Neil Tennant remembers life “with dyed red Bowie hair and clattering platforms”

Neil’s an old friend from our days back at Smash Hits in the early ‘80s. The first Pet Shop Boys demos were played on the office tape machine, though he was a bit self-conscious about “the one with the rap on it”. He’s always had a journalistic capacity for story-telling, remembering everything in famously entertaining detail, and we had so much material from this reunion we turned it into a two-part podcast. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find in this second half ... … “every group has to have an angle”. … pop’s current obsession with identity. … why Bronski Beat were so significant. … David Bowie’s scathing one-word reviews of Michael Jackson and Oasis at the Brits. … “the whole world of pop songs is a giant ever-expanding artwork”. … meeting Frida from Abba, “a song waiting to happen”. … the ‘Pits & Perverts’ gay benefit for the miners in 1984. … London clubs in the early ‘80s - “we had a competition to see who could wear the highest heels”. … how everyone at Smash Hits thought Michael Jackson’s Thriller was “a damp squib”. … recording West End Girls.  … first hearing a 12-inch single. … appearing on Soul Train with Don Cornelius – “like being on a different planet”. … why Dusty Springfield gave Jerry Wexler a nervous breakdown. … seeing the last Ziggy Stardust show. … meeting Steven Spielberg, Micky Dolenz and Joni Mitchell. … and Boy George's gag about George Michael.----------------------------------- PSB tour dates: https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/pet-shop-boys-tickets/artist/735852 Order the new Pet Shop Boys album ‘Nonetheless’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/nonetheless-Deluxe-2CD-Shop-Boys/dp/B0CTKKBBVF-----------------------------------Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: 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.