# Matt Johnson & the unique story of The The plus George Michael and the sunbed

An episode of [Word In Your Ear](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1567029088), 1 Apr 2026, 39 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/5ff0586154e2a73589267809/e/69cd68da7d4a54c657e79302/media.mp3

Matt Johnson’s life story has been mapped out as one long Q&A conversation from meetings with old friend, fan and BFI director Jason Wood. ‘Cognitive Dissident’ traces his trajectory from the East End to Soho to the beloved albums he made with a series of super-groups and his 2021 comeback. He looks back here at … … his earliest musical memories – Donovan, the Move, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown … the old East End and the Two Puddings pub run by his parents, “full of ghosts”, Bobby Moore, Francis Bacon and the Krays … his Uncle Kenny promoting the Who, the Kinks and Jerry Lee Lewis … “Get yourself on a sunbed!” and other advice from George Michael ... what he learnt at De Wolfe Music, aged 15, in the red-light Soho of the late ‘70s … legendary manager Stevo signing the band’s CBS contract at midnight in Trafalgar Square … “cigarettes, coffee, warm analogue equipment”: the Proustian scent of old studios … his NME ad recruiting The The members via the Residents, the Velvet Underground, Syd Barrett and Throbbing Gristle … being part of “the Long Mack Brigade” with Cabaret Voltaire, This Heat, Wire and the Gang of Four … Leonard Cohen’s premonition of the internet … the Albert Hall: “like a tennis player playing Wimbledon” … the genius of Hank Williams … and his 2018 comeback, “like reunion of old army buddies” Order ‘Cognitive Dissident’ here: https://omnibuspress.com/products/cognitive-dissident?_pos=1&_psq=cognitive+dissi&_ss=e&_v=1.0 Help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear 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.

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