Genuinely ‘iconic’ rock pictures, words we should ban and how Freddie Mercury still makes headlines
Hoary old tales retold – ideally in an Irish accent - and new ones prized from the giddy carousel of rock and roll news which, this week, features …
… was there a better stage name than Rick Derringer?
… Linda Ronstadt, Ronnie Spector, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and other new biopics under construction.
… genuinely ‘iconic’ rock images – the Ziggy lightning stipe, Johnny Cash at San Quentin, Elvis dancing in Jailhouse Rock, Dylan and Suze Rotolo in Jones Street …
… our old pal Barry McIlheney, his Belfast band Shock Treatment and the time he asked U2 to draw a duck.
… the thin wall that separates hilarity and grief.
… how TikTok and a 1962 B-side booted the 87-year old Connie Francis.
… Banned words! – ‘iconic, circle back, reach out, Ramones-esque, eponymous sophomore effort’ and other clichés that MUST be banished!
… “Sgt Pepper: it’s like the Beatles on acid!”
… why 80 per cent of the stadium experience is beyond our control.
... how Freddie Mercury still makes headlines beyond the grave.
… the real Rikki in ‘Rikki Don’t Lose that Number’.
… and when you find yourself at a Springsteen gig next to a Trump supporter.
Watch the Barry McIlheney podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjw-6HZWa-E
Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear
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Word In Your Ear
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.
- No. of episodes: 832
- Latest episode: 2025-07-21
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