There are only three Rock National Treasures – and we name them!

There are only three Rock National Treasures – and we name them!

Author: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold February 22, 2026 Duration: 49:25

Our ‘big air’ manoeuvres on the rock and roll ski jump this week land the following tricks …

 

… why don’t we re-use old protest songs instead of writing new ones?

 

… “a temple of music and gothic lust:” would YOU buy Jim Steinman’s unsellable home?

 

… when Madness played on the Buck House roof

 

… Ptolomaic Terrascope? Aquarium Drunkard? Real and made-up music magazines

 

… “too complicated, not catchy, like a high-minded think-piece”: U2’s Days Of Ash EP

 

… when the Ramones invaded the London library

 

… Rod, Elton, Adele, Noel, Ed … do they cut it as National Treasures?

 

… “the best sport still works with the sound off”

 

… what links Steely Dan to American College Football?

 

… plus the Bishop of Ramsbury, Robyn’s “dream doner” and birthday guest Keith Adsley with a quiz about American college football walk-out music.


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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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