In eager pursuit of dance and merriment, we dust down the current events. Which this week involves ….

… are teenagers no longer in love? And what does this mean for pop music?

… are people better musicians now than 40 years ago? And is that because you can get online tutorials explaining how to play everything?

… Paul McCartney taking two buses across Liverpool just to learn the chord of B7.

… how the best pop songs start with someone walking into a room.

… Ghana! India! New Zealand! The Caribbean! The King’s Spotify Playlist, a carefully chiselled love letter to the Commonwealth.

… do couples still have “Our Tune”? And do they still request songs for each other on radio shows?

… Neil Tennant’s memories of pre-Putin Russia – “we swept into Moscow in Gorbachev’s limousine”.

… Thunder Road, And Then He Kissed Me, Wouldn’t It Be Nice and other magical songs about dating.

… Amanda Seyfried does Joni Mitchell!

… the best pop song ever written - and we know the answer!

Plus birthday guest David Messer and two great Lou Reed live albums (“he heckles the hecklers!”).

David and Mark’s One-Man Show in Wareham on April 4: https://loveitlocalmagazine.co.uk/events/one-man-show/

Neil Tennant’s piece about pre-Putin Russia: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/mar/12/neil-tennant-pet-shop-boys-russia-putin-gay-club-mtv

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

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