He’s written some of the darkest entries in the American songbook but became world famous with a sunny celebration of friendship on the soundtrack of “Toy Story”. Inbetween can be found a staggering range of songs dealing with everything from short people to Vladimir Putin, from performing bears to the Louisiana Flood., from ELO to the Great Nations Of Europe, all of which show up in this authoritative new biography from Robert Hilburn, for years the rock writer of the Los Angeles Times. Topics touched on in his chat with David Hepworth: 

… when you called your book “A Few Words In Defense Of Our Country”, did you know it was coming out in Election week?

… why Robert’s review of Elton John at the Troubadour in 1970 transformed the life of one piano player from Pinner while his review of Randy in the same same venue in the same year didn’t have the same effect on this local hero.

… how Randy finds his inspiration by sitting in front of the TV with a big stack of hardback books.

… what his famous uncles taught him and how he has spent a lifetime trying to follow their lead.

… how he got his first break from Cilla Black, Alan Price and the British chart,

… what he said when he finally got as Oscar after years of nominations.

… why he can write quickly when commissioned but moves agonisingly slowly when relying on inspiration.

… why he’s the only biographical subject to insist his children are interviewed.

… what he thinks of Donald Trump.

Order Robert’s book here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Few-Words-Defense-Our-Country/dp/1408720361

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After many years of invisibility, Peter Perrett of the Only Ones is out, about and on tour again and talks to us here about the first gigs he ever saw and played, which involves …

… what time he goes to bed.

… “he writes better lyrics than Elvis Costello and is prettier than Billy Idol”: why Nick Kent’s review was an insult.

… seeing the Small Faces in 1966, the Floyd with Syd at Middle Earth, Dylan at the Isle of Wight, Fairport Convention, Geno Washington, Lou Reed in 1972 (“a hero”), Sex Pistols in 1975.

… the Ally Pally Love-In in 1967 with Pink Floyd, the Animals, Julie Driscoll and Arthur Brown (“doing Alice Cooper five years before Alice Cooper”).

… supporting Global Village Trucking Company at the Marquee in 1975 with Glenn Tilbrook and Jools Holland.

… memories of Vivienne Westwood, the Bromley Contingent and leopardskin vinyl trousers.

… the first gig he ever played, doing the Velvet Underground’s What Goes On with a four-string guitar at a college dance.

… the tangled tale of Another Girl Another Planet.

… “I never thought I’d retire at 28 and come back as a septuagenarian’.  

… the role reversal of being produced by your own son.

… and how the Snow Station Vadsø festival in Norway – with Peter Buck, Lenny Kaye, Fritz Catlin and Mark Bedford – gave him the courage to go back on tour.

Peter Perrett tour dates here:

https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/peter-perrett-tickets/artist/5238432

Order his new album The Cleansing here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cleansing-Peter-Perrett/dp/B0DB8VMBDL

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Things this week that sent the needle into the red included …

… the last dance craze the whole world noticed.

... “Rock stars used to be anti-establishment. Now they ARE the establishment.”

… artworks, flags, bespoke I-Ching Coins … would YOU pay £1,350 for a box set?

… why Quincy Jones made records like a movie director.

... how Dylan’s Biograph and Springsteen’s live box started a gold rush.

… “an unprecedented event in popular recording".

… Hot Night, Starlight, Give Me Some Time, Lights Out and other working titles for Thriller.

… “We’re here to save the record business!”

… the speed of the Beatles: two years between Ed Sullivan and Tomorrow Never Knows; two years from the Cavern to Shea Stadium.

Plus birthday guest Phil Hopwood: moments in rock history you’d like to have witnessed to see what really happened.

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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The most streamed Beatles song – 700 million plays more than any other – is not by Lennon/McCartney but George who, as author Seth Rogovoy points out, is still widely considered “an economy-class Beatle” though his contributions were central to the success of their records. Seth’s new book ‘Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison’ sets out to right this monstrous wrong! As does this conversation with the two of us which covers …

… did My Sweet Lord’s court case puncture his sense of ambition?

… how he changed Taxman for American audiences.

… the statement made by starting All Things Must Pass with a Dylan/Harrison composition.

… how he was fleeced by not one but two managers - Allen Klein and Denis O’Brien.

… what we learnt from watching ‘Get Back’.

… Broadway ballads, Vaudeville, jazz and the solo on ‘Til There Was You.

… remortgaging Friar Park for Life Of Brian and pushing for the Anthology “payday”.

… his glorious spiritual/material contradiction – “the Pisces sign is two fish going in opposite directions”.

… a social mobility that John and Paul both envied.

… falling out of love with live performance.

… the beliefs of his early ‘20s he sustained all his life.

… and the staples of George Harrison’s Jukebox.

Order Seth’s book here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Within-You-Without-Listening-Harrison/dp/019762782X

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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Ian Broudie and the Lightning Seeds are about to set out on their 35th Anniversary Greatest Hits Tour – aka “beery parties”. He talks to us here about the first bands he ever saw and played in, which involves …

… memories of the Liverpool School of Language, Music, Dream and Pun.

… the secret of seeming enigmatic: “Never finish your sentences …”

… how Three Lions brought a whole new audience and the irony of a singer who didn’t front his biggest hit.

… why the Ramones and Talking Heads made him sell his old records.  

… first requirement for success: “being able to make a fool of yourself”.

… when Captain Beefheart forgot he was booked for an art show and painted all the pictures the night before.

… how a part in a Ken Campbell play launched his career.

… seeing the Beatles, aged seven – “Shut your eyes and put your fingers in your ears”.

… when Eric’s in Mathew Street seemed the centre of the universe.

… “for the first time ever I’m not suffering from Imposter Syndrome – I AM THE SINGER!”

… Free, Pink Floyd, Elvis Costello, XTC, Big In Japan and the Sausages From Mars.

… making records that are “an Andy Warhol pop-art splash of colour on a wall”.

Lightning Seeds tickets here:

https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/lightning-seeds-tickets/artist/735512

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.

Our crack pair of inquisitors tackle the week’s events and sift out the good, the bad and the riveting, which includes …

… whatever happened to savage reviews?

… “For God’s sake, keep the robots out of music!”: the 50th birthday of Kraftwerk’s Autobahn.

… a Naked Nick Cave Plush Doll (£24) and some Jonny Greenwood olive oil.

… strange tales about the making of Disraeli Gears.

… what keeps Kamala Harris awake at night.

… the staggering bill at Murray the K’s ‘Music In The Fifth Dimension’ in 1967.

… Teri Garr, Diane Keaton and other fantasy girlfriends.

... “Twas nought but an skellington covered in skin”.

… rock stars never seen without shades.

… and birthday guest Cathal Chu cooks up another 45 ways to leave your lover – ‘Give two weeks’ notice, Otis’.

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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Elliot Mintz, then a West Coast radio presenter, met the Lennons in 1971, the start of a close, unique and extraordinary friendship and hours of late-night phone calls. And he’s finally written a book about it, We All Shine On: John, Yoko & Me, which records the isolated, complicated life they led imprisoned by their celebrity, at times joyous and outlandish, at others bleak and uncomfortably revealing. All bases covered here, among them …

… “his view of Paul changed with days and temperature – brotherly love, jealousy, discomfort …”

… how they dealt with the FBI bugging their apartment.

… being present at John and Paul’s eventual reunion and what might have happened if they’d picked up guitars.

 … how he heard the news of Lennon’s death.

… booking hotels as ‘Fred and Ada Gherkin’.

... the Lost Weekend and Lennon reverting to his Hamburg days.

… how it felt to sort and catalogue John’s possessions.

… abandoned by his father, abandoning his son: Lennon going on holiday with Brian Epstein two weeks after the birth of Julian.

 … ordering in pizzas from across the road in New York’s most exclusive restaurants.

… “all he could see onstage was McCartney’s face when they shared a microphone”.

… John’s thoughts about the competition – Dylan, the Stones, McCartney.

… “a friendship to the exclusion of all else”.

Order Elliot’s book here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/We-All-Shine-extraordinary-friendship/dp/0857506072

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.

Brushing aside the cobweb spray and luminous flashing skulls, we ring rock and roll’s doorbell in pursuit of both tricks and treats. Among which you’ll find …

… the gothification of entertainment … Harry Potter, Creedence Clearwater and Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings.

… Donald Trump dancing to Jeff Buckley. 

… why Phil Lesh was the heart and soul of the Grateful Dead.

… John Cooper Clarke playing a 23,000-seater and the rise of Spoken Word.

… Bah! Humbug! The full horror of Halloween and its infernal TV specials.

… Allen Ginsberg’s International Poetry Incarnation at the Albert Hall in 1965.

… Rihanna’s dietician, therapist, spiritual advisor and hospitality liaison manager.

… the auditions for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

… the curse of having everything you want.

… John Lennon imprisoned in the Dakota – without the internet! And his mishandling of an Austin Maxi.

 … Helen Mirren’s thing about Kurt Cobain.

… why Phil Lesh, John Entwistle, Jack Casady and Paul McCartney were a breed apart.

… when Mark King’s father kicked him out of the family home.

… plus Abraham Lincoln, Fields of the Nephilim, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Eraserhead, the Batcave and birthday guest Matthew Elliot wonders if anyone had greater love songs written about them than Rosanna Arquette (by Toto and Peter Gabriel)?

Mama Tried by the Grateful Dead. Just LISTEN to Phil Lesh’s bass playing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP4gy0TBDfU

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Mark King and Level 42 have just announced 2025 tour dates and he talks to us here about …

… the value of what you learn in covers bands from being ignored.

… why being thrown out of home for being thrown out of school was the best thing that ever happened to him.

… Level 42’s first gig, kicked off after four songs.

… Chile, Turkey and other new markets on the “flatter world” tour circuit.

... supporting the Police, Tina Turner, Queen and Madonna in the ‘80s.

… how John McLaughlin (from Doncaster) and Allan Holdsworth (Bradford) inspired other people “from far-flung places like us”.

… Rockin’ Robin, Long-Haired Lover From Liverpool and playing three nights a week in an Isle of Wight novelty act, aged 11.

… the onstage dynamic between Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins.

… the complications of having to book big venues two years in advance.

… being the bassist in the Prince’s Trust house band backing Bowie and Mick Jagger.

… Billy Cobham, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and “the genius” of Steve Winwood.

Level 42s World Machine 40th Anniversary Tour here:

https://www.level42.com/

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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This is an extraordinary story on many levels – about the power and sanctuary of music, about what it took for bands to get noticed in the ‘70s, about how a teenager obsessed with King Crimson eventually joined the band and about the struggles of “a rabid Henry Cow fan trying to get on Top of the Pops”. Jakko Jakszyk is a fabulous storyteller, both in his memoir ‘Who’s the Boy With The Lovely Hair?’ and on this podcast with the two of us. Among the highlights …

… two things musicians need to know.  

… why the divisive appeal of music and comedy is so similar.

… life in a band where “Stravinsky meets the Barron Knights”.

… “Who’ll be the singing Jack Russell?” Doing voice-overs as a piece of toast and a baked potato with a Yorkshire accent.

... the quaint Englishness of Soft Machine, Caravan and King Crimson and why they were like “a holiday resort no-one knew about”.

… why there are even more idiots in advertising than the music business.

… the rigours of the Melody Maker Folk Rock Contest, aged 17, judged by Tommy Vance, Bob Harris and Brian May of Queen.

… the militant wing of the Adrian Belew Fan Club.

… Dave Robinson’s sage advice after telling him he was “unfashionably heterosexual”.

... why Robert Fripp is more Miles Davis than Frank Zappa and the longest audition in history.

…the complications of the King Crimson reunion caused by one person who shall remain nameless – “though let’s call him Greg Lake”.

… “two screaming lead guitars and a trumpet, what could possibly go wrong?”

… and working with Pete Sinfield, Peter Hawkins, Sam Brown and Nigel Planer.  

Order Jakko’s book here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lovely-Unlikely-Memoir-Jakko-Jakszyk/dp/1838491864

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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Applying our patent wheat-chaff separator to recent rock and roll events, we filter out the following …

… “They’ve got the guns but we got the numbers”: whatever happened to political songs?

… the life of Libby Titus and the afterlife of Love Has No Pride.

… when gigs become stalking with a musical component.

… how Taylor Swift Tickets became the new currency.

… the most disappointing album of all time (we know the answer).

… who’s the Zeppo Marx of rock and roll?

… the old music/football analogy revisited.

… when fans think they own a band.

… the New York Rock And Soul Revue that revived Steely Dan.

… has any American star beguiled Britain more than Taylor Swift?

… when Lennon failed to swing the vote.

… does anyone convey loneliness better than Bonnie Raitt?

… our own personal rock and roll fantasies – eg Dr John recycling and Bob Dylan in his Star Wars jim-jams.

 … plus birthday guest Phil Turner - Bill Berry, Gene Clarke, Vince Clarke and the irreplaceable magic ingredient of one band member.

ROLLING STONE’S MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUMS OF ALL TIME:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/most-disappointing-albums-ever-1235111528/

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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