A drink to Shane MacGowan, Spinal Tap rebooted and lunch with Randy Newman

Belfast author and old pal of the pod Stuart Bailie joins us to remember the lost captain of the good ship Pogues and we touch on Shane’s “feral” early life and the character he constructed to keep the world at bay; his place in the Irish literary pantheon, his intelligence worn lightly and Joycean use of language; the night they drank the proceeds from Fairytale Of New York; why the band’s St Patrick’s Day shows were three-day events and a magnet for lost Celtic souls, and how they became good by stealth but were so divisive in Ireland. This alongside other savoury and invigorating ingredients in this week’s rock and roll hot-pot, among them … … David’s five most-played tracks on Spotify in 2023. … real or imaginary Xmas singles? De La Soul’s Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa? Sonic Youth’s Santa Doesn’t Cop Out On Dope? Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Santa’s In The Clan? …. … the life and exceptional times of John Mayall, 90, and the people who passed through his blues academy. … why Spinal Tap might be best left alone.…and the song Randy Newman wrote about missing his ex-wife plus a tremulous joint recitation of Simon Smith & the Amazing Dancing Bear.Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon 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. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.