Word In Your Ear

Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold
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. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. Peter Perrett of the Only Ones – teenage life, a wondrous return and a 35-year lost weekend.

    13 HR AGO

    Peter Perrett of the Only Ones – teenage life, a wondrous return and a 35-year lost weekend.

    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/B0DB8VMBDL 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.

    29 min
  2. The genius of George Harrison and why he’s still underrated

    3 DAYS AGO

    The genius of George Harrison and why he’s still underrated

    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/019762782X 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.

    40 min
  3. Ian Broudie of the Lightning Seeds - his Year Zero moment, Imposter Syndrome and seeing the Beatles (aged 7)

    4 NOV

    Ian Broudie of the Lightning Seeds - his Year Zero moment, Imposter Syndrome and seeing the Beatles (aged 7)

    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/735512 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.

    31 min
  4. Life with the Lennons, fame, friendship, the FBI and the Lost Weekend – by Elliot Mintz.

    30 OCT

    Life with the Lennons, fame, friendship, the FBI and the Lost Weekend – by Elliot Mintz.

    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/0857506072 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.

    44 min
  5. How Goth took over, farewell Phil Lesh and the curse of teenage stardom

    28 OCT

    How Goth took over, farewell Phil Lesh and the curse of teenage stardom

    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=MP4gy0TBDfU 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.

    52 min

About

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. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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