What really happened when Trainspotting exploded and suddenly the author was partying with Oasis at the height of Britpop?

Irvine Welsh joins Martin Deeson to talk about fame, the chaos of the 1990s, and the single greatest party he ever witnessed.

Episode Summary

When Trainspotting became the defining novel and film of a generation, Irvine Welsh found himself at the centre of the cultural storm that was the 1990s.

In this episode of Martin Deeson Unloaded, Irvine looks back on the era when literature, music and nightlife collided - from the rise of Oasis and the Britpop explosion to the surreal experience of sudden global fame.

Along the way he tells the story of the Trainspotting launch party at the Cannes Film Festival – and reflects on how that decade shaped, and continues to shape, the people who lived through it.

In this episode we talk about:

• What it felt like when Trainspotting suddenly became a cultural phenomenon

• The 1990s party culture that surrounded Britpop and Oasis

• Irvine’s memory of the most epic party he ever attended

• How the wild energy of the 90s still echoes through culture today

• How taking DMT live on camera turned him from an atheist into… something more mysterious.

If you lived through the decade – or wish you had – this conversation captures the madness, creativity and excess of the 1990s from someone who was right in the middle of it.

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In the 1990s, Kathy Lloyd was everywhere.

As three time Page Three Model of the Year she was one of the most recognisable faces in Britain - appearing in the country’s biggest newspaper and Loaded magazine.

Then she disappeared from the media spotlight for twenty years.

Until now.

Episode Summary

In this rare interview, Martin Deeson talks to Kathy Lloyd about fame, media culture and the surreal world surrounding the rise of Loaded magazine in the 1990s.

Kathy recalls what it was like becoming a national sex symbol almost overnight, the strange experiences that came with Page Three fame, and the madness of touring with Loaded magazine - with Bez from the Happy Mondays.

But the conversation also looks beyond the headlines.

Kathy reflects on the reality behind the glamour, how that era shaped her life, and how she views the culture of the 1990s today.

It’s a funny, honest and occasionally revealing conversation about one of the most extraordinary periods in British media history.

Kathy Lloyd discusses:

• What life was really like as a Page Three star in the 1990s
• Touring the UK with Loaded magazine
• Partying with Bez from the Happy Mondays
• The world of 90s lad culture from the inside
• Why she decided to give her first interview in 20 years

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4f8zXJ9K7LcFFG1YjYoo1OApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/martin-deeson-unloaded/id1885169674Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MartinDeesonUnloadedX: https://x.com/martindeesonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/martindeeson/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@martindeesonWebsite: https://www.unloadedpodcast.com/

He was the wildest man in 90s club culture - and by his own admission, probably would’ve “won the World Cup of caning.

"I realised I was more scared of living without drugs than I was of dying with them.”

In this raw, funny and unexpectedly moving conversation, Martin Deeson sits down with legendary DJ Brandon Block - the man synonymous with Ibiza, excess, and one of the most extreme lifestyles of the 1990s.

But this isn’t just a chance to tell war stories.

It’s a deep dive into addiction, recovery, dopamine, modern anxiety - and what happens when the party stops.

• How Brandon went from Ibiza icon to 28 grams of cocaine a day

• The moment he realised: “I can’t live like this anymore”

• Why addiction isn’t about substances — it’s about behaviour and dopamine

• The truth about anxiety: “It won’t kill you — but it will test you”

• The power of empathy — and how it shaped both his DJ career and his recovery work

• Why Gen X might be uniquely struggling in the modern world

Ibiza, spirituality, and the strange magic of that era

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Website: https://www.unloadedpodcast.com/

When people talk about 90s ladettes, they usually think of Sara Cox, Denise Van Outen or Zoe Ball. But before them came Jenny Eclair: PVC-clad, vodka in one hand and fag in the other.

Before Jenny Eclair became a beloved comedy veteran, novelist, podcaster, artist and national treasure, she was one of the defining women of the 1990s: loud, filthy, funny, fearless, and right there at the start of the ladette era.

In this episode, she joins Martin Deeson to look back at when she was guest editor of Loaded, on winning the Perrier Award, on fame, hangovers, reinvention and the complicated legacy of a decade that was enormous fun – until it wasn’t.

Jenny Eclair is one of Britain’s most distinctive comic voices: the first woman to win the Perrier Award, star of Grumpy Old Women, author of novels and memoirs, podcaster, performer, and one of the few people who can talk about shame, sex, ageing, ambition. dog castration adverts and blow jobs in the same breath.

In this funny, filthy, sharp and surprisingly revealing conversation, Martin and Jenny revisit the 1990s from the inside: the Loaded years, the ladette label, the pressure to be outrageous, and the emotional bill that went with it.

In this episode:

• Jenny remembers winning the Perrier Award – and why the morning after was anything but glamorous.
• Martin and Jenny revisit her infamous guest-edit of Loaded magazine, including the bondage photo shoot in which she trussed him up like a chicken.
• They discuss the original ladette era, why the word was both powerful and a millstone, and how much of it was performance.
• Jenny reflects on being clever, funny, reckless, ambitious and sometimes deeply uncomfortable in the persona she had created.
• Martin and Jenny talk about the Loaded live tour, lad culture, the BBC documentary, and where the magazine’s legacy became more complicated.
• Jenny explains how she moved from PVC trousers and filthy stage persona to novels, Radio 4 monologues, Grumpy Old Women, podcasting and later-life reinvention.
• They discuss ageing, family, work ethic, addiction, anxiety, writing, performance, and whether it is ever too late to do your best work.

This is a conversation about the 90s as they really felt from the inside: hilarious, excessive, clever, frightening, liberating, embarrassing and unforgettable.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MartinDeesonUnloaded

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Website: https://www.unloadedpodcast.com/

Jenny Eclair official website for tour dates, books, podcasts and more: https://jennyeclair.com/

Jenny Eclair — Older & Wider Podcast

Jenny’s podcast with Judith Holder. https://jennyeclair.com/podcast

Jokes, Jokes, Jokes: My Very Funny MemoirJenny’s memoir, which is heavily referenced in the episode available on amazon

Keith Allen joins Martin Deeson for a wild, funny and surprisingly moving conversation about punk, prison, Gazza, The Comic Strip, alternative comedy, World In Motion, the madness of 90s Britain and what it really felt like to live through the cultural explosion of Channel 4, rave culture and Cool Britannia.

From opening for The Clash and Dexys Midnight Runners to smashing up a members club, going to prison, writing World In Motion with New Order and accidentally giving Rik Mayall a criminal record – this is Keith Allen at his absolute, outrageous best.

In this episode of Martin Deeson Unloaded:

• Keith reveals the chaotic true story behind World In Motion
• Gazza “rapped but you couldn’t understand him”
• The birth of alternative comedy and The Comic Strip
• What Channel 4 was REALLY like in the 1980s
• Squatting in London during the punk years
• Going to prison after smashing up the Groucho Club
• Opening for Dexys and The Clash
• Working with Rik Mayall, Alexei Sayle and Ken Campbell
• The Hacienda, Tony Wilson and the Manchester explosion
• Fat Les, football culture and 90s Britain
• Why Keith believes institutions can be “fun”
• Growing older, fatherhood and staying creatively alive

Plus: Stephen Fry, Damian Hirst, Alex James, Irvine Welsh, Derek Jarman, Michael Barrymore, Robbie Coltrane, New Order, Trainspotting, Twin Town and much more.

Youtube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MartinDeesonUnloaded⁠

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Website: https://www.unloadedpodcast.com/

James Brown changed British culture when he launched Loaded magazine in the 1990s - and changed Martin Deeson’s life along with it.

In this hilarious, emotional and frequently chaotic reunion, the founder of Loaded sits down with his former star writer for the first time in years to talk about magazine wars, addiction, creativity, grief, comedy, the Beastie Boys, Keanu Reeves, Irvine Welsh, Hunter S. Thompson journalism and the wild rise - and fall - of 90s culture.

This episode is part reunion, part argument, part therapy session.

Martin and James interrupt each other constantly, disagree repeatedly, laugh hysterically and revisit the stories behind one of the most influential magazines Britain ever produced.

Topics include:

• The real origin story of Loaded magazine 

• Why the 1990s felt radically different from the 1980s 

• The explosion of comedy, music, rave culture and laddism 

• James Brown’s years at the NME before Loaded 

• Discovering writers, bands and cultural movements 

• Hanging out with the Beastie Boys and Keanu Reeves 

• Why Loaded connected with ordinary young men 

• Addiction in 90s media 

• The emotional toll behind the chaos 

• The infamous GQ champagne bottle incident 

• Howard Marks, Damien Hirst, Vic Reeves and Hunter S. Thompson 

• Why James eventually got sober 

• The strange legacy of Loaded today 

Plus:

• Stephen Fry airport chaos 

• Cannes Film Festival disasters 

• Nuclear war paranoia in the 1980s 

• Stringfellows stories 

• Terrence Stamp telling Martin to go away 

• Why James thinks Martin was the funniest travelling companion imaginable 

An unusually loose, funny and emotional conversation between two old comrades who helped define a decade - and somehow survived it.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/martin-deeson-unloaded/id1885169674Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MartinDeesonUnloadedX: https://x.com/martindeesonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/martindeeson/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@martindeesonWebsite: https://www.unloadedpodcast.com/

Rowland Rivron was there at the birth of alternative comedy, sharing stages and dressing rooms with Rik Mayall, French & Saunders, Alexei Sayle and The Comic Strip.

In this episode he reveals what Soho was really like during the wild 1980s and 1990s, from The Young Ones to the Groucho Club and beyond.

Episode Summary / Bullet Points

In this episode of Martin Deeson Unloaded, Martin sits down with comedian, actor, writer, musician and broadcaster Rowland Rivron.

Long before alternative comedy became mainstream, Rowland was part of the scene that transformed British entertainment.

From living with Rik Mayall while The Young Ones was being written to performing alongside French & Saunders, Alexei Sayle and The Comic Strip, he found himself at the centre of one of the most influential cultural movements of modern Britain.

The conversation also explores the legendary excesses of Soho, the Groucho Club, television in the Channel 4 golden era, life on the road with Jools Holland, and the infamous Loaded magazine Christmas stunt that left children convinced Father Christmas had been killed.

Topics include:

• Rik Mayall and the creation of The Young Ones
• The Comic Strip and the birth of alternative comedy
• Working alongside French & Saunders
• Alexei Sayle and the early comedy circuit
• Jonathan Ross and Channel 4’s golden era
• Jools Holland and life as a touring musician
• The infamous Loaded magazine drunken Santa stunt
• Wild nights at the Groucho Club
• What Soho was really like in the 1980s and 1990s
• Why comedy, music and television were changing Britain

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/martin-deeson-unloaded/id1885169674Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MartinDeesonUnloadedX: https://x.com/martindeesonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/martindeeson/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@martindeesonWebsite: https://www.unloadedpodcast.com/

She narrated Eurotrash, starred in The Fast Show, and has spent thirty years sitting at the next table to everyone - Nigella, Graham Norton, Cilla Black, Salman Rushdie.

But Maria McErlane didn’t come on to drop celebrity names; she came on to talk about how to actually live, and somehow we ended up discussing the two bottles of morphine in her fridge.

Episode Summary:

Martin Deeson sits down with Maria McErlane - Fast Show star, the unmistakable voice of Eurotrash, actress, journalist, Agony Aunt, and Graham Norton’s comedy partner on Radio 2, Virgin Radio and their hit podcast Wanging On.

What starts as a tour through 90s comedy turns into one of the most quietly profound conversations of the series - on fame, mortality, ageing without bitterness, and finding the joy anyway.

Three things you’ll take from it: how to develop a thick skin in an age that’s lost the knack; why “death is not a life ended, it’s a life completed” might be the most useful thing you hear all year; and how the people who treat fame as a licence to be horrible (yes, that story) always end up the loneliest in the room.

In this episode:

• How Maria landed The Fast Show - replacing Caroline Aherne, recruited by Mark Williams

• “I’m Not Pissed,” “Suits you sir,” and the secret-alcoholic sketch

• The voice of Eurotrash - 16 seasons of Jean-Paul Gaultier, Antoine de Caunes and refusing to be cruel about Lolo Ferrari

• Why the women of 90s comedy were genuinely frightened of Loaded and James Brown’s mob

• Being a woman on the 90s circuit alongside Jenny Eclair, Jo Brand and Hattie Hayridge

• Her book Bumps in the Road - and why it’s a book of philosophy disguised as a showbiz memoir

• John Diamond, Nigella Lawson, and the vodka injected straight into the stomach

• The Salman Rushdie moleskine-pad story - “fuck off, I’ve got cancer”

• “Death is not a life ended, it’s a life completed” - and where the phrase came from

• The two bottles of 25-year-old morphine still in her fridge

• Meeting Graham Norton on Carnal Knowledge, and how he got famous overnight

• The three types of fame - and why Cilla Black made her call her “Miss Black”

• The Maureen Lipman “I’m sure you are” takedown

• Martin’s day from hell with Vinnie Jones, GQ and a helicopter to the dogs

• Howard Marks, the nicest man at Glastonbury

• John Cleese’s stem cells, ageing, and doing it all with grace