Word In Your Ear

David Hepworth's new book "A Fabulous Creation" is about the era of the LP, from "Sgt Pepper" in 1967 to "Thriller" in 1982. The book was launched at Foyles in Charing Cross Road with a chat between David and Mark Ellen in front of a packed house. This was illustrated with the usual magic lantern show which you can probably reproduce in your head. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We were delighted to welcome Midge Ure to the Islington to talk about growing up in Glasgow, becoming a teen idol by accident, being offered a slot in the Sex Pistols, almost becoming the Next Big Thing, assisting at the birth of the Cult With No Name, becoming a temporary rock star with Thin Lizzy, becoming a genuine rock star with Ultravox, writing the biggest hit in chart history, getting his slot at Live Aid pinched by his mate Bob Geldof, appearing on "This If Your Life", "Celebrity Masterchef" and playing the blues on the porch with Eric Clapton. Truly all human life is here. Midge is touring twice in the next year. In the first jaunt, beginning in March, he'll be playing and also taking questions from the audience. In the second he'll be supported by a full band and reprising many of the Ultravox and Visage songs which are about to celebrate their 40th birthday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In introducing this session, which was inspired by David Hepworth's new book "Nothing Is Real" Mark Ellen said "I've know this man for over forty years and I've never won an argument with him". On this occasion the two of them were joined by old friends, writer Jude Rogers and broadcaster/podcaster Geoff Lloyd, to chew over some of David's theories, such as why the Beatles were underrated and why you should never play pop records at funerals, and to add a few of their own, which cover such topics as the girlfriend who changed the direction of popular music, the redundancy of the live album and the records that you should and shouldn't play at a wedding disco. A splendid time is guaranteed for all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Grant was the former all-in wrestler turned manager whose reputation was built on his knack for making sure his bands got paid. In this respect didn't hurt to have the build of a screen heavy and the reputation of a gangster. When Led Zeppelin got paid it was in quantities so large that they had to be taken away from the venues in carrier bags from supermarkets. In "Bring It All Back Home" Pink Floyd and Queen biographer Mark Blake tells the full story of Peter Grant from his time as a wartime tearaway through road managing Chuck Berry and Gene Vincent to his meeting with Jimmy Page, with whom he formed what was probably the key relationship in the Led Zeppelin camp through their rampages across America in the 70s to a very dark period holed up in his moated house in the country taking cocaine in immense quantities and harbouring dark thoughts about the world outside. As we told Mark Blake when he came to the Islington to talk about it, this one really should be a movie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kenneth Womack, who actually teaches a course in the Beatles at Monmouth University in New Jersey, has just published "Sound Pictures", the second part of his mammoth biography of Beatles producer George Martin, and he came to Word In Your Ear to talk about it. There was plenty to cover: from his childhood in the Depression through a transformation thanks to the Fleet Air Arm and the Guildhall School of Music to an apprenticeship at EMI which led him to produce everyone from Flanders and Swann to Peter Sellers and then confronted him with the challenge of making something of the four boys from Liverpool that the publishing division were keen on signing. He wasn't convinced at first but as soon as they did something he thought was good he was the first to recognise it and he was the only person apart from Brian Epstein who believed they were going to be huge and helped make sure they were. Kenneth provides a gripping account of what was arguably the most productive creative partnership of the 20th century. How does he think they would have fared if they had ended up with some other producer at EMI rather than George Martin? "I think they would have had a few hits and then faded away," he says. "What make it all work was that they came at everything sideways." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Billy Bragg joins us to talk about Izal medicated toilet paper, the Beatles, Joe Henry, the restorative effects of finishing the evening signing tea towels, Bovingdon tank museum, an old copy of the East London Advertiser, meeting Bob Dylan, watching old Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies, the importance of accountability, what the Clash could do and what they couldn't do, meeting Ray Galton in the pub, what poems could each of us recite from memory, Lead Belly, the cultural importance of TV cowboys, how many of the Quarrymen are still alive, and much more besides... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For all the people who have been asking to hear the long version of our chat with Chas Hodges, who was our guest in the podcast on June 1st 2012, here it is. It's all here: growing up in Edmonton, playing in Joe Meek's house band, hearing "Revolver" on acetate, playing with Heads, Hands and Feet, the amazing story of Chas and Dave and much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the entire firmament of those who busted the charts in the 1980s there was nobody more reliably sane than Mark King of Level 42. Before they start on their 2018 tour he came in to the Islington to entertain an enthralled house with his account of importing the first Mahavishnu Orchestra album into the Isle Of Wight, turning up on Lenny White's doorstep in America at the age of seventeen, treating the bass as a percussion instrument, his ride on the giddy carousel of chart success in the 80s, prodding Sean Penn in the chest at Madonna's party, appearing with Elton John and Eric Clapton at the Prince's Trust and a recent run-in with Ginger Baker. One of the best evenings we've ever had at the Islington. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever since first hearing the siren call of The Rubettes' "Sugar Baby Love", Mark Kermode, TV and Radio's Mr Movie, has been possessed by a determination to find out how it feels to be on stage with a band and to make the noise that bands made. His new book "How Does It Feel?" recounts every step on that journey, from making his own guitar while at school through leading his own bands The Bottlers and The Dodge Brothers and masquerading as the musical director of Danny Baker's late-night chat show to trying to learn the chromatic harmonica on stage in front of a large orchestra and an even larger audience. It has been a life devoted to the noble objective of getting some kind of noise out of just about anything he has been confronted with and being prepared to treat the twin impostors of approval and derision both the same. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We couldn't get over the fact that Seymour Stein actually met Buddy Holly. It shouldn't surprise us really because after all he is 76 and his first job in the music business was at Billboard when he was a teenager. It's well known that as the boss of the Sire label he signed the Ramones, Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, the Undertones and Madonna. What's less well-known is the part played in the Sire story by Focus, the Deviants and the Climax Blues Band. The full story is written in "Siren Song" which he's written with Gareth Murphy. He came to Word In Your Ear to talk about it. We let him get on with it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.