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, visit wiyelondon.com . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Word In Your Ear is a interviews podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 1,000 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts Word In Your Ear, a interviews show with 1,000 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #969

  Todd Rundgren’s outbursts, ‘too old to mosh’ & the happiest and saddest songwriters

  Oct 4, 202654 min

  A long-running conversation that shifts from major to minor, back to major and all notes inbetween, this week’s lyrics including … … can people who write ‘happy’ ever be cool? … the best drummer who isn’t a drummer? … when will Oasis buy Man City? … why is Taylor Swift unmemorable? … when’s “too old to mosh”? … weird double-bills: Jimi Hendrix and the Monkees. Cat Stevens and Engelbert. Black Sabbath and … Neil Diamond? … huge stars who barely had any hits … what Todd Rundgren said about the New York Dolls, XTC and Bat Out Of Hell (“a parody of Springsteen” … why black musicians had white gangster managers … Mark paid £2.75 for six bands at Knebworth in 1974. What’s Alex getting for £500 in 2027? … and “songs about Los Angeles are always about failure” Plus Radiohead, Laughing Len, Kylie and birthday guest Phil Turner. 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.

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  Episode #968

  Jon Savage loathed the 1976 singles chart so he’s made an album of should-have-been hits

  Sep 29, 202638 min

  Jon Savage detested the UK’s mid-‘70s hits with a vengeance, “records so bad they made you want to strangle every deejay on Radio One, especially Dave Lee Travis”. Which is why he’s compiled ‘Jon Savage’s 1976: Something Was Going To Happen’, 24 ground-breaking tracks released the same year that paved the way to the future. He looks back here from his home in Anglesey at the thrill of hearing them the first time aged 22, the many highlights including … … hilarious memories of the nauseating Jeans On, Fernando, No Charge, Combine Harvester and Save Your Kisses For Me … and his undying love for Eddie and the Hot Rods, Pere Ubu, Candi Station, Burning Spear, Miami and the Flamin’ Groovies … cheap Ronco and K-Tel compilations and Radio One’s stranglehold on popular taste … what happened at parties when you took off Steely Dan and played the Ramones … “reggae records never seem to date” … seeing the Runaways at the Roundhouse and the Clash at Fulham Town Hall with the future Poly Styrene … the first review he ever had published … the early ‘70s ‘underground’ - psychedelia, prog, metal, glam, reggae and disco … and hunting for records at One Stop, Dobells and Harlequin. Order copies of Jon Savage’s 1976 album here: https://www.acerecords.co.uk/jon-savages-1976-something-was-going-to-happen And look out for Jon’s brilliant books, among them England’s Dreaming (about to be republished with a new Derek Jarman cover), Teenage and 1966 . 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.

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  Episode #967

  Stevie Wonder’s masterpiece and the daft, chequered history of Ties In Rock!

  Sep 28, 202658 min

  The two-man conversational canoe paddles the rock and roll tideway, stopping off this week at … … Van Morrison’s set-opener is Kidney Stew Blues by Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson. Do people have to play their big hits? … what’s the key ingredient in success? ... “all great albums automatically have great sleeves. Bar one!” … does Beyonce have a horsefly named after her? Is there a Jerry Garcia wood roach? A Sting tree-frog? … U2’s new album cover is an Abbey Road pastiche. So … is this their swansong? … “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” … Elvis, Stones, psychedelia, Be Bop Deluxe, power pop, punk, Pete Doherty: rock stars in ‘statement’ ties … the many ways Songs In The Key Of Life was a masterpiece … plus “fibrous weaves, over-stuffed loons”, the Plimsouls, the Roaring Boys, Josh Rouse and birthday guest James Ewen. 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.

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  Episode #966

  Why can’t brothers in bands ever get along?

  Sep 21, 20261 hour

  While Mark Ellen visits his Scottish estates, David Hepworth and Alex Gold keep the home fires burning with a wide-ranging conversation, taking in: •⁠ ⁠why every band containing a pair of brothers seems to inevitably succumb to fraternal warfare  •⁠ ⁠how Ed Sheeran found himself caught in the cross-fire between a multi-millionaire and a bunch of support acts keen not to get caught on the wrong side of a social media war •⁠ ⁠the fine line that divides a British cheese from a motorway service area •⁠ ⁠what are the best cases of “mailbox money” in show business? •⁠ ⁠does anybody else think gigs finish too early? 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.

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  Episode #965

  Sid Griffin (#1): the Long Ryders leader laughs at the absurdity of teenage life!

  Sep 18, 202637 min

  A whole new format we’ve invented for people who’ve been guests before and were so entertaining we wanted them back. So we’ve devised some random questions to spark a few memories and revelations. First up, Sid Griffin of the Long Ryders, touring the UK this autumn, who looks back here at his early life before he “went to L.A. to quote-unquote make it”. You’ll love this as much as we did, especially …   … the Beatles song he knew he’d understand when he was older   … his teenage band rehearsal when the drummer got a hammer in his head   … the rock star he always wanted to be   … what happens when you wear the bug-infested cap you find on a bus   … DJ Carl ‘Weird Beard’ Markert burping in Pepsi commercials on WAKY Radio   … Gregg Turner and the Angry Samoans – “bad songs in bad taste”   … things he can still recite from childhood   … the best use of music in a movie   … how arch-rival Norrie Paramor made George Martin even richer   … and the greatest B-side ever written.   Plus English teacher Mrs Atlas and his deathless crush on Mimi Babcock.     Long Ryders tickets here … thelongryders.com/tour 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.

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