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.