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”. He’s always had a journalistic capacity for story-telling, remembering everything in famously entertaining detail, and we had so much material from this reunion we turned it into a two-part podcast. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find in this second half ...
… “every group has to have an angle”.
… pop’s current obsession with identity.
… why Bronski Beat were so significant.
… David Bowie’s scathing one-word reviews of Michael Jackson and Oasis at the Brits.
… “the whole world of pop songs is a giant ever-expanding artwork”.
… meeting Frida from Abba, “a song waiting to happen”.
… the ‘Pits & Perverts’ gay benefit for the miners in 1984.
… London clubs in the early ‘80s - “we had a competition to see who could wear the highest heels”.
… how everyone at Smash Hits thought Michael Jackson’s Thriller was “a damp squib”.
… recording West End Girls.
… first hearing a 12-inch single.
… appearing on Soul Train with Don Cornelius – “like being on a different planet”.
… why Dusty Springfield gave Jerry Wexler a nervous breakdown.
… seeing the last Ziggy Stardust show.
… meeting Steven Spielberg, Micky Dolenz and Joni Mitchell.
… and Boy George's gag about George Michael.
-----------------------------------
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 Patreon
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jarvis v Jacko and why drummers are like goalkeepers. Let Pulp’s Nick Banks be your guide
Smoking on album sleeves, Smash Hits The Musical and records you own but have never played
Echo & the Bunnymen, why the rock press were “divs” and the secret of good hair by Will Sergeant
An Insider’s Guide To Goth by Cathi Unsworth (via Cruella De Vil and the Cure)
Nick Drake – a whole new perspective by Richard Morton Jack
Gary Numan, unlikely sex symbols and U2’s £1,000 night in the desert
Does Gary Numan regret throwing the glo-stick that hit David Bowie?
Why a sumptuous new book about the Island label is “like entering the record shop of your dreams”.
Mojo’s 30th birthday plus bands whose t-shirts you’d wear even if you didn’t have any of their records
The “unknown woman” in McCartney’s photos, the Human League and a new U2 game
Pulitzer Prize winner David Remnick takes the long view of Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Macca and more
The Stones return, rock’n’roll marriages and Freddie’s 50 kimonos
Plaid shirts? Brown ale? A smoke-stained pub rock special with Simon Matthews
What Kevin Armstrong learnt as the sideman for Bowie, McCartney, Morrissey, Sinead and Iggy Pop
Which acts will “go down in history” and what matters more than their music?
Bob Dylan - why he signs autographs left-handed and other mysteries solved by Ray Padgett
Achtung Baby, rock fantasy friends and the band that inspired the Bad News Tour
Robbie Robertson, Billy Connolly, Bridge Over Troubled Water and the “fake history” of Punk
Sinead O’Connor, that Morrissey outburst, over-long films and the pitiful plight of roadies
Tales of Hipgnosis sleeves (and the new film) and why the world needs Steely Dan more than ever
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Superfancast
Derringer Discoveries - A Music Adventure Podcast
One Song
Bandsplain
Every Single Album