What Kevin Armstrong learnt as the sideman for Bowie, McCartney, Morrissey, Sinead and Iggy Pop

Kevin Armstrong was the guitarist in the band David Bowie asked him to assemble for Live Aid and toured and recorded with him many times. Playing the guitar intro to Rebel Rebel in a stadium, he says, is “like lighting a match”. Start the Passenger with Iggy Pop and you’re greeted with “a great mass of love”. His memoir, Absolute Beginner, is “a window onto the high table of rock and roll” and full of insights into life in studios and on the road and the fathomless levels of diplomacy often required to collaborate. This entertaining pod expands upon … … why he turned down the offer to join the Smiths. … how Jim Osterberg transforms himself into Iggy Pop. … the Sinead O’Connor’s tour manager’s trick to speed the band through security.   … the song Bowie dropped from the Live Aid set. … why Michael Hutchence is “terrified of small crowds”. … Bowie’s ex-Navy Seal minder and the old decoys-under-blankets ruse. … why Morrissey is “thin-skinned”. … and the eternal curse of “Imposter Syndrome”.  Order ‘Absolute Beginner’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Absolute-Beginner-Memoirs-least-known-guitarist/dp/1911036173Tickets for Word In Your Ear live at 21Soho on September 25th here: https://www.tickettext.co.uk/1SwIYJWoHKSubscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

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.