Penny Kiley moved to Liverpool in 1976, ran into punk rock and “became the person I’d never been allowed to be”, as vividly remembered in her memoir, Atypical Girl. It’s a moment of liberation mapped out by records, nights at Eric’s and the big personalities in the city’s Second Coming, the beat she later covered for Melody Maker. She looks back here at some unconquerable moments, among them …

… the impact of Marc Bolan and David Cassidy - and later Patti Smith, Siouxsie, Pauline Murray and Poly Styrene

… punk’s “bad taste aesthetic” and the clothes she wore

… boomtown Liverpool in the late ‘70s – “everyone had a film script or a demo tape”

… how Boy George stole Pete Burns’ act

… the Clash, Talking Heads and the Ramones at Eric’s

… why her book is “like an historical novel about the way journalism changed”

… first reviews, front covers and life as Melody Maker’s Liverpool correspondent, “which could be awkward with friends in bands”

… Orange Juice and the ground-breaking NME C81 tape

… and the adjustment to the ‘80s – “the Royal Wedding, Live Aid, Duran Duran, yuppies, a decade where I didn’t feel I fitted in”

Order a copy of Atypical Girl here: https://birlinn.co.uk/product/atypical-girl/

https://www.waterstones.com/book/atypical-girl/penny-kiley/9781846976919

Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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In the 70s Paul Charles wrote lyrics for an Irish prog band. Now he writes mystery novels. Inbetween he’s been agent for Tom Waits, Nick Lowe, Van Morrison, Hothouse Flowers and many others and has forgotten more about live shows than most of us will ever know. Here he talks about:

•⁠ ⁠hearing the Beatles for the first time through the family radio

•⁠ ⁠meeting Tom Waits in a queue at Tower Records in Hollywood

•⁠ ⁠why he likes to watch the way bands take the stage

•⁠ ⁠the changes he’s seen in the live music landscape

•⁠ ⁠why everybody suddenly wants to tour

•⁠ ⁠what will change about ticket prices and what probably won’t

•⁠ ⁠why the artist doesn’t want to see his agent in the bar after the show

•⁠ ⁠what it’s like when Jackson Browne plays you his new record

•⁠ ⁠why his latest McCusker mystery is called “Hi Love, You Just Dropped Your Glove”

Order “Hi Love, You Just Dropped Your Glove”: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0GTC3M9CW/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0

Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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This week’s news stories charge out onto the pitch but which are heading for promotion? In the running at the final whistle …

… “a ghoulish, soulless cash-grab”: the multiple disasters in the making of the Michael biopic

… how spectacle is replacing music

… which do we prefer, the truth or the myth?

… did Steve Reich re-invent music?

… when the Dalai Lama appeared at Glastonbury

… how does it feel to perform to a sea of non-clapping motionless mobile phone users?

… the remodelling of Coachella

… “producers are in the business of creating of high-profile communal rights”

… Vilma Jaa: “like Sandy Denny making music with Massive Attack”

… how festivals are all about special guests and social media

… the 1974 Diana magazine quiz: “how tall is Alvin Lee?”

… 20 year-old Word in Your Ear podcast unearthed!

... plus Luciano Berio, Slow Club and “the bawdy harridan and her jive muse”.

Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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