Word In Your Ear

Mari Wilson has drunk deep of all that London nightlife has to offer, from a London Transport social club in Wembley to a posh venue in Chelsea via the Cooks Ferry Inn in Edmonton, and she remembers it well. Here she marks the release of her new album “Girl About Town” by talking about:•⁠ ⁠making bacon sandwiches for Mott The Hoople•⁠ ⁠entertaining her dad’s mates with her Alma Cogan impression•⁠ ⁠Half of Scotland coming to stay for the Home Internationals•⁠ ⁠touring in a Commer van•⁠ ⁠taking her “Klute” hairstyle to watch Stray and the Pink Fairies•⁠ ⁠playing Dusty Springfield on the musical stage•⁠ ⁠audiences who want to get home in time for Antiques Road Show•⁠ ⁠bringing it all back home to the Cadogan Hall, Chelsea, on October 4th:⁠ ⁠https://cadoganhall.com/whats-on/mari-wilson-girl-about-town/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.

Another over-heated week put through the conversational air-conditioner, which involves … … the man who got rich writing words that could never be sung … Anna Bullock? Stefani Germanotta? People who’d never have made it if they hadn’t changed their names … and the best stage name ever! … Marco Pirroni’s jukebox … when the Rock'n’Roll rulebook declared ‘Thou Shalt Not Dance!’ … how David Dundas made a fortune from just four notes … Ringo, Dylan, Hank Marvin, Bill Wyman and the magic of cowboy culture … who lost out on ‘It’s Only Rock’n’Roll’ and ‘Jessica’? … and the biggest star of the 20th Century and how he got his name Plus the Bingville Bugle and birthday guest Gianluca Tramontana looks back at when dance music came in for a kicking.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.

Marco Pirroni’s moment in the sun was big, lucrative but incredibly short. It was under a year from Adam & the Ants’ first hit to their last and immediate break-up. Adam, he remembers, was the perfect writing partner – driven, intensely competitive and with “a pathological fear of only being Number 2”. He’s got no regrets, hasn’t had to do day’s work since, and looks back here at …… being the first band writing songs for the video age… “you can’t confuse fans buying records with love, it’s nothing personal”… Telstar, Fireball XL5, Roxy Music and the “moon-stomping hits of Slade”… playing covers of songs they didn’t like with Siouxsie at the 100 Club: “punk rock and my part in its downfall”… Adam’s “Shakespearian tirade” at the legal meeting with Rolf Harris when he sued over Prince Charming and War Canoe… Malcolm McLaren’s jukebox: the Flamin’ Groovies, Alice Cooper, the Troggs, “songs that weren’t very good”… “we stopped being a punk band or a pop band or a glam band – or any sort of band at all”… never tour America when you don’t have a bank account.Order ‘Your Money Or Your Life’ here: https://tr.ee/P2_qxNZ6jCHelp 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.

The Specials have officially disbanded, bowing out with a swansong album recorded in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral in 2019. Horace Panter looks back at the first shows they played - when Jim Callaghan was still PM! - and the rigours of mastering ska when some of the group thought it was “old man’s music”. Along with … … the dignified way for any band to retire … the 2-Tone tour of 1979 – “like a school trip with no teachers” … bonding with Terry Hall over comedian Ken Platt: ‘I won't take me coat off, I'm not stoppin'!" … the day Jerry Dammers came to rehearsal with Prince Buster’s Greatest Hits – “for all your rebellious needs!” … the poignancy of playing in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral when you start the set with an air-raid siren … seeing the Faces and Mott the Hoople, “once in my school uniform” … the sensory overload - “The space! The volume!” - of Led Zeppelin at the Albert Hall when you’re 15 and from Kettering … “strange to think few people under 60 have ever seen the Specials” … the bassist he pretended to be when posing in the mirror ... the Bilzen Festival in 1979 “when the chain-link fence was broken down and I came offstage like I was walking on air” … and creating the 2-Tone look with ex-Mod tonic suits Order ‘Live From The Cathedral’ here: https://shop.thespecials.islandrecords.com/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.

As this week’s news hurtles over the net, we sort the aces from the double-faults. The final score …  … Madonna, Shakira, Chris Martin and World Cup 11-minute half-time overload! … how many Stones albums were “the best since Exile On Main Street”? … Kevin Rowland’s heart-breaking songs about Life’s Third Act … 10 good reasons to miss the Nineties … Country & Western is about travelling through the vast geography of America. “Go 200 miles in Britain and you fall off the edge” … Florian Pilkington-Miksa, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond: rock’s real (or invented?) double-barrelled names … how “travel and never arrive” is the new entertainment experience … plus Sly Stone’s Babies Makin’ Babies, the comforting cry of “Gambo’s in the building!” and birthday guest Patrick Butler.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.

We first saw Kevin in ‘77 wearing jodhpurs onstage with his art-punk band the Killjoys! He’s formed a new version of Dexys, made an album, starts a tour in October, and looks back here at central moments in his life, some recent ones so huge and affecting “that I put them to music” and they’ll be performed as a drama in the first half of these upcoming theatre shows. This touches - in vivid detail - on bands that inspired him, repaired relationships, a health crisis, what it took to be a singer in the first place and what’s requires now to put the show back on the road, along with … … memories of music before the Beatles … playing Jim Reeves and Ricky Nelson in a social club band in 1975 “after the bingo” … the touching shift of power in his relationship with his 102 year-old father: “he was like a child again, he needed me” … Roxy Music on Top Of The Pops, “I couldn’t believe you could be avant garde AND commercial” … life on the Top Rank circuit supporting the Specials: “you learnt not to play at an audience but play for them”  … making Searching For The Young Soul Rebels in ten days with producer Pete Wingfield dancing in the studio … “Come On Eileen doesn’t belong to me anymore” … the alarming spectacle of an ‘80s Hear & Now package tour and what it taught him .. the song he wrote for his grandchildren (one of whom is 31) … a possibly terminal diagnosis in 2024 and “like Wilko Johnson, the relief I felt” … and the Tim Buckley song he just recorded without knowing who wrote it! Order the new Dexys album ‘Love’ here: https://dexysofficial.lnk.to/love And tour tickets here: https://dexys.tmstor.es/LiveHelp 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.

This week’s penalty shoot-out of news sorts the surefire hits from the over-the-bar misses. That final score again … … what Morrissey’s only gone and done now … when your logo’s worth than your songs … Taylor Swift’s wedding and how Sly Stone got there first … do musicians care about awards?… Divine Comedy, Jonathan Richman, Fountains of Wayne, Zappa: why are ‘humorous’ records so divisive?… happy 200th birthday Stephen Foster, the man who invented the pop song!… and cover versions of his songs you’ll know - Hard Times Come Again No More (Dylan, Springsteen, Emmylou Harris), Beautiful Dreamer (the Beatles), My Old Kentucky Home (Randy Newman), Oh Susannah (James Taylor), Camptown Races and many more … why comic actors are funnier on TV than in films … the delicious melancholy of songs about going home … when did musicians ‘go pro’? Did the Clash or the Faces consider themselves ‘professionals’?… Oasis, New Order, the Hollies, Herman’s Hermits, Corrie, Man City/Man U, the Smiths: why is Manchester Feud Central? … plus Margot, Jerry & the take-away curry, and birthday guest Guy Constant.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.

The blistering heat of 1976 burnt various things onto the memory – standpipes, strikes, Entebbe, ‘Confessions’ movies, Jeremy Thorpe – but most of all the records that became its soundtrack, some of them revolutionary, others begging for extinction. John L Williams captures the moment in ‘Heatwave: the Summer of 1976, Britain at Boiling Point’ and a paints of picture of a country on the brink of a vast pop-cultural shift. We talk to him here about … … violence at gigs and football and on Derek & Clive albums … dumb people pretending to be clever (prog rock) and clever people pretending to be dumb (Ramones) … the rise of Joan Armatrading in the days before ‘identity’ marketing … how ‘funny’ t-shirts were the memes of their day … when Tom Robinson saw the future in Scarborough … “mainstream culture gave you things to both love and hate” ... how Rock Follies featured an imaginary Blitz Club where people danced in military uniforms … Andy Summers (with Kevin Ayers) and Stewart Copeland (Curved Air) on the same bill a year before the Police … why anyone with a Sensational Alex Harvey Band scarf got a wide berth  … Time Out’s headline: "It's the Buzz, Cock!" … Tom Waits, aged 25, unconvincing hobo-hipster … and Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Emmanuelle and the lowest point of the Radio One Roadshow. Order copies of ‘Heatwave’ here: https://tinyurl.com/2kudc6xrHelp 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.

Nige Tassell fell in love with the literary allusions of Prefab Sprout when at school and his new book ‘Truly Gifted Kids’ tells their unique and inscrutable story – and involves some delightfully off-road “deerstalker” investigation. You’ll find self-sabotage, square pegs in round holes, the eternal pressure to have hits, and a devoted portrait of ringmaster Paddy McAloon that leaves you convinced there’s never been anyone quite like him before or since. This sparks off in a million directions, these among them … … the lure of bands who'd clearly been to the library and were unlikely to have a huge hit ... Paddy’s stoic defence of their name … his distaste for “diary songwriting” of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen … Jesse James, Elvis, Hey Manhattan: the obsession with the romance of America … the archive of unrecorded songs (one box labelled ‘For Rod Stewart’) … how the success of The King Of Rock ‘N’ Roll came to haunt them … the inconceivable moment they appeared on the National Lottery with Bob Monkhouse and Mystic Meg … pop tribalism on the school bus … the dreadful circumstance that lead to I Trawl the Megahertz … Paddy’s visual transformation from tousled pop star to hermetic semi-reclusive Gandalf … and the fate of the Steve McQueen motorbike. Order ‘Truly Gifted Kids’ here …https://linktr.ee/newmodern_books?lt_utm_source=lt_share_link#566128608.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.

Tapping the barometer of news to see what’s blistering or stormy, which this week includes … … “The Man can’t bust our music!”: the crimes and misdemeanours of Clive Davis … the single biggest change in our lifetimes ... when did musicians become ‘artists’? … Johnny Marr’s guitar habit … unlimited cash and what we’d spend it on … Madonna smoking at Paris Fashion Week hoping someone would try to stop her … why Dave doesn’t own any Arista records … which five Paul Simon songs became film titles? … a Prime Minister who loves ‘Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You’ by Big Thief! … 56 year-old takes annual Dark Side of the Moon test: “and I still don’t like it!” … are there more registered songwriters or lorry drivers? Plus the biopic boom and birthday guest Andrew Stocks has a senior moment.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.

Seven hundred fans have contributed to ‘Gary Numan: A People’s History’, a lavishly published compendium of memories of discovering, hearing and watching him over the 50 years he’s been making music. As you might imagine, he’s immensely touched, not least because – in this honest and extremely modest conversation – he feels his roller-coaster career was down to “perseverance not God-given talent” and that if he hadn’t come along, that devotional space in his fans’ lives would have been filled by someone else. He talks to us here from his home in Los Angeles and touches on … … the extent of what music can mean to people … how careers pan out – “huge highs then you fall off a cliff for a while” … ‘I made though perseverance more than God-given talent’ … meetings with upstarts and superstars … why he doesn’t listen to new music … ‘Don’t call me, the Gothfather!’ … the press he got in the early ‘80s “that made fans hide their Gary Numan albums” … how hip-hop and Afrika Bambaataa absorbed his music … ‘I’m not unique, I simply supply a service” ... and having your Gary Numan tattoo sketched for you … by Gary Numan! Order copies of ‘Gary Numan: A People’s History’ here: https://burningshed.com/richard-bowes_gary-numan-a-peoples-history_bookHelp 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.

David Gray went through the roof with his White Ladder album in 2000 and he’s toured and recorded ever since, ending this summer’s loop at Latitude. He talks to us here about the rigours of seeing bands when you lived in rural Wales and the hilarious, hard-won lessons of the first gigs he played himself and every possible shade of crowd reaction. It’s an absolute whirlwind from start to finish and features ... ... playing weddings, clubs, festivals and a Welsh village regatta … the role of music in the construction of your character … the turning point: “I arrived onstage to more applause than I’d ever had when leaving” … the time gave Morrissey his string of beads … the emotional architecture of live performance and how Elvis programmed his shows … vivid memories of seeing the Cult (“bloody nose”), the Mission (“headbutted”) and the Stranglers (“we left terrified”) … running from stage to stage at Glastonbury in ‘86 and the insular genius of the Cure … his Liverpool punk band in their perishing “Joycean” flat … the unbeatable sound of a crowd singing one of your songs   … Nick Drake’s frail sensibility and the value of growing a hard skin. David Gray tickets here: davidgray.comDavid Gray’s new album Nightjar, a companion to his 2005 No.1 record Life in Slow Motion, is out now via Bella Figura.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.

Digging deep in the icebox of news to choose the following lightly chilled refreshments … … 500 Miles, Wonderwall, Yes Sir I Can Boogie(?): what does it take to be a football anthem? … Gorillaz brilliant reinvention of the “guest appearance” … Jerry Dammers' father was the Dean of Bristol Cathedral? Siouxsie’s dad milked venom from snakes? … Rod Stewart’s “laryngitis”- aka being on a private jet to watch Scotland play in Boston! … how they’re celebrating Syd Barrett’s 80th … the godawfullest album title in the entire history of popular music … England 2 Colombia 0: Kirsty MacColl’s immaculate sense of melancholy … Faux Fighters, Proxy Music, By Jovi: tribute bands aren’t lesser versions of the band you like but great versions of the songs you like … the worst Boz Scaggs gig followed by the best … teen fizz to chin-stroking introspection: the link between George Michael and the Beach Boys … “Londoners like to feel they’re impossible to impress” … plus 500 Hartlepool fans dressed as Smurfs and birthday guest Blaine Allan.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.

Peter Frampton, for goodness sake! Part of our lives at Word In Your Ear since we were teenagers. Played guitar on national telly when he was 14. Joined the Herd at 16 and Humble Pie two years later. Had the biggest-selling album in American history in 1976 and now releasing his first new record in 16 years. From his home in Nashville, he looks back here – with great modesty, humour and affection - at how he adjusted to such mountainous success and to “when it all came crashing down” while throwing in a winning impression of George Harrison. This too …   … the Herd pursued by screaming girls across Streatham Ice Rink … when “the Face of 1968” (Frampton) joined “the Face of 1967” (Marriott) … recording with George, Ringo, Billy Preston, Steve Stills and Phil Spector (aged 20) - “where the hell am I and how did I get here?” … “I’d fallen off the radar and Bowie gave me the biggest gift anyone could give me” … the petrifying success of Frampton Comes Alive! - “I felt I’d be like a Rubik’s Cube, here today, gone tomorrow” … the Scout Club gig (aged 12) that lit the fuse and playing Ready Steady Go! when he was 14 (same show as the Stones) … when his father met Mick Jagger … making the doomed Sgt Pepper film with the Bee Gees … working with Sheryl Crow who’d had a poster of him when she was 14 … and revisiting his childhood home in Beckenham. Order ‘Carry The Light’ here: https://www.frampton.com/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.

‘Graceland’ was an almighty gamble for Paul Simon, a costly, high-risk departure from the music he’d been making and a complex international venture. And a game-changing, worldwide triumph. When Ashley Kahn taught a course about it at New York University, Simon turned up to contribute. His book ‘Days Of Miracle And Wonder’ tells the story of what inspired the album, the way it was recorded and the global reaction when it arrived in 1986. We talk to him here about … … the bootleg cassette of township jive that inspired the Graceland project  … fraying relations with Art Garfunkel and Carrie Fisher ... his habit of playing unfinished tracks to people – David Byrne, Philip Glass, Neil Diamond – while singing the vocal into their ear … the extraordinary way he apologised for the failure of One Trick Pony … how Bakithi Kumalo’s bass solo on You Can Call Me Al is a palindrome – “first half forwards, second half reversed!” … the advice Quincy Jones gave him about South Africa’s cultural boycott … the key role of Roy Halee, engineer and long-time creative collaborator ... the Johannesburg sessions that “started with rhythm and worked backwards” … Kind Of Blue, A Love Supreme, other albums that merit a book to themselves … the details you hear in the tracks’ last seconds … and the Grammy telecast that cemented the album’s US success. Order copies of ‘Days of Miracle And Wonder’ here: https://geni.us/DaysofMiracleandWonderHelp 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chasing the shade and slapping the Sunscreen on this week’s overheated news, we pour a tinkling drink and reflect upon the following … … British people in hot weath-ah! … when rock stars you haven’t seen for 50 years pop up on Zoom … Lennon’s tooth? Timberlake’s toast? Mooney’s school report? Weird things sold at auction … Paul Horn playing in the Taj Mahal, Sonny Rollins on the Williamsburg Bridge, U2 in Slane Castle … are new vinyl albums now ‘luxury goods’ and old ones ‘antiques’? … where you can hear the Abbey Road building on the Dark Side of the Moon … the cinematic records Daniel Lanois made in an abandoned movie theatre near Santa Barbara … Summer In The City: the Lovin’ Spoonful’s road-drill and Regina Spektor’s cleavage … Cat-calming music! Gym motivation! Stress-busting songs for Spurs fans on Judgement Day! The age of the prescriptive playlist … the new dawn of instrumental music, “a public utility like turning on a tap” … and the single Sinatra recorded for Maureen Starkey (only one copy made!).Help 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.

Daniel Lanois built a studio in his basement in Quebec and began producing local acts when a teenager. Through work with Brian Eno, he went on to record U2, Bob Dylan, Arcade Fire, Emmylou Harris and scores of others with a method that’s unique, cinematic and utterly extraordinary, a brand of sonic architecture that creates settings to accommodate the songs, often in exotic and stimulating places. And he's made nine albums of his own, the latest the magical instrumental suite ‘Belladonna Nocturne’ – “hear this and you may never go home again”. This rich and fascinating conversation includes … … how the place you record affects the way you think ... producing Dylan and Willie Nelson in an abandoned Mexican cinema … why the first record he bought was Wipe Out by the Surfaris … the process of “printing sound” and his Music Minus One theory … “Songs are doorways to another dimension” … Eno’s working method: “he walked round the studio for 45 minutes ringing bells to map out the length of the album” … drawing song sketches to stop everyone having to crowd round a laptop … making the Unforgettable Fire with U2, “expanding Slane Castle ‘til there were little critters crawling out of the walls!” … conjuring the tropical heat of Robbie Robertson’s Somewhere Down the Crazy River … and what Hells’ Angels like to do to his music. Order Belladonna Nocturne here: https://artsmusic.lnk.to/BelladonnaNocturneHelp us to keep The Longest 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.

Cathi Unsworth was a teenage Goth, enthralled as much by Joy Division and the Banshees as by the Brontës, Bram Stoker and Aubrey Beardsley. We loved her book ‘Season of the Witch’ and she’s since put together a soundtrack album, ‘Dressed In Black’, featuring the Goth divas she most admires and adores. And talks to us here about everything from murder ballads, the Industrial Revolution and Victorian literature to … … John Peel, Siouxsie, Joy Division and her teenage Goth conversion among the “hedge-goths” and “field-goths” of rural Norfolk … the phenomenal life, lyrics and mysterious disappearance of ‘Swamp-witch’ Bobbie Gentry … has Goth eaten Punk? … why BBC banned Billie Holiday’s “Gloomy Sunday” … the ‘death discs’ of John Layton, the Shangri-Las and Twinkle … how Cabaret and Julie Driscoll coloured Siouxsie and the Banshees … Shirley Collins’ Death And The Lady – “now that’s what I call a pandemic!” … did Liz Fraser speak fluent Faerie? … Nico – “if I had a machine-gun I’d kill you all!” … and how Juliette Gréco looked the devil in the face. Order copies of ‘Dressed In Black: Goth Divas From The Dark Side’ here: https://acerecords.co.uk/various-artists-dressed-in-blackHelp 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.

Clem Burke joined Blondie in 1975. He started writing his memoir 20 years ago and just managed to finish it before he died in 2025, encouraged and assisted by his old friend Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s, “a chance to reflect on all he’d achieved”. We’re thrilled she’s joined us here to talk about his dramatic life and ‘The Other Side of the Dream’, a conversation stopping off at … … falling for her “teenage crush” when she saw Blondie on TV, the man who wore red shoes at his audition … Clem Burke, eternal fan who idolised the Beatles, Bowie and the Stooges, and the brief moment he became Elvis Ramone ... do bands talk to each other?… Blondie was not a democracy … “in fact bands are an example of how democracy doesn’t work” … Clem’s powerhouse drumming and showmanship: “you couldn’t take your eyes off him” … “the night we met we each had a limo and he introduced me to Andy Warhol” … how it felt to hear Blondie record one of her songs … how their lives connected: “we both achieved a dream and had it taken away from us” … why drummers tend to see groups differently … and life in the Go-Go’s - “married to four girls!” Order copies of Clem Burke’s ‘The Other Side of the Dream: My Life in And Out of Blondie’ here: https://lnk.to/theothersideofthedreamHelp 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.

Panning for gold in the murky waters of this week’s news, we found the following … … is Sabrina Carpenter’s aunt the voice of Bart Simpson? … is punk now just a small room in the giant apartment block of Goth? … why band life was different for Ringo, Kathy Valentine and Clem Burke … Barack Obama’s songs that define America and how you can’t do the same for Britain … what you notice about the Who’s ‘Tommy’ 47 years later … the night Tom Fogerty’s widow brought his ashes to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame … Hurrrggggh! Aah-haaaa!: the vocal trademarks of Clarence Carter, Bob Wills, James Brown and Bobby Bland … did Select magazine REALLY once give away a giant inflatable Jarvis? (spoiler: yes) … plus Shleep and Rock Bottom by Robert Wyatt and Sam Cooke humming. Sam Cooke humming:https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-e&channel=entpr&q=sam+cooke+thumming+youtube+#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:7e9fec7d,vid:ZYd8DFI5CJg,st:0Order copies of David Hepworth's new paperback 'Hope I Get Old Before I Die' here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hope-Get-Old-Before-Die/dp/1804991996Help 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.

The Damned are – yes! - 50 years old with three of the originals still onboard. And just starting a world tour. In this immensely funny and touching podcast, Rat Scabies (who’s smoking!) points up the repercussions of life in a band. He looks back at their first shows, their devoted audience, “old-fashioned rules”, highlights, regrets, the value of friendship, “putting on the black suit again” and how it felt to rejoin after 30 years on the outside. And all this too … … playing drums in an Essex panto while pelted with boiled sweets … Dave Vanian when he was a grave-digger … punk rock strongholds the world over – “South America was like being in the Beatles” … Mexico and other places you can still torch a drumkit … Mr Scabies, aged 70. “Even my mother calls me Rat. The name’s done me well over the years” … going to the Isle Of Wight aged 14 (with the Danish nanny) and running a hot-dog stand during Hendrix … supporting the Pistols at the 100 Club: “like letting a greyhound out of a trap” … Tim Burton, the Goth revival, the Young Ones, steampunk and other factors that keeps the Damned in motion … “One band’s an oddity, two’s a fashion, three’s a movement” … rejoining the Damned after 30 years – “like a great stain had been lifted” … Green Day, algorithms and how they acquired a whole new following. Order Damned tickets here: aegp.uk/the-damnedHelp 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.

A whole new age of psychedelia kicked off in the mid-‘80s, of dream-weavers and glorious underachievers, a complete rejection of the standard rock approach to stagecraft, sound and self-promotion. Simon Reynolds was at the heart of it, writing for Melody Maker and piping aboard the pioneering noise-mongers aiming to entrance and disorientate, as recalled in his new book ‘Still In A Dream: Shoegaze, Slackers and the Reinvention of Rock 1984-1994’. He looks back with us here from his home in Los Angeles at its key bands, events and spiritual godfathers, these among them … … the return to childhood via Syd Barrett and Jonathan Richman to Sarah Records  … is ‘feeble little horse’ the most Shoegaze band name ever?  ... what it was about Morrissey that made Smiths singles sink after Top Of The Pops  … the reason Bowie formed a band  … charming/infuriating interviews with the Cocteau Twins: “words only have any meaning when they’re sung” … how Britpop brought down the curtain of the wall of sound   … Shoegaze, Dreampop, Lovelynoise, Wide-Brimmed Hat Music and the rock press attempt to impose order: “if a band was on the cover they could double their fee”  ... the divine arrogance of Lawrence of Felt who “didn’t want ordinary people buying my records” … the ever-extending “noise chasms” of My Bloody Valentine …  “shattering quartz”: reviewing music that’s about sound not words  … Shoegaze DNA in the 21st Century ... and the greatest album of that decade, “each track like a session beer”. Order copies of ‘Still In a Dream’ here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/still-in-a-dream/simon-reynolds/9781399618373Help 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.

This week’s news gets a thorough shake-down to see what falls out of its pockets. Which includes … … cupcakes, mobiles, rubber ducks, a dead swan: weird things thown at rock stars … “polka-dotted micro-tonal space-rock from the planet Zog”: Alex gets the Angine de Poitrine live experience! … is Shoegaze the Adrian Mole of pop? … “Hands off my Husker Du!” Joint record collections and who gets what when you split … Sun Studios, the Albert Hall stage, the Savile Row roof: places where we’ve shivered with excitement … why don’t they put an old phonebox back in Heddon Street so Bowie fans can take pictures? … Ocean Blue, Washed Out, Skimming Stones, Pelt: Dreampop band or Farrow & Ball paint colour? … Physical Graffiti, Anticipation, New Boots and Panties: album sleeve tourist locations … plus burning wedding photos, when uncles gave you cash and the house Jackson Browne’s grandpa built.Help 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.

For nearly 60 years, Brian Eno has been a “proud non-musician” who changed the way people thought and sounded while inventing whole new ways of recording. We loved reading the updated edition of ‘On Some Faraway Beach’ which examines his staggering catalogue of avant garde experiment and wonders if there’s anyone remotely like him. Author David Sheppard looks back with us here at … … a life of great good fortune: “luck is being ready” … the rivalry with Bryan Ferry sparked by his getting more attention … and girls ... where you can hear the effect on his Oblique Strategy cards on the Bowie recordings ... the ingenious way he made U2 make up their minds … his first experience of immersive sound via the organ his granddad built in the family home … why Wire’s Colin Newman calling him “a Class A Bullshitter” was a compliment … Bono: “We didn’t go to art school, we went to Brian Eno” … was Coldplay “a Rubicon he should never have crossed?” … the appeal of the sculptured sound of early ‘70s synths to someone who couldn’t play keyboards … his greatest record, Another Green World, and the time he heard Music For Airports playing in an airport Order copies of On Some Faraway Beach here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Some-Faraway-Beach-Times-Brian/dp/1399605712/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0Help 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.

Cheap tickets, warm beer, draughty halls and refectories, a whole new cobbled-together rock circuit was born in the ‘60s for an audience who watched and listened intently. Which allowed the music to take a different route. Paul Sexton spoke to Mark Knopfler, Nick Mason, Justin Hayward, Phil Manzanera and many others to piece together ‘Rock Goes To College: the Campus Music Scene That Shaped A Generation’ and talks to us here about the fans and amateurs who ran it and the lost world of motorway caffs and Ford Transits, stopping off at … … Hendrix, Fairport, Free, Queen, Dire Straits: tales of the campus gig foot-soldiers … no security, no lightshow, no seat, no stage: how the idea of live entertainment changed in 50 years   … Pink Floyd not being allowed front-of house in Top Rank theatres without a tie … the Stranglers and the Damned refusing to play college shows “unless townies were allowed in” … the “chart clause” - £50 extra if a band’s in the Top 3! … the Stones playing an Oxford ball … bands market-researching songs before recording them … why Leeds could afford the Who and Leonard Cohen … what Harvey Goldsmith, Paul Conroy and Chris Wright learnt from booking bands … why Wings chose the college circuit … and the arrival of DJs and disco that put a nail in the college gig coffin, “a golden age with nothing like it before or after”. Order ‘Rock Goes To College’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rock-Goes-College-campus-generation/dp/0008722412/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.EWpbXfJjfIq6DOGDGU8HMQMTbZ6fxtMSFJLLqnswcYo.7mGYWOOBglb6F5p42gs88d1lJ0uLxzWS4w3W0vPrwN0&qid=1775764128&sr=1-1Help 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.

It’s polling day for this week’s news and these are the stories that got our vote … ... Pussycat Dolls, Meghan Trainor and how ‘Blue Dot Fever’ is wrecking ticket sales … how can you judge a songwriter with eight collaborators? … Dylan’s ‘Judas’ moment 60 years later … is everything becoming binary: thumbs-up or thumbs-down? … Grandmaster Flash, Augustus Pablo, George McRea, Tangerine Dream and the times brand new music was invented … when certain dances got you arrested … Alice in Sunderland? See You In My Drums? Shadows’ song titles rebooted … the hilarious self-positioning of the NME critics’ poll… plus jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden and thrill of imagining the sound of acts who were never recorded.Help 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.

Mass commercial nightlife began in a Japanese Pleasure Garden in 1657 and it’s blossomed ever since – via Victorian Vauxhall, cabaret Paris, jazz-driven New Orleans, flappers, speakeasies, moonshine, Studio 54 and the rave palaces of the 21st Century. Imogen Willetts tracks its riotous evolution in ‘Up All Night: A History of Going Out’ and wonders if the invention of the iPhone has burst the balloon. She talks to us here about … ... the Tango, the Can-Can: dances that got you arrested … how bourgeois French ‘slummers’ found a taste of danger … the heady allure in the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens as an escape from Victorian squalor … how Anita Berber’s chloroform ballet shocked and delighted Weimar Berlin … when dancing was a mating ritual and the impact of Dating Apps   … democracy on the dancefloor: the unrepeatable mix of punters and celebrities at Studio 54 … and how the invention of the electric light got people going out and the iPhone made them stay home Order ‘Up All Night’ here: https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/imogen-willetts/up-all-night/9781399617093/Help 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.

Andy Earl helped create the new dawn of colour photography in the ‘80s pop video age and went on to shoot a series of unforgettable portraits, album sleeves and magazine covers, many featuring in his new exhibition in Bankside Yards, London. He looks back here at some of his subjects and the analogue days when you flew halfway round the world for the right light and backdrop and every prop in the picture was real. Along with … … that controversial BowWowWow shoot and how he got the job … Johnny Cash in a cornfield near Melbourne and the dogs he called “Hell” and “Redemption” … Duran Duran (and a mysterious nun) in Sri Lanka … “my job was to create a look” … why the age of digital photography brought a loss of control … the Robbie Williams Life Thru a Lens “law court” shoot … “he couldn’t have been more eccentric”: Prince in Monte Carlo and the confiscated camera … Pink Floyd’s Delicate Sound of Thunder for Hipgnosis: where Dali met Magritte … “in Monument Valley with a truckload of giant prosthetic eyeballs”: the Cranberries’ Bury the Hatchet cover … how covers changed when the CD arrived  … and Madonna opening the hotel window and inhaling the sound of screaming fans: “I just need my hit!” Andy’s show at Bankside Yards runs from May to August and is free to enter. Details here: https://banksidelondon.co.uk/events/andy-earl-x-bankside-yards/Help 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.

Talk Talk made just five albums, all written and recorded unconventionally and no-one’s entirely sure how they did it. And in the last two decades of his life Mark Hollis released only 92 seconds of music. Lifelong admirer Graeme Thomson explores the band’s endless mysteries in his memoir ‘In Another World: the Four Seasons of Talk Talk’, and looks back here at the last hurrah of the days of studio extravagance, which includes … … why Traffic in 1967 was the Mark Hollis Holy Grail … “25 per cent of him never appeared above the surface” … the Talk Talk ‘human sampling’ method – eg a few seconds of Danny Thompson, Steve Gadd or Larry Klein woven into the mix … “music made with the blindfold on” … the ‘80s press reaction to Mark’s eulogies about Miles Davis, Stockhausen and Shostakovich … where you can hear Talk Talk in the music of Kate Bush … making records the way Kubrick made films … head music: how Spirit of Eden suits the rebirth of headphones … band lynchpin Tim Friese-Greene, producer of the Lion Sleeps Tonight! … what unlimited time and choice does to a studio bill … and the 92 seconds of music he made for the Kelsey Grammer TV series Boss. Order ‘In Another World: the Four Seasons of Talk Talk’ here: https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/In-Another-World/Graeme-Thomson/9781917923613Help 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.

Penny Kiley moved to Liverpool in 1976, ran into punk rock and “became the person I’d never been allowed to be”, as vividly remembered in her memoir, Atypical Girl. It’s a moment of liberation mapped out by records, nights at Eric’s and the big personalities in the city’s Second Coming, the beat she later covered for Melody Maker. She looks back here at some unconquerable moments, among them … … the impact of Marc Bolan and David Cassidy - and later Patti Smith, Siouxsie, Pauline Murray and Poly Styrene … punk’s “bad taste aesthetic” and the clothes she wore … boomtown Liverpool in the late ‘70s – “everyone had a film script or a demo tape” … how Boy George stole Pete Burns’ act … the Clash, Talking Heads and the Ramones at Eric’s … why her book is “like an historical novel about the way journalism changed”  … first reviews, front covers and life as Melody Maker’s Liverpool correspondent, “which could be awkward with friends in bands” … Orange Juice and the ground-breaking NME C81 tape … and the adjustment to the ‘80s – “the Royal Wedding, Live Aid, Duran Duran, yuppies, a decade where I didn’t feel I fitted in” Order a copy of Atypical Girl here: https://birlinn.co.uk/product/atypical-girl/ https://www.waterstones.com/book/atypical-girl/penny-kiley/9781846976919Help 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.

In the 70s Paul Charles wrote lyrics for an Irish prog band. Now he writes mystery novels. Inbetween he’s been agent for Tom Waits, Nick Lowe, Van Morrison, Hothouse Flowers and many others and has forgotten more about live shows than most of us will ever know. Here he talks about:•⁠ ⁠hearing the Beatles for the first time through the family radio•⁠ ⁠meeting Tom Waits in a queue at Tower Records in Hollywood•⁠ ⁠why he likes to watch the way bands take the stage•⁠ ⁠the changes he’s seen in the live music landscape•⁠ ⁠why everybody suddenly wants to tour•⁠ ⁠what will change about ticket prices and what probably won’t•⁠ ⁠why the artist doesn’t want to see his agent in the bar after the show•⁠ ⁠what it’s like when Jackson Browne plays you his new record•⁠ ⁠why his latest McCusker mystery is called “Hi Love, You Just Dropped Your Glove”Order “Hi Love, You Just Dropped Your Glove”: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0GTC3M9CW/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0Help 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.

This week’s news stories charge out onto the pitch but which are heading for promotion? In the running at the final whistle … … “a ghoulish, soulless cash-grab”: the multiple disasters in the making of the Michael biopic … how spectacle is replacing music … which do we prefer, the truth or the myth? … did Steve Reich re-invent music? … when the Dalai Lama appeared at Glastonbury … how does it feel to perform to a sea of non-clapping motionless mobile phone users? … the remodelling of Coachella … “producers are in the business of creating of high-profile communal rights” … Vilma Jaa: “like Sandy Denny making music with Massive Attack” … how festivals are all about special guests and social media … the 1974 Diana magazine quiz: “how tall is Alvin Lee?” … 20 year-old Word in Your Ear podcast unearthed! ... plus Luciano Berio, Slow Club and “the bawdy harridan and her jive muse”.Help 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.

Be glad for the pod has no ending! Now in our 20th year and, this week, ruminating fondly on the following … … the “underhand” selling of Geese … Morrissey’s absurd whinge about the Salford Lads Club photo … Jay Leno’s $50 ruse to get comedy gigs … when bands “didn’t even know what a hotel was” … radio sessions in Andy Kershaw’s flat … what’s the point of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? … when has any aspect of the entertainment business EVER been “fair”? … “Four eyes, one vision!” Elvis Costello busking in Park Lane … the great Supremes records after Diana Ross … Focus, 10cc, Devo, Zappa, the Shadows and other musical dead-ends ... Ronnie Wood and … Beverley Knight? …. “Shove off, Phil Collins! And have you got your Barley Sugars?” … and birthday guest Stephen Lambe about why Focus are largely forgotten.Help us to keep the conversation 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.

Take your protein pills and put your helmet on as we voyage to the far side this week to take a picture of … … the Kanye West & Wireless ding-dong … Springsteen with Tom Morello, Pet Shop Boys with Johnny Marr: the fine art of the ‘special guest’ … when Time Magazine invented Swinging London … Gregg Allman and the judge’s wife … Fake Plastic Trees! Pressure Drop by the Clash! Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)! Politicians trying to be hip … a primal howl from the Troggs written by the son of a golf professional from Westchester County (Chip Taylor RIP) … why all bands should have ‘membership’ gigs ... Back Home! This Time We’ll Get It Right! Are we still making World Cup anthems? … never drive a car listening to the Mahavishnu Orchestra followed by the Sun Ra Arkestra and Trout Mask Replica … plus birthday guest Chuck Loncon is listening to every record he owns.Help us to keep the conversation 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.

Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley read a review of the Sex Pistols in February 1976, borrowed a car, drove to London, asked the NME where they’d find the band and were told ‘try a sex shop in the King’s Road’. The events that followed changed both the culture of Manchester and the course of rock history, a story mapped out in David Nolan’s excellent ‘I Swear I Was There’, a book as much about the audience as the band. His theory: “If the Pistols hadn’t played the Lesser Free Trade Hall … no Buzzcocks, Joy Division, Factory Records, ‘indie’ scene, Smiths, Fall, Nirvana, Blur, Oasis, Radiohead or Prodigy.’ As the 50th anniversary looms, he talks to us here about … … those who claimed to be there and the ones who actually were … the contrast between myth and reality … the letter Morrissey sent the NME: “Maybe the Pistols will be able to afford some clothes which don't look as though they've been slept in” … punk metaphor: Howard Devoto asking a tailor to narrow his trouser legs and being told, “there’s no going back” … North/South crowd violence: “a battle with a gig breaking out in the middle” … the three reels of home-movie and the photos that turned up 36 years later … Sister Rosetta Tharpe, ‘Judas’ at the Free Trade Hall, Stones In The Park and other landmark Manchester moments ... the pioneering impact of Granada TV   … “if you look at Manchester now, its media, its skyscrapers, its cultural prosperity, none of that would have been happened without those Pistols gigs” … “Sheffield would have admired them, Manchester thought: we can do better!” … and various bit-part players – Tony Wilson, Peter Hook, Paul Morley, Jordan and Jon the Postman. Order ‘I Swear I Was There’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Swear-Was-There-Pistols-Manchester/dp/1786060159 Book promotions at Walthamstow Rock Nudie, Manchester – 28 May; Central Library, Manchester - 11July: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/david-nolan-i-swear-i-was-there-tickets-1985356197832?utm_experiment=test_share_listing&aff=ebdsshios&sg=0713ff5cbb20ee739ec0a8803927c4228f74fda0c5bac9785b11548a1e5b7c04ba91c0af5267ba677dfafa61163636f97633016b86ba8be02a78ecdb7f234740f0be4f90136c5fd636905d294bHelp us to keep the conversation going: <a href="https://www

The life of Keith Moon can be seen as Animal from the Muppets or as a dark, psychological odyssey. And the two co-exist in Tony Fletcher’s magnificent ‘Dear Boy’, first published in 1998, never out of print and now ‘remastered’ with new pictures, updates, epilogues and a foreword by Mandy Moon who “has to keep reminding myself this person was my father”. Tony looks back here at events along the way, many of which now seem unimaginable. Among them … … fact versus fiction: his fudged birthdate, his hidden marriage, the Roller in the swimming-pool … Tony’s meeting with Moon two months before he died … the letters to his wife Kim when touring America   … Mel Gibson, Mike Myers, Jason Schwartzman, all once in line to play Keith onscreen … “I killed a man”: the terrible incident with his chauffeur … the legs in the bath, the head in the bed, the loudspeaker in the bushes: the punchline of all his pranks was “someone’s going to suffer” … “working-class rock stars who conquered the world like pirates without a map” … would things have been different if he’d been hailed as a pioneering drummer? … the times he met Larry Hagman and Oliver Reed … do book publishers look down on drummers the way musicians do? … to Golders Green with Viv Stanshall in German uniforms and an open-topped car: #DifferentTimes … and a sad and telling moment on the Stardust film shoot. Order copies of ‘Dear Boy’ here: https://omnibuspress.com/products/dear-boy-the-life-of-keith-moon-omnibus-remastered?_pos=1&_psq=dear+boy&_ss=e&_v=1.0Help us to keep the conversation 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.

Dominic Mohan saw Britpop on the inside from the showbiz desk of the Sun in the days when it sold 4.5m copies, a series of heated memories recorded in ‘1996: My Backstage Pass to the Wildest Year of Britain’s Wildest Decade’, a lost age of hedonism, stupidity, drunkenness and creativity. He makes a compelling case in this very funny and colourful podcast which stumbles into … … the advice David Hepworth gave him when he was 16 … Euro 96 and headlines you couldn’t run now … how the deaths of Kurt Cobain and John Smith changed the picture … doorstepping Phil Collins’ ex-wife … the wreath for Noel Gallagher “the fat dancer from Take That” sent to the Sun … Cool Britannia and that brief love affair between music and politics  … on the dancefloor at the Labour Conference with Mo Mowlam, John Prescott and Chris Evans … Knebworth 1996, the perfect marriage of alternative music and club culture with a £250,000 bar bill … the debt Pulp, Oasis and Blur owe Ray Davies - “less the Godfather of Britpop, more a concerned uncle” … is it hard to identify a new zeitgeist when people don’t congregate as much? … the ‘reverse-ferret’ from American culture towards bespectacled blokes from Sheffield … the shameless age before people public apology … how the post-Spice Girls TV talent shows soaked up the budgets and column inches … and Madonna dancing with Dennis Hopper. Order copies of ‘1996’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/1996-Backstage-Wildest-Britains-Decade/dp/B0FZBZHPNR The Barbican Show curated by Dominic: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2026/event/1996-a-celebration-of-the-wildest-year-of-britains-wildestHelp us to keep the conversation 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.

A seasonal egg-hunt in the rock and roll backyard finds the following conversational confectionary … .. Wild Bill Hickok? Valentino? Bob Dylan’s bizarre new media manoeuvre … Liza Minnelli, Peter Sellers, Harrison Ford, Aaron Paul: people born to play one part … how to spot writers using AI … “dried-up old prune”? Trump’s pot-kettle war against Springsteen … what BBC DJs must think when they see ‘Woo’ Gary Davies in reception … “Neil Young looks like an unmade bed” … when invincible ignorance meets invincible confidence: the stupidest thing we’ve ever done … do most rock stars eventually get ‘work’ done? … plus the Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, the Roots, Daisy Age hip-hop and our link with the Hatton Garden heist.Help us to keep the conversation 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.

Tony Visconti left Brooklyn for London in 1967, began working with the Move and Marc Bolan and formed a life-long friendship with the teenage David Bowie, playing on his first two albums and producing 10 of ones that followed. And in 2014 he formed Holy Holy with Woody Woodmansey, a live celebration of Bowie’s music from 1970 to Blackstar. They’re touring again in September with Glenn Gregory as lead singer – “you can’t mourn forever.” He talks to us here about … … the gig they played the night Bowie died … life at Bowie’s commune at Haddon Hall – “I kept my door firmly locked!” … Marc Bolan at Middle Earth, “a hundred spellbound kids sitting cross-legged on the floor” … hearing Flowers In The Rain (which he arranged) as the first record on Radio One … “A little chinwag?” How Bowie broke the news about his illness … his dislike of Space Oddity, “I told him it was novelty, a sell-out” … producing The Man Who Sold The World and the emotional Blackstar … the night he met the teenage Bowie and they wound up in a Chelsea cinema … “Why are you doing this?” Bowie’s reaction to the first Holy Holy tour in 2014 … his time as the red-caped Hypeman and Ronson and Woody’s resistance to make-up, “macho boys from Hull” … walking round New York with a cassette of secret The Next Day album in his pocket … and the big emotional moments in the Holy Holy set list Order Holy Holy tickets here: https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/holy-holy-tickets/artist/2096354Help us to keep the conversation 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.

Matt Johnson’s life story has been mapped out as one long Q&A conversation from meetings with old friend, fan and BFI director Jason Wood. ‘Cognitive Dissident’ traces his trajectory from the East End to Soho to the beloved albums he made with a series of super-groups and his 2021 comeback. He looks back here at … … his earliest musical memories – Donovan, the Move, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown … the old East End and the Two Puddings pub run by his parents, “full of ghosts”, Bobby Moore, Francis Bacon and the Krays … his Uncle Kenny promoting the Who, the Kinks and Jerry Lee Lewis … “Get yourself on a sunbed!” and other advice from George Michael ... what he learnt at De Wolfe Music, aged 15, in the red-light Soho of the late ‘70s … legendary manager Stevo signing the band’s CBS contract at midnight in Trafalgar Square … “cigarettes, coffee, warm analogue equipment”: the Proustian scent of old studios … his NME ad recruiting The The members via the Residents, the Velvet Underground, Syd Barrett and Throbbing Gristle … being part of “the Long Mack Brigade” with Cabaret Voltaire, This Heat, Wire and the Gang of Four … Leonard Cohen’s premonition of the internet … the Albert Hall: “like a tennis player playing Wimbledon” … the genius of Hank Williams … and his 2018 comeback, “like reunion of old army buddies” Order ‘Cognitive Dissident’ here: https://omnibuspress.com/products/cognitive-dissident?_pos=1&_psq=cognitive+dissi&_ss=e&_v=1.0Help us to keep the conversation 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.

When he was 19, New Yorker Brian Cullman covered the London music scene for Crawdaddy, landing at the birth of folk-rock and the singer-songwriter boom and watching its leading lights from unimaginably close quarters - Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, John Martyn among them. He even played on the same bill as Drake at Les Cousins club, all this recorded in his book ‘How To Prepare for the Past: Travels in Music and Time’. He talks to us here about that golden age and the American stars he met later, stopping off at … … Ed Sullivan at the shoe-shine: “in six months the Beatles will be lucky to be playing a bowling alley!” … Nick Drake in the same clothes he wore on the cover of Five Leaves Left … Sandy Denny: “She knew she was extraordinary but didn’t know if she was any good” … Jackson Browne, onstage from the age of 12 … being hired by rock encyclopaedist Lillian Roxon, “my fairy godmother” … Tim Hardin making Bird On A Wire, “so wasted they followed him round the room with a microphone” ... and “14 hotdogs”? The cavernous appetite of Big Joe Turner. Order ‘How To Prepare for the Past’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Prepare-Past-Travels-Music/dp/B0FTS8ZPTW Or here: https://www.zebooks.com/books/how-to-prepare-for-the-pastHelp us to keep the conversation 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.

Whooping, whistling, punching the air, standing on the arm-rests and generally adding our voice to the sound of the crowd this week involves … … the creepy way Google eavesdrops our conversations … the cleverly positioned “secret” on McCartney’s new album … why a knackered piano made Keith Jarrett’s Cologne Concert a success … Daryl Hannah, Mick McCarthy, Ray Manzarek: people who hated the way they were played in biopics … Pectoralz? The Rain? Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem? Abandoned band names moratorium … how movies are still revolve around white-hat heroes and black-hat villains … “Festival Seating” and the days when suffering was part of the entertainment … why Zappa thought bands exploited live audiences … “Jackson Browne In Concert”: when going to gigs was like going to the movies … plus Blink 182, Big Audio Dynamite and the days when the Marquee had two front rows of plastic seating.Help us to keep the conversation 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.