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 “Landfill Indie”? And Neil Hannon wrote music for Wonka, Father Ted and the IT Crowd. There’s 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 “and feeling as though I’d won the Wonka Golden Ticket”. … favourite bands of the ‘80s and ‘90s - Pixies, Sugarcubes, Sonic Youth and Ride.… the miserably cancelled Father Ted musical and how he’s 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, “the moment I first felt like a pop star”. … 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 - “nudging and nurdling!” … his first stab at “witty pseudo-intellectual lyrics”. … “never leave your tour bus, be rehearsed before you start rehearsals” 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 ‘girl with guitar in bedroom’ to Hammersmith Odeon in six months
Tanita Tikaram’s second gig had an audience of three – one paying customer and two concert promoters. When one of them wanted to talk to her afterwards she said, “sorry, I’ve got to get the train home.” 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 – “what happened to her?” … Basingstoke alumni –Tanita Tikaram, Jane Austen, Liz Hurley … … ignoring Wham! in favour of Suzanne Vega and Tom Waits. … the lure of school theatre groups – “a skive, you could basically be arty and smoke”. … “Ringo Starr gave me an award!” … supporting Warren Zevon and Jonathan Richman - and John Martyn (with Tracy Chapman). … the faint absurdity of promoting Twist In My Sobriety on Kids TV. … “when you’re young, you’re adaptable”. … 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 – “they all thought, that’s one of us in the charts!” … and today’s imbalance between new music and nostalgia. Order Tanita Tikaram tickets here: https://www.tanita-tikaram.com/live/ Order Liar: Love Isn’t 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. “I’ve built this tiny soap box - and if you don’t like it, it’s been nice knowing you!” He talks to us from San Francisco about … … March 30 1979: “the day that changed my life” … over-refreshment on the bus to see Rush and Aerosmith, aged 16 … the influence of Hüsker Dü on Nirvana, Pixies and My Bloody Valentine – “it’s a game of hot potato. YOU take this sound now!” … seeing the Ramones opening for Iggy Pop – “simplistic on the surface but I got all their ‘60s pop references” … the art of the three-song set-opener … playing Buzzcocks and Ventures covers in ‘three-two’ bars … opening for the Foo Fighters, playing for 100,00 people – and for crowds wearing masks during Covid … “the more the production, the less the spontaneity” … visual clues playing solo to let the audience know where the beat is … “I’m one of those others”: 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.
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Comedy records, TV gold & have Oasis and Coldplay hoovered up all the cash?
Damping down the wildfires of rock and roll news this week we focus on the following … … Oasis, Taylor Swift and Coldplay and the new age of Winner Takes All … did Bob Dylan write a song with Gene Simmons, advertise lingerie or appear on a telethon with Harry Dean Stanton? … movies that need making eg the Molly Drake Story, the Rock And Roll Mitford Sisters (Pattie, Jenny and Paula Boyd) … surely what makes the rock business ‘unfair’ are the people spending the money on it? … is the Golden Age of TV over? … Paul Weller’s magnificent Find El Dorado and the songwriters he’s rebooting - Willie Griffin, Bobby Charles, Duncan Browne, Eamon Friel … a JR Hartley moment: Brian Protheroe taking his grandson to watch his album being re-mastered at Abbey Road … ‘Programmes made for older viewers always have a lot of green in them’ … will we ever get another comedy record? … why did we love Succession, Breaking Bad, the Queen’s Gambit and Six Feet Under yet have no burning desire to ever watch them again? … how 200 Go-Betweens box-sets came with books from the late Grant McLennan’s library signed by Robert Forster … ‘Never glad confident morning again!’ … new acronyms – RIYL, anyone? … do any new TV comedies merit an Xmas Special? ... plus the Trump Awards, main character syndrome, Black Pudding Bertha (the Queen of Northern Soul) and birthday guest Ed Newman on box-set addiction – “this way madness lies!”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.
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1:01:54
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Brian Protheroe on the eternal life of his 1974 hit “Pinball”
Paul Weller has just covered it on his new album. Morrissey played it to Noel Gallagher who took the idea and ran with it. What explains the enduring appeal of a record that stalled at number 22 all those years ago? Actor/musician Brian Protheroe doesn’t know but he’s certainly grateful that it’s being reissued once again. His story takes us back to:…the days when young musicians hitch-hiked to London…the way the sun shone on the day “Sgt Pepper” came out…when Soho was a village and an out of work actor could afford to live in Covent Garden…when being dumped by a girl could inspire that actor to diarise his daily routine…when the jazzman who played the solo on the record couldn’t remember it for “TOTP”…how it feels to take your grandson to Abbey Road to watch your album being remastered.Pre-order the Chrysalis Red reissue of the first Brian Protheroe album: https://brianprotheroe.lnk.to/PNBFind 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.
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