Debsey 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 you promoted singles on the back of a truck. Her memoir Teenage Daydream perfectly captures a slice of late ā70s life, the thrill of playing the pub circuit and trying to storm Radio One. Along with ⦠⦠the agony of re-reading teenage diaries ⦠being supported by U2 then watching their āannoyingā ascent ⦠Girls With Electric Guitars and why rock hacks couldnāt take them ⦠forming bands for self-expression: āyou reach that moment when all you want to do is scream!ā ⦠āwhen Jean-Jacques Burnel rests his boot on your head you donāt wash your hair for a weekā ⦠early adventures with Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, David Cassidy and Bowie: āCassidy was normal, Bowie was weirdā ⦠diary entries: āthe lead singer of the Only Ones has fantastic legs and glittery plimsollsā ⦠āSugary Sweets Cause Youth Decay!ā: the NMEās withering interview ⦠the satin-and-silk allure of Stevie Nicks ⦠violence at ā70s gigs: āwe were locked in the dressing-room with the sirens going offā ⦠āa cross between the Slits and the Nolansā: John Peelās producerās loathing for Dolly Mixture ⦠the vicious rivalry between ā70s girl singers ⦠letters from her old boss and headmaster after she appeared on Top Of The Pops Order āTeenage Daydream: We Are The Girls Who Play In A Bandā here: https://linktr.ee/new.modern?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=008bc73f-2400-4a67-81df-04fa9758dc06Find 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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Singersā vast egos explained and whatās the real definition of āa fanā?
A tub-thumping, snare-cracking, cymbal-simmering, two-way backbeat to this weekās rock and roll news, the on-beats including ⦠⦠āTrauma-bonding?ā Why being āa fanā is like a love affair ⦠Ian Brown, Morrissey, Siouxsie, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison ⦠why singers who donāt play an instrument are a different species ⦠the stadium-rock drummer transfer window ⦠Sigourney Weaver at Shea Stadium in ā65 ⦠singers who donāt sound like their personalities ⦠what can a singer-songwriter write about if they get famous at 18? ⦠the unreleased Beatles Holy Grail? ⦠can you be a fan of someone younger than you are?Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear ⦠how do you know a drummerās knocking on your door? ⦠plus Leonard Cohen, Phil Oakey and are you ever too old to be wearing a Libertines military tunic? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Neil 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 āLandfill Indieā? And Neil Hannon wrote music for Wonka, Father Ted and the IT Crowd. Thereās a new album, Rainy Sunday Afternoon, and a tour in October and all bases are covered in this conversation from Kildare, these among them ⦠⦠seeing U2 at Croke Park āand feeling as though Iād won the Wonka Golden Ticketā. ⦠favourite bands of the ā80s and ā90s - Pixies, Sugarcubes, Sonic Youth and Ride.⦠the miserably cancelled Father Ted musical and how heās recycled the songs he wrote for it. ⦠a research trip to an Indie Disco with Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian. ⦠how it feels to record at Abbey Road. ⦠his teenage band inventing new words to R.E.M songs in an Enniskillen youth club. ⦠how new songs begin. ⦠supporting Carter USM and Suede, āthe moment I first felt like a pop starā. ⦠Mar-A-Lago, a childhood trip to London and further melancholia on his new album Rainy Sunday Afternoon.⦠rocks on the street in Derry en route to Primary School during the Troubles. ⦠Hepworth and Ellen appearing on a Duckworth Lewis album - ānudging and nurdling!ā ⦠his first stab at āwitty pseudo-intellectual lyricsā. ⦠ānever leave your tour bus, be rehearsed before you start rehearsalsā and other ways touring saves money. ⦠and the five songs he always plays.Divine Comedy tickets here: https://thedivinecomedy.com/livePre-order Rainy Sunday here: https://lnk.to/RainySundayFind 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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Tanita Tikaram - from āgirl with guitar in bedroomā to Hammersmith Odeon in six months
Tanita Tikaramās second gig had an audience of three ā one paying customer and two concert promoters. When one of them wanted to talk to her afterwards she said, āsorry, Iāve got to get the train home.ā She was 17. In this podcast she tells us the story of the one of the fastest career ascents on record which stops off at ⦠⦠an open-mic night with a girl who cut up newspaper ā āwhat happened to her?ā ⦠Basingstoke alumni āTanita Tikaram, Jane Austen, Liz Hurley ⦠⦠ignoring Wham! in favour of Suzanne Vega and Tom Waits. ⦠the lure of school theatre groups ā āa skive, you could basically be arty and smokeā. ⦠āRingo Starr gave me an award!ā ⦠supporting Warren Zevon and Jonathan Richman - and John Martyn (with Tracy Chapman). ⦠the faint absurdity of promoting Twist In My Sobriety on Kids TV. ⦠āwhen youāre young, youāre adaptableā. ⦠mourning the loss of mainstream music. ⦠a summer spent miming on European pop TV shows. ⦠the thrill of hearing Ancient Heart was Top Ten when playing the Cambridge Folk Festival ā āthey all thought, thatās one of us in the charts!ā ⦠and todayās imbalance between new music and nostalgia. Order Tanita Tikaram tickets here: https://www.tanita-tikaram.com/live/ Order Liar: Love Isnāt A Right here: https://www.tanita-tikaram.com/music/Find out 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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Bob 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. āIāve built this tiny soap box - and if you donāt like it, itās been nice knowing you!ā He talks to us from San Francisco about ⦠⦠March 30 1979: āthe day that changed my lifeā ⦠over-refreshment on the bus to see Rush and Aerosmith, aged 16 ⦠the influence of Hüsker Dü on Nirvana, Pixies and My Bloody Valentine ā āitās a game of hot potato. YOU take this sound now!ā ⦠seeing the Ramones opening for Iggy Pop ā āsimplistic on the surface but I got all their ā60s pop referencesā ⦠the art of the three-song set-opener ⦠playing Buzzcocks and Ventures covers in āthree-twoā bars ⦠opening for the Foo Fighters, playing for 100,00 people ā and for crowds wearing masks during Covid ⦠āthe more the production, the less the spontaneityā ⦠visual clues playing solo to let the audience know where the beat is ⦠āIām one of those othersā: inter-song riffs about politics, protest and oppression Order Bob Mould tickets here: https://bobmould.com/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.