Rock 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 are the British so hung up about posh pop stars? ⦠the 10-second moment of his stage routine that Springsteen must find addictive ⦠the flaming bra, the flying dress, the human horse: Lady Gagaās most OTT entrances .. would YOU want Madonna as a sister-in-law? ⦠Fleetwood Mac, the Grateful Dead, the Bee Gees: bands the NME said were finished in 1975 ⦠John Paul Jones in Marks and Sparks ⦠musiciansā houses weād most like to live in (actually oneās a lifeboat) ⦠the goth/fantasy allure of Steve Nicks on TikTok ⦠and the still-haunting times we died onstage ālike a louse in a Russianās beardā. Plus Noel Coward, Julie Andrews, Jem Finer, birthday guest Phil Turner and Tony Bennettās favourite meal.Help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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52:50
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52:50
Bowie, Boy George and the rise of the riotous Blitz club with Robert Elms
Londonās 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 and many writers, designers and photographers. The author and broadcaster Robert Elms was one of its cornerstones, āa place for people whoād outgrown the 20th Centuryā. We talk here about his book āBlitz: the Club That Created the ā80sā with all of this on the dancefloor ⦠⦠the Blitz Club rules, āunspoken until Steve Strange spoke themā. And the door policy: āLook at yourself, darling. Would YOU let yourself in?ā ⦠first nights āwith a Space Cossack shirt and asymmetric wedgeā and the origin of the term New Romantic ⦠the rise of the āhome-made Macaronisā (dictionary definition: āover-dressed popinjays of dubious sexualityā) ⦠Bowieās Starman, Roxy, soul, disco, Weimar, Max Ernst, Otto Dix, Edith Piaf, Swinging London, Andy Warhol and other keys strands of Blitz DNA ⦠its anti-rock stance and impact on the mid-ā80s American charts ⦠the news-friendly night Mick Jagger was barred entry ⦠āI was spat at by an old lady at a bus stop for wearing eyeliner and a kiltā ⦠when Island offered Spandau a deal after just three numbers ⦠the role of the Face, Smash Hits and the new full-colour media ⦠the authorās ādilettanteā passage through skinhead, suedehead, soul boy and punk ⦠and the night Bowie appeared, ālike Jesus walking into your local church and sitting in a pewā. Order āBlitz: The Club That Created the 80sā here:https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/blitz-the-club-that-created-the-eighties-robert-elms/e672041a84e0cde9?ean=9780571394180&next=t&next=tFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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32:18
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32:18
The Prince story by 200 people who knew him - and John McKie
Princeās commercial peak was Purple Rain but John McKie thinks Sign Oā The Times was his creative masterpiece and tracked down over 200 collaborators, girlfriends, āPrince whisperersā, assistants and admirers to piece together the story of its construction (without allowing himself to use the word āgeniusā). Which leads us up some colourful, spot-lit alleys, among them ⦠⦠āa man in suspenders playing funkā: why a disastrous support slot on the ā81 Stones tour was pivotal moment ⦠Mozart/Salieri levels of rivalry: he once told a Paisley Park engineer to stop singing Culture Club āas thatās the competitionā ... battles with Warners president Lenny Waronker: āhe believed he was right and the rest were wrongā ⦠ācreative incontinenceā: an autocrat in need of an editor ⦠bodyguard āBig Chickā Huntsberry, performative stunts and the BRITS moment that immortalised him ⦠the controlling, manipulative nature of anyone who can play 27 instruments ⦠āhe changed his cars to match the colour of his album campaignsā ⦠artistic parallels with his hero Joni Mitchell ⦠why he loved comedians in the way he loved jazz musicians ⦠what we know about his āsecretā wives Mayte Garcia and Manuela Testolini ⦠and the four acts with eternal mystery ā Prince, Bowie, Dylan, Dolly Parton. Order āPrince: A Sign Oā The Times here:https://www.waterstones.com/book/prince-a-sign-o-the-times/john-mckie/9781785121944Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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39:07
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39:07
The 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 Kings Road store that was a magnet for rockās glitterati in the late 60s.ā¢ā ā Sheila Cohen, the first queen of cool; she invented the whole idea of vintageā¢ā ā Nigel Waymouth, who never went to art school but changed the face of London with his postersā¢ā ā John Pearse, who could make a jacket out of anything - and didā¢ā ā The days of aatering to the 200 fashionable people in Londonā¢ā ā Why the Beatles, Stones and Pink Floyd beat a path to Grannyās doorā¢ā ā How the three walked away in 1969, the shops were exported to the USAā¢ā ā How GTAT became the outfitter of choice for the rock aristocracyā¢ā ā Some of its clothes are immortal thanks to album covers from Lou Reed, the Isleys and Todd Rundgrenā¢ā ā All the rest are in secure storagePaulās book, which is lavishly illustrated and contains a pictorial catalogue of the wardrobe of the Rolling Stones, is here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Granny-Takes-Trip-Fashion-Boutique/dp/1399623613You can read a preview here: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Granny_Takes_a_Trip/_SZSEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT6&printsec=frontcoverThe Rolling Stones London 1962-71 map can be found at: https://www.herblester.com/products/down-the-road-apiece-the-rolling-stones-londonFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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34:42
Danny Thompsonās bass adventures, Dylanās 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 magical bass adventures of Danny Thompson (and the time he headlined over the Beatles) ⦠how Claudia Cardinale wound up on the sleeve of Blonde On Blonde ⦠would Roxy Music have made it if their albums had been released in brown paper bags? ⦠how TikTok is destroying the āsuperfanā ⦠do late night TV hosts need us more than we need them? ⦠Boris Johnson chose the Clash? Charles Kennedy chose Toploader? Theresa May chose āIn These Shoesā by Kirsty MacColl? MPs on Desert Island Discs ⦠packaged goods: how CDs removed musicās greatest marketing tool ⦠the peculiar life of Johnny Carson ⦠have you ever bought an album solely on the strength of its cover? ⦠and Carmel, Andrew Ridgeley, Jay Lenoās pay packet and birthday guest Jon Pickles on high-impact sleeve art.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation 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.