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Richard Thompson has a new album, ‘Hippies, Thugs and Heroes’, and he’s touring again in 2027, the perfect excuse to get another of our favourite guests back in the chair again. He joins us here for a brilliant, free-wheeling conversation with a cast list including … Arnold Schwarzenegger (and his son Wolfie) William Shakespeare Mandy Miller Shostakovich Fairport Convention William Walton Fellini John Lennon Louis Armstrong Post-War Brighton gangsters Nellie the Elephant Les Paul Harold Pinter Booker T & the M.G.’s Bix Beiderbecke Stephane Grappelli Ennio Morricone John Coltrane Django Reinhardt My Fair Lady ‘50s radio show Journey Into Space Once Upon A Time In The West … his dad (a policeman) and his first girlfriend Deirdre. Order copies of ‘HIPPIES, THUGS AND HEROES’ here: http://newwst.com/hippies And tickets here: https://www.richardthompson-music.com/tour-dates/ Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You forget how huge and ubiquitous Rory Gallagher was in the ‘70s, just 22 at the Isle of Wight and auditioning for the Stones four years later, an inspiration for Johnny Marr, Andy Partridge, the Edge, Slash and countless others. And for his brother and manager Dónal - “it was a big wide world I wasn’t going to see unless I hung onto his coattails”. He’s just published a memoir, ‘Edged In Blue, A Rock’n’Roll Odyssey with Rory Gallagher’, and looks back here at some of the highlights, these among them … … watching Six-Five Special through a closed TV shop window at night and adding vocals to entertain the crowd … hearing jazz, Lonnie Donegan and Big Bill Broonzy on Forces Radio in Ireland … auditioning for the Stones in 1974 … joining the Fontana Showband aged 15 playing ceilidh, Chuck Berry and Georgie Fame … Taste on the chaotic Blind Faith US tour when Ginger Baker attacked the security … when Johnny Marr and Joe Bonamassa asked to borrow his old guitars … and “the BBC’s most recorded artist of the ‘70s” and managing his expanding legacy. Order ‘Edged in Blue: A Rock 'n' Roll Odyssey with Rory Gallagher’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edged-Blue-Rock-Odyssey-Gallagher/dp/1786052539 Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s extension of The Longest Conversation In Pop History™️ you’ll be happy to find … … the front row audience driving Gillian Anderson mad and why we feel for her ... can you still buy anything for £1.10? … when did rock nostalgia begin? … what Andy Partridge paid “the Hermit of Mink Hollow” … the famous playwright who wrote a Beatles film script … Spirit of Eden, Trout Mask Replica, Bitches Brew? Unlistenable?! … whatever happened to the pop instrumental? … My Bloody Valentine and bands who were “a challenge” … Japanese noise pioneer Merzbow’s 53-hour marathon at Colchester Arts Centre … Bricknasty, Tooth, Clutter, Sleepazoid … real or invented new bands? … and memories of first hearing Sister Ray. Plus Widowmaker, Stan Ridgway, the long-suffering hero who’s heard every one of our podcasts and birthday guest Matthew Elliott. Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The third instalment of ‘The Island Book of Records’ is out, another sumptuous, elegantly designed, LP-sized chronicle of every album released on this most fabled of labels, in this case between 1971-72. They’re edited by Neil Storey who worked in the press office for years, and they’re magnificent, a painstaking assembly of the memories of producers, musicians and label staff involved in those records with photo outtakes, press cuttings and concert bills to illustrate. We talked to Neil in Jamaica, on his way to present Chris Blackwell with a copy, and touched on the following … … why anything on Island still quickens the pulse … how Blackwell understood “the packaged goods business” and only signed Roxy when he saw the shot they wanted on their first album cover … Jess Roden, John Martyn, Tír na nÓg, John Wood, Jethro Tull, Hackensack and the record everyone forgot … ‘the deification of Nick Drake is not a good thing” … the misfortunes that derailed Bronco … the ‘Renaissance’ look of Amazing Blondel and the member permanently dressed as an Elizabethan … “Bless The Weather was the first John Martyn record where he didn’t want to be somebody else” …. Spooky Tooth - “grunge before grunge was invented” … and the Island albums that should have sold more. Order ‘The Island Book of Records 1971-72’ here: https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781807072995/ And here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Book-Records-III-1971-72/dp/1807072991/ref=pd_lpo_d_sccl_1/525-3021267-6645350?pd_rd_w=s0hPN&content-id=amzn1.sym.bb13d3fc-af40-4fff-a822-e0e4c415da96&pf_rd_p=bb13d3fc-af40-4fff-a822-e0e4c415da96&pf_rd_r=WV2V75TAD07MAYDF00D9&pd_rd_wg=6Znhw&pd_rd_r=94f67c6f-23f0-4a15-afc6-890c382a264d&pd_rd_i=1807072991&psc=1 Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A lifelong Beatles obsessive, Gary Kemp bought Epstein’s black leather address book at auction and (with Simon Halfon) researched its 404 names to construct a picture of him, “a 360-degree look” built around musicians, managers, impresarios, hustlers, grifters, ‘walkers’, tricksters, writers, deejays, scene-makers and assorted fashion and media folk. It’s fascinating. As is this podcast where he talks about what he discovered compiling ‘1967: the World of Brian Epstein and the Beatles’ and how the contacts were like “an Advent Calendar leading to his death in August 1967”. We touch on … … what he paid for the address book (but couldn’t tell his wife!) … the last person Brian spoke to … how the Age of Innocence became the Age of Experience … the legal, contractual and social problems overwhelming him in 1967 … cracking the code that hid the Beatles’ phone numbers … “these days Lennon would be cancelled many times over” … the crisis just before Shea Stadium in 1965 … why Brian missed the last Beatles show and his absurd idea for the Sgt Pepper cover … and “how different all our lives would have been if he hadn’t walked down those steps to the Cavern”. Order copies of ‘1967: the World of Brian Epstein and the Beatles’ here: https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/1967-the-world-of-brian-epstein-and-the-beatles-the-address-book-that-defined-an-era-gary-kempsimon-halfon?variant=56206336885115 Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Holzer was a Lou Reed fan from the moment he saw Walk On The Wild Side on Top Of The Pops but avoided Metal Machine Music for 42 years as it was supposedly unlistenable. He was transfixed when he finally heard it, began playing it daily and felt so strongly about “the most radical rock record ever made” he tracked down 60 fellow obsessives and wrote the enthralling ‘Lou Reed: Metal Machine Mystic’. And talks to us here from his home in Mallorca about … … why Reed released MMM. To escape a ruinous contract? To boost his avant garde status? To torpedo his career? … how it was made with two guitars feeding back and a one-note ‘Ostrich’ tuning … the multiple rumours – “Part 4 is Part 1 played backwards!” … its inspirational ingredients – Judaism, spirituality, Alice Bailly and Iannis Xenakis … how he hated the reviews of its forerunner Sally Can’t Dance and the people who bought it (and made it his biggest album) … the vindication of its first live performance, in Berlin in 2002 … its brutal reception by rock critics who “thought they were hipper than Lou” … “Reed spent money like a sailor on shore leave” … and what the record reveals when you’ve heard it 1,000 times. Order copies of ‘Lou Reed: Metal Machine Mystic’ here: http://jawbonepress.com/metal-machine-mystic/ Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A long-running conversation that shifts from major to minor, back to major and all notes inbetween, this week’s lyrics including … … can people who write ‘happy’ ever be cool? … the best drummer who isn’t a drummer? … when will Oasis buy Man City? … why is Taylor Swift unmemorable? … when’s “too old to mosh”? … weird double-bills: Jimi Hendrix and the Monkees. Cat Stevens and Engelbert. Black Sabbath and … Neil Diamond? … huge stars who barely had any hits … what Todd Rundgren said about the New York Dolls, XTC and Bat Out Of Hell (“a parody of Springsteen” … why black musicians had white gangster managers … Mark paid £2.75 for six bands at Knebworth in 1974. What’s Alex getting for £500 in 2027? … and “songs about Los Angeles are always about failure” Plus Radiohead, Laughing Len, Kylie and birthday guest Phil Turner. Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jon Savage detested the UK’s mid-‘70s hits with a vengeance, “records so bad they made you want to strangle every deejay on Radio One, especially Dave Lee Travis”. Which is why he’s compiled ‘Jon Savage’s 1976: Something Was Going To Happen’, 24 ground-breaking tracks released the same year that paved the way to the future. He looks back here from his home in Anglesey at the thrill of hearing them the first time aged 22, the many highlights including … … hilarious memories of the nauseating Jeans On, Fernando, No Charge, Combine Harvester and Save Your Kisses For Me … and his undying love for Eddie and the Hot Rods, Pere Ubu, Candi Station, Burning Spear, Miami and the Flamin’ Groovies … cheap Ronco and K-Tel compilations and Radio One’s stranglehold on popular taste … what happened at parties when you took off Steely Dan and played the Ramones … “reggae records never seem to date” … seeing the Runaways at the Roundhouse and the Clash at Fulham Town Hall with the future Poly Styrene … the first review he ever had published … the early ‘70s ‘underground’ - psychedelia, prog, metal, glam, reggae and disco … and hunting for records at One Stop, Dobells and Harlequin. Order copies of Jon Savage’s 1976 album here: https://www.acerecords.co.uk/jon-savages-1976-something-was-going-to-happen And look out for Jon’s brilliant books, among them England’s Dreaming (about to be republished with a new Derek Jarman cover), Teenage and 1966. Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The two-man conversational canoe paddles the rock and roll tideway, stopping off this week at … … Van Morrison’s set-opener is Kidney Stew Blues by Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson. Do people have to play their big hits? … what’s the key ingredient in success? ... “all great albums automatically have great sleeves. Bar one!” … does Beyonce have a horsefly named after her? Is there a Jerry Garcia wood roach? A Sting tree-frog? … U2’s new album cover is an Abbey Road pastiche. So … is this their swansong? … “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” … Elvis, Stones, psychedelia, Be Bop Deluxe, power pop, punk, Pete Doherty: rock stars in ‘statement’ ties … the many ways Songs In The Key Of Life was a masterpiece … plus “fibrous weaves, over-stuffed loons”, the Plimsouls, the Roaring Boys, Josh Rouse and birthday guest James Ewen. Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While Mark Ellen visits his Scottish estates, David Hepworth and Alex Gold keep the home fires burning with a wide-ranging conversation, taking in: •⁠ ⁠why every band containing a pair of brothers seems to inevitably succumb to fraternal warfare  •⁠ ⁠how Ed Sheeran found himself caught in the cross-fire between a multi-millionaire and a bunch of support acts keen not to get caught on the wrong side of a social media war •⁠ ⁠the fine line that divides a British cheese from a motorway service area •⁠ ⁠what are the best cases of “mailbox money” in show business? •⁠ ⁠does anybody else think gigs finish too early? Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A whole new format we’ve invented for people who’ve been guests before and were so entertaining we wanted them back. So we’ve devised some random questions to spark a few memories and revelations. First up, Sid Griffin of the Long Ryders, touring the UK this autumn, who looks back here at his early life before he “went to L.A. to quote-unquote make it”. You’ll love this as much as we did, especially …   … the Beatles song he knew he’d understand when he was older   … his teenage band rehearsal when the drummer got a hammer in his head   … the rock star he always wanted to be   … what happens when you wear the bug-infested cap you find on a bus   … DJ Carl ‘Weird Beard’ Markert burping in Pepsi commercials on WAKY Radio   … Gregg Turner and the Angry Samoans – “bad songs in bad taste”   … things he can still recite from childhood   … the best use of music in a movie   … how arch-rival Norrie Paramor made George Martin even richer   … and the greatest B-side ever written.   Plus English teacher Mrs Atlas and his deathless crush on Mimi Babcock.     Long Ryders tickets here … thelongryders.com/tour Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Good hair, good shoes, something to say” were the requirements of Indie Sleaze whose vanguard lit up the fading music press in the first decade of the 21st Century – acts like Franz Ferdinand, the Rakes, the Cribs, Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party. Janine Warren saw the Strokes in Camden in 2001 and life took a whole new direction. Her book ‘The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect’ looks back at old-school rock PR, unmanageable bands, and the summit and collapse of the last scene she thinks we’ll ever see. You’ll enjoy …   … Morrissey at St George’s Hall, Blackburn   … deejaying at Liquidation in Liverpool playing psychedelia and Northern Soul   … the impossible task of being Pete Doherty’s PR: “like sand running through your fingers”   … the day its editor realised the NME was doomed   … the indie dilemma: wanting fame and publicity while appearing not to care   … the rise of Arctic Monkeys, the first big digital success story   … the financial crash, big label panic, illegal file-share and other woes of the 2010 music business   … why rock scenes are a thing of the past   … and the greatest Indie Sleaze record ever made.   Order copies of ‘The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect: the Last Indie Music Scene 2000-2010’ here: https://www.roughtrade.com/product/janine-warren-foreword-by-alex-kapranos/the-world-was-a-mess-but-his-hair-was-perfect-the-last-indie-music-scene-2000-2010?algolia_query_id=5510672a106c0f77be3b364fe1f570ce&algolia_object_id=57550933459275&algolia_index=shopify_prod_products&algolia_position= Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s news in three separate files - the Good, the Bad and the Befuddling. Which involves …   … have Oasis created their own economy?   … are stadium gigs now like historical re-enactment?   … “people listen to music more intently in Manchester as they’re inside while it rains”   … ‘includes All Things Must Pass miniature garden gnomes!’ The mad money-draining joy of the luxury box-set   … when bands don’t change but audiences do   …Sun = Happiness, Rain = Sorrow: lyrics as an emotional weather forecast   … the pianist who wouldn’t play minor chords   … Nicky Hopkins on records by the Kinks, Beatles, Who and Stones (“She’s A Rainbow was like a music-box Mozart”): has any session player made a more vital contribution?   … “Lose two teeth in German nightclub brawl, go back to Burnage”: real and fictitious rock band Monopoly sets!   … Blue Nile, Ann Peebles, Beautiful South, Paul Simon? What’s the best song about rain?   Plus J Blackfoot, Paul Simon’s Kathy from Brentwood and birthday guest Matthew North. Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clint Boon was at the heart of “the two biggest musical revolutions of my lifetime” – as a teenager for Joy Division and Buzzcocks, and later the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and Hacienda and onstage with Inspiral Carpets, a world of characters as big as his own. His memoir ‘The Manchester Chronicles’ is about obsessions, schoolteachers, purple winklepickers, mobile discos, good luck, catastrophe and being in the right place at the right time for 30 years. Along with …   … why Manchester listens to music so intently: “we’re stuck inside while it rains”   … auditioning Noel Gallagher “as the Lockerbie plane flew directly overhead”   … the new economy: making a Number 2 album funded by t-shirt and cassette sales   … growing up on Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Little Richard and Gary Lewis & the Playboys   … Inspiral Carpets’ obsession with West Coast psychedelia   … when the band all got houses with their Mute advance “and I just bought some $800 sunglasses”   … great bowl-heads haircuts (Stones, Byrds, Jefferson Airplane) and why he got one too   … seeing the Pistols at the Electric Circus: “I left college the next morning”   … the sudden split: playing Glastonbury one minute, living on milk tokens and income support the next   … his 1975 disco playing Mud, the Rubettes and Showaddywaddy (“I was a 14 year-old Ted”)   … and how 24 Hour Party People captured “the spirit, chaos, colour and madness”.   Order copies of ‘The Manchester Chronicles: True Tales of Music, Madness and Mayhem 1976-2006’ here: https://geni.us/manchesterchronicles Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Slits burned very brightly – but briefly - and were gone, their bumpy and courageous tale crisply told in Zoë Howe’s updated ‘Typical Girls?’. She looks back here at the unforgettable things they wore, said and did as “outsiders in an outsider scene”, a band celebrated before they’d even played a note. And touches on …   ... how other all-girl groups got started - the Moodies, the Runaways, Fanny, the Shaggs, Goldie and the Gingerbreads   … Nora Forster – Ari’s mum, German print heiress, the “punk rock Baroness Nica” who bankrolled the Slits   … Ari was a 14 year-old schoolgirl, Viv Albertine was 21: “I couldn’t have a relationship with her. It was like a having a child in the band” … Nick Kent’s account of the four of them “blazing down Oxford Street”   … producer Dennis Bovell’s dub reggae project with “the Witches of West London”   … their fractious relationship with Island Records and Radio One   … “No birds on the stage!”: the author’s life as a female drummer   … and the Pop Group, Rip Rig + Panic, “humour, playfulness, the freedom to be childlike” and the long legacy of the Slits.   Order ‘Typical Girls?: the Story of the Slits’ here: https://omnibuspress.com/products/typical-girls-the-story-of-the-slits-omnibus-remastered?_pos=1&_psq=typical+girls&_psid=eb748e5dc&_ss=e Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.