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Word In Your Ear — 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.

Copyright: © Word In Your Ear

Latest Episodes:

Best album sleeves, what’s ruined singing and pop as ‘empowerment porn’ Jul 21, 2024

Show notes

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=d0d82b7aaf06cd217ba5546bced15f5c8c98f6e3776c6c1b2145e79711b91e18

Find out more about how to help us keep the conversation 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.

Who is Lawrence and why did Will Hodgkinson write a whole book about him? Jul 18, 2024

Show notes

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/1785120220

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation 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.

Backstage at Live Aid, the first Knebworth and bands that don’t get on Jul 15, 2024

Show notes

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

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 Joni Mitchell joined the boys’ club and why we don’t need a comeback – by Ann Powers Jul 12, 2024

Show notes

Broadcaster and music writer Ann Powers lives in Nashville and grew up listening to Kate Bush and Blondie. The siren call of Blue sparked a life-long and deep-rooted devotion and her new book Travelling: On The Path Of Joni Mitchell takes a different tack from the standard biographies, mapping the context of the songs, the forces that drove her, the steel will it took to succeed and the love affairs that shaped her and her music. All discussed here. As is this ...

… the scale of your ambition when your heroes are Nietzsche, Beethoven and Picasso.

… how she got her revenge for not being allowed to go to Woodstock.

… “she had to learn to walk three times”.

… the psychological impact of her “dynamic father and homemaker mother”.

… the love affairs with Leonard Cohen, David Crosby and Graham Nash.

… her capacity to turn disaster into triumph.

… the influence of Laurel Canyon neighbour Derek Taylor and the Beatles.

… the many reasons she declared the music business “a corrupt cesspool”.

… the tone of Rolling Stone’s ‘70s coverage and the letters she wrote to Mo Austin about the way she was marketed.

… David Crosby’s regret about not involving her in Crosby Stills & Nash.

… her reaction to the continued success of Tom Petty, Peter Gabriel and Don Henley in a world where mid-career women are “put out to pasture”.

… why the current renaissance seems “all legend, no bite”.

… and Laura Nyro, Tom Rush, Judy Collins, Patti Smith, Aretha Franklin, Maggie Roach, Stevie Wonder, Thomas Dolby.

Order Travelling: On the Path Of Joni Mitchell here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Travelling-Path-Mitchell-Ann-Powers/dp/0008332967

Find out more about how to help us keep the conversation 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.

Twist And Shout? Spiral Scratch? Corey duBrowa celebrates the best and rarest EPs ever made Jul 08, 2024

Show notes

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

Order ‘An Ideal For Living’ here:

https://hozacrecords.com/product/aifl/

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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.

What songs should be longer or shorter? Jul 07, 2024

Show notes

The rock and roll ballot-box is stuffed with votes and the exit polls suggest how this week’s debate might play out. Along these lines …

… is there still such a thing as British music?

… John Lennon as a lavatory attendant.

… Pink Floyd’s miming lessons.

.. how Neil Finn cheered up the All Blacks.

… the staggering difference in the UK album charts in the weeks the last two Labour Prime Ministers were elected (1997 and 2024) - male British bands v international female solo acts.

… ‘Starman’ on Top Of The Pops and the tricks it plays on the memory.

… “current chart acts are either in the spotlight or don’t seem to exist at all.”

… the wit and wisdom of James Blunt.

.. the Herd’s guest spot in the Tom Courtenay caper Otley.

… the Phil Collins syndrome: “when people are tired of duffing up pop stars, they tend to re-embrace them”.

… plus birthday guest Richard Lewis and songs that should be longer – eg Dancing the Night Away by the Motors, I Can Fly by the Herd (cue military bugle and church bell and choir).

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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.

Dylan Jones – Clegg’s women, Hague’s pints and “the wiring behind celebrity culture” Jul 03, 2024

Show notes

We’ve known Dylan since the days he was editing i-D, Arena and GQ and he’s been a regular on our podcasts talking about his books on Live Aid, the ‘80s, David Bowie and Wichita Lineman. And he’s finally written his memoir, These Foolish Things, full of insights and stories about glam rock, punk, the Blitz, four decades of the magazine world and the people he interviewed and shepherded into awards shows. You’ll hear the delightful clang of the odd dropped name here, along with …

… Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine and the power of fame when it was harder to achieve.

… seeing Leigh Bowery in daylight.

… the real story of Kylie’s “bare bum” tennis shoot.

… does every good memoir involve a degree of treachery?

… why Hollywood’s still obsessed with print.

… William Hague’s 14 pints, Nick Clegg’s 30 women and other self-selling GQ scoops.

… Piers Morgan and Alastair Campbell (“the rottweilers”) and other interrogators who’d always come back with a cover line, usually involving a number.

… how politicians make great interviews as they’re used to aggression.

… “not now, I’m filming!”: life in the Arena office.

… i-D, the Face, nightclubs and “intoxicating” London in the early ‘80s.

… magazine covers and the fine art of horse-trading.

Order These Foolish Things here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/These-Foolish-Things-Dylan-Jones/dp/1408719851

Find out more about how to help us keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinhyourear

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.

Happy accidents, whooping at gigs and why the album review star system doesn’t work anymore Jun 30, 2024

Show notes

In which we hoof a few balls round the rock and roll pitch and try to stick some in the net. Extracts from the live match commentary include ….

… “Whipping Post!” “Paint it black, you devil!”: when did the audience become part of the show?

… the special, unrepeatable thing about Bill Evans At The Village Vanguard.

… GambleGate and the most we’ve ever bet on anything.

… why young musicians today are so good. And why most Americans could outplay the British.

… ‘60s Jamaican ska, 2-Tone and other imperfect imitations of the original.

… does the mainstream exist anymore?

… did the Animals’ House of the Rising Sun invent folk-rock?

… the voice of Word In Your Ear, Kerry Shale: who is that masked man?

… the new Al Murray promotional tactic.

… and does anyone else remember Alice’s Restaurant?

Plus Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles playing Motown, Emily Roberts of the Last Dinner Party playing Gershwin and birthday guest Blaine Allan.

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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 football chants, Reg ‘Reg’ Snipton sings Joni Mitchell & the tale of John Lennon’s watch Jun 24, 2024

Show notes

The two-man tandem of curiosity wobbles its way down the rock and roll cyclepath pausing here to admire the view …

… “We’re captive on the carousel of TIME-AH!!”: tuneless Northern club singer Reg “Reg” Snipton performs Ver Greats.

… is going to gigs alone becoming a thing?

... why Phil Oakey was a better musician than any of ELP.

… Seven Nation Army in football stadiums - and does Jack White make any money from it?

… what rock stars spend their fortunes on.

… people who are ‘jewellery-blind’ (eg D Hepworth).

… the scariest intention a musician can announce.

… Dutch fans dancing.

… the poignancy of all John Lennon’s possessions.

… how to wreck the Great American Songbook (may involve xylophone solo).

… from the Euros to a trip on the tube: how selfies have invaded our space.

… the strange, unfinished story of John Lennon’s Patek, “the El Dorado of lost watches”.

… you’re never alone with an iPhone.

… and does virtuoso musicianship ruin pop music, asks birthday guest Guy Constant? (Answer: yes).

Find out more about how you can help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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.

Only Clare Grogan knows how it feels to burst onstage from a giant birthday cake Jun 21, 2024

Show notes

Clare Grogan, a regular on our podcasts and rarely off the cover when we were at Smash Hits, is on tour again with Altered Images and playing festivals in the summer – indeed her fabulous description of the bus ferrying her, Midge Ure, Nik Kershaw, Kim Wilde and Living in A Box to the stage at Rewind sounds like an old Smash Hits cartoon come to life. As she points out, “the ‘80s revival has gone on longer than the decade itself.” We don’t know anyone who enjoys and appreciates being a pop star more and talk here about the first gigs she ever went to and played herself, which involves …

… what she wore (aged 13) to see the Bay City Rollers at the Glasgow Apollo (includes “cork platform clogs”).

… winning the Alternative school beauty pageant dressed as Debbie Harry in a bin bag.

… her sister Margaret’s re-enactments of David Bowie, Leo Sayer and Roxy Music.

… why the furniture at the Middlesbrough Rock Garden was screwed to the floor.

… memories of 2-Tone, the Banshees, Madness, the Stranglers and the Blockheads.

… the riot at a Scottish festival when they ran out of alcohol.

… violence at early ‘80s gigs when your only security was “Ginge the Roadie”.

… Echo & the Bunnymen and the Psychedelic Furs at the Bungalow Bar in Paisley.

… do you focus on the people in the crowd who are enjoying it or the ones that need winning over?

… horizontal rain when wearing a ballet dress and playing to “a sea of cagoules”.

… the best way to tell the audience you’re about to play a new song.

… David Hepworth’s Altered Images album review in Smash Hits: ouch!

… and her daughter watching old Altered Images clips on YouTube.

----------------

Altered Images autumn tour dates and tickets here: http://alteredimages.band/

Find out more about how you can help us keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyouear

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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