Nicky Hopkins’ hidden genius, the Oasis film and the best songs about rain

Nicky Hopkins’ hidden genius, the Oasis film and the best songs about rain

Author: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold September 14, 2026 Duration: 58:44

This week’s news in three separate files - the Good, the Bad and the Befuddling. Which involves …

 

… have Oasis created their own economy?

 

… are stadium gigs now like historical re-enactment?

 

… “people listen to music more intently in Manchester as they’re inside while it rains”

 

… ‘includes All Things Must Pass miniature garden gnomes!’ The mad money-draining joy of the luxury box-set

 

… when bands don’t change but audiences do

 

…Sun = Happiness, Rain = Sorrow: lyrics as an emotional weather forecast

 

… the pianist who wouldn’t play minor chords

 

… Nicky Hopkins on records by the Kinks, Beatles, Who and Stones (“She’s A Rainbow was like a music-box Mozart”): has any session player made a more vital contribution?

 

… “Lose two teeth in German nightclub brawl, go back to Burnage”: real and fictitious rock band Monopoly sets!

 

… Blue Nile, Ann Peebles, Beautiful South, Paul Simon? What’s the best song about rain?

 

Plus J Blackfoot, Paul Simon’s Kathy from Brentwood and birthday guest Matthew North.

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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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