Word In Your Ear

Ron Sexsmith starts a UK tour at the end of April and talks about what he’s learnt about live performance, which includes:- … “notes from girls” after winning the High School Variety Show. … playing for drunks in his local bar when he was underage and being hidden when the police arrived.  … Elton John at the Rich Stadium in Buffalo (and being a member of the Fan Club). … his first performance, singing ‘Ben’ by Michael Jackson. … the influential low-key stagecraft of Gordon Lightfoot and Leonard Cohen, “people who just stood there”. … the rigours of long tours. … being “on Cloud Nine for a year” after seeing the Who. … and watching Cat Stevens from the best seat in the house.   All details about Ron’s upcoming tour here …https://ronsexsmith.com/tours/ @RonSexsmith https://ronsexsmith.com/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon and receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, alongside a whole host of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

Joel worked for various labels - Mushroom, Atlantic and Sony among them - and was the man who signed the Darkness. Training to become a psychotherapist, he began trading in rare records, travelling all over the country to buy collections and, during Lockdown, starting a special “mystery vinyl” service where he’d send people albums he thought they’d like based on their musical taste.   He talks here in fascinating detail about what an emotionally charged world this is, seeing people’s entire life stories mapped out in records, becoming a “temporary custodian” of their past, learning about whole new areas of music and obscure genres that suddenly come into vogue and every aspect of what makes a record valuable. And the thrill of finding the odd “holy grail” (Vashti Bunyan’s Just Another Diamond Day, rare Bowie first pressings etc), a process that involves “kissing an awful lot of frogs”. He even pulled out an album by a band neither of us knew, the 1970 psych-folk act Justine. Also featured – buying Roger St. Pierre’s record collection, the magic “fallibility” of vinyl (eg personal messages on sleeves) and the Greatest Record Ever Made! Brighter Day Vinyl runs a weekly Flick-Through Thursday - at the same time Top Of The Pops used to be on! - where you can get to see what’s currently on offer and you’ll find all details about Joel’s shop, its collection and what he buys and sells here …   https://linktr.ee/brighterdayvinyl @BrighterdayvnlSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, alongside a whole lot more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

Peter Asher started out as a child actor in films with John Mills, Alastair Sim and Boris Karloff. He was in the Adventures of Robin Hood with his sister Jane but they were eventually “demoted to peasant children”. He then formed Peter & Gordon, had a global number one with A World Without Love (written by his sister’s boyfriend who was living in the family home) and then began a career in production and management that’s still thriving today. This is full of wonderful stories and features … … playing the London club circuit in 1964. … Paul McCartney adding the missing bridge to A World Without Love in eight minutes – “I have the handwritten lyrics and chords in a fireproof safe in case I ever need to run to Sotheby’s and Paul can save the day again!”). … assembling the band for a Paul Jones session – Nicky Hopkins piano, Jeff Beck guitar, Paul Samwell-Smith bass, McCartney drums).  … appalling ‘60s royalty rates. … life as head of A&R at Apple where people sent “100 pages of certifiably mental lyrics in the hope that John Lennon might put them to music”. … signing and producing James Taylor and the album that changed the music business. And Taylor supporting the Who on US tours. … the secret of being a great manager.... Linda Ronstadt singing barefoot at the Bottom End.  … Apple recording artist Brute Force and his non-chart-troubling single The King Of Fuh. … the other role model for Austin Powers. … and why music today is just as good as the past.  David Jacks' memoir, Peter Asher: A Life In Music …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Peter-Asher-Music-David-Jacks/dp/1493061216Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon to receive every future Word Podcast before the rest of the world, and ad-free!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear