The lost world of teenage love songs – and the best pop song ever written!

In eager pursuit of dance and merriment, we dust down the current events. Which this week involves …. … are teenagers no longer in love? And what does this mean for pop music? … are people better musicians now than 40 years ago? And is that because you can get online tutorials explaining how to play everything? … Paul McCartney taking two buses across Liverpool just to learn the chord of B7. … how the best pop songs start with someone walking into a room. … Ghana! India! New Zealand! The Caribbean! The King’s Spotify Playlist, a carefully chiselled love letter to the Commonwealth. … do couples still have “Our Tune”? And do they still request songs for each other on radio shows? … Neil Tennant’s memories of pre-Putin Russia – “we swept into Moscow in Gorbachev’s limousine”. … Thunder Road, And Then He Kissed Me, Wouldn’t It Be Nice and other magical songs about dating. … Amanda Seyfried does Joni Mitchell! … the best pop song ever written - and we know the answer! Plus birthday guest David Messer and two great Lou Reed live albums (“he heckles the hecklers!”). David and Mark’s One-Man Show in Wareham on April 4: https://loveitlocalmagazine.co.uk/events/one-man-show/ Neil Tennant’s piece about pre-Putin Russia: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/mar/12/neil-tennant-pet-shop-boys-russia-putin-gay-club-mtvHelp us to find out more about how 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.