Legendary duos who met by chance, RIP Mani & ironing to gangsta rap
News, rants, theories and curios which this week includes ā¦. ā¦ how Mani made the Stone Roses swing ā¦ Mick & Keith, Meg & Jack, Hall & Oates, Neil & Chris ā¦ āSliding Doorsā encounters that changed the landscape ā¦ the glorious sound of profanity on records! ā¦ what makes you a legend in county music? ā¦ the subtle genius of Nicky Hopkinsā session work .. would Elvis have happened without Marion Keisker? ā¦ Willie Nelson ā āa face like Mount Rushmore, a voice like the whole hinterland of Americaā ā¦ ever catch yourself listening to something and think āhow would I explain this to an observer?ā ā¦ the music you hear when 14 stays with you all your life ā¦ the singles charts of 1978 ā Terry Wogan next to John Otway! Arthur Mullard and the Stranglers! Nick Lowe and Allyās Tartan Army! ā¦ why Lucinda Williams is an open book ā¦ when XTC went pastoral ā¦ 42 year-old hears Clear Spot and Raw Power for the first time! ... plus the Wrecking Crew, a Libertines Xmas sweater, birthday guest Dean Roderick and the time Emmylou Harris had two puddings. Pigās Boogie by the Jerry Garcia Band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd0357IsE9kHelp us to keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Kula Shakerās Crispian Mills had a colourful childhood
Crispian Mills knew heād be onstage as heās from a āfamily of professional show-offsā 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 ā¦ ā¦ his mother Hayley Mills playing him Tubular Bells to get him to sleep - āprofoundly scaryā ā¦ Roman Polanskiās āspecialā Marlboro cigarettes when filming Tess in Brittany ā¦ grandfather John Mills being ādiscoveredā by Noel Coward in Singapore and memories of him playing Gershwin and Cole Porter on the piano ā¦ āyou need talent and hard work but nobody makes it without luckā ā¦ what the record store hippie told him when he bought Deep Purple In Rock aged 12 ā¦ leather jacket, polka dot shirt, Brian Jones bowl haircut, My Bloody Valentine gig ā āIād found my tribe!ā ā¦ supporting Oasis at Knebworth ā āI couldnāt see how they were going to cut itā ā¦ Adam and the Ants, Rock Me Amadeus and playing Ramones songs in the school band ā¦ returning from Rishikesh in 1995 and watching the Beatlesā Super-8 clips: āas if weād been on the same holidayā ā¦ nostalgia for the big TV and radio events of the ā90s ā¦ Shirley Mansonās speech about the ātragedyā of the 21st C music business ā¦ and Kula Shakerās Mad Alchemy Liquid Light Show ā āoil slides, pure analogue!ā Tickets for their 2026 tour here: https://kulashaker.co.uk/pages/liveHelp us to keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Beach Boysā story gets more tangled by the minute
āAll bands are sad stories,ā Peter Doggett points out, but is there a more woven, moving and, at times, farcical tale than that of the Beach Boys? It gives the sound of them a greater melancholy and resonance with every passing year. As his fascinating new book Surfās Up reveals, nothing that happened is straightforward and very little as simple as it sounds. We talk here about ā¦ ā¦ Dennis Wilson and the Beach Boysā creation myth ā¦ what started their revival ā¦ why theyād never have survived beyond 1962 without Mike Love ā¦ was Derek Taylorās āBrian is a geniusā campaign partly to explain his procrastination and eccentricity? ā¦ the chaos of SMiLE and the long shadow of the Beatles ā¦ Murry Wilsonās āsuperstarā ambitions and original plan for the group ā¦ the days when they looked like Old Testament prophets or hippies from Central Casting ā¦ Dennis and Manson, Carl v the draft, Mike Loveās arrest ā¦ scandals that would have sunk them in the days of social media ā¦ the āBrian as victim tropeā and his extraordinary appearance on āThe Tension Behind the Musicā ā¦ when Bart Simpson turned them down ā¦ can anyone name a good Beach Boys album cover? ā¦ and the bandās future, a controlled touring franchise with no original members Order Peter Doggettās āSurfās Up: Brian Wilson & the Beach Boysā here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Surfs-Up-Brian-Wilson-Beach/dp/1917923341Help us to keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What makes a rock star a āledgeā & the daft rituals of the ā70s disco
Five decades of rock and roll with none of the names redacted. In the despatches this week ā¦ ā¦ Kevin Rowland? Adam Ant? Toyah? Morrissey? Which Smash Hits cover stars are now ālegendsā? ā¦ a classic encounter with Van Morrison down a Bristol alley ā¦ the boy who mailed dead rodents and Boomtown Rats singles to radio stations became Pope Leo XIV! ā¦ 25 recent big-name Hollywood films all flopped. Are robots the new movie stars?ā¦ was Sticky Fingers the last Stones album with songs? ā¦ best nights out for a tenner ā¦ RIP Gilson Lavis and Donna Godchaux ... the daft rituals of the ā70s āslow danceā ā¦ when Percy Sledge was a hospital porter ā¦ āRun for your life, itās Eater!ā ā¦ Tom Waitsā on-brand luggage, Boo Hewerdine and birthday guest Mike Sketch on the joy of gigs on your own (and in a scout hut in Staveley).Help us to keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Rockās fascination with the Third Reich exposed by Daniel Rachel
Musicians have flirted with Nazi imagery since the ā60s, lampooning its theatre, absorbing its style, exploiting its shock value, even promoting its ideology. Daniel Rachelās new book āThis Aināt Rock āNā Rollā points up extraordinary examples ā āfrom Tommy Steele to Kanye Westā - and how our reaction intensified over the years. Which leads us to ā¦ ā¦ parallels between stadium rock and the Nuremberg rallies ā¦ hearing the Sex Pistolsā Belsen Was A Gas and seeing their Nazi insignia at the age of 12 ā¦ David Bowieās German memorabilia and belief that āHitler was the first rock and roll superstarā ā and the doctored photo of his āNazi saluteā at Victoria Station ā¦ Bernie Rhodes versus Malcolm McLaren on the āreclaiming of the swastikaā ā¦ the lyrics and imagery of the Siouxsie & the Banshees ā¦ Viv Stanshall and Keith Moonās atrocious visit to Golders Green ... the German invention of the tape machine that started the record business ā¦ āIām not the Simon Wiesenthal of rock and roll!ā ā¦ Joy Division, New Order, K-Pop, Brian Jones and his SS uniform, Ron Asheton of the Stooges, John Lennon, Lemmy, Blue Oyster Cult, āAdolf Hitler on vibesāā¦ āRock and Roll has a duty to recognise its downfallsā. Order āThis Aināt Rock āNā Roll: Pop Music, the Swastika and the Third Reichā here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/this-aint-rock-n-roll/daniel-rachel/9781399635721Help us to keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mark Ellen and David Hepworth have been talking about and writing about music together and individually for a collective eighty years in magazines like Smash Hits, Mojo and The Word and on radio and TV programmes like "Rock On", "Whistle Test" and VH-1.Over thirteen years ago, when working on the late magazine The Word, they began producing podcasts. Some listeners have been kind enough to say these have been very special to them. When the magazine folded in 2012 they kept the spirit of those podcasts alive in regular Word In Your Ear evenings in which they spoke to musicians and authors in front of an audience. Over these years they've produced hundreds of hours of material. As of the Current Unpleasantness of 2020, they've produced yet hundreds of hours more with a little help from guests kind enough to digitally show them around their attics such as Danny Baker, Andy Partridge, Sir Tim Rice and Mark Lewisohn. For the full span of the Word In Your Ear world, visit wiyelondon.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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