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Articles by David Hepworth

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The Word Podcast live on August 19th

July 6, 2014 David Hepworth 0

In response to public demand we’re putting on a recording of the Word Podcast live on August 19th. It’ll be at the Islington. Mark Ellen, […]

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Our first Manchester Word In Your Ear – with Stuart Maconie and Mark Ellen

May 9, 2014 David Hepworth 0

There’s nothing like speech. It’s amazing how many subjects you can touch on, buttons you can press, situations you can recall and pictures you can […]

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Keep May 19th free and stay tuned for a details of a second Mark Ellen show

March 6, 2014 David Hepworth 1

The show with Mark Ellen at the Slaughtered Lamb on May 12th has sold out but we’ll be announcing another one to take place a […]

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Revision notes for Sunday’s WIYE at the Lexington

November 27, 2013 David Hepworth 0

Here’s Rhodri Marsden’s piercing analysis of the umbilical connection between the words “waiting” and “aniticipating” This is “Build A House Of Love”, an Andy Gregory-arranged […]

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Did anyone take any decent pictures of last night’s show?

October 10, 2013 David Hepworth 0

I was somewhat preoccupied so I didn’t. Which is a shame because it seemed to go very well. Can’t tell you how much simpler it […]

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I’m 540 pages into Mark Lewisohn’s book…

September 24, 2013 David Hepworth 0

…so I’ve written about it here.

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A night playing records and talking with Richard Williams and Kate Mossman

September 17, 2013 David Hepworth 0

Last night Richard Williams and Kate Mossman were  guinea pigs for our experimental evening in the small upstairs room to the Betsey Trotwood. In my […]

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We’re back from our holidays

August 22, 2013 David Hepworth 0

News about two exciting shows in September and October coming soon. Keep the 16th of the former and the 15th of the latter free. More […]

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We few, we happy few, will be talking about those Duckworth Lewis shows for weeks

July 10, 2013 David Hepworth 0

Alex and I have just got back from Nottingham, having seen the Duckworth Lewis Method royally entertain the Playhouse Theatre with a slightly longer set […]

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Handful of new tickets for Duckworth Lewis at Lord’s on Monday!

July 5, 2013 David Hepworth 0

Because of public demand and media interest, Duckworth Lewis will now be playing two shows at Lord’s on Monday night and therefore we have issued […]

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The Word Podcast

Word In Your Ear
Word In Your Ear

David Hepworth, Mark Ellen and chums cast an occasionally jaundiced eye over the goings-on in the worlds of music and entertainment.

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No Sex Pistols in Manchester? ‘No Smiths, Nirvana, indie rock.’ Discuss!
byMark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold

Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley read a review of the Sex Pistols in February 1976, borrowed a car, drove to London, asked the NME where they’d find the band and were told ‘try a sex shop in the King’s Road’. The events that followed changed both the culture of Manchester and the course of rock history, a story mapped out in David Nolan’s excellent ‘I Swear I Was There’, a book as much about the audience as the band. His theory: “If the Pistols hadn’t played the Lesser Free Trade Hall … no Buzzcocks, Joy Division, Factory Records, ‘indie’ scene, Smiths, Fall, Nirvana, Blur, Oasis, Radiohead or Prodigy.’ As the 50th anniversary looms, he talks to us here about …

 

… those who claimed to be there and the ones who actually were

 

… the contrast between myth and reality

 

… the letter Morrissey sent the NME: “Maybe the Pistols will be able to afford some clothes which don’t look as though they’ve been slept in”

 

… punk metaphor: Howard Devoto asking a tailor to narrow his trouser legs and being told, “there’s no going back”

 

… North/South crowd violence: “a battle with a gig breaking out in the middle”

 

… the three reels of home-movie and the photos that turned up 36 years later

 

… Sister Rosetta Tharpe, ‘Judas’ at the Free Trade Hall, Stones In The Park and other landmark Manchester moments

 

… the pioneering impact of Granada TV  

 

… “if you look at Manchester now, its media, its skyscrapers, its cultural prosperity, none of that would have been happened without those Pistols gigs”

 

… “Sheffield would have admired them, Manchester thought: we can do better!”

 

… and various bit-part players – Tony Wilson, Peter Hook, Paul Morley, Jordan and Jon the Postman.

 

Order ‘I Swear I Was There’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Swear-Was-There-Pistols-Manchester/dp/1786060159

 

Book promotions at Walthamstow Rock & Roll Book Club, London – 25 May (link below); Nudie, Manchester – 28 May; Central Library, Manchester – 11July: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/david-nolan-i-swear-i-was-there-tickets-1985356197832?utm_experiment=test_share_listing&aff=ebdsshios&sg=0713ff5cbb20ee739ec0a8803927c4228f74fda0c5bac9785b11548a1e5b7c04ba91c0af5267ba677dfafa61163636f97633016b86ba8be02a78ecdb7f234740f0be4f90136c5fd636905d294b

Help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear


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No Sex Pistols in Manchester? ‘No Smiths, Nirvana, indie rock.’ Discuss!
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