Word In Your Ear

Teenage Fanclub are touring the UK in November. Norman tells us here about some of the first and best shows he’s seen and played and life in the group's early days. Which involves … … the band that made him want to start a band. … the Wombles at a YMCA when he was 12. … selling a fridge and a washing machine to buy recording time. … the bouncing balcony of the Glasgow Apollo when the Clash played in ‘78. … having a wee next to Steve Cropper. … the age at which audiences “appreciate having a seat”. … busking etiquette.   ... his mum taking him to see the Kinks and Tom Jones.   … serving John Martyn at McCormack’s Music Shop – “Thanks, wee man!" … a sweet story about a trombone, Terry Hall and the Specials. … Neil Young with Booker T & the MGs. … the fine art of “sprinkling” new material in a set list. … watching the Smiths play the greatest show he’s ever seen, “the stage strewn with flowers”. Dates and tickets here … https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/teenage-fanclub-tickets/artist/736268Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every Word Podcast early and ad-free!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

Whistling, clicking our heels, swinging round lampposts and lobbing the odd shiny florin to a flaxen-haired child, this week’s free-wheeling navigation of the rock and roll boulevard alights upon the following hot topics … … why Indie music is like student drama. … what the Beatles achieved in “the 585 most productive minutes in the history of recorded music" (aka the recording of Please Please Me) and the albums released the same day every decade after.  … Death & Vanilla, Frightened Rabbit and – to deafening applause – the welcome return of the Stackwaddy game. … albums performed as ‘plays’ (by musicians who didn’t make them). A band featuring Clem Burke and Glen Matlock has just toured playing Lust For Life in its entirety. What others would work as well? The Band’s second album? Liege & Lief? The Ramones? Hot Rats? … unappetising song titles. … what Bob Dylan did so “my mother would finally think I'm somebody”. And how his Mum reacted to his success.   … and why bands end sets with Country Roads, Mustang Sally and Twist And Shout.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early and ad-free access to every future Word Podcast!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

Sauntering in carefree, conversational mode down the rock and roll bridleway this week, pausing briefly to lean against a tree and tootle upon a mouth-organ, we came across the following … … bands with no original members left - Lynyrd Skynyrd, Motorhead, the Crickets, the Ramones, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Drifters … any more? … things musicians are obsessed with. … albums by acts we love without a single redeeming feature – Blondie’s The Hunter? Bob Dylan’s Saved? The Dead’s Built To Last? It’s Hard by The Who? … the night – exactly 20 years ago – we saw the Dixie Chicks make their career-capsizing comment about George Bush. … the hilarious left-right shift in Russell Brand’s brand values.   … the main reason some people go to Glastonbury. … can you love an act as much if you don’t own their records or CDs and just stream them? … a Northern Soul DJ’s £250,000 box of singles being stolen from his home after a gig. … and Mr Inbetween, the Australian crime drama that’s like Saxondale meets Reservoir Dogs.Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/yourear to get up a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!----Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast early, and ad-free!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear