About this episode

John Niven discusses his experiences in the 90s music industry, highlighting the excess and chaos of the era.

Diving deep into all things ’90s. The music business’s last hurrah of excess, extravagance and super-colossal expense accounts came in the ’90s – and John Niven was in the front row as an A&R man* at era-defining label London Records. His experiences of trying to sign the next big thing in a cloud of money and “stimulants” became the cult book and movie Kill Your Friends (the British American Psycho). What was it all like? John joins Miranda to talk Goldie, lengthy expense accounts, All Saints, Jarvis at the Brits, the terror of not finding a hit, rubbing shoulders with Oasis, becoming James Dean Bradfield’s “Fun Bobby’, and how on earth they got away with it. [* A&R men are the people who find and schmooze the talent, and pay for the “fruit and flowers”] • Hear more on Hit That Perfect Beat – The London Records Story, out now. • Want an extra mini-pod every two weeks, early ad free episodes and access to merch? ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • All Saints and Goldie photos: Getty Images • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs (or John’s!) through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll…

People in this episode

Host: Miranda

Guest: John Niven

Topics covered

• 90s music industry
• A&R experiences
• music business excess
• celebrity culture
• British music scene
• cultural commentary

Keywords

• 90s music
• A&R
• London Records
• Kill Your Friends
• music business
• celebrity
• excess
• Goldie
• All Saints
• Oasis

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: London Records

Books & works: Kill Your Friends

More episodes of Talk ’90s to me

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer! – How a surprise monster hit redefined horror · June 5, 2026 · 1h 5m
• Showgirls – Worst film of the ’90s or misunderstood gem? · May 24, 2026 · 1h 8m
• From Queen to Mogwai – John Robins on his ’90s music journey · May 17, 2026 · 1h 3m

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