Word In Your Ear
Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who have collectively spent decades writing about and discussing music in magazines like Smash Hits, Mojo, and The Word, and on radio and TV shows such as "Rock On" and "Whistle Test," host this podcast. They began producing podcasts over thirteen years ago while working on the magazine The Word, and continued after the magazine folded in 2012 with live Word In Your Ear events featuring conversations with musicians and authors. The podcast features hundreds of hours of material, including remote interviews with guests like Danny Baker, Andy Partridge, Sir Tim Rice, and Mark Lewisohn.
Episodes
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
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
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 un
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
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 h
Songs about sweltering heat, Willie Nelson’s braids and is vinyl now ‘luxury goods’?
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 th
How Daniel Lanois made those adventurous records with Dylan, U2 and Willie Nelson
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.
Siouxsie, Nico, Cocteaus, Shangri-Las, Bobbie Gentry … a celebration of the sound of Goth!
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 Victoria
Blondie and Clem Burke remembered by devoted pal Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s
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
Nick Lowe’s miracle payday, Rock feuds and a giant inflatable Jarvis
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 … w
The Damned at 50 and the memories (and regrets) of Rat Scabies
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
Shoegaze, slackers, ‘noise chasms’ and the 10-year reinvention of rock
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
Famous rock locations, His & Hers records and weird things thrown onstage
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 collection
Brian Eno’s restless creative adventures with Roxy, Bowie, U2 and Talking Heads
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 o
The Who, Floyd, Led Zep and the great college circuit that launched 1,000 bands
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 Gene
Paul Simon, Bad Bunny, how songwriting changed & the scourge of Blue Dot Fever!
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 McRe
Pleasure Gardens, cabaret, nightclubs, rave & 350 years of the Big Night Out
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 ball
Andy Earl’s memories of photographing Prince, Madonna and Johnny Cash
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
Talk Talk, a deep-dive tale of mystery and imagination
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 studi
The Clash, the Cramps and Penny Kiley’s teenage punk diaries
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 …&nbs
Van Morrison’s agent writes crime fiction as the music business sleeps
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
Can the Michael movie reboot Jacko? & how social media changed festivals
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 Glast
Andy Kershaw & Dylan’s jar of jam plus the things people do to get gigs
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 &am
The story of Wild Thing and whatever happened to World Cup songs?
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
No Sex Pistols in Manchester? ‘No Smiths, Nirvana, indie rock.’ Discuss!
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 aud
The Keith Moon story is a movie in waiting, both a comedy and a tragedy
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 wa
The shameless age of Britpop in ‘the wildest year of the 90s’
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 Dav
Who hasn’t had ‘work done’, how to spot AI and the stupidest thing we ever did
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 m
How Tony Visconti keeps the Bowie flag flying
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 l
Matt Johnson & the unique story of The The plus George Michael and the sunbed
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 Art
At home with Nick Drake, Sandy Denny & John Martyn in the golden year of 1970
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
The Jarrett movie, Macca’s secret & when did standing at gigs start?
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 w
The Clash story mapped by the places they lived, played, evolved … and shot pigeons
Paul Gorman, author and curator, has put together fascinating maps of the London haunts of Bowie and the Stones and just published one about the Clash built around key locations in the network that formed them and helped them to flourish. It’s a beautiful thing: buy one and take the walking tour! He talks to us here about … … how an Agit-Prop alternative West London emerged with links to Oz,
Mustn’t grumble! Songs with the essence of Englishness
A milky tea, a jam sponge and this week’s news served on a tin tray with a steam train painted on it points our very English conversation towards the following … … what connects the Monkees and a British Prime Minister? … when are you too old for Indie? … A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi? A Bar on The Piccolo Marina? Noel Coward or Neil Tennant? … the Move, the Streets, the Kinks, ELO
Neil Tennant revisits songs he’s written since the age of nine
Neil Tennant co-wrote a musical at Primary School and soon decided that “learning other people’s songs was hard work compared with making up your own”. He’s chosen some from the Pet Shop Boys’ 40-year catalogue, hits and obscurities, in ‘One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem’, just out in paperback, and added fascinating notes about their context and composition. This very funny and revealing conversation
Steve Nieve looks back at Costello, Stiff tours and the magical sound of pianos
At the age of four, Steve Nieve drew pictures of piano keys and pretended to play them. He joined Elvis Costello & the Attractions when he was 19, the start of a life that involves having to find a flight case for a Steinway Grand. He talks to us here from his Paris apartment about Stiff package tours, recording remotely, his upcoming shows with the French singer Kessada and … … being a t
Scores McCartney still wants to settle, Country Joe and the rise of ‘destination gigs’
Watering the scented hedgerows of news to see if any green shoots appear. And they do, in the form of … … the most effective protest song ever written … the commendable box-ticking life of Country Joe McDonald … the Timothée Chalamet ding-dong: is it still safe to voice an opinion? … Harry Styles’ 67 dates in just 7 locations: how ‘Destination gigs’ throttle the competition&nbs
Shaun & Bez and other Odd Couples we love
Pointing the scanner of inquiry at the baggage carousel of news to see what gets the lights flashing, which this week includes … … we know what’s making Morrissey miserable … bands that can get a whole stadium singing … the rock star who misses the music press most … “a Likely Lads for the rave generation”, anyone? … the speed at which news now travels … Loudon Wainwr
The Kinks’ chaotic ascent mapped out day-by-day is ‘a nirvana for any fan’
A gorgeous and lavish new publication tells the story of the Kinks in the ‘60s via the key events in their unsteady trajectory plus concert bills, letters and ephemera assembled by Andrew Sandoval, the kind of non-digital research that’s filled his archive with yellowing back numbers of Disc & Music Echo. It’s “nirvana for any fan”, the title hinting at the level of detail – ‘The Kinks: All Da
How A Hard Day’s Night ripped up the pop movie rulebook
Author and broadcaster Samira Ahmed used to watch A Hard Day’s Night once a week and she’s just written an enthralling account of the shoot and its impact for the BFI’s Classic Films series. A movie, she points out, that celebrates Britishness and suburbia made largely by immigrants that broke every Hollywood rule, a film made to capture the essence of the Beatles before the bubble burst “which tu
Bob Dylan and the Beatles, a tale of envy, affection and intense rivalry
Bob Dylan and the Beatles watched each other closely. Jim Windolf is fascinated by the parallels in their stories, the obvious moments they influenced each other and the unconcealable tensions at the times they met, all mapped out in his book ‘Where The Music Had To Go: How Bob Dylan and the Beatles Changed Each Other – and Changed the World’. He talks to us here from New York about what he discov
Mark Lewisohn and why writing the real Beatles story just got harder
Mark Lewisohn began his Beatles’ trilogy in 2003, the first volume appearing ten years later. He’s hoping the second, Turn On, which covers 1963 to 1966 and every recording session, might be ready by 2031 and working “nine days a week to achieve it, assembling a framework and then sliding it together”. Further good news – his lecture about their life in 1962, Evolver62, is now available on film! “
Albums we bought because we liked the title
Spinning sides at the conversational disco to see what fills the dancefloor, which this week includes … … Jerry Garcia had seven fingers! Brian Jones had seven children! Morrissey worked for the Inland Revenue! … the most terrifying villain in the history of cinema ... is pop music becoming inbred? … when Neil Sedaka made records with 10cc (and Abba) … Happy? G
How Glenn Tilbrook transformed the life of Squeeze
Glenn Tilbrook wrote an album with Chris Difford about a futuristic nightclub when they were teenagers and, 52 years later, they’ve recorded it and are performing it on the upcoming tour. He looks back here at the partnership that once wrote 200 songs in three years, the first gigs he saw, his recent decision to take control of the group and what’s changed the way they sound. Among the highlights
The Skids, Big Country and the unsettling story of Stuart Adamson
Stuart Adamson co-founded the Skids and Big Country but was profoundly ill-suited to the spoils of his success. Author Scott Rowley unpacks his passage from Dunfermline to Nashville and Hawaii to get a sense of his demons and what drove and inspired him. He talks to us here about his compelling new memoir ‘Stay Alive: the Life and Death of Stuart Adamson’ and touches on … … hints of troubled
There are only three Rock National Treasures – and we name them!
Our ‘big air’ manoeuvres on the rock and roll ski jump this week land the following tricks … … why don’t we re-use old protest songs instead of writing new ones? … “a temple of music and gothic lust:” would YOU buy Jim Steinman’s unsellable home? … when Madness played on the Buck House roof … Ptolomaic Terrascope? Aquarium Drunkard? Real and made-up music magazines … “too
Keith & Chuck, Bowie & Tina, Frank & Elvis and what we learnt from rock’s joint ventures
Some shared stages. Some made records and films together. Some had love affairs. Matt Thorne is fascinated by stars’ collaborations and what they reveal about them. He talks here about 14 musicians who collided and the discoveries he made in the six years spent writing ‘Famous: Ego, Envy and Ambition in Pop, Rock and Hip-Hip’, with all this high in the mix … … Frank Sinatra’s ‘Welcome Home El
Boston, Def Leppard, bad hair & the golden age of rock radio
Paul Rees fell in love with AOR when it began with Boston in 1976, the polished, ramped-up hits that were briefly the music of the American heartland. His book ‘Raised On Radio: Power Ballads, Cocaine & Payola – the AOR Glory Years 1976-1986’ remembers the age when records were launched via car stereos, their eternally appealing sound and the preposterous lives of the people who wrote and play
Was Bad Bunny at the Superbowl the greatest show ever staged?
After 40 days of relentless rain, you need our little ray of sunshine. And here we all are! Sitting in the rock’n’roll rainbow this week you’ll find … ... the Wuthering Heights instagram gold-rush … licensing Foreigner and Lynyrd Skynyrd: when is a band not a band? .. what Michael Jackson asked the Superbowl promoter … one long video for Charli XCX: “if that film was playing in
Andy Bown remembers the Herd, Judas Jump and 47 years in Status Quo
Andy Bown found the 20 year-old recordings of “a deep-space love story” he’d written with the sci-fi author Russell Hoban and he’s just reworked and released them. He talks to us here about “Out There” and life in the Herd, Judas Jump and Status Quo, which involves … … playing the Three Tuns in Beckenham with Bowie … “Foot gun, gun foot. I always tell the truth.” … Peter Frampton wh
How the album survived and why it satisfies the soul!
The album has had 25 years of being hammered by other formats – Napster, iTunes, Spotify, TikTok – and not only survived but thrived. For Keith Jopling it’s the irreplaceable way to hear music and to measure the people who make it. His new book Body Of Work celebrates its battle-scarred trajectory from the beating heart of pop culture to 21st Century affordable luxury, and stops off at … … gr
Racy pulp paperbacks, teenage Joni and the BRIT School versus the age of the amateurs
Unredacted exchanges about the rock and roll underworld this week highlight the following … … real or made-up stars’ kids’ names: Speck Wildhorse? Blue Ivy? Everly Bear? Motorhead Michelob? … man plays drum solo with his head! … Olivia Dean, Lola Young, FKA Twigs: what do today’s ‘professionals’ learn at the BRIT School and what happened to the age of the amateurs? … why Joni M
David Bowie and the triumph, mystery and struggle of his third act
Bowie’s early years have been scrutinised repeatedly but people tend to speed through the last act, from the early ‘90s to his death in 2016. Alexander Larman’s ‘Lazarus: The Second Coming Of David Bowie’ looks at his resurrection and the mystery of his final days in Manhattan in attractively honest detail, a book that’s as fondly critical of his artistic decisions as it’s celebratory. Under discu
Days with Bowie, Prince, the Stones, Hendrix & the Clash by David Sinclair
David Sinclair was a long-running rock critic for the Times, Rolling Stone and many others and now makes records himself. He looks back here at some of the first bands he saw and the extraordinary people he interviewed, which touches on … … the day Bowie took him to the Hammersmith Odeon to stand on the spot where he announced his retirement … Keith Richards’ dark side (and what he said
The genius of Sly Dunbar & Catherine O’Hara plus Springsteen’s anthem and old New York
A bone-shaking ride on the weekly news cycle, stopping off here to pump up the tyres …. … Springsteen’s Streets Of Minneapolis: it’s not what he said but the fact that he’s said it … “they’re all just Sly & Robbie records but with someone different singing on them” … the price of stadium tickets: if it’s too high, don’t go – but stop complaining! … Catherine O’H
Adele Bertei, New York’s art-rock explosion and Eno’s shopping list
Adele Bertei got a Greyhound to New York in 1977 intent on joining a band. James Chance thought she “looked like a pimp” and hired her as the organist in the Contortions, an instrument she couldn’t play. Her memoir No New York captures the most intoxicating times imaginable, the rise of Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, Madonna and her fellow raft of No Wave cheerleaders in pursuit of dismantlin
Steve Lillywhite produced the Stones, U2, Siouxsie, XTC - ‘the last leg of the relay’
Steve Lillywhite first got a foot in the studio door aged 17 making demos for Ultravox and became a producer with credits on over 500 records. He doesn’t have a copy of any of them but kept his Grammys and his CBE. The job involves being a lightning-rod, cheer-leader, editor, finisher and “as diplomatic as Henry Kissinger”. He looks back here from his ‘Lillypad’ in Bali at the milestones along the
Who’d be a nepo baby? plus the mystery album that outsold the Beatles
Scanning the baggage carousel of news to see what sets off the alarm, which this week involves … … Springsteen: why is America’s most American American so quiet about his President on home turf? … the Seven Ages of Nepo: in defence of Julian Lennon, Joe Sumner and Brooklyn Beckham … the Robbie Williams story that gets our goat… why do half the UK music venues make
Simon Nicol of Fairport Convention, back in the van with a bag of toffees
Fairport tour again in 2026 and are playing their annual Cropredy Convention in August, its 50th year. The rolling Kent landscape behind him, co-founder Simon Nicol looks back at almost six decades in the line-up, the first shows he ever saw and played, why he can’t wait to get back on the tour bus again, and … … the intoxication of live music – “lost in a moment that’s never happ
Miles Hunt of the Wonder Stuff - ‘I’d rather make people laugh than applaud’
Miles Hunt is on tour in 2026 – solo, with Vent 414 and the Wonder Stuff - and looks back here at his 40 years on stage, which involves … … stifling hecklers the John Lydon way: “the exits are clearly marked!” … what percussion does to your ears … “when a tout’s selling your £3 ticket for £50 you know you’ve made it!” … keytars, flat drums, guitars without headstocks: things th
Kenney Jones remembers the Small Faces’ masterpiece
Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake is being reissued on Kenney Jones’ Nice Records, along with unheard outtakes discovered when the original master was found in one of his battered old drum cases. He talks to us here – with the compiler Rob Caiger – about the chaotic construction of the Small Faces’ 1968 masterpiece and his mission to “carry on the legacy”. Are you all sitting comftybold two-square on your bo
The fabulous Bob Weir and how the Grateful Dead invented the internet
A tie-dyed-in-the-wool rock & roll space odyssey to infinity and beyond which stops off this week at … … why the Dead’s music was “like lighting a match in the wind” … Ha Ha Harlem! Rebels Without Applause! – Morrissey song or Lenny Bruce comic routine? … Sting v Sumner & Copeland and what Every Breath You Take makes daily just from streaming … is Oasis “the biggest exc
Steve Cradock on Ocean Colour Scene, Mod hair & the ghost of Ronnie Lane
Steve Cradock’s touring with Ocean Colour Scene in 2026 and in his own show, Travellers Tunes, with his wife and son Steve – “we’re like the Von Trapps!” This highly original night involves them “living like gypsies in the spirit of Ronnie Lane”. He looks back here, from his psychedelic Mod-shrine converted garage in Totnes, at the first shows he ever saw and played, which touches on … …seein
Mary Coughlan, onstage from the age of five - ‘Applause and lemonade!’
Mary Coughlan – aka “Ireland’s Billie Holiday”, adored by Nick Cave, Shane MacGowan and Elvis Costello - is on tour again in 2026. This warm, funny and circuitous conversation looks back from her home in Wicklow at the first shows she ever saw and played and various milestones along the road, among them … … singing Two Little Orphans (aged 5) at a Christmas party: “The adrenaline rush! Applau
Pet Shop Boys at 40, missing folk star found! & rock stars’ childhood bedrooms
‘January,’ a revered pop lyricist once wrote, ‘sick and tired you've been hanging on me.’ And if that’s the mood down your way, this might help crank up the heat, alighting as it does upon the following … … Guns N’Roses and the imperial age of the pop video: director Nigel Dick remembers the $750,000 budget … ‘lost elfin Scots superstar’: missing Incredible String Band member found
From Dylan to Chappell Roan, pop’s 60-year obsession with Brigitte Bardot
Cartwheeling into 2026 with the usual cast of rock and roll heroes and pantomime villains. Behind you this week you’ll find … … Boy George? Rick Wakeman? Chas Smash? Vanilla Ice? Pop stars who’ve done panto … will there ever be another Rock Knighthood? … Dylan, Elton, Chrissie Hynde and Lil Wayne mention Brigitte Bardot in songs: but who’s seen any of her films? … “the Brigitte
Peter Hammill, Van Der Graaf Generator and what makes them unique
Peter Hammill has spent nearly six decades building the most devoted following imaginable – Bowie, Peter Gabriel and Mark E Smith among them. ‘Rock And Role’ tells his invigorating story, beautifully illustrated with photos, cuttings, artwork and memorabilia. Author Joe Banks looks back at his life, impact and captivating way with words, and stops off at … … the value of looks and chari
Do all panned albums end up loved? And what’s the most significant record sleeve?
Deck the halls with cheese and Bolly! … and a dish of the usual rock and roll distraction which this week throws the following logs on the fire … … the greatest Xmas single ever? … Metal Machine Music, Cut the Crap, Two Sides of the Moon … can panned records ever be rehabilitated? … how Roxy Music invented ‘rock brand-value’ and turned it into pictures … Joe Ely and the romance
Paul Kelly – ‘national treasure!’ - and the song that took 30 years
Beloved Australian songwriter Paul Kelly has just turned 70 – “it sounds Biblical, threescore years and ten.” He looks back here at the road he took to get there, from early days in Adelaide to the pub circuit to his catalogueof stirring and eloquent songs about the big issues of life and love, as Neil Finn says, “with not a trace of pretence or fakery”. You’ll find … … the moment he felt he’
Lucinda Williams is fighting on every front
Lucinda Williams was a teenage activist singing We Shall Overcome at protest marches and she’s taken up the cudgels again on her new album World’s Gone Wrong. She talks to us here from her home in Nashville about … … early inspirations - Dylan, Donovan, Joan Baez, Peter Paul & Mary, Buffy Sainte-Marie – and her love of Sandy Denny, Bert Jansch, Nick Drake and ‘60s British folk … play
Beastie Boys, Frankie, teds, punks, raves - ‘moral panics’ remembered!
Shock, horror, public outcry and moments of moral turpitude plus with the usual news, rants and old hokum, which this week alights upon … … why Gene Simmons thinks “musicians are treated worse than slaves” ... the high noon of Madonna and her foil-wrapped Sex book … is Rufus Wainwright pop’s most successful nepo-baby? … how CMAT forced Bertie Ahern to pull out of the Irish Pres
Punk Rock recalled by Chris Sullivan - can music STILL be outrageous?
What’s the word ‘punk’ come to mean 50 years later? It’s been adopted by the very people it sought to unsettle. Chris Sullivan – DJ, club runner, lecturer, former band-leader – arrived in London just as it kicked off and looks back at a time when everything was a challenge, no-one apologised, outsiders linked up and fought for recognition, and pop culture could change overnight. We talk to him her
UK Subs’ Charlie Harper (81) has served 50 years in the punk wars. Give this man a medal!
UK Subs formed in 1976 when Charlie Harper was 32. They’ve had over 80 members, some of whom he can’t remember. They never split up and are touring in 2026 to celebrate his 82nd birthday. “I vowed I’d keep playing as long at the Stones - which I’m now starting to regret!” After 50 years on the punk frontline, he’s the first to see the humour in going deaf and “having to have the occasional sit-dow
Fairytale of New York's full story & the imperishable genius of Steve Cropper
The boys of the NYPD choir are still singing Galway Bay, so pour yourself a measure of the Rare Old Mountain Dew and warm your toes on the following … … Steve Lillywhite (in Bali!) remembers making Fairytale Of New York and how “a fiery redhead” kicked the Chrissie Hynde duet into touch … the most recent singer-songwriter you could call “a ledge”? … records we loved in our 20s but n
The Beatles versus Capitol Records and ‘the greatest marketing hype in history’
In 1963, Capitol Records considered the Beatles “a band who looked and sounded weird with an odd name and no leader” and refused to release their records in America, despite being owned by EMI. As author Andrew Cook points out, “the truth is stranger than fiction”. New correspondence unearthed in his fascinating Capitol Gains maps out the tortuous wranglings of the deal-makers and “pantomime bad g
The Undertones are 50! And no-one’s more amazed than Damian O’Neill
Glorious news! The Undertones, dependable symbols of eternal youth, are setting out on a 50th anniversary tour in 2026, still playing Teenage Kicks and Here Comes the Summer in their mid-60s. Damian O’Neill joined when he was 14 and can’t believe it either. He looks back here at … … their first gig in a scout hall - “Feargal was a Scout leader!” - and their second for 1,000 schoolkids at St J
Jimmy Cliff, unseen Beatles and the greatest bassline on record!
Twenty pounds of headlines plus rants, theories and the odd slice of old hokum: served hot. Which this week involves … … Jimmy Cliff and how his versatility worked against him … the Conjuror? Eyeball Tickler? The Concert in the Egg? Hieronymus Bosch painting or late-period Oasis B-side? … Motown, Jacksons, Beatles, Chili Peppers? What’s the greatest bassline on record? … what y
Boo Hewerdine’s funny and alarming account of real life on the road
Boo Hewerdine, beloved singer-songwriter, has been onstage for 40 years in venues of every type, shape and size. He thinks of himself as a “tradesman”, a world that’s immensely satisfying but a tough call. This very funny, poignant podcast paints a vivid picture of the best and worst of times. Which include … … playing scout huts, libraries, churches, folk clubs and the Palladium … the w
Legendary duos who met by chance, RIP Mani & ironing to gangsta rap
News, rants, theories and curios which this week includes …. … how Mani made the Stone Roses swing … Mick & Keith, Meg & Jack, Hall & Oates, Neil & Chris … ‘Sliding Doors’ encounters that changed the landscape … the glorious sound of profanity on records! … what makes you a legend in county music? … the subtle genius of Nicky Hopkins’ session work .. w
Kula Shaker’s Crispian Mills had a colourful childhood
Crispian Mills knew he’d be onstage as he’s from a “family of professional show-offs” but they begged him not to be an actor. He talks here about his extraordinary showbusiness childhood and the band that emerged from it full of psychedelia, echoes of the East and warm invitations to join the First Congregational Church of Eternal Love and Free Hugs. Along with … … his mother Hayley Mills pla
