Matt Johnson & the unique story of The The plus George Michael and the sunbed

Matt Johnson & the unique story of The The plus George Michael and the sunbed

Author: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold April 1, 2026 Duration: 38:44

Matt Johnson’s life story has been mapped out as one long Q&A conversation from meetings with old friend, fan and BFI director Jason Wood. ‘Cognitive Dissident’ traces his trajectory from the East End to Soho to the beloved albums he made with a series of super-groups and his 2021 comeback. He looks back here at …

 

… his earliest musical memories – Donovan, the Move, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown

 

… the old East End and the Two Puddings pub run by his parents, “full of ghosts”, Bobby Moore, Francis Bacon and the Krays

 

… his Uncle Kenny promoting the Who, the Kinks and Jerry Lee Lewis

 

… “Get yourself on a sunbed!” and other advice from George Michael

 

... what he learnt at De Wolfe Music, aged 15, in the red-light Soho of the late ‘70s

 

… legendary manager Stevo signing the band’s CBS contract at midnight in Trafalgar Square

 

… “cigarettes, coffee, warm analogue equipment”: the Proustian scent of old studios

 

… his NME ad recruiting The The members via the Residents, the Velvet Underground, Syd Barrett and Throbbing Gristle

 

… being part of “the Long Mack Brigade” with Cabaret Voltaire, This Heat, Wire and the Gang of Four

 

… Leonard Cohen’s premonition of the internet

 

… the Albert Hall: “like a tennis player playing Wimbledon”

 

… the genius of Hank Williams

 

… and his 2018 comeback, “like reunion of old army buddies”

 

Order ‘Cognitive Dissident’ here: https://omnibuspress.com/products/cognitive-dissident?_pos=1&_psq=cognitive+dissi&_ss=e&_v=1.0


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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: 100

Word In Your Ear
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