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 Hi...
What Kate Mossman discovered about rock’s elder statesmen
Kate’s an old pal from our days at Word magazine. She was on the staff for six years before heading off to the New Statesman and has just put out a collection of the sizzling and revelatory profiles she wrote for us, them and the Observer about a particular sector of the musical landscape for whom she’s always carried a torch. As she wonders in ‘Men Of A Certain Age: My Encounters with Rock Royalty’, “how is it that in the presence of wrinkly rock stars twice my age I sometimes think I’m meeting … me?” This tremendous exchange is full of hard-won insight about the mind-set of musicians and stops off at the following … … the fascinating appeal of rock stars’ vulnerability, giant egos, oddness and obsessions – “they’re often frozen at the emotional age they became famous”. … growing up with Britpop, the decade when “teenagers weren’t allowed to like anything”. … things women notice and men often miss: the difference between male and female journalists. … being driven down a mountain by Kevin Ayers after he’d drunk a pint of Pernod. … why she’s so drawn to the critically unfashionable acts like Bruce Hornsby, Kiss and Terence Trent D’Arby. … what she learnt from interviewing Joni Mitchell’s old boyfriend Cary Raditz. … why the best route to understanding any rock star is via their parents. … her obsession with “the shamefully unfashionable” Queen, aged 11, and the appeal of these self-styled “fun ambassadors” against the grating irony of the ‘90s. … the “charming yet awful” Paul O’Neill of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra handing out $50,000 bundles of cash to the homeless. … why musicians are more interesting when they’ve peaked. … “the cartoon characters” of Shaun Ryder and John Lydon. … “the only people at Jeff Beck’s interment were his wife and Johnny Depp”. … and being refused an interview by Janelle Monae for not being sufficiently “queer or black”. Order ‘Men Of A Certain Age’ here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Men-Certain-Age-Encounters-Royalty/dp/1788705645 Tickets for Kate’s launch event on April 3:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/men-of-a-certain-age-kate-mossman-with-alexis-petridis-tickets-1270535970289Find 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.
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How John Harris and his son found a life-changing connection through music
John Harris is an old pal from our days in the music press. You might remember him from Sounds, the NME and Select (which he edited) and he’s been one of the mainstays of the Guardian ever since, writing mostly about pop culture and politics. When his son James was diagnosed with autism and, looking for ways to connect with him and help his development, John began playing him various types of music. The results were life-changing for the family and recorded in his moving and revelatory book ‘Maybe I’m Amazed - A Story Of Love And Connection In 10 Songs’. With autism, John points out, “you can see the trees but seeing the wood is harder”. This fascinating conversation involves … … have we misread the eccentricities of John Coltrane or Van Morrison, Prince, David Byrne and Gary Numan? … how many musicians are outsiders in an industry requiring them to be the opposite of what they feel capable of. … how people with autism hear songs differently each time and “music is an endlessly replenishable source of wonder”. … why so many lead guitarists are loners. .. how James has perfect pitch and hears everything – birdsong, lawn-mowers, police sirens – as notes. And how music taught him to sight-read. … vivid, unforgettable, emotional recollections of the moment you first heard records – in John’s case Sir Duke, Baker Street, Strange Town. … “blokes in black denim jackets drinking Becks”: the allure of working for the West End rock press. … “all records are novelty records when you’re young”. … how 50-year-olds marvel at Spotify and 20-year-olds at vinyl. … the artistic rise and fall of Britpop. Order John’s highly recommended book ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maybe-Im-Amazed-Story-Connection-ebook/dp/B0D6B7H5NYFind 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.
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Mike Rutherford looks back at 60 years onstage and the art of cheap rock theatre
This one starts with memories of Genesis at Farnborough Tech in 1972 – Batwings? Fox heads? - looks back at school bands and the early ‘70s and ends with the current Mike & the Mechanics tour. But it mostly centres on the first live shows Mike Rutherford ever saw and played which features … … his mum making him wash the Brylcreem from his hair before seeing Cliff & the Shadows when he was 17. … buying an electric guitar before you realised it needed an amplifier. … playing the same theatres he played with Genesis when he was 19. … Cream at the Marquee Club - “the volume was like an atom bomb!” … supporting Mott the Hoople at Farx in Southall, “the moment I felt we were getting somewhere”. … the contract for their £7 fee he still has for Genesis on the Eel Pie Island, “like ancient fading parchment”. … the non-competitive days of Yes, King Crimson, Rare Bird and the rock underground when there was room for everyone. … making an album in three days with Jonathan King in Regent Sound (where the Stones recorded). … Peter Gabriel developing his on-stage theatre because no-one could hear the words. … ‘Man up!’ Note to self after breaking a hip skiing with his grandchildren. Mike & the Mechanics tour dates and tickets:https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/mike-the-mechanics-tickets/artist/1673635 Pre-order Looking Back: Living The Years here:https://found.ee/MikeATM_LBLTYFind 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.
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Mike Scott of the Waterboys remembers the shows that inspired him
The Waterboys’ new album comes with the magnificent title ‘Life, Death & Dennis Hopper’ and the band start touring in May. Mike Scott looks back here at the first gigs he ever saw and played and the performers he watched closely, which involves … the Stones “when they were still dangerous” and the connective genius of Mick Jagger, Dennis Hopper’s lost decade, Nazareth and Emerson Lake & Palmer at the Glasgow Apollo, a love affair with microphones, how not to look at the audience, the days when he wrote songs called ‘Freefall’, Joe Strummer singing on his back and McCartney’s crowd going “totally buck-mental”. Order Waterboys tickets here:https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/the-waterboys-tickets/artist/888869 Order the new Waterboys’ album ‘Life, Death & Dennis Hopper’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Death-Dennis-Hopper-Waterboys/dp/B0DQSK48PCFind 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.
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The lost world of teenage love songs – and the best pop song ever written!
In eager pursuit of dance and merriment, we dust down the current events. Which this week involves …. … are teenagers no longer in love? And what does this mean for pop music? … are people better musicians now than 40 years ago? And is that because you can get online tutorials explaining how to play everything? … Paul McCartney taking two buses across Liverpool just to learn the chord of B7. … how the best pop songs start with someone walking into a room. … Ghana! India! New Zealand! The Caribbean! The King’s Spotify Playlist, a carefully chiselled love letter to the Commonwealth. … do couples still have “Our Tune”? And do they still request songs for each other on radio shows? … Neil Tennant’s memories of pre-Putin Russia – “we swept into Moscow in Gorbachev’s limousine”. … Thunder Road, And Then He Kissed Me, Wouldn’t It Be Nice and other magical songs about dating. … Amanda Seyfried does Joni Mitchell! … the best pop song ever written - and we know the answer! Plus birthday guest David Messer and two great Lou Reed live albums (“he heckles the hecklers!”). David and Mark’s One-Man Show in Wareham on April 4: https://loveitlocalmagazine.co.uk/events/one-man-show/ Neil Tennant’s piece about pre-Putin Russia: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/mar/12/neil-tennant-pet-shop-boys-russia-putin-gay-club-mtvHelp us to find out more about how 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.
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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