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Word In Your Ear
Obsessive fans, Dylan’s reading list and how Taylor Swift tickets are the new codeword for wealth
Applying our patent wheat-chaff separator to recent rock and roll events, we filter out the following …
… “They’ve got the guns but we got the numbers”: whatever happened to political songs?
… the life of Libby Titus and the afterlife of Love Has No Pride.
… when gigs become stalking with a musical component.
… how Taylor Swift Tickets became the new currency.
… the most disappointing album of all time (we know the answer).
… who’s the Zeppo Marx of rock and roll?
… the old music/football analogy revisited.
… when fans think they own a band.
… the New York Rock And Soul Revue that revived Steely Dan.
… has any American star beguiled Britain more than Taylor Swift?
… when Lennon failed to swing the vote.
… does anyone convey loneliness better than Bonnie Raitt?
… our own personal rock and roll fantasies – eg Dr John recycling and Bob Dylan in his Star Wars jim-jams.
… plus birthday guest Phil Turner - Bill Berry, Gene Clarke, Vince Clarke and the irreplaceable magic ingredient of one band member.
ROLLING STONE’S MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUMS OF ALL TIME:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/most-disappointing-albums-ever-1235111528/
Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear
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706. The Beatles ’64 movie - one of us loves it, the other doesn’t. Plus Rod’s tweets & Trump’s guitars
49:24||Ep. 706Reversing into tomorrow! This week’s news events given a vigorous once-over include … … what will a Trump guitar be worth in 30 years’ time? … the average age of a Glastonbury goer and how it sells its TV coverage. … “the Beatles in America was like Cortez arriving in South America, the clash of two civilizations. How did this film manage to balls the story up so catastrophically?” … Leonard Bernstein’s daughter’s dreams about George Harrison and the Fabs v the all-American alpha male. … who should be next for a rock and roll blue plaque? … the Beatles’ Ed Sullivan support act who became almost as famous as they did. … why Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater is the most-streamed ‘60s track. … Hendrix and the Isley brothers’ night in watching telly. … and Rod Stewart’s genius for generating publicity. Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear705. How R.E.M. changed the game and why there’ll never be another band like them
36:26||Ep. 705R.E.M. considered themselves missionaries against the prevailing pop culture – no solos, no old-school stagecraft, no printed lyrics, no lip-syncing, no hard-sell videos, no obvious leader – and mapped out a whole new route to international success. Peter Ames Carlin, whose books include biographies of Springsteen, Brian Wilson and Paul Simon, talks to us here about ‘The Name of this Band is R.E.M.’, what they pioneered and how it rearranged the rock and roll furniture. Which involves … … why their Letterman Show was a statement of intent. … “rather than bending to the mainstream, they did what they wanted ‘til the mainstream bent to them.” … where you can see “the R.E.M. model” - from Sleater-Kinney to Taylor Swift. … when ‘Mike Stipe’ became Michael. … Stipe’s first TV appearance, dressed as Frank-N-Furter at a Rocky Horror Show screening. … why rock critics connected with them. … the strategies they share with U2, Radiohead and Coldplay. … “Springsteen = Elvis + Dylan”. … what was in the water in Athens, Georgia, that produced such unconventionalacts - R.E.M., the B-52’s, Pylon, Love Tractor. … their ‘straight’ but supportive parents – Stipe’s dad in the military, Mills’ dad a marine helicopter pilot. … how R.E.M. “channelled popular culture”. … their pioneering approach to record deals, royalties, videos, mixing and song-writing. … and which of them most wants a reunion. Order ‘The Name Of This Band Is R.E.M.’ here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Name-This-Band-M-Biography/dp/0385546947Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear704. Fairport, Nick Drake, Traffic and why Island Records was a sumptuous visual delight
33:02||Ep. 704Neil Storey worked in the Island press office in the ‘70s and ‘80s and has set out on mammoth undertaking, to compile a series of gorgeous, album-sleeve-sized books telling the story of virtually every record the label released in its pioneering history and talking to all involved - musicians, producers, designers, photographers, label staff – and collecting old music press ads and ephemera from the time. This latest edition, ‘the Island Book Of Records 1969-1970’, has transported us back to our teenage selves when albums by Fairport, Nick Drake, Jethro Tull, Free, King Crimson etc were unmissable. We talked to Neil at his home in France which happily involved … … the extraordinary story of the Unhalfbricking album shoot. … when album sleeves were assembled by hand. … how Island pioneered the ‘underground’ aesthetic and the cheap sampler album. … the mystery of Ian Anderson’s 11 fingers. … the “worst sleeve” in the label’s history (which involved a trip to the butchers). .. the day the Island roster met in Hyde Park at six in the morning. ... the curious marketing of Nick Drake – “who doesn’t have a telephone and will disappear for four days at a time”. … and Roxy Music, Sparks, Head Hands & Feet and what else to expect in Volume 3. Order the Island Book Of Records Volume 2 here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Book-Records-II-1969-70/dp/1526182246Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear703. Danny Baker - the panjandrum of unstoppable anecdote with a taste of his upcoming tour
50:55||Ep. 703Danny Baker, the act you’ve known for all these years, is kicking his legs up again in 2025 on a thundering new theatre tour, ‘Aye Aye! Ahoy Hoy!’ “Dead men tell no tales,” he points out, “so we might might as well get ‘em all told now.” This will be another barnstorming one-man circus - as, naturally, is this barrelling conversation with the two of us which collides with the following … … being shot, Welsh cake, an olive green Humber, goldfish, when videos were the size of a loaf of bread, why half his Maidstone audience got up and left, stolen gear being hustled over Waterloo Bridge, bad things done by Rod Stewart and Britt Ekland, ELP, the Average White Band, Max Miller, Kenneth Williams’ loathing for Michael Aspel, when records become like furniture, getting £4k for a Ziggy Stardust white label, why he doesn’t miss the 14,000 albums he sold, and the record that came out the same day as Sgt Pepper and Bowie’s first album but is better than both. The podcast includes an extract from Ronnie Barker’s “A Pint Of Old And Filthy” and Terry Thomas reading PG Wodehouse. Order tickets for Danny’s 2025 tour here:https://www.dannybakerstore.com/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear702. The Band Aid recording, the birth of the tape loop and the power of the movie theme tune
57:57||Ep. 702This week’s events piled into a pipe and enthusiastically smoked include … … our memories of being at the Band Aid recording in Sarm studios, November 25 1984. … why it was the last dance of the mass media and why nothing could have the same impact now. … the “household name” that made all the difference. … the real reason Bob Geldof could be involved. … James Bond, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, the Spaghetti Westerns … how music is the real DNA of film franchises, the fingerprint that connects you with the original. … why should a teenager know what a radio is? … “Live vivid! Delete ordinary! Break moulds! Copy nothing!” The tortuous rebranding of Jaguar. … what the BBC spends 95 per cent of its time doing. … how Bee Gees’ drummer Dennis Byron unwittingly invented the tape loop. … the appeal of inconvenient technology. … David’s second Deep ‘70s compilation, “a dream fulfilment” – Americana, Skinny Tie music, cover versions, the outer limits of Island Records. … plus birthday guest Mike Sketch on discovering music late in life (Dylan, Tom Waits etc). David’s ‘More Deep 70s’ 4-CD compilation is available for pre-order now:https://www.amazon.co.uk/David-Hepworths-More-Deep-Misunderstood/dp/B0DCGGQDNKFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear701. How Toyah & Robert’s kitchen show became an Xmas rock’n’roll ding-dong
24:09||Ep. 701One of our rays of sunshine in the dark days of Lockdown was Toyah and Robert’s Sunday Lunch, fizzing clips of the two of them in their Dorset kitchen, him playing off-brand rock and roll, her singing in extravagant finery, occasionally on an exercise bike. Their version of Metallica’s Enter Sandman got 8.6m views alone. One time they were dressed as bees, another re-staging Swan Lake wearing tutus. This has now flowered into an all-the-trimmings Christmas show with a full rock band touring in December. They look back here at how it started and where it’s ended up, which includes … … the teenage Fripp doing the twist at the Cellar Club, Poole. … Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood’s reaction when Robert booed him on set. … when the “elite newspapers” declared their kitchen shows were “genius”. … where their two different audiences meet. … plans for an upcoming Fripp memoir and his 1981 King Crimson diary. … things you find in old boxes in the attic. … how the grumpier end of King Crimson’s supporters regard the “other Robert Fripp”. … what Tony Iommi and Robert Plant thought of their lockdown clips. … and what you can expect from their Christmas Party show – which involves Bowie, Blondie, Neil Young, Slade, Metallica and an inflatable penguin. Toyah and Robert’s Christmas Party tickets here:https://toyahwillcox.com/gigs/700. John Lydon on the genius of Frankie Howerd, Tommy Cooper and the fine art of Spoken Word
37:16||Ep. 700John Lydon is among us in 2025 - with Public Image in May and on his Spoken Word tour in September. Entertainment is guaranteed, as it is in this podcast with Mark where he considers … Norman Wisdom, Frankie Howerd, Tommy Cooper and the “sadness in all comedians”, stage fright, the day his dad threw him out of the house, why PiL is like opera, Ray Davies, Bryan Ferry, the “crippled emotions” of youth, why people open their hearts to him, the ghost of Johnny Rotten in Gladiator 11, the lost world of conversation in pubs, and missing his wife, best friend Rambo and Sid Vicious. Order tickets for his spoken word tour here:https://www.johnlydon.com/tour-dates/PiL tickets here:https://www.ticketmaster.com/public-image-limited-tickets/artist/241Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear699. The poshest pop star ever, music in Xmas ads and song lyrics we can still recite
42:34||Ep. 699In which we feed the week’s events through our heat-seeking Fun-Filter®️ to see what makes the bell ring. Which includes … … Richard Ashcroft in the new John Lewis Christmas ad. … U2 v Coldplay, the Beatles v Pink Floyd – rock bands and the “diploma divide”. … why can we still recite entire song lyrics we learnt when teenagers but can’t remember the shopping list we wrote this morning? … “they couldn’t find their backside with the flashlight”. … the new form of tribute group: the Fall, Thin Lizzy and Talk Talk and the bands made up of ex-members who are recording their ‘new music’. … Elvis, Noel Coward, Churchill, Dylan, Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine, Bowie, the Stones, Frank Sinatra … who should Craig Brown write about next? … the very few people more famous than Paul McCartney. … our search for the poshest pop star. … Beatles fans v the National Anthem. … is this the only podcast on God’s green earth to mention the Wars Of Spanish Succession? … and birthday guest Giles Fraser on Phil Manzanera, Neil Tennant, Clare Grogan, Midge Ure and other musicians with fabulous speaking voices.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear698. Robert Hilburn on the lifetime achievement of Randy Newman
30:21||Ep. 698He’s written some of the darkest entries in the American songbook but became world famous with a sunny celebration of friendship on the soundtrack of “Toy Story”. Inbetween can be found a staggering range of songs dealing with everything from short people to Vladimir Putin, from performing bears to the Louisiana Flood., from ELO to the Great Nations Of Europe, all of which show up in this authoritative new biography from Robert Hilburn, for years the rock writer of the Los Angeles Times. Topics touched on in his chat with David Hepworth: … when you called your book “A Few Words In Defense Of Our Country”, did you know it was coming out in Election week? … why Robert’s review of Elton John at the Troubadour in 1970 transformed the life of one piano player from Pinner while his review of Randy in the same same venue in the same year didn’t have the same effect on this local hero. … how Randy finds his inspiration by sitting in front of the TV with a big stack of hardback books. … what his famous uncles taught him and how he has spent a lifetime trying to follow their lead. … how he got his first break from Cilla Black, Alan Price and the British chart, … what he said when he finally got as Oscar after years of nominations. … why he can write quickly when commissioned but moves agonisingly slowly when relying on inspiration. … why he’s the only biographical subject to insist his children are interviewed. … what he thinks of Donald Trump.Order Robert’s book here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Few-Words-Defense-Our-Country/dp/1408720361Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear