Hoary old tales retold – ideally in an Irish accent - and new ones prized from the giddy carousel of rock and roll news which, this week, features …

… was there a better stage name than Rick Derringer?

… Linda Ronstadt, Ronnie Spector, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and other new biopics under construction.

… genuinely ‘iconic’ rock images – the Ziggy lightning stipe, Johnny Cash at San Quentin, Elvis dancing in Jailhouse Rock, Dylan and Suze Rotolo in Jones Street …

… our old pal Barry McIlheney, his Belfast band Shock Treatment and the time he asked U2 to draw a duck.

… the thin wall that separates hilarity and grief.

… how TikTok and a 1962 B-side booted the 87-year old Connie Francis.

… Banned words! – ‘iconic, circle back, reach out, Ramones-esque, eponymous sophomore effort’ and other clichés that MUST be banished!

… “Sgt Pepper: it’s like the Beatles on acid!”

… why 80 per cent of the stadium experience is beyond our control.

... how Freddie Mercury still makes headlines beyond the grave.

… the real Rikki in ‘Rikki Don’t Lose that Number’.

… and when you find yourself at a Springsteen gig next to a Trump supporter.

Watch the Barry McIlheney podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjw-6HZWa-E

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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