Steve Lillywhite produced the Stones, U2, Siouxsie, XTC - ‘the last leg of the relay’

Steve Lillywhite produced the Stones, U2, Siouxsie, XTC - ‘the last leg of the relay’

Author: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold January 27, 2026 Duration: 54:19

Steve Lillywhite first got a foot in the studio door aged 17 making demos for Ultravox and became a producer with credits on over 500 records. He doesn’t have a copy of any of them but kept his Grammys and his CBE. The job involves being a lightning-rod, cheer-leader, editor, finisher and “as diplomatic as Henry Kissinger”. He looks back here from his ‘Lillypad’ in Bali at the milestones along the way, among them …

 

… “I’d done my 10,000 hours by the age of 22”

 

... “If it ain’t broke, break it!”

 

… when he screwed up as a tape-op: “you only do it once”

 

… why bands never want to leave the studio

 

… breakthrough hits with Johnny Thunders, Siouxsie and the Psychedelic Furs

 

… “there’s been no new technology in the last ten years”

 

… the radio plugger who heard Sunday Bloody Sunday and said “sounds like a hit but you’ll have to lose the word Bloody”

 

… “when Mick and Keith weren’t talking they communicated through me”

 

… why Muff Winwood wanted to fire Larry Mullen

 

… why producers can’t hear a hit  

 

… Adam Clayton and Nick Rhodes “aren’t musicians”

 

… “make the drums less Huntley & Palmers!”

 

… the Wrecking Crew versus the “One-Man Show" production of today 

 

… and memories of making Vertigo, Fairytale of New York and Making Plans for Nigel.


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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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