How Kylie became the whole world’s sweetheart

How Kylie became the whole world’s sweetheart

Author: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold August 12, 2026 Duration: 38:52

Michael Cragg’s devotion to all things Kylie once led him to Melbourne in search of the actual carousel horse she rode in a pop video. He got a tattoo a day later. Can’t Get You Out Of My Head is a funny and fondly detailed personal account of the risk-taking variety of her records, the mystery of her private life and the irresistible nature of her appeal, a girl who, were there a war on, would be painted on the tail fins of aircraft. He looks back here at …

 

… her ‘90s reinvention by association – with Nick Cave, Michael Hutchence and Bobby Gillespie

 

… how records about joy never get enough credit

 

… wrestling back control after life with Stock Aitken & Waterman

 

… the root of her appeal as a gay icon

 

... being vilified by the press for any public pronouncement

 

… a capacity to charm her detractors when she meets them 

 

… reciting I Should Be So Lucky at the Poetry Olympics alongside Patti Smith and Allen Ginsberg

 

… a mixture of the ordinary and the exotic and the ‘Carry On’ sexuality of her videos

 

… only Queen Elizabeth 11 has had more waxworks at Madame Tussauds

 

… and Michael’s meeting with her – “I’m six foot eight, she’s five foot one” - and the resulting photo.

 

Order copies of ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ here: https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571392766-cant-get-you-out-of-my-head-in-search-of-kylie/

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There’s a particular kind of conversation about music that happens between friends who’ve spent a lifetime immersed in it-not as distant critics, but as participants in the culture. That’s the atmosphere you’ll find in Word In Your Ear, a podcast from Mark Ellen, David Hepworth, and Alex Gold. With a collective eighty years of writing and broadcasting for titles like Smash Hits and Mojo, and shows from "The Old Grey Whistle Test" to VH-1, they don’t just recount history; they unpack the stories behind it with the ease of a shared laugh. This podcast grew naturally from their work on the late, great magazine The Word, where they began recording over thirteen years ago, building a dedicated following who found something genuinely special in the mix. Each episode weaves together music, commentary, history, and interviews, moving seamlessly from deep-dive analysis of a seminal album to a frank chat with a surprising guest, all delivered with the warmth and wit of a late-night chat. It feels less like a formal show and more like you’ve been invited to pull up a chair in a room where the anecdotes are plentiful and the expertise is worn lightly. The result is a consistently engaging listen that treats music not as a museum piece but as a living, breathing part of our lives.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Word In Your Ear
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