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Word In Your EarThe UK's original music chat podcast, est. 2007 and presented by David Hepworth and Mark Ellen. Author: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold
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. Language: en Genres: Music, Music Commentary, Music History Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Adam & the Ants, pop stardom and Marco Pirroni’s brief spell in the spotlight
Episode 938
Wednesday, 15 July, 2026
Marco Pirroni’s moment in the sun was big, lucrative but incredibly short. It was under a year from Adam & the Ants’ first hit to their last and immediate break-up. Adam, he remembers, was the perfect writing partner – driven, intensely competitive and with “a pathological fear of only being Number 2”. He’s got no regrets, hasn’t had to do day’s work since, and looks back here at …… being the first band writing songs for the video age… “you can’t confuse fans buying records with love, it’s nothing personal”… Telstar, Fireball XL5, Roxy Music and the “moon-stomping hits of Slade”… playing covers of songs they didn’t like with Siouxsie at the 100 Club: “punk rock and my part in its downfall”… Adam’s “Shakespearian tirade” at the legal meeting with Rolf Harris when he sued over Prince Charming and War Canoe… Malcolm McLaren’s jukebox: the Flamin’ Groovies, Alice Cooper, the Troggs, “songs that weren’t very good”… “we stopped being a punk band or a pop band or a glam band – or any sort of band at all”… never tour America when you don’t have a bank account.Order ‘Your Money Or Your Life’ here: https://tr.ee/P2_qxNZ6jCHelp us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.













