he found himself supporting his biggest fan Elton John at the Troubadour in Los Angeles….his year in Berkshire planning and recording “American Gothic”, an album about his distant homeland…how two different record companies took him to their hearts but had no earthly clue how to promote him…why it is that rock fans who boast of their eclectic tastes can't deal with anything which sounds like musical theatre…will he ever join the pantheon in which we have installed Nick Drake, Judee Sill and the other late musicians we are pleased to call a “lost genius”?Buy Down River: In Search of David Ackles: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Down-River-Search-David-Ackles/dp/1916829228Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our patent fact-from-fiction separator goes into overdrive this week though sometimes, as Robert Wyatt observed, Ruth is stranger than Richard. High in the mix … … FOMO (Fear Of Missing Oasis), Gen Z's love of queuing and has there ever been a greater outpouring of joy at a band reunion? …what's the greatest musical city? … Kevin Rowland – cheat, burglar, arsonist, menswear salesman – and his capacity for self-sabotage. … the harder to get tickets, the more people feel compelled to go. … Kylie Minogue is a year older than Jacob Rees-Mogg! … the best album to come out of New Orleans. … memoirs you can read as either comedy or tragedy. … Ed Sheeran turns Ipswich pink. … the Salt Path saga and the pursuit of profit over truth. … Mirrors In The Smoke, Dust On The Wind, Echoes Through the Pines: spot the AI-generated song title! … the Beatles' Tree in Chiswick: let's keep local landmarks a secret! … John Otway's 5,300 gigs: the hardest working man in showbiz. … and birthday guest Patrick Butler and cities with the greatest legacy – Liverpool, Birmingham, Nashville, New York, Chicago, New Orleans?Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Otway – self-billed as “Rock And Roll's Greatest Failure” - has played 5,260 gigs in 53 years, a record possibly only beaten by BB King. There are more this autumn of course. He simply can't stop. “People buying me drinks and telling me what a good bloke I am? Why would you stop?” We talk to him here about the art of shambling stagecraft and a life lived almost permanently on the road, which involves … ... a burning desire to perform from the age of nine. … “Don't think before opening your mouth!” … the rhythm of life when you play two gigs a week for five decades. And the value of ‘Micro-stardom' - “I'm at the bar when they walk in”. … seeing the Move, Free and Mott the Hoople in Aylesbury. … how people always noticed him – not least because “I was idiot-dancing by the bass speakers”. ... his first performance, a massively overwrought version of Peter Sarstedt's Where Do You Go To My Lovely. … best-selling Otway merch - “I Can't Believe It's Not Better! It's Nearly Rock And Roll But I Like It!” etc. … “You have to capture an audience in the first 20 seconds.” ... why playing the same size venues every night doesn't challenge you. … a recent three-month ‘trial retirement'. … when he estimates he'll play his 6,000th gig. … and his planned and bank-breaking 2026 World Tour. John Otway tour dates here: https://www.johnotway.com/gigs.htmlFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Hook, bold pioneer of the high, clambering, tune-filled bassline, is touring this autumn with Peter Hook & the Light. We talk to him in Prestatyn - about to deejay at mate's birthday - about the first gigs he ever saw and played, heavy-handed club owners, tough crowds on dance floors, the world audience for his two old bands and few key moments of a long life onstage, which involves … … why you should never read your reviews. … how Ian Curtis was precisely the opposite of how people imagined him. ... why deejaying is “the loneliest job in the world” and three tunes to play when it all goes wrong - “and I don't play Blue Monday for obvious reasons”. … seeing the Nolans at Salford Rugby Club, aged 15. … his bell bottoms, clogs and Heavy Metal phase. … seeing Led Zeppelin and the Sex Pistols the same week – “the Pistols were so bad they were relatable. I thought I could do that!” … Stiff Kittens' first gig: “a third-rate punk band aping all the others”. … how DJs need to be “belligerent” and why people find them hard to love – and the book he's writing, ‘How Not To Be A DJ'. … how Ian Curtis's vision of an international Joy Division following has finally been realised – “and with three generations in the crowd”. … radiogram-wrecking early adventures in bass guitar. … and the reasons he wanted to leave New Order and the thrill of maintaining their legacy. Peter Hook & The Light tickets here: https://peterhookandthelight.live/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A 40th anniversary special with two of its presenters (Hepworth and Ellen) and old pal and TV critic Boyd Hilton who watched on the day aged 18 (“young, pretentious, idiotic”) and reviews the new BBC documentary. We look back at … … the ways Live Aid changed television – “not about music but spectacle and scale”. … would the idea of staging it have ever come about in the world of social media? … being in the room for the Geldof F-Bomb. … Ian Astbury smoking on live TV, the concrete mausoleum of the old Wembley Stadium, Concorde, Status Quo and other things that now seem so 1985. … how Live Aid was the death of the New Romantics – “they don't work in daylight” – and why Boy George turned it down. … the footage set to the Cars' video, the emotional pivot of the day, and the interview with the Ethiopian girl Birhan Woldu in the new documentary. … how the thin sound of '80s acts like the Style Council and Ultravox didn't have the impact of old-school guitar/bass/drums. … was Live Aid the first live televised rock concert event? …and fragments of our fading memories – the U2 drama, Adam Ant, Sade, the lost link to Ian Botham, Billy Connolly in tears, acts unwisely playing new singles, Noel Edmonds' helicopter shuttle, the BBC insisting it “mustn't feel like a Telethon” – and all achieved without mobile phones. Plus the return of Oasis, the BBC's tangle with Neil Young at Glastonbury and the fall-out from the Bob Vylan broadcast. … and a few Glastonbury moments - Rod Stewart's cocktail-dress cabaret girls and the 1975's Matt Healy stumbling on with a fag and a pint of Guinness.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ian Anderson is touring again in 2026 and talks to us here about tweed stage-wear, an audience of four, his teenage heroes and the first shows he ever saw and played. There's all sorts within, including …   … playing his first gig to Catholic schoolgirls at the Holy Family Youth Club in Blackpool – “we emptied the room”. … queues round the block at the Marquee in 1968 – “the moment I knew we'd arrived.” … how Joe Cocker nicked his breakfast. … seeing Cliff at the ABC in Blackpool – “he was our Elvis.” … guitarists who played “nicely”– Hank Marvin, Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Ritchie Blackmore. “Precise, accurate, they sang melodies.”  … the ceremonial christening of Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond. … exotic clothes, stage names and parallels with Beefheart's Magic Band.  … recording Feel Like Makin' Love with the 90-year-old Engelbert Humperdinck. … learning Guitar Tango by the Shadows - “not blues or rock and roll - progressive pop!” … the fine art of dressing up: Jethro Tull in America – tweeds and deerstalkers v check shirts and denim.   … fund-raising shows for imperilled cathedrals.   … the allure of touring by train – “I'm Michael Portillo with a flute”. … the three songs Jethro Tull always play. Tickets for the Curiosity Tour 2026 here: jethrotull.com Ian Anderson presents Christmas With Jethro Tull:Thursday 18 December 2025 - Bath AbbeyFriday 19 December 2025 - Peterborough CathedralSaturday 20 December 2025 - Southwark Cathedral Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Happy Hour in the Rock and Roll Lounge of News and we're working our way through anything over 40 per cent proof. Which means ice, a slice and …. … how the F-Bomb lost its impact. … Mick Ralphs and Lalo Schifrin RIP – and chapeau to "There's A Whole Lalo Schifrin Goin' On'. … the Blush-o-meter! Album sleeves that'd get you lynched in the 21st Century – and that means you Roxy, UFO, BowWowWow, Blind Faith, Tom Waits and Supertramp! … why the TV comedy W1A was the last record of the world before Covid. … Irresistible song titles – eg Rikki Don't Lose That Number, Misty Morning Albert Bridge, Jeannie Needs A Shooter. … where was Instagram when Roxy Music started?! … the genius of Sabrina Carpenter's publicity machine. … “The oldest used to have the power. Now it's the youngest.” … Jeff Bezos v a canal full of inflatable crocodiles.  … I'm Getting Buried in the Morning, Paintball's Coming Home … the eternal joy of Half Man Half Biscuit. … “Meeting a man from the motor trade - like a line from a TS Eliot poem.” And birthday guest Guy Constant on the value of lyrics - plus ‘grollies, ‘70 supergroups and Theresa May swearing. Here's the link set up by Jon Hotten to help the rock writer (and former podcast guest) Mick Wall after he'd suffered a heart attack: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jon-hotten-2Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bobby Bluebell remembers the “cuddly duffle-coat friendship” of Glasgow bands in the early ‘80s and the Bluebells' second act rebooted by the Volkswagen ad. The band are touring again and an even bigger part of the city's thriving musical community, and he looks back here at the first gigs he ever saw and played, along with … … singing “When I'm Dead And Gone' in an old folks home.   … on the town with Siobhan Fahey, her sisters and boyfriends Kevin Rowland and Gary Crowley. … buying Rocket Man and Wee Neil Reid's Mother Of Mine, aged 13. And Elton John at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall. … his side project The Golden Tree (with Grahame Skinner of Hipsway) playing ‘Scottish' songs by Marmalade, Strawberry Switchblade, Ewan MacColl, Coldplay, the Easybeats, Talking Heads and the Bay City Rollers. … “Glasgow had six gangs. You had to choose your route home carefully if wearing Kickers.” … Clare Grogan's sister's part in the Bluebells' fortunes. … Edwyn Collins and Alan Horne holding HIT and MISS signs in the front row of an Oxfam Warriors gig. … “A cuddly duffle-coat friendship”: the Glasgow bands of the early ‘80s and memories of Altered Images and Peter Capaldi's Dream Boys. … why Dolly Parton was ditched and ‘Young At Heart' chosen for the Volkswagen ad. … playing the Old Grey Whistle Test with the Psychedelic Furs. … “the best way to get an audience to stop talking is to entertain them.” … “All hits are luck”. … his Golden Rule when playing festivals. The Bluebells tickets here: https://www.songkick.com/artists/315250-bluebells/calendar The Golden Tree: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7HO0TGE0vgPgwDoaBUMAJF?si=LUsXAtrURVWYjEkzDpI0mQ&nd=1&dlsi=65dddbf6bf6c45e4Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dennis Bovell has worked his dub magic on everyone from Janet Kaye to the Slits, the Pop Group, Jarvis Cocker and Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood – and his own band Matumbi. He talks here about the thrill and freedom of making dub records, his new album Wise Music In Dub – which reworks ‘Pass The Dutchie', Minnie Riperton and the Stylistics – and how the phone never stops ringing with requests for an echo-filled clattery sonic re-boot. And about spending lockdown in a “dub bubble”, how recording has changed since his days with a one-track Phillips tape-machine, and recruiting Swizz The Panist (“who plays steel pans like a classical piano”) and Duke Baysee, the harmonica-playing Routemaster bus conductor. Pre-order Wise Music In Dub here: https://wiserecords.bandcamp.com/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rick Wakeman was onstage from the age of five and looks back with us here on a life of live performance – jazz and blues bands, the Strawbs, Yes – and ahead to this autumn's tour performing King Arthur and the Six Wives of Henry the Eighth. “I wake up every morning, throw off the duvet and – if nothing else has fallen off – have a great day!” There's more … ... how it feels when the rock press call you ‘Tomorrow's Superstar!' at the age of 24. … the contract he once had to sign that said “Mister Wakeman will wear at least one of his capes during the performance”. … seeing the Bonzos in 1965, “Viv Stanshall so paralytic he sang the entire set lying down”. … being on a packed tube to Gants Hill and suddenly realising he was on the cover of the Melody Maker he was reading. … Mrs Symes, his piano teacher, who launched his career (aged five). … his teenage band Atlantic Blues “who ended Wipe Out eight times faster than it started”. … the day his Strawbs' Hammond organ solos were applauded by the Telegraph and Times. … early piano sessions for Cat Stevens, Ralph McTell and Al Stewart. … aspects of touring that prove “financially non-viable”. … and how Wolf Hall rebooted the legend of Henry the Eighth. Plus Atomic Rooster, Charlie Chaplin, Arthur Brown, green PVC trousers and a cape collection that includes “four originals”. Buy tickets here: https://www.rwcc.com/live.php#ere2025Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chasing the shade and applying Factor 50 in the wilting heat of this week's rock and roll news turns the conversation to … … Kneecap v the Prime Minister.… will any openly anti-Trump musician find it hard to tour the States?… the girl who's listening to all 10,000 of her late father's albums, one 60-second Instagram reel at a time.… a bottle of Snoop Dogg rosé, anyone?   … why Carol Kaye turned down the Hall Of Fame. … Hollywood and “the genius of the system” v the current vogue for applauding individual genius. … Lottie Golden, Laurie Styvers, Jeannie Piersol and our love for High Moon Records, the Virago of the record business. … why self-sabotage is a British institution. … Nick Cave Unisex Clogs? Pet Shop Boys chrome pepper-grinder? Brave new frontiers in pop merchandise. … Genya Ravan's I Won't Sleep On The Wet Spot No More. … Beau Dommage, Dragon's Breath, Two Left Feet … Canadian band or voguish craft ale? Also in the mix … Dawn French, Phoebe Snow, Humphrey Ocean, Alan Bennett and Bridget St John.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Farm are touring again this summer and have just made their first album for 31 years (with the same-line-up). This sparky and wide-ranging conversation with Peter Hooton stops off at the following … … the advice Mark E Smith gave him when they were interviewed by Select magazine. … “Suedeheads v Trogs and Greebos”: early ‘70s tribal warfare in Bootle. … seeing Cockney Rebel, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Genesis at the Liverpool Empire. … the death of old heroes – “you imagined Bowie was always going to be there”. … backstage with the Clash in Paris and why they were the Farm's role models. … Bill Drummond's attempt to remodel them “in tracksuits with hard dogs”. … how the death of John Lennon made him start writing. … the use of All Together Now as a football anthem – from everyone to Everton to Euros 2004 to a disastrous campaign by the Labour Party - “but the Qatar World Cup was a bridge too far”. … touring with Mick Jones (“the Pied Piper”) for the Hillsborough 96 Campaign. … his school band, Breakwind - “the forerunners of Half Man Half Biscuit” – and being in the cast of Oliver!. …. his guided music tours of Liverpool and the places they visit. … and why The Farm has “omni-appeal – a band who look like they're from a street corner”. Also in the mix: Big Audio Dynamite, Deaf School, Nile Rodgers, Roger Eagle and Cliff Richard on Top Of The Pops. Buy tickets and the album Let The Music (Take Control) here: https://thefarmmusic.co.uk/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

Carol Decker - another Smash Hits cover star on the podcast! T'Pau are playing dates this summer and autumn and she talks here – hilariously - about life on the ‘80s package tour circuit and the first shows she ever saw and played, which stops off at …. … does any audience beat a Butlin's Mid-Weeker on their third pint? … from Black Mirror to PG Tips: the afterlife of a hit. … seeing Rod & the Faces in Stoke-On-Trent and Dire Straits in a Wrestling Hall. … “Appearing In An A&E Near You!”: accident-prone ‘80s stars, a sitcom waiting to happen. ... the arcane world of the backing vocalist – “don't distract, nothing too big”. … the grim tradition of headline bands' road crews making the support acts suffer. … ‘80s package tours with OMD, Kim Wilde, Toyah, Clare Grogan and Nik Kershaw. … playing working men's clubs with the Lazers in 1980 - “an unwelcome distraction from the Bingo”. … visits to Dusty Springfield's grave. … “Universal own the world”: when your songs appear in films and ads but you couldn't keep the rights. … more power to the Amnesty for Unrecouped Bands!Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversatiom going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the great Warren Zevon said, ‘Enjoy every sandwich'. The two-man canoe navigates this week's rock and roll rivulet which sadly entails reflections on a pair of towering musical giants ‘whose legend occupied the space where activity should have been'. Things considered include … …are you born with genius or does a set of circumstances allow it to flourish? … the impossible task of living up to people's expectations and the calamitous ways it led Sly and Brian Wilson to behave. … like Sly's plane landing at the moment he was meant to be onstage at Madison Square Garden. … the massive cultural contrast between Woodstock and ‘the Black Woodstock' a month earlier and how Sly & the Family Stone looked like they'd ‘come from Mars'. … how Derek Taylor, Tom Nolan and Nick Kent helped fashion the Beach Boys' myth. … Sly's impact on Miles Davis, Prince, Massive Attack and hip-hop and how a record as radical as There's A Riot Goin' On was a No 1 Christmas album. … In My Room, a completely new kind of teenage song. … David's five Beach Boys teenage moments … … and Mark's three examples of Brian Wilson's Greatest Bits – eg the overture to California Girls. … and 'Arise, Sir Roger Daltrey!'Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liam Gallagher calls Ted Kessler and Hamish MacBain “the Peter Cook and Dudley Moore of music journalism”. Both worked at the NME (and Ted at Q), both interviewed the band many times and have just published ‘A Sound So Very Loud' which, in the grand tradition of Revolution In The Head, tells the story of every Oasis song ever recorded. They talk to Mark here about …   … why Oasis struck such an almighty chord and were the band the press were waiting for. … their dismantling of the notion of rock stardom. … “a visceral dislike”: why they were so socially divisive in the ‘90s. … Liam “waking up in police custody with two missing teeth”. … the Gallaghers' dependable flair for the Smiths-style “performative interview” and why it sold the rock press. … what Noel stole from Tony Blair's maiden speech for the lyrics of Magic Pie. … the turning point in the shift in the brothers' powerbase.   … Liam and the invention of “Stillism”.   … “70 per cent of a band is the singer's identity”. … Noel's blog and Liam's Twitter and how the split might have been avoided if their debate hadn't been played out in public. … Supersonic, Cigarettes and Alcohol and the admirable honesty of Noel's “brazen theft”. … how Stop Crying Your Heart Out became an X-Factor standard.   … and the 5am Liam Gallagher social media publicity machine. ‘A SOUND SO VERY LOUD' BY TED KESSLER AND HAMISH MACBAINPreorder link here!: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/ted-kessler/a-sound-so-very-loud/9781035078257Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elkie Brooks was on a package tour aged 15, supported the Beatles and the Animals, made a single when she was 19, joined the jazz-rock Dada, then Vinegar Joe (with Robert Palmer) and has since made 20 albums. She's now out on her ‘Long Farewell Tour' and looks back with us here from her home in Devon at … … supporting the Beatles in '64 and an audience already screaming for the headliners.   … memories of Dusty, Cilla and Maggie Bell and how few girl singers there were in the ‘60s and ‘70s. … singing Cliff Richard's ‘Pointed Toe Shoes', aged 15, at the Don Arden talent show that won her a tour with Conway Twitty and Wee Willie Harris. … supporting the Animals at the Paramount, New York. … the male-weighted music world and how long it took to win any respect. … seeing Ella Fitzgerald when she was 12 and being fired up by the range and phrasing of Billie Holiday. … what she learnt from Humphrey Lyttelton and Eric Delaney. … life on the scampi-in-the-basket cabaret circuit as a teenager. … trying to keep Vinegar Joe together after Robert Palmer left.   Book tickets to the Long Farewell Tour here: https://www.elkiebrooks.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Facing down the leg spinners of rock and roll news while trying to wallop the odd shot across the pavilion roof. On the scoreboard this week … … has there ever been a rock feud as bitter as Trump v Musk? … what Ray Charles, Taylor Swift and Dave Clark have in common. … the 30-year golden age music video. … things Van Morrison can't forget. … how some songs about lying in hammocks necking cocktails ended up worth $275m.   … Beyoncé, Stetsons, pink Cadillacs and how all visiting American acts bring with them the aura of America. … the greatest and most influential video ever made. … the song Carly Simon wrote about Cat Stevens. … “Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)” … Nick Mason's menagerie: things your teenage self never imagined would happen. … Kraft Cheese slices, Kylie videos, the cut above David Beckham's eye and other things labelled ‘iconic'. … and Birthday guest Paul Thompson's night at the Music Video Preservation Society!Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stuart Maconie – broadcaster, prolific author – has a brilliant and original new perspective on the Beatles. His latest book With A Little Help From Their Friends identifies the 100 people who had the greatest impact on their story, from the inner circle to bit-part players – schoolfriends, girlfriends, managers, muses, support acts, advisors and exploiters. It's immensely entertaining – and revealing, even for obsessives like us. Look out for these in particular … … memories of his Mum taking him to see the Beatles in Wigan when he was three. … the Shakespearian supporting cast – “we know the Othellos and King Lears but there are a lot of Rosencrantz and Guildensterns” such as Marsha Albert, Melanie Coe, Pablo Fanque, Mr Mustard and the night with the poet Royston Ellis that inspired Polythene Pam. … villains of the piece who might have been misunderstood like the Maharishi and Allen Klein. … what Derek Taylor shouted at Peter Blake at the Q Awards. … the full extent of the Beatles' American merchandise catastrophe. … the “moving and spooky” sensation of standing on the spot in Woolton where John and Paul first met - and its repercussions. … the Sliding Doors moments and why no other band merits this kind of depth and detail. … the hoary redundant old saw about John v Paul – “guerilla genius v slick vaudevillian” and how Peter Jackson's Get Back made us all fall in love with them even harder and deeper than before..… the regrettable question he asked McCartney about Gerry & the Pacemakers. … the tragedy of Jimmie Nicol – “being a member of the Beatles, even briefly, was the nearest equivalent to going to the Moon”. … the impact of Paul's life with the Ashers on the band's intersections with art, theatre and poetry. … how the ‘Oldies But Goldies' album broke the band beyond the Iron Curtain. .. why Penny Lane is like a Play for Today. … and the greatest song the Beatles recorded. Order With A Little Help From Our Friends here: https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/with-a-little-help-from-their-friends-the-beatles-changed-the-world-but-who-changed-theirs-stuart-maconie?variant=54870051815803Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rob Caiger is one of those special people who turned their teenage obsession with music into a job … from being the only one in ELO's office who knew where the old tapes were … to learning that what it says on the outside of the box isn't always what's on the tape … through embarking on a ten-year project to put out the last Small Faces album from 1970 in its proper form   … via blindfolded journeys to mysterious destinations with the promise of finding some long-lost jewels … and hearing a Rolling Stones out-take bleeding through a multi-track by the Move … through the vault under Smithfield Market out of which tapes would sometimes emerge covered in blood … to preparing for a future where nobody who was there will be able to explain how and why things were recorded … this is the world as seen by the remarkably dedicated people who put together the box sets we all hanker for. The Small Faces: The Autumn Stone record and CD - https://www.thesmallfaces.com/shop/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.

Hoary old tales retold – ideally in an Irish accent - and new ones prized from the giddy carousel of rock and roll news which, this week, features … … was there a better stage name than Rick Derringer? … Linda Ronstadt, Ronnie Spector, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and other new biopics under construction. … genuinely ‘iconic' rock images – the Ziggy lightning stipe, Johnny Cash at San Quentin, Elvis dancing in Jailhouse Rock, Dylan and Suze Rotolo in Jones Street … … our old pal Barry McIlheney, his Belfast band Shock Treatment and the time he asked U2 to draw a duck. … the thin wall that separates hilarity and grief. … how TikTok and a 1962 B-side booted the 87-year old Connie Francis.   … Banned words! – ‘iconic, circle back, reach out, Ramones-esque, eponymous sophomore effort' and other clichés that MUST be banished! … “Sgt Pepper: it's like the Beatles on acid!” … why 80 per cent of the stadium experience is beyond our control. ... how Freddie Mercury still makes headlines beyond the grave. … the real Rikki in ‘Rikki Don't Lose that Number'. … and when you find yourself at a Springsteen gig next to a Trump supporter. Watch the Barry McIlheney podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjw-6HZWa-EFind 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.

Martha Wainwright is a key member of the Wainwright/McGarrigle clan, all of them big favourites of ours. She's currently on her 20th anniversary tour and looks back here at the first shows she ever saw and played which involves … … growing up in a folk dynasty in Montreal.   … the sight of Perla Batalla and Julie Christensen, backing singers on Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man tour, “who made me want to be onstage too”. … the story of ‘Matapedia', the song Kate McGarrigle wrote when an old boyfriend thought she was her teenage daughter.   … her first shows playing Elvis, Dylan and Woody Guthrie songs on the coffeehouse circuit. … singing with her brother Rufus and her cousins with Kate & Anna McGarrigle at folk festivals. … onstage at the Roches' Christmas shows in New York. … the time her brother stole the show over Emmylou Harris: “I thought I want that kind of attention!” … seeing Pink Floyd's The Wall in a Montreal hockey stadium, aged 9 – “a very marking experience”. … the songs of her mother's she always plays: “I'm obsessed with her legacy”. Martha Wainwright 20th Anniversary tour tickets here: https://marthawainwright.com/showsFind 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.

Small boy begins breeding budgerigars in Liverpool, makes enough to buy a drum kit and becomes the power behind Big In Japan, the Slits, the Creatures and Siouxsie and the Banshees. And one half of punk rock's most famous couples. The immensely engaging Budgie has finally written his memoir, ‘The Absence', and talks to us from Berlin about … … are bands only as good as their drummers? … Siouxsie, the Ice Queen goth-in-waiting who was actually “a cackling crazy tomboy from Chiselhurst”.    … playing Shadows instruments in a nightclub cabaret, aged 13. … the gnawing pain of not being asked to play Live Aid – “we just weren't part of that all-pals-together-in-the-wonderful word of music”. … “World Exclusive!”: seeing Bill Nighy in a band in the ‘70s singing Rosalita. … the Apache and Wipeout drum patterns in the rhythms of the Slits and Banshees.   … in praise of drummers: Bill Buford, Phil Collins, the Glitter Band, Humble Pie's Jerry Shirley. … the peculiar world of the teenage budgerigar breeder. … the dynamic of the Slits – “Palmolive, off-the-scale crazy”. … ‘You're The Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk' by Burke Shelley's Budgie, Humble Pie's ‘Rockin' the Fillmore' and when you only have one cassette in your car and it's ‘Wonderworld' by Uriah Heep. … Siouxsie's Jim Morrison fixation and lack of ambition. … the advantage of being in a band with a girl singer. … and the likelihood of a Banshees' reunion. Order Budgie's memoir ‘the Absence' here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Absence-Memoirs-Banshee-Drummer/dp/1399621564Find 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 pedalo of enquiry sets out on the Bank Holiday boating lake of news pausing to consider …   … Florence Welch, Dua Lipa and the rise of the rock and roll book club. … the 92 year-old that Bob Dylan supported at the Cascades Amphitheatre, Ridgefield. … the Beatles had 18 drummers! … the sad end to Billy Joel's tour schedule. … is Hollywood dead? … what's your relationship with reading if your first experience of literature is dressing up as a wizard on World Book Day? … why is there something unfailingly comic about drummers being fired? … “No nudity! No voluminous outfits!”: Cannes new red carpet ruling. … is Chimes Of Freedom Bob Dylan at ‘peak wordage'? … are books and record sleeves the new antiques, items to furnish a room? … Sherlock Holmes, Hunter S Thompson: Corey Hart of Slipknot's recommended reading. … and how Springsteen is taunting Trump. Plus Starry Eyed And Laughing, old drummer gags and who the hell's seen Ne Zha 2 or Mickey 17?Help us to keep the conversation going by joining our worldwide Patreon community: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.