Neil’s an old friend from our days back at Smash Hits in the early ‘80s. The first Pet Shop Boys demos were played on the office tape machine, though he was a bit self-conscious about “the one with the rap on it”, and he’s one of the few people who’s seen the music press from every angle - as a reader in the ‘70s, as a writer and interviewer and as a musician on its front covers. We had so much great material from this wide-ranging conversation that we’ve turned it into a two-part podcast. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find in this first half ...
… the NME article he and his brother pinned to their bedroom wall.
… the event at a Sex Pistols show “which stopped me going to gigs for about three years”.
… the first time he saw his name in print.
… interviewing Marc Bolan in his “fat phase”.
… a barbed chat with Morrissey.
… the pop press shift from “super-showbiz to super-counter-culture”.
… Television, the Clash and other music he discovered through the NME.
… meeting John Taylor 35 years after interviewing him.
… the pop decade when “something extraordinary happened every day”.
… his mother’s horrified reaction when he left Smash Hits to start the Pet Shop Boys.
… the Human League in their Imperial Phase.
… Phil Collins showing him round Abba’s studio in Stockholm.
… and why ‘80s pop stars were “the most controlling”.
-------------------------------------
PSB tour dates: https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/pet-shop-boys-tickets/artist/735852
Order the new Pet Shop Boys album ‘Nonetheless’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/nonetheless-Deluxe-2CD-Shop-Boys/dp/B0CTKKBBVF
-------------------------------------
Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for early - and ad-free! - access to all of our content, plus a whole load more!: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear
Get bonus content on PatreonHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The things Bruce and Bing have in common and the adventures of Punch in 1976 clubland
Nick Drake - and what Richard Morton Jack learnt from 200 people who knew him
Cathi Unsworth was a teenage goth. Think “Robert Smith’s tarantula hair” and “cider like turps”
Wham!, Rock Follies and lost ‘70s prog foot-soldiers Renia – we will remember them!
Cocteau Twins song or Farrow & Ball paint colour? plus the day Beatlemania began
Grotesque/brilliant sleeves plus does upping the price make a ticket more desirable?
Harvey Lisberg – managing 10cc, meeting Elvis and “Peter Noone’s extra tooth”
Record shops in movies and what Glenda Jackson did that no other actor ever dared try
Revenge songs, Nick Drake and that sorry tale about Primal Scream
Word In The Park 2023 #4 – Clare Grogan's adventures in TV, film and music
Word In The Park 2023: How the Beatles and James Bond shaped us all
Word In The Park 2023 #2 – 60 years of the Bee Gees with Bob Stanley
Word In The Park 2023: 60 years of the Stones with Lesley-Ann Jones
What bands are becoming unfashionable?
Which is the most two-faced world - movies, music or daytime TV?
Farewell Tina Turner – “all you needed was Nutbush City Limits and a Watneys Party 7”
Robert Johnson, Shakespeare and the rock star image of Martin Amis
Is there a more annoying rhyme than “arms” and “charms”?
How a nine-year-old boy kick-started Rock’n’Roll (and other stories)
Groups that look like a check-out line at B&Q? We have a winner!
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Superfancast
Derringer Discoveries - A Music Adventure Podcast
One Song
Bandsplain
Popcast