{"podcast":{"title":"Word In Your Ear","slug":"word-in-your-ear-3755187","podcast_index_feed_id":3755187,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/5ff0586154e2a73589267809?cache=false","website_url":"https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/5ff0586154e2a73589267809/1620937674526-4e6eb29c967e869bd9d5a9d205d55599.jpeg","author":"Word In Your Ear","episode_count":986,"summary":"Mark Ellen and David Hepworth have been talking about and writing about music together and individually for a collective eighty years in magazines like Smash Hits, Mojo and The Word and on radio and TV programmes like \"Rock On\", \"Whistle Test\" and VH-1. Over thirteen years ago, when working on the late magazine The Word, they began producing podcasts. Some listeners have been kind enough to say these have been very special to them. When the magazine folded in 2012 they kept the spirit of those podcasts alive in regular Word In Your Ear evenings in which they spoke to musicians and authors in front of an audience. Over these years they've produced hundreds of hours of material. As of the Current Unpleasantness of 2020, they've produced yet hundreds of hours more with a little help from guests kind enough to digitally show them around their attics such as Danny Baker, Andy Partridge, Sir Tim Rice and Mark Lewisohn. For the full span of the Word In Your Ear world, visit wiyelondon.com . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-24T06:19:56.425854+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/word-in-your-ear-3755187"},"episode":{"title":"The Specials are no more! Horace Panter remembers days when it was ‘like walking on air’","slug":"the-specials-are-no-more-horace-panter-remembers-days-when-it-was-like-walking-on-air","published_at":"2026-07-14T19:12:29+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/word-in-your-ear-3755187/the-specials-are-no-more-horace-panter-remembers-days-when-it-was-like-walking-on-air","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/word-in-your-ear-3755187","url":"https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/5ff0586154e2a73589267809/e/6a568a1d70c881d75c03ed9e/media.mp3","summary":"The Specials have officially disbanded, bowing out with a swansong album recorded in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral in 2019. Horace Panter looks back at the first shows they played - when Jim Callaghan was still PM! - and the rigours of mastering ska when some of the group thought it was “old man’s music”. Along with …   … the dignified way for any band to retire   … the 2-Tone tour of 1979 – “like a school trip with no teachers”   … bonding with Terry Hall over comedian Ken Platt: ‘I won't take me coat off, I'm not stoppin'!\"   … the day Jerry Dammers came to rehearsal with Prince Buster’s Greatest Hits – “for all your rebellious needs!”   … the poignancy of playing in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral when you start the set with an air-raid siren   … seeing the Faces and Mott the Hoople, “once in my school uniform”   … the sensory overload - “The space! The volume!” - of Led Zeppelin at the Albert Hall when you’re 15 and from Kettering   … “strange to think few people under 60 have ever seen the Specials”   … the bassist he pretended to be when posing in the mirror   ... the Bilzen Festival in 1979 “when the chain-link fence was broken down and I came offstage like I was walking on air”   … and creating the 2-Tone look with ex-Mod tonic suits   Order ‘Live From The Cathedral’ here: https://shop.thespecials.islandrecords.com/ Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"The Specials have officially disbanded, bowing out with a swansong album recorded in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral in 2019. Horace Panter looks back at…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1386,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/word-in-your-ear-3755187/episodes/the-specials-are-no-more-horace-panter-remembers-days-when-it-was-like-walking-on-air/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/word-in-your-ear-3755187/the-specials-are-no-more-horace-panter-remembers-days-when-it-was-like-walking-on-air.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}