Talk ’90s to me

Diving deep into all things ’90s… It was impossible to miss anthemic Manchester groundbreakers James’ monster hits in the ’90s, like Sit Down, Laid and She’s A Star. Huge communal singalongs with a melancholic beauty that struck a chord on both sides of the pond, they put James right into the mainstream (and on thousands of t-shirts too). Away from the charts it was even more of a rollercoaster story. After blagging his way into a Manchester acting school, Tim Booth went out one night, narrowly avoided a fight with some blokes who were trying to steal his drink, and found himself the lead singer of their band – the group he’s now been fronted for nearly 45 years.

From ending up in a cult to near death experiences, band addictions, breakups and makeups, collaborations with Brian Eno and Angelo Badalamenti, and an appearance in Batman Begins, Tim’s story is astonishing. He joins Miranda to discuss how Eastern philosophy saved his life… how an incident with a maraca nearly sank the band… and why despite never quite cracking America, he has no regrets.

• Live photo by Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images

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• Advertisers! Want your brand to reach the 3.5 MILLION people who listen to Podmasters podcasts every month? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait and Amelia Phillips. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production.

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Diving deep into all things ’90s… The fierce face and blazing voice of post-grunge feminist rock’n’roll, Shirley Manson became a 90s icon with Garbage’s era-defining hits: Only Happy When It Rains, Stupid Girl, Milk, I Think I’m Paranoid and more. A James Bond theme, acting in video games and TV – she played an actual Terminator! – fashion fame and more all followed. What was it like in the whirlwind of ’90s alt.rock, when you’ve graduated from Scottish bands Goodbye Mr Mackenzie and Angelfish to a new outfit whose drummer Butch Vig had just produced Nirvana’s Nevermind, and the whole world has its eyes on you?

Now back with Garbage and as fiery as ever, Shirley joins Miranda to talk global fame in the ’90s, being a literally starving artist when Garbage made their double-platinum selling debut Garbage, and becoming rock royalty.

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Written and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait and Amelia Phillips. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist.

Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production.

www.podmasters.co.uk
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Diving deep into all things ’90s… Primal Scream began the decade by smashing indie rock into acid house. Their euphoric classic Screamadelica made everyone briefly believe in a happier, kinder, more disco-psychedelic Britain. But there’s more to the Scream than Movin’ On Up and their late ’90s masterpieces Vanishing Point and XTRMNTR – now re-released as part of the “Bunker Trilogy” – showcased the dark side of the chemical generation.

Prime mover Bobby Gillespie joins Miranda to discuss paranoia, politics, Top of the Pops, drugs, dodgy journalism and bass legend Mani’s brief career in a burger van. Could it be that Primal Scream both started and killed the ’90s… and is it really possible for anyone to pull off black leather before teatime? WLCM T TH PDCST, BBBY GLLSPE.

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Written and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait and Amelia Phillips. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production.

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Diving deep into all things ’90s… In 1978, skate died for good. Skateparks closed, toys went to landfill, boards gathered cobwebs and Tony Hawk couldn’t pay his bills. But then a new wave of skaters swapped the vert for the street, new fashion brands and magazines like RaD (Read and Destroy) and Thrasher were born, and skate culture began to take over the world. When an older, maybe less cool Tony Hawk landed the first-ever 900 at the X Games it was the moment that birthed his behemothic Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game franchise… and the rest is pretty much history.

Writer and skater-’til-I-die Neil Macdonald has just released Elsewhere, the ultimate book on British skateboarding history – stuff you would only find in the pages of 35-year-old magazines and zines, and the rattled minds of old skaters. He takes Miranda on an ollie- and heelflip packed ride through skating in the ’90s.

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• Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

• Advertisers! Want your brand to reach the 3.5 MILLION people who listen to Podmasters podcasts every month? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait and Amelia Phillips. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production.

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Diving deep into all things ’90s… If you wanted the Britpop sound* you called Stephen Street – the legendary record producer, musician and band-wrangler who brought out the magic in Blur’s Parklife and The Great Escape, two colossal Cranberries albums, and Britpop classics from Sleeper, Catatonia and Shed Seven. Oh and before that he engineered a little-known record called Meat is Murder by The Smiths (heard of it?).

He talks to Miranda about creating the guitar sound that defined a decade… juggling Blur and The Cranberries while the latter were making two of the biggest-selling Irish albums of all time (‘Zombie’ alone has nearly 4 billion plays on Spotify and YouTube)… how working with Morrissey and Pete Doherty was “quite the ride”… and why Graham from Blur refused to make an album in Iceland because he needed somewhere he could get to on his skateboard. Parklife!!

(* also the IrishPop sound)

⁠Support us on Patreon

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Subscribe to our Spotify playlist

• Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

• Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more.

Written and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait and Amelia Phillips. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production.

www.podmasters.co.uk
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