Tim Booth from James – “Sit Down? I’d rather keep dancing.”

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 • Find out if you’re owed on car finance at refundclub.co.uk/t9tm • Refund Club is a trading style of Sandsford Law Limited, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA no. 8008114). Checking is free. A fee is payable only if your claim is successful. Eligibility: car finance taken out in the UK between 2007 and 2021. The average claim is around £829 per agreement; this is an average and not a guarantee of the amount you will receive. You can also claim yourself for free by contacting your lender or the Financial Ombudsman Service. refundclub.co.uk/t9tm ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok 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 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. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices