Shows / Word In Your Ear
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…
Episodes
Word In Your EarDavid Bowie and why we need him more than ever. Paul Morley looks back in wonder
David Bowie’s significance just keeps expanding and the look and sound of him never age. Paul Morley has been gripped from the start and his new book ‘Far…
Word In Your Ear‘Bob Dylan is my father’ - and why Sam Sussman is convinced it’s true.
Sam Sussman’s mother Fran had a year-long love affair with Dylan when he was working on Blood on the Tracks – she’s mentioned in Tangled Up In Blue – and they…
Word In Your EarThompson Twins’ Tom Bailey had a ‘manifesto for success’. Here’s how it worked
Tom Bailey’s been based in New Zealand for the last 30 years, making records, DJing and avoiding British winters. He tours the UK in 2026 playing the Thompson…
Word In Your EarCowbells, maracas, gongs, castanets – classic percussion parts demonstrated!
The raw ingredients of this week’s news gently diced, simmered and served as a nutritious broth. And flavoured with the following … … why Lily Allen’s divorce…
Word In Your EarThe Smiths’ Mike Joyce on triumph, gladioli & Morrissey when he was still ‘Steve’
Morrissey and Marr both wrote memoirs but Mike Joyce hasn’t read either, preferring to publish ‘The Drums’, his version of one of the great success stories of…
Word In Your EarRecords that sound unique and why all bands need a backlash
Boarding this week’s giddy carousel of news, we ride the following ponies … … the Sliding Doors moment that made a ‘50s star a fortune … Soft Cell’s Dave Ball…
Word In Your EarPaul Young – “Big in the ‘80s! What lucky bastards we were!’
Paul Young was the bassist in a pub band playing Led Zeppelin and Patto covers ‘til his solo soul and blues slot launched him as a singer. He’s still touring…
Word In Your EarBilly Bragg – 40 years, 2,700 gigs and what he learnt from Taylor Swift
‘Billy Bragg: A People’s History’ is just out, a new and wholly original kind of memoir written by himself, friends, collaborators and fans, and packed with…
Word In Your EarMark Kermode tells us stories about music in movies
The Graduate, Trainspotting, Jaws, Star Wars, Citizen Kane – films you can’t picture without thinking of the music. Mark Kermode has been gripped by the…
Word In Your EarHow many bands can you name every member of?
This week’s news put through the wringer and hung out to dry. On the line you’ll find … … Taylor Swift and Ophelia and other things pop videos turned into…
Word In Your EarThe Zombies’ Colin Blunstone – a psychedelic showpiece then ‘washed up’ aged 21
The Zombies formed before the Stones and had huge hits with She’s Not There and Time Of The Season. Their baroque masterpiece Odessey and Oracle now gets…
Word In Your EarLed Zeppelin’s fight for attention and how they fudged their backstory
This lavish, beautifully designed collection of late ‘60s news stories, reviews and press clippings sheds new light on the band’s roots and ascent from the…
Word In Your EarStones, Blondie, Iggy and songs that make a movie & why we loved Diane Keaton
Shifting the pass-the-parcel of news and removing the wrapping when the music stops. Which this week happens here … … will rock bands get offered the Saudi…
Word In Your EarRingo and why the Beatles wouldn’t have worked without him
The look, sound, story and dynamic of the Beatles can’t be imagined without him. Nor can their success. Tom Doyle, author and drummer, examines the unexplored…
Word In Your EarRock stars we envy, Madonna as a sister-in-law & the British obsession with poshness
Steering the supercar of enquiry round the rock and roll racetrack with the occasional stop for a tyre change. Foot-to-floor moments this week include… … why…
Word In Your EarBowie, Boy George and the rise of the riotous Blitz club with Robert Elms
London’s Blitz club in 1980 had a huge impact on the way the decade looked and sounded, the launchpad for Boy George, Spandau Ballet, a new age of electro-pop…
Word In Your EarThe Prince story by 200 people who knew him - and John McKie
Prince’s commercial peak was Purple Rain but John McKie thinks Sign O’ The Times was his creative masterpiece and tracked down over 200 collaborators…
Word In Your EarThe three London kids who invented rock style
Paul Gorman, biographer of Malcolm McLaren and friend of the pod, tells the extraordinary story of the three young hipsters behind Granny Takes A Trip, the…
Word In Your EarDanny Thompson’s bass adventures, Dylan’s women, TV satire and great sleeve art.
News, rants, theories, stories and assorted old hokum which this week stumbles into … … Kate Bush, Thunderbirds, Tim Buckley, the Blind Boys of Alabama … the…
Word In Your EarThea Gilmore on Joan Baez, Jake Thackray and Dave Pegg’s dog starting her career
We’ve always liked Thea Gilmore who once crossed America with Joan Baez in a pre-Election campaign tour and has released 21 albums (“I’ve got musical ADHD!)”…
Word In Your EarHow pioneer tape-rat Roger Armstrong found vintage America a whole new audience
Roger Armstrong co-founded the legendary Rock On record shop and was running the Chiswick label long before the punk rock explosion of independents, a believer…
Word In Your EarWhy Van and Fairport make the perfect send-off, Robert Redford & the best-looking rock stars
On the menu at the rock and roll state banquet … … Into the Mystic, Meet On The Ledge, In My Life, Tom Waits’ Take It With Me and other perfect songs for a…
Word In Your EarJohn Prine, Elvis Costello and a jukebox on fire
Novelist and journalist Tom Piazza struck up a friendship with the irreplaceable John Prine in the last years of his life. This relationship, which began as a…
Word In Your EarAlex's star-studded week in Hollywood
Having disposed of the surprising history of pop stars who posed for Playboy, discussing whether the universe really needs another album called "Play", come up…
Word In Your EarPeter Hammill on Bowie, other superfans & 47 albums of ‘self-sabotage and chaos’.
Peter Hammill, adored by Bowie, Mark E Smith and many others, co-founded Van Der Graaf Generator when he was 19. And he’s made 47 albums since, powered by…
Word In Your EarTalking Heads, where they came from and where they went - with Jonathan Gould
Has there ever been a group like Talking Heads? Jonathan Gould’s Burning Down The House explores their affluent background, the root of their ambition and the…
Word In Your EarFreddie Mercury has a daughter’ – and Lesley-Ann Jones can prove it
Freddie Mercury had an affair with a close friend’s wife and, in 1977, became a father. He’s now a grandfather. That’s the foundation of a new book ‘Love…
Word In Your EarOasis in 2026, the Troggs and what Morrissey’s only gone and done now!
All the leaves are brown and the sky’s a bit unruly but mellow fruitfulness abounds in this week’s pick of the rock and roll news. Add to basket … … is…
Word In Your Ear‘Hey Joe’, its miracle birth & why violent songs are like True Crime - by Jason Schneider
Immortalised by Hendrix, ‘Hey Joe’ had its roots in 18th century murder ballads, ‘60s folk and rock clubs before the world got to hear it. Jason Schneider…
Word In Your EarMaddy Prior of Steeleye Span drove Rev Gary Davis round Britain in a Triumph Herald
Maddy Prior – folk royalty, an absolute hero of ours – is touring with Steeleye Span again this autumn 66 years after they started, a life someone should make…
Word In Your EarWhy reviews lost their sting - and what matters more, the song or the record?
Our pencil-chewing, critical assessment of this week’s news gets mainly * and *** reviews, among them … …. Sting v Summers & Copeland over Every Breath You…
Word In Your EarDebsey Wykes of Dolly Mixture wants you to read her teenage diary
Debsey Wykes was in Dolly Mixture, one of the very few all-girl groups in post-punk London, a time when bands with charisma won the battle for attention and…
Word In Your EarSingers’ vast egos explained and what’s the real definition of ‘a fan’?
A tub-thumping, snare-cracking, cymbal-simmering, two-way backbeat to this week’s rock and roll news, the on-beats including … … “Trauma-bonding?” Why being ‘a…
Word In Your EarNeil Hannon - the Divine Comedy, the Father Ted saga & nights at the Indie Disco
How can you not love the Divine Comedy whose inspirations include Tom Lehrer and “Landfill Indie”? And Neil Hannon wrote music for Wonka, Father Ted and the IT…
Word In Your EarTanita Tikaram - from ‘girl with guitar in bedroom’ to Hammersmith Odeon in six months
Tanita Tikaram’s second gig had an audience of three – one paying customer and two concert promoters. When one of them wanted to talk to her afterwards she…
Word In Your EarBob Mould remembers Hüsker Dü, Sugar & that guy with the hipster moustache
Bob Mould, whose records with Hüsker Dü had such impact on Nirvana and Pixies, is back on tour again, both solo and with a band. “I’ve built this tiny soap box…
Word In Your EarComedy records, TV gold & have Oasis and Coldplay hoovered up all the cash?
Damping down the wildfires of rock and roll news this week we focus on the following … … Oasis, Taylor Swift and Coldplay and the new age of Winner Takes All ……
Word In Your EarBrian Protheroe on the eternal life of his 1974 hit “Pinball”
Paul Weller has just covered it on his new album. Morrissey played it to Noel Gallagher who took the idea and ran with it. What explains the enduring appeal of…
Word In Your EarTerry Reid, the man who really invented Led Zeppelin, & guitar fetishism
Other, weaker podcasts may take the summer off. Not this one.…the story of Jerry Garcia’s alligator strat, Paul McCartney’s violin bass and the instrument…
Word In Your EarPeter Ames Carlin on the record that made Bruce Springsteen
word-podcast-798-peter-ames-carlinFriend of the pod and chronicler of the careers of Springsteen, Paul Simon and REM, Peter Ames Carlin has heard all the…
Word In Your EarJah Wobble - 40 hilarious unedited minutes interrupted by a pest control officer
Jah Wobble - touring in October - is outstanding company and rattles on here like a steam train, sparking off at tangents in a brilliant, barely steerable…
Word In Your EarElvis, the Colonel & how unseen letters changed Peter Guralnick’s view of their partnership
There’s a widely accepted view of the relationship between Elvis and his manager Tom Parker, the one sustained by the recent Baz Luhrmann movie, but a new and…
Word In Your EarAre the Nineties the new Classic Rock? And whatever happened to comedy records?
Lowering the magnet of curiosity into the scrapyard of news and seeing what’s attracted, which includes … … does anyone still write satirical songs? … Four…
Word In Your EarThe Wedding Present turns 40, memories of John Peel & ‘the only time I ever pogo-ed’
The Wedding Present formed 40 years ago – why does that seem astonishing? - and have a new box set and tour to celebrate. David Gedge digs out his old notes…
Word In Your EarBret McKenzie on Flight of the Conchords, Hollywood and writing songs for frogs and unicorns
Bret McKenzie now mainly works on movie soundtracks, the Simpsons, Minecraft and the Muppets among them, which brings the pure delight of hearing his songs…
Word In Your EarDel Amitri’s Justin Currie has faced every tough crowd imaginable. Lessons were learn
Justin Currie recorded and toured with Del Amitri and solo for 30 years and his travelogue The Tremolo Diaries perfectly captures the rhythm of life on the…
Word In Your EarOzzy Osbourne, Jaws, the lost world of mix tapes & the movies’ most chilling moment
Just when you thought it was safe to listen to a weekly rock and roll podcast … … how Black Sabbath discovered the dark side … why Elvis went onstage with a…
Word In Your EarThe late Nick Drake’s manager on the nine-year project “The Making Of Five Leaves Left”
Cally Colomon looks after the legacy of Nick Drake, who died in 1974 but attracts new teenage admirers all the time. Here he talks to David Hepworth about just…
Word In Your EarSuzi Quatro - how Dad, Elvis and Mickie Most transformed my life
Suzi Quatro’s been onstage from the age of 14 as the bassist in the all-girl showband the Pleasure Seekers and the rock act Cradle. And then moved to England…
Word In Your EarNew Nick Drake tapes, Bob Marley’s masterpiece and the Coldplay ‘kiss-cam’.
A rain-splashed, dub-filled, cash-scattering foray into this week’s news and events which happily lands upon … … meeting Maddy Prior – a Prior engagement? –…
Word In Your EarThe story of David Ackles, who never recovered from putting out “the best album ever made”.
Picked up in the great singer-songwriter sweep of the late 60s and signed to Elektra Records, David Ackles made four albums which went over the heads of the…
Word In Your EarKevin Rowland, Oasis, Velvet Sundown – and do we want the truth or just a good story?
Our patent fact-from-fiction separator goes into overdrive this week though sometimes, as Robert Wyatt observed, Ruth is stranger than Richard. High in the mix…
Word In Your EarJohn Otway – Micro-stardom, 5,000 gigs and how to capture a crowd in 20 seconds
John Otway – self-billed as “Rock And Roll’s Greatest Failure” - has played 5,260 gigs in 53 years, a record possibly only beaten by BB King. There are more…
Word In Your EarPeter Hook looks back at Joy Division, New Order and how not to be a DJ
Peter Hook, bold pioneer of the high, clambering, tune-filled bassline, is touring this autumn with Peter Hook & the Light. We talk to him in Prestatyn - about…
Word In Your EarLive Aid remembered – from inside and out – on its 40th birthday
A 40th anniversary special with two of its presenters (Hepworth and Ellen) and old pal and TV critic Boyd Hilton who watched on the day aged 18 (“young…
Word In Your EarIan Anderson, Jethro Tull and 58 years of one-legged live performance
Ian Anderson is touring again in 2026 and talks to us here about tweed stage-wear, an audience of four, his teenage heroes and the first shows he ever saw and…
Word In Your EarAlbum sleeves the modern world would ban & the best song titles and opening lines
It’s Happy Hour in the Rock and Roll Lounge of News and we’re working our way through anything over 40 per cent proof. Which means ice, a slice and …. … how…
Word In Your EarBobby Bluebell’s thriving third act, ‘80s Glasgow and the gift that keeps on giving
Bobby Bluebell remembers the “cuddly duffle-coat friendship” of Glasgow bands in the early ‘80s and the Bluebells’ second act rebooted by the Volkswagen ad…
Word In Your EarDubmaster Dennis Bovell has had 50 fun-filled years making magical records
Dennis Bovell has worked his dub magic on everyone from Janet Kaye to the Slits, the Pop Group, Jarvis Cocker and Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood – and his own…
Word In Your EarRick Wakeman once signed a contract guaranteeing he’d wear “at least one cape onstage”
Rick Wakeman was onstage from the age of five and looks back with us here on a life of live performance – jazz and blues bands, the Strawbs, Yes – and ahead to…