The Stones’ clothes, our love affair with Abba & rock’s most appalling spectacle

We lobbed the cracked wooden ball of enquiry at the rock and roll coconut shy this week and a few choice items dropped off their perch, among them … … was Kate Bush ‘the Queen of Prog’? … ELP, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple playing to 350,000 people on a Speedway track. … the three things that sparked the Abba revival. … the Further Adventures of Desmond and Molly Jones, Mean Mr Mustard, Polythene Pam, Father McKenzie, Rocky Raccoon, Maxwell Edison, Rose and Valerie, Sweet Loretta Martin, Vera, Chuck and Dave … Beatles characters awaiting development deals. … was Britpop the moment the engine went into reverse? … the two years went rock went ‘fancy dress’. … why the Stones in 1964 were five walking fashion statements. … Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel and its Yes connection. … how the Beatles were in uniform on every album cover. … David Vine at the 1974 Eurovision: “if all the judges were men, this lot would get a lot of votes and you’ll see why in a moment!” … plus a birthday guest party - Al Hearton’s life in a Kate Bush tribute band and Stephen Lambe on the complicated birth of 90125 by Yes. Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.