Word In Your Ear

36
Music Commentary #246

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.

Get bonus content on Patreon

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

More
Recent Episodes
  • Swinging London & the Wombles seen from an electric-blue Rolls-Royce. Mike Batt looks back
    Sep 20, 2024 – 30:10
  • Joe Boyd – Little Richard, Nick Drake, Tight Fit and why everything sounds the way it does
    Sep 18, 2024 – 48:18
  • Screaming Jay Hawkins 75, Dave Grohl 1
    Sep 16, 2024 – 46:11
  • One Day author David Nicholls – prog rock, Live Aid and making tapes for girls
    Sep 13, 2024 – 35:11
  • Nick Lowe – war stories, wise decisions and the event in 1970 that made him think again
    Sep 12, 2024 – 32:27
  • The Buskers’ Hall of Fame – from Moondog and Billy Bragg to Don Partridge and “the skating Sikh”.
    Sep 10, 2024 – 39:03
  • Who should follow John Lydon with a Spoken Word spectacular?
    Sep 9, 2024 – 38:09
  • David Hepworth on the glory, comedy and tragedy of rock stars who can't retire
    Sep 4, 2024 – 53:13
  • The Oasis reunion – feuds, cash, symbolism and the desire to repair our imperfect lives
    Aug 31, 2024 – 33:36
  • Are comedians more competitive than rock stars?
    Aug 28, 2024 – 44:15
  • Johnny Beatle’, early Blondie, Led Zeppelin’s plane and seven fabulous years at the Melody Maker.
    Aug 22, 2024 – 45:55
  • One-word rock star mimicry, bands who shouldn’t reform & the best thing about Taylor Swift
    Aug 19, 2024 – 42:01
  • The extraordinary story of Arthur Lee, Love and the 1966 flop which became a hit for the ages
    Aug 15, 2024 – 34:04
  • Buddy Holly airlines and the inimitable Bob Dylan
    Aug 12, 2024 – 38:59
  • “Pop music is 80 per cent about hair”, remaking classic albums and why CDs are so hard to love
    Aug 4, 2024 – 50:25
  • Queen, Bowie and other residents of Rockfield Studios remembered by the cook’s daughter
    Aug 2, 2024 – 31:59
  • 57 years of Fleetwood Mac: author Mark Blake's fond encounters and fresh revelations
    Jul 31, 2024 – 45:56
  • Ron Sexsmith doesn’t need a teleprompter. He can do 40 Dylan songs at the drop of a hat
    Jul 30, 2024 – 35:14
  • Without John Mayall … no Cream, Fleetwood Mac, Status Quo or Led Zeppelin?
    Jul 29, 2024 – 52:36
  • Best album sleeves, what’s ruined singing and pop as ‘empowerment porn’
    Jul 21, 2024 – 42:19
  • Who is Lawrence and why did Will Hodgkinson write a whole book about him?
    Jul 18, 2024 – 38:42
  • Backstage at Live Aid, the first Knebworth and bands that don’t get on
    Jul 15, 2024 – 52:54
  • How Joni Mitchell joined the boys’ club and why we don’t need a comeback – by Ann Powers
    Jul 12, 2024 – 46:21
  • Twist And Shout? Spiral Scratch? Corey duBrowa celebrates the best and rarest EPs ever made
    Jul 8, 2024 – 38:51
  • What songs should be longer or shorter?
    Jul 7, 2024 – 45:26
  • Dylan Jones – Clegg’s women, Hague’s pints and “the wiring behind celebrity culture”
    Jul 3, 2024 – 37:34
  • Happy accidents, whooping at gigs and why the album review star system doesn’t work anymore
    Jun 30, 2024 – 49:32
  • Pop football chants, Reg ‘Reg’ Snipton sings Joni Mitchell & the tale of John Lennon’s watch
    Jun 24, 2024 – 51:39
  • Only Clare Grogan knows how it feels to burst onstage from a giant birthday cake
    Jun 21, 2024 – 38:36
  • The wit and charisma of Kate Bush by Graeme Thomson: going too far makes you what you are
    Jun 18, 2024 – 43:46
  • For the love of Françoise Hardy, Ben Sidran and the TV comedy Twenty Twelve
    Jun 17, 2024 – 41:18
  • Stewart Lee knows the rigours of ‘animal costume work’ and why great comedy is about shock
    Jun 15, 2024 – 48:50
  • How Springsteen went “six deep”, fictional rock hacks and who’s more conservative than Liam Gallagher?
    Jun 11, 2024 – 46:24
  • Jon Savage - Dusty’s wig, Bowie’s bombshell and how gay pop culture changed music
    Jun 9, 2024 – 34:04
  • “Abba’s success is more about us than them”: Giles Smith looks back at a 50-year love affair
    Jun 8, 2024 – 37:38
  • the Architect of Mod: how Peter Meaden restyled and launched the Who - by Steve Turner
    Jun 6, 2024 – 39:49
  • Great album trilogies, suing Madonna and "the pantheon of psychedelic heaviosity"
    Jun 3, 2024 – 47:11
  • The spectacular Dead & Co, songs performed backwards & happy birthday Diamond Dogs!
    May 26, 2024 – 43:29
  • Why They Might Be Giants now perform an entire song backwards
    May 22, 2024 – 27:04
  • Guy Chambers - writing with Robbie, a tangle with Bowie & half a bagel with Paul McCartney
    May 21, 2024 – 36:35
  • Alan Edwards, pop PR – ‘Bowie was like King Arthur and the Spice Girls like the Pistols’
    May 20, 2024 – 42:16
  • Rock’s image-makers, men on dancefloors and why bands can’t act like bands anymore
    May 19, 2024 – 55:09
  • Paul Carrack has seen it all – beat, soul, prog, pub rock, pop & the perfect ‘slow burn’ career.
    May 16, 2024 – 37:30
  • Nige Tassell was so obsessed with Dexys he’s tracked down all 24 ex-members
    May 15, 2024 – 35:19
  • Why Nick Mason’s “cottage industry” band plays just early Pink Floyd
    May 14, 2024 – 27:29
  • Let It Be revisited, the wisdom of Steve Albini and a woeful tale about Steve Marriott
    May 12, 2024 – 53:26
  • The genius of Little Feat, the Man with the Twang & pop’s greatest scandal in the making
    May 5, 2024 – 46:14
  • Steve Diggle of the Buzzcocks remembers the day “a terrible beauty was born”
    May 3, 2024 – 30:18
  • Rock snobbery, the seven wives of Gregg Allman & the greatest solo on a pop record
    Apr 29, 2024 – 1:03:52
  • Harold Bronson of Rhino Records kept a 40-year rock and roll diary…
    Apr 28, 2024 – 39:55
Recent Reviews
  • jenzahara
    Calm down?
    Maybe the host was very excited to talk to the guest, but maybe also he could calm down, because interrupting the interviewee multiple times when he's answering you is very annoying. Then they put the ad break literally in the middle of a sentece. Poor.
  • SpongeBobbyHil589
    Snobby
    Snobby
  • Fffffffjjkhvc
    More Tube stories please.
    What a brilliant listen Jah Wobble’s brief experience on the Underground was….especially the bit where he was training as a guard/driver. More pop stars in public transport job stories please.
  • Number37
    Too much hot air.
    Make it shorter, much of the ‘banter’ is excruciatingly dull.
  • gooofpronanaspendradilly
    Love the concept…
    Love the guests, love the info… but for god’s sake will you two rude old farts LET YOUR GUESTS FINISH THEIR SENTENCES!! Go back and listen to how many times you interrupt a perfectly interesting train of thought or comment from your guests with another question.
  • Scot T. G.
    Always great but buffer that theme!
    Always loved this podcast. Still amazing, insightful, educational, great guests. But that infernal acoustic intro/outro is ear-piercing & louder than the voices we love to listen to (mark & david’s). Can some high-end be EQ’d out, or bring level down just a touch? Thankfully those bumpers are short. Love David’s theories he comes up with, and he’s usually always right. Stackwaddy game never disappoints!
  • jpitt32
    Great
    Great Podcast!
  • DaveyWavey-9666
    Sometimes too much Beatles
    I like the podcast and even find it, but they talk about the Beatles a lot, and I mean a lot.
  • Ave L
    Like a fine wine
    Still hugely enjoyable after all these years. Rapidly getting into Grumpy Old Men territory but all the better for it.
  • bhoyo
    Time well spent
    Like a particularly good afternoon down the pub with two old mates (two knowledgeable, opinionated and funny old mates). Life-affirming and delightful -- and they probably always get their rounds in.
  • Lit plastic
    One of the mandatory music podcasts
    I’ve been listening to the Word in Your Ear podcast since it was the Word podcast and I was a subscriber to the magazine. I really enjoy Mark and David’s take on music and culture and I know you will. They really know what they’re talking about and they do it in a funny and insightful way. I count this podcast, the Sodajerker on Songwriting and the Rockonteurs as just mandatory musical info and enjoyment. I’m always happy when I see a new episode has been uploaded.
Similar Podcasts
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork on this page are property of the podcast owner, and not endorsed by UP.audio.