Free Daily Podcast Summary
Word In Your Ear: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold
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,
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- Today48 min
Kate Mossman has strong feelings about rock stars past their prime
Kate’s an old pal of ours from Word magazine who writes scintillating columns and profiles for the New Statesman and Observer. We loved her book ‘Men Of A Certain Age: My Encounters With Rock Royalty’ – just out in paperback! – where she relives her meetings with a variety of legends, eccentrics and old lags whose music she finds particularly compelling and wonders what they all have in common. This typically funny and colourful conversation stops off at … … the attractive fallibility of rock stars past their peak … a lifetime’s devotion to Paul Simon … “Olivia Dean is the Carole King of her generation” … the ridiculous expectations we heap on musicians’ creativity … why Arts Criticism is under threat … when the first record you buy (aged five) is the Chicken Song … “One-Hit Wonders have achieved infinitely more than most of us” … Ray Davies and his “eternal sense of apartness” … why George Michael is under-appreciated and the time he found someone living under his floorboards … the days when Jeff Beck modelled PVC jackets for Rave … the genius of Pat Metheny’s Orchestrion … and the new acts who’ll still be huge in ten years’ time. Order copies of ‘Men Of A Certain Age’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Men-Certain-Age-Encounters-Royalty/dp/1788705645Help 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.
- Yesterday52 min
Pop stars’ weddings and why Noel Gallagher’s right about World Cup music
Amid much parping of vuvuzelas, the week’s news stories sprint onto the pitch. And these make it to the quarter-finals … … Dua Lipa’s mega-wedding and its echoes of Mick & Bianca … when did publicity turn into “perpetual planetary attention”? … Chris Martin “curating” the World Cup Final half-time show … if you can’t stand the noise, move out of Soho! … watching Rufus Wainwright do Judy Garland … when Madonna was troubled by helicopters … JBs’s Dudley, Mr Pickwicks, the Band On The Wall: who imagined old rock venues would be celebrated by the V&A? … “Keep music away from sport!” … is Taylor Swift really getting married in Madison Square Garden? … and the Nation Blue, the Green Falcons, the Golden Lilies: starry-eyed indie act or World Cup team nickname?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.
- 4 days ago51 min
Dave Balfe remembers the Teardrops, Blur and a very big house in the country
Dave Balfe was a key player in late ‘70s Liverpool, joined Big In Japan and the Teardrop Explodes, co-founded Zoo Records and, later, Food who signed and launched Blur. It’s fascinating to hear how he’s adapted to promoting music now with his new band Late Transmissions. We talk to him here about the landmarks moments that mapped out his life, among them … … growing up in the Wirral and its patchouli-scented record shops … seeing Wings and Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust tour in Liverpool … how it felt to be immortalised in Blur’s Country House … what he learnt making AI pop videos … when your teenage band “goes punk” … breaking and entering Rumbelows in pursuit of a synthesiser … the curious link between Blur and JD Salinger in the days “they were all Kurt Weill and discordant” … the Runaways at Erics – “I wasn’t entirely there for the music” … Big In Japan with Bill Drummond, Budgie, Ian Brodie and Jayne Casey .. is AI like the arrival of synthesisers: “this is not proper music?” … “the old gag, innovation is not pastiching bands that have already been pastiched” … and Mark’s interview with him 47 years ago. Lightning Never Strikes Twice video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhV02AcvQQ0The Heart Wants What It Wants video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGvEWvS1ekkI’m Done With London video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmUnP4b4GjQ Order the Late Transmissions album here: https://musicsaves.co.uk/product/theheartwantswhatitwants/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.
- 5 days ago37 min
Star Ratings - do we love/hate/need them? Five-star debate here! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Star Ratings are now ubiquitous and inescapable and it’s not just music, films and books. Everything we encounter tends to be rated which colours our judgement before we try it. Choice can be paralyzing but do we read anymore or just count? Benji Wilson’s ‘Rate This Book: How Star Ratings Took Over the World’ traces their origin – back to 350 BC! – paints a picture of modern life and wonders here where we’re heading, along with … … Aristotle’s 2,500 year-old system of star-rated animals … how Michelin cooked up starred restaurants to get you to wear out your tyres … can we spot fake reviews and the people who sell them? … do we only tend to read one- and five-star reviews? And why writers hate the system … the ingenious deceit of the Krays movie poster … the value of reviews in a world where time and tickets costs are escalating … “Star Ratings are the democratisation of criticism, the least-worst method” … why a 2016 episode of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror now seems prophetic … the “hidden hands” that manipulate the ratings system … and mass Amazon ratings and the power of Mob Rule. Order copies of ‘Rate This Book’ here: https://linktr.ee/newmodern_books#560826579 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rate-This-Book-Ratings-World/dp/1917923651?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLEHelp 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.
- 1 weeks ago29 min
Brian Epstein & the Beatles - what he did and what he hid
Philip Norman has written books about the Beatles – and John, Paul and George - and now turns the spotlight on the man who launched them and the extreme personal and professional obstacles in the dramatic path of his short life, the man who built a shield around them but couldn't protect himself. We talk to him here about ‘Mr Moonlight: Brian Epstein and the Making of the Beatles’ with particular attention to … … how he changed Britain’s image and was mortified to get no recognition for it … the Beatle whose demands he was always fastest to execute … the level of homophobia and anti-Semitism he had to absorb … his reckless pursuits in the days when homosexuality could mean life imprisonment … contract killers, blackmail, rigged roulette wheels and why the Krays said “it wasn’t us” when they heard he’d died … the way he fashioned his own myth and airbrushed others who’d helped the Beatles succeed … why McCartney’s 21st birthday party could have ended the band … his genius (and fraudulence) as a salesman … the double catastrophe of Brian’s US merchandising deal … John, Aunt Mimi and “a story about the British class system” … and the chaperone on George and Pattie’s first date. Order copies of ‘Mr Moonlight’ here: https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Mr-Moonlight/Philip-Norman/9781398542266Help 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.
- 1 weeks ago48 min
Are we nearing Beatles Overload? plus the rock star with the most children (41!)
When the pedalo of perusal cruised the lagoon of news this week, it paused to inspect the following ... … the particular magic of the late-night DJ … a Get Well card to dear Bob Harris … is Global Beatles Day a bridge too far? … the exquisite Britishness of the Manics, the Fall and the Small Faces … Cyprus Avenue, Soho, Asbury Park … the best places to visit to help you understand an artist who lived there … how T.Rex and Roxy Music were “too fancy” for America … Jagger, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Johann Sebastian Bach? Musicians with the most children … All You Need Is Love – work of genius or “ropey old doggerel”? Plus birthday guest Paul Thompson, Foghat and watching the One World global-cast on a black and white telly.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.
- 1 weeks ago42 min
The glorious story of Funk from James Brown to Off The Wall
Old friend of the podcast Lloyd Bradley wrote Bass Culture, the defining account of reggae, and he’s now turned his attention to funk, from its deepest roots and via the jazz, arts, TV, radio and pop culture that flavoured it. The main 10-year focus of ‘Funk Has Its Own Reward’ is from James Brown’s ‘Say It Loud - I’m Black and I’m Proud’ to Michael Jackson’s ‘Off The Wall’ but free your mind and all this will follow! … … the importance of radio being “colourblind” … Cab Calloway’s Jive Dictionary and the impact of DJs Martha Jean ‘the Queen’ Steinberg and Daddy-O Daylie … how James Brown floor-tested his records and saved a fortune making them … funk’s deep roots in America’s marching bands … why jazz is funk’s closest relative and what it stole from white rock … how the Family Stone’s Larry Graham made bass the place … how solo singers gave way to the ‘funk gangs’ … how Richard Pryor gave mainstream America a window on a whole new world. … the influence of Soul Train and Sesame Street (19-year-old Nile Rodgers on guitar!) in bringing funk to the masses … George Clinton – “I can’t dance, can’t play, people tell me I can’t sing … but without me none of this would have happened!” … plus the Chambers Brothers, Herbie Hancock, Funkadelic, Bootsy, Quincy Jones, Parliament and the greatest funk record ever made. Order copies of ‘Funk Is Its Own Reward’ here: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/lloyd-bradley-2/funk-is-its-own-reward/9781472123411/Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourearHelp 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.
- 2 weeks ago32 min
Leo Sayer has met everyone – rock legends, sport superstars, future presidents …
Leo Sayer burst onto national telly in 1973 dressed as a Pierrot with the Show Must Go On launching a 50-year career in colourful company – songwriters, boxing legends, swindling managers, scurrilous socialites – and learning a great deal in the process. “Don’t underestimate the idiots!” is the hard-won advice. He’s touring in October and joins us here from Australia to look back at … … how he and Linda Ronstadt escaped from Trump’s gruesome penthouse … walking through Memphis dressed as a clown … seeing Lonnie Donegan invent skiffle, Dylan at the Albert Hall and Bob Marley at the Lyceum from the side of the stage … when Paul Kossoff asked him to audition for Free … designing record sleeves for Marley, Roger Daltrey, Humble Pie and Quintessence … “I’m the Forrest Gump of the music industry – nearly there!” … “working with Adam Faith was like having Marlon Brando as your acting coach” … the advice Paul McCartney gave him in 1973 … “Do you mind if I vomit in your shoe?” … and a week in a training camp with Muhammad Ali. Order Leo Sayer tickets here: https://tix.to/LeoLive26 Order the ‘Leothology’ box-set here: https://www.roughtrade.com/product/leo-sayer/leothology-the-studio-albums-1973-nowHelp us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourearHelp 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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About 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,
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