Shaun & Bez and other Odd Couples we love

Shaun & Bez and other Odd Couples we love

Author: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold March 8, 2026 Duration: 50:14

Pointing the scanner of inquiry at the baggage carousel of news to see what gets the lights flashing, which this week includes …

 

… we know what’s making Morrissey miserable

 

… bands that can get a whole stadium singing

 

… the rock star who misses the music press most

 

… “a Likely Lads for the rave generation”, anyone?

 

… the speed at which news now travels

 

… Loudon Wainwright and Richard Thompson, Ben Sidran and Boz Scaggs, Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer, Steve Martin and Martin Short … in praise of inseparable old pals!

 

… Anfield Rap (Red Machine in Full Effect)! Lift it High (All About Belief)! Whatever happened to football singles?

 

… I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left, Musta Notta Gotta Lotta, Trouble Over Bridgewater: albums you bought because you liked the title

 

… “English radio stations won’t play new music!” Really?

 

Plus birthday guest Adrian Ainsworth on the Sensual World, Us, Monster, the Rhythm of the Saints and other great experimental sequels to big-selling albums.


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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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