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    Music

    Word In Your Ear

    Mark Ellen and David Hepworth have been talking about and writing about music together and individually for a collective eighty years in magazines like Smash Hits, Mojo and The Word and on radio and TV programmes like “Rock On”, “Whistle Test” and VH-1.

    Over thirteen years ago, when working on the late magazine The Word, they began producing podcasts. Some listeners have been kind enough to say these have been very special to them. When the magazine folded in 2012 they kept the spirit of those podcasts alive in regular Word In Your Ear evenings in which they spoke to musicians and authors in front of an audience. 

    Over these years they’ve produced hundreds of hours of material. As of the Current Unpleasantness of 2020, they’ve produced yet hundreds of hours more with a little help from guests kind enough to digitally show them around their attics such as Danny Baker, Andy Partridge, Sir Tim Rice and Mark Lewisohn. For the full span of the Word In Your Ear world, visit wiyelondon.com.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    Copyright: © Word In Your Ear

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    Latest Episodes:
    Kate Mossman has strong feelings about rock stars past their prime Jun 16, 2026
    Show notes

    Kate’s an old pal of ours from Word magazine who writes scintillating columns and profiles for the New Statesman and Observer. We loved her book ‘Men Of A Certain Age: My Encounters With Rock Royalty’ – just out in paperback! – where she relives her meetings with a variety of legends, eccentrics and old lags whose music she finds particularly compelling and wonders what they all have in common. This typically funny and colourful conversation stops off at …

    … the attractive fallibility of rock stars past their peak

    … a lifetime’s devotion to Paul Simon

    … “Olivia Dean is the Carole King of her generation”

    … the ridiculous expectations we heap on musicians’ creativity

    … why Arts Criticism is under threat

    … when the first record you buy (aged five) is the Chicken Song

    … “One-Hit Wonders have achieved infinitely more than most of us”

    … Ray Davies and his “eternal sense of apartness”

    … why George Michael is under-appreciated and the time he found someone living under his floorboards

    … the days when Jeff Beck modelled PVC jackets for Rave


    … the genius of Pat Metheny’s Orchestrion

    … and the new acts who’ll still be huge in ten years’ time.

    Order copies of ‘Men Of A Certain Age’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Men-Certain-Age-Encounters-Royalty/dp/1788705645

    Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


    Pop stars’ weddings and why Noel Gallagher’s right about World Cup music Jun 15, 2026
    Show notes

    Amid much parping of vuvuzelas, the week’s news stories sprint onto the pitch. And these make it to the quarter-finals …

    … Dua Lipa’s mega-wedding and its echoes of Mick & Bianca

    … when did publicity turn into “perpetual planetary attention”?

    … Chris Martin “curating” the World Cup Final half-time show

    … if you can’t stand the noise, move out of Soho!

    … watching Rufus Wainwright do Judy Garland

    … when Madonna was troubled by helicopters

    … JBs’s Dudley, Mr Pickwicks, the Band On The Wall: who imagined old rock venues would be celebrated by the V&A?

    … “Keep music away from sport!”

    … is Taylor Swift really getting married in Madison Square Garden?

    … and the Nation Blue, the Green Falcons, the Golden Lilies: starry-eyed indie act or World Cup team nickname?

    Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


    Dave Balfe remembers the Teardrops, Blur and a very big house in the country Jun 12, 2026
    Show notes

    Dave Balfe was a key player in late ‘70s Liverpool, joined Big In Japan and the Teardrop Explodes, co-founded Zoo Records and, later, Food who signed and launched Blur. It’s fascinating to hear how he’s adapted to promoting music now with his new band Late Transmissions. We talk to him here about the landmarks moments that mapped out his life, among them …

    … growing up in the Wirral and its patchouli-scented record shops

    … seeing Wings and Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust tour in Liverpool

    … how it felt to be immortalised in Blur’s Country House

    … what he learnt making AI pop videos

    … when your teenage band “goes punk”

    … breaking and entering Rumbelows in pursuit of a synthesiser

    … the curious link between Blur and JD Salinger in the days “they were all Kurt Weill and discordant”

    … the Runaways at Erics – “I wasn’t entirely there for the music”

    … Big In Japan with Bill Drummond, Budgie, Ian Brodie and Jayne Casey

    .. is AI like the arrival of synthesisers: “this is not proper music?”

    … “the old gag, innovation is not pastiching bands that have already been pastiched”

    … and Mark’s interview with him 47 years ago.

    Lightning Never Strikes Twice video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhV02AcvQQ0

    The Heart Wants What It Wants video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGvEWvS1ekk

    I’m Done With London video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmUnP4b4GjQ

    Order the Late Transmissions album here: https://musicsaves.co.uk/product/theheartwantswhatitwants/

    Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


    Star Ratings - do we love/hate/need them? Five-star debate here! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jun 11, 2026
    Show notes

    Star Ratings are now ubiquitous and inescapable and it’s not just music, films and books. Everything we encounter tends to be rated which colours our judgement before we try it. Choice can be paralyzing but do we read anymore or just count? Benji Wilson’s ‘Rate This Book: How Star Ratings Took Over the World’ traces their origin – back to 350 BC! – paints a picture of modern life and wonders here where we’re heading, along with …

    … Aristotle’s 2,500 year-old system of star-rated animals

    … how Michelin cooked up starred restaurants to get you to wear out your tyres

    … can we spot fake reviews and the people who sell them?

    … do we only tend to read one- and five-star reviews? And why writers hate the system

    … the ingenious deceit of the Krays movie poster

    … the value of reviews in a world where time and tickets costs are escalating

    … “Star Ratings are the democratisation of criticism, the least-worst method”

    … why a 2016 episode of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror now seems prophetic

    … the “hidden hands” that manipulate the ratings system

    … and mass Amazon ratings and the power of Mob Rule.

    Order copies of ‘Rate This Book’ here: https://linktr.ee/newmodern_books#560826579

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rate-This-Book-Ratings-World/dp/1917923651?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

    Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


    Brian Epstein & the Beatles - what he did and what he hid Jun 09, 2026
    Show notes

    Philip Norman has written books about the Beatles – and John, Paul and George - and now turns the spotlight on the man who launched them and the extreme personal and professional obstacles in the dramatic path of his short life, the man who built a shield around them but couldn't protect himself. We talk to him here about ‘Mr Moonlight: Brian Epstein and the Making of the Beatles’ with particular attention to …

    … how he changed Britain’s image and was mortified to get no recognition for it

    … the Beatle whose demands he was always fastest to execute

    … the level of homophobia and anti-Semitism he had to absorb

    … his reckless pursuits in the days when homosexuality could mean life imprisonment

    … contract killers, blackmail, rigged roulette wheels and why the Krays said “it wasn’t us” when they heard he’d died

    … the way he fashioned his own myth and airbrushed others who’d helped the Beatles succeed

    … why McCartney’s 21st birthday party could have ended the band

    … his genius (and fraudulence) as a salesman

    … the double catastrophe of Brian’s US merchandising deal

    … John, Aunt Mimi and “a story about the British class system”

    … and the chaperone on George and Pattie’s first date.

    Order copies of ‘Mr Moonlight’ here: https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Mr-Moonlight/Philip-Norman/9781398542266

    Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


    Are we nearing Beatles Overload? plus the rock star with the most children (41!) Jun 08, 2026
    Show notes

    When the pedalo of perusal cruised the lagoon of news this week, it paused to inspect the following ...

    … the particular magic of the late-night DJ

    … a Get Well card to dear Bob Harris

    … is Global Beatles Day a bridge too far?

    … the exquisite Britishness of the Manics, the Fall and the Small Faces

    … Cyprus Avenue, Soho, Asbury Park … the best places to visit to help you understand an artist who lived there

    … how T.Rex and Roxy Music were “too fancy” for America

    … Jagger, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Johann Sebastian Bach? Musicians with the most children

    … All You Need Is Love – work of genius or “ropey old doggerel”?

    Plus birthday guest Paul Thompson, Foghat and watching the One World global-cast on a black and white telly.

    Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


    The glorious story of Funk from James Brown to Off The Wall Jun 03, 2026
    Show notes

    Old friend of the podcast Lloyd Bradley wrote Bass Culture, the defining account of reggae, and he’s now turned his attention to funk, from its deepest roots and via the jazz, arts, TV, radio and pop culture that flavoured it. The main 10-year focus of ‘Funk Has Its Own Reward’ is from James Brown’s ‘Say It Loud - I’m Black and I’m Proud’ to Michael Jackson’s ‘Off The Wall’ but free your mind and all this will follow! …

    … the importance of radio being “colourblind”

    … Cab Calloway’s Jive Dictionary and the impact of DJs Martha Jean ‘the Queen’ Steinberg and Daddy-O Daylie

    … how James Brown floor-tested his records and saved a fortune making them

    … funk’s deep roots in America’s marching bands

    … why jazz is funk’s closest relative and what it stole from white rock

    … how the Family Stone’s Larry Graham made bass the place

    … how solo singers gave way to the ‘funk gangs’

    … how Richard Pryor gave mainstream America a window on a whole new world.

    … the influence of Soul Train and Sesame Street (19-year-old Nile Rodgers on guitar!) in bringing funk to the masses

    … George Clinton – “I can’t dance, can’t play, people tell me I can’t sing … but without me none of this would have happened!”

    … plus the Chambers Brothers, Herbie Hancock, Funkadelic, Bootsy, Quincy Jones, Parliament and the greatest funk record ever made.

    Order copies of ‘Funk Is Its Own Reward’ here: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/lloyd-bradley-2/funk-is-its-own-reward/9781472123411/


    Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


    Leo Sayer has met everyone – rock legends, sport superstars, future presidents … Jun 02, 2026
    Show notes

    Leo Sayer burst onto national telly in 1973 dressed as a Pierrot with the Show Must Go On launching a 50-year career in colourful company – songwriters, boxing legends, swindling managers, scurrilous socialites – and learning a great deal in the process. “Don’t underestimate the idiots!” is the hard-won advice. He’s touring in October and joins us here from Australia to look back at …

    … how he and Linda Ronstadt escaped from Trump’s gruesome penthouse

    … walking through Memphis dressed as a clown

    … seeing Lonnie Donegan invent skiffle, Dylan at the Albert Hall and Bob Marley at the Lyceum from the side of the stage

    … when Paul Kossoff asked him to audition for Free

    … designing record sleeves for Marley, Roger Daltrey, Humble Pie and Quintessence

    … “I’m the Forrest Gump of the music industry – nearly there!”

    … “working with Adam Faith was like having Marlon Brando as your acting coach”

    … the advice Paul McCartney gave him in 1973

    … “Do you mind if I vomit in your shoe?”

    … and a week in a training camp with Muhammad Ali.

    Order Leo Sayer tickets here: https://tix.to/LeoLive26

    Order the ‘Leothology’ box-set here: https://www.roughtrade.com/product/leo-sayer/leothology-the-studio-albums-1973-now


    Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


    Songs about sweltering heat, Willie Nelson’s braids and is vinyl now ‘luxury goods’? Jun 01, 2026
    Show notes

    Chasing the shade and slapping the Sunscreen on this week’s overheated news, we pour a tinkling drink and reflect upon the following …

    … British people in hot weath-ah!

    … when rock stars you haven’t seen for 50 years pop up on Zoom

    … Lennon’s tooth? Timberlake’s toast? Mooney’s school report? Weird things sold at auction

    … Paul Horn playing in the Taj Mahal, Sonny Rollins on the Williamsburg Bridge, U2 in Slane Castle

    … are new vinyl albums now ‘luxury goods’ and old ones ‘antiques’?

    … where you can hear the Abbey Road building on the Dark Side of the Moon

    … the cinematic records Daniel Lanois made in an abandoned movie theatre near Santa Barbara

    … Summer In The City: the Lovin’ Spoonful’s road-drill and Regina Spektor’s cleavage

    … Cat-calming music! Gym motivation! Stress-busting songs for Spurs fans on Judgement Day! The age of the prescriptive playlist

    … the new dawn of instrumental music, “a public utility like turning on a tap”

    … and the single Sinatra recorded for Maureen Starkey (only one copy made!).


    Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


    How Daniel Lanois made those adventurous records with Dylan, U2 and Willie Nelson May 29, 2026
    Show notes

    Daniel Lanois built a studio in his basement in Quebec and began producing local acts when a teenager. Through work with Brian Eno, he went on to record U2, Bob Dylan, Arcade Fire, Emmylou Harris and scores of others with a method that’s unique, cinematic and utterly extraordinary, a brand of sonic architecture that creates settings to accommodate the songs, often in exotic and stimulating places. And he's made nine albums of his own, the latest the magical instrumental suite ‘Belladonna Nocturne’ – “hear this and you may never go home again”. This rich and fascinating conversation includes …

    … how the place you record affects the way you think

    ... producing Dylan and Willie Nelson in an abandoned Mexican cinema

    … why the first record he bought was Wipe Out by the Surfaris

    … the process of “printing sound” and his Music Minus One theory

    … “Songs are doorways to another dimension”

    … Eno’s working method: “he walked round the studio for 45 minutes ringing bells to map out the length of the album”

    … drawing song sketches to stop everyone having to crowd round a laptop

    … making the Unforgettable Fire with U2, “expanding Slane Castle ‘til there were little critters crawling out of the walls!”

    … conjuring the tropical heat of Robbie Robertson’s Somewhere Down the Crazy River

    … and what Hells’ Angels like to do to his music.

    Order Belladonna Nocturne here: https://artsmusic.lnk.to/BelladonnaNocturne


    Help us to keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


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