Word In Your Ear

Fairport tour again in 2026 and are playing their annual Cropredy Convention in August, its 50th year. The rolling Kent landscape behind him, co-founder Simon Nicol looks back at almost six decades in the line-up, the first shows he ever saw and played, why he can’t wait to get back on the tour bus again, and …   … the intoxication of live music – “lost in a moment that’s never happened before and won’t be repeated” … Count Basie at the Astoria, aged 7 – “the moulded Turkish ottomans! The massed ranks of brass!” … December 4 1972, the day he left the band (and why) … “we’ve been self-governing since we were kicked out in 1979” … the Ravens in Muswell Hill the night they became the Kinks: “frock coats and hunting boots” … Professor Bruce Lacey, the mad scientist-inventor celebrated in a Fairport song … Ashley Hutchings’ Little Black Book where band line-ups were assembled: “like an executive chef who chose the ingredients but didn’t wash up” … playing Mississippi Fred McDowell and country blues in the Ethnic Shuffle Orchestra … narrative songs and the “shoulders-down” rhythms on Music From Big Pink and how Fairport found their identity … finding obscure Phil Ochs, David Ackles and Joni Mitchell songs for early Fairport … and the first Cropredy in the village hall in 1976: you can still arrive by barge! Fairport Convention tour tickets here: https://www.fairportconvention.com/gigs-tours/ Cropredy 2026 tickets here: https://www.fairportconvention.com/tickets/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Miles Hunt is on tour in 2026 – solo, with Vent 414 and the Wonder Stuff - and looks back here at his 40 years on stage, which involves … … stifling hecklers the John Lydon way: “the exits are clearly marked!” … what percussion does to your ears … “when a tout’s selling your £3 ticket for £50 you know you’ve made it!” … keytars, flat drums, guitars without headstocks: things that are JUST PLAIN WRONG! … seeing Slade at Birmingham Town Hall when he was 10 … why the Size Of A Cow was “the moment a lot of our audience thought we’d sold out” … Hunter S Thompson, Charles Bukowski: books that work on a tour bus … when drummers ‘cramp up’ … and why he won’t perform Dizzy with Vic Reeves. Order Miles Hunt and Wonder Stuff tickets here: https://thewonderstuff.co.uk/tour/Help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake is being reissued on Kenney Jones’ Nice Records, along with unheard outtakes discovered when the original master was found in one of his battered old drum cases. He talks to us here – with the compiler Rob Caiger – about the chaotic construction of the Small Faces’ 1968 masterpiece and his mission to “carry on the legacy”. Are you all sitting comftybold two-square on your botty? Then we’ll begin. Among the highlights … … the Thames boating accident that inspired the album … booking Stanley Unwin when Spike Milligan turned them down – and the day Stanley invented ‘Unwinese’ … insomniac days in the band’s Westmoreland Terraceflat … the value of Marriott’s stage school background: “he could always ham things up” … hidden treasures on the original tape – “you hear Steve and Ronnie talking” … the magic of that fragile tobacco-tin artwork … possession is nine-tenths of the law! … Marriott’s wall-banging Chiswick neighbours that inspired Lazy Sunday … “I’m the only one left and want to carry on the legacy” … other lost Immediate sessions to be released on Nice Records Order the Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake expanded 3CD set here, direct from Kenney’s Nice Records imprint: https://www.nicerecords.co.uk/collections/ogdens-nut-gone-flakeHelp us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A tie-dyed-in-the-wool rock & roll space odyssey to infinity and beyond which stops off this week at … … why the Dead’s music was “like lighting a match in the wind” … Ha Ha Harlem! Rebels Without Applause! – Morrissey song or Lenny Bruce comic routine? … Sting v Sumner & Copeland and what Every Breath You Take makes daily just from streaming … is Oasis “the biggest exchange of money for old rope in the history of commerce?” … rock stars in shorts … John Hartford and his Willie Nelson Sliding Doors moment … how Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions became the most hi-tech band on the planet … Rock ‘babes’ in the Bob Weir mould – eg Michael Clarke of the Byrds, Evan Dando and Mark Gardener from Ride … has anyone made more by doing less than JJ Burnel on Golden Brown? ... plus Warren Zevon song titles, Mary Coughlan in a coracle and the first records we reviewed for money.Help us to keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Cradock’s touring with Ocean Colour Scene in 2026 and in his own show, Travellers Tunes, with his wife and son Steve – “we’re like the Von Trapps!” This highly original night involves them “living like gypsies in the spirit of Ronnie Lane”. He looks back here, from his psychedelic Mod-shrine converted garage in Totnes, at the first shows he ever saw and played, which touches on … …seeing UB40 at Birmingham Odeon, aged 13 – “I was bruised for days” … an after-school Duran Duran video shoot … “three 45-minute sets a night”: doing J Geils Band and Lennon covers pre-Bingo in working men’s clubs, aged 15 … playing Scooter Rallies in Gorleston-on-Sea in pilled-up homage to the Purple Hearts, the Jam and Secret Affair … the imperishable sound of the early Small Faces – “the tone, the feedback, Plonk smashing his bass” … an intense love of Northern Soul, Soft Cell, the Pretenders, Costello and the La’s … the Stones Roses, “the most important show I ever saw – the hair, the clothes, the songs, the guitars”  … supporting Oasis at Knebworth … “musicians’ books bore me” …. three days in a pub with Chris Evans and regrets about “the double-edged sword” of the Riverboat Song on TGI Friday … and Paul Weller with love beads Buy Steve Cradock tickets here: https://www.stevecradock.com/tour/Help us to keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary Coughlan – aka “Ireland’s Billie Holiday”, adored by Nick Cave, Shane MacGowan and Elvis Costello - is on tour again in 2026. This warm, funny and circuitous conversation looks back from her home in Wicklow at the first shows she ever saw and played and various milestones along the road, among them … … singing Two Little Orphans (aged 5) at a Christmas party: “The adrenaline rush! Applause and lemonade!” … escaping down ladders from school to see Rory Gallagher in Galway and the nuns waiting when she returned … seeing Donovan on the Aran Islands in 1969, a trip from the mainland by currach … meeting Mike Stoller and re-recording Peggy Lee’s savaged Mirrors album: “more relevant now than ever”… Elton John (dressed as a hornet) at Watford Stadium and the embroidered floral skirt she’d made to watch him … her love of cabaret and old 78s and the songs she and Erik Visser chose to launch her career … her transformative slot on the Late Late Show in 1984: “I played to four people the night before; a week later they were queuing round the block” … Frank Sinatra’s mysterious autocue and sitting next to Roger Moore in his audience (“very orange”) … “I adored St Dominic’s Preview and 15 years later Van Morrison was in my dressing-room” … her cure for insomnia … why Joe Strummer meant so much to her … and her 200-song live repertoire – from Meet Me Where They Play The Blues and Don’t Smoke In Bed to Love Will Tear Us Apart. Order Mary Coughlan tickets here: https://www.marycoughlan.ie/upcoming-showsHelp us keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this engaging discussion, Nigel Dick, an accomplished music video director known for his work with major artists, shares fascinating insights on the glory days of MTV, revealing how video budgets skyrocketed to $750,000. He reflects on the different eras of David Bowie and explores the resurgence of iconic pop hits like 'West End Girls.' The mystery of a missing Incredible String Band member adds an intriguing twist, while tales of rock stars' childhood bedrooms reveal the personal sides of their legendary lives.

Cartwheeling into 2026 with the usual cast of rock and roll heroes and pantomime villains. Behind you this week you’ll find … … Boy George? Rick Wakeman? Chas Smash? Vanilla Ice? Pop stars who’ve done panto … will there ever be another Rock Knighthood? … Dylan, Elton, Chrissie Hynde and Lil Wayne mention Brigitte Bardot in songs: but who’s seen any of her films? … “the Brigitte Bardot idea of beauty was conceived at the same time as the idea of rock and roll” … Chris Rea’s obsession with Miles Davis – and the tale of Benny Santini … Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ and ‘Hello’ by the Beloved and their roll calls of saints and sinners  … David saw Bob Marley at the Lyceum but now thinks he’s seen a show that was even better … the great attraction of cinema is “our furtive dreams in the dark” … what Van Morrison owes Hugh McCracken for the intro to Brown-Eyed Girl … and birthday guest Andrew Slattery’s Hepworth v Ellen SmashWaddy reviews quiz!Help us to keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Hammill has spent nearly six decades building the most devoted following imaginable – Bowie, Peter Gabriel and Mark E Smith among them. ‘Rock And Role’ tells his invigorating story, beautifully illustrated with photos, cuttings, artwork and memorabilia. Author Joe Banks looks back at his life, impact and captivating way with words, and stops off at …  … the value of looks and charisma in the days when labels hadn’t the faintest idea of the future … how Hammill “created a world to live inside and broadcast from” … psychedelic cabaret with wolf masks and blood capsules … meeting Hammill’s muse and former girlfriend Alice: “50 years later, each still think the other one left them” … “songs that ask the big questions about life” … discovering VDGG in 1984 (via Marillion) and piecing together their story in the days before the internet … public school, Gilbert & Sullivan and the Hallelujah Chorus … the influence of A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers on Genesis’ Supper’s Ready … his plans with Mark E Smith and how Bowie had every new album delivered to him all his life … Charisma, Tony Stratton-Smith and the freedom to experiment … the intensity of his following in Japan and Italy: “there’s no such thing as a casual Hammill fan”. Order ‘Rock And Role’ here: https://burningshed.com/store/kingmakerHelp us to keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deck the halls with cheese and Bolly! … and a dish of the usual rock and roll distraction which this week throws the following logs on the fire … … the greatest Xmas single ever? … Metal Machine Music, Cut the Crap, Two Sides of the Moon … can panned records ever be rehabilitated? … how Roxy Music invented ‘rock brand-value’ and turned it into pictures … Joe Ely and the romance of songs about the American landscape … Rob Reiner and why that scene in When Harry Met Sally is the greatest marriage of people and ideas … the real-life moment that inspired Spinal Tap … “most American pop music is about geography” … "I keep my fingernails long so they click when I play the piano" … Jordan Carl Wheeler Davis? Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr? Mystery acts playing Wembley Arena … the British think America is “fabulous and otherworldly”. Americans think Britain is “quaint” … plus the magnificent McGarrigles’ Christmas Hour, farewell Hofner and we name the Finnegan’s Wake of rock music!Help us to keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com.wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.