Has politics eaten entertainment? What’s ‘perfect sound’? Plus Brian James & how to make a speech

Tyres pumped, engine cranked, chromework winking in the Springtime sun, the two-man conversational jalopy sets off on its weekly spin and visits … … the day America broke the news and showed its dark side.   … Brian James RIP and Stiff’s brilliant ad campaign for the first Damned album: “Play it at your sister!” … has entertainment been dwarfed by world events? … why the Oscars were invented and what it said about American life. … “negative publicity is the first response to everything”. … why Adrien Brody’s speech set back the cause of actors being taken seriously by about 40 years. … Will Smith v Chris Rock, Chumbawamba v John Prescott, David Niven and the streaker: Awards show bombshells and what today’s media would make of them. … The Wizard Of Vinyl and his mission to “save the world from bad sound”. … the days when Hi-Fi was considered a hobby. … are musical memories mostly about context? David relives ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ on a jukebox in the Shady Nook café in Wakefield. … how not to make a speech. … and the band that called Nick Lowe “granddad” (when he was 27). Plus birthday guest Adrian Ainsworth on the worst and most insulting Greatest Hits compilations of all time.Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: 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.