ETA: https://shows.acast.com/word-in-your-ea ... t-part-two
Oh, to have been a fly on the wall at Somerset House that day (or at least the guy who brought the coffee). This just reinforces my teenage notion that Smash Hits would have been the BESTEST EVER place to work (sigh...)
Mark Ellen and David Hepworth do occasionally stop shouting over each other long enough to let Neil wax nostalgic about his introduction to the music press and the surprisingly large number of epochal events to which he seems to have been adjacent. (Please, somebody, tell me you have a scan of Neil's letter to the NME complaining about the violence at the Sex Pistols' Nashville Rooms gig!) And they must be thrilled about the fact that this conversation ran so long that there's enough gossip for two whole podcasts. It's a little hard to understand in places, especially when they get all excited and hysterical about something - some of y'all are going to need subtitles
- and sometimes they veer dangerously close to being Old Men Shouting At Clouds, but overall it's a hoot to listen to and I'll be setting a reminder for the next episode.They do rehash a lot of Neily history already covered in their earlier WIYE podcast from 2011, which is also very well worth a listen if you've never come across it before:
https://shows.acast.com/word-in-your-ea ... 5ee83196d0
This has one of my all-time favorite Neil quotes, about how his opportunity arose to go to New York to meet Bobby O because the entire Smash Hits office wimped out of a chance to see The Police and interview Sting because it was only a ONE NIGHT TRIP:
"One might assume, that given a free trip to New York, the entire office would be gagging to do it. (pause) AU CONTRAIRE!"
