Amped dives into the greatest stories from the world of music. The legends and the moments that changed everything. Hosted by Olivia Jones, each episode brings you a story you think you already know but hopefully teaches you something you don't. Produced by Red Door Studios.
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It's 1996. Oasis are playing Knebworth. The Tories are on their way out. And England are hosting the Euros, their first major tournament since 1966. And at the intersection of brilliant british music, hope for the future and a passion for the game is a song written by a Liverpool fan and two football-obsessed comedians. This is the story of how it got made and why it has stuck around.
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21 May 2026
Gwyneth Paltrow introduces Eminem to Dido
In 1998, a Bronx producer recorded a voice off his television during a Gwyneth Paltrow film advert. Two years later, that recording became the backbone of one of the most celebrated songs in hip-hop history and made a British singer one of the biggest artists on the planet.
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14 May 2026
Nil Point - The UK Eurovision Story
This is the story of how Britain went from genuine Eurovision contender to continent-wide punchline across the space of a decade. From nil points in Latvia, a throat infection in Kyiv, and a rapper Athens . Featuring Blue, Engelbert Humperdinck, Bonnie Tyler, and the ray of sunshine who gave us back our dignity in 2022, Sam Ryder.
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7 May 2026
The Ricky Wilson Jump
It's May 2006. Ricky Wilson leaves a Hard-Fi gig early to watch a film on telly, crosses a road in Leeds, and gets hit by a car. It's probably his frontman instincts that save him. This is a story about a shy kid from West Yorkshire who taught himself to keep moving when the adrenaline hits.
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30 Apr 2026
How Coldplay made the Xyloband
In 2005, Jason Regler was sitting alone in a dark room watching Coldplay on TV when a single lyric gave him an idea. Six years later, that idea made 80,000 Coldplay fans a part of the show and a part of live music history.
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16 Apr 2026
Where Did Adele Come From?
In 2006, an eighteen-year-old from South London finished her final year at the BRIT School, recorded a three-song demo and gave it to a friend. The friend put it on MySpace. A few months later, one of the biggest music careers in history began. This week on AMPED, we go back before the Grammys, before the stadium tours, before Someone Like You, to the flat above a pound shop in West Norwood where it all started.
Clips:
Backstage at Jools Holland
BRIT Awards 2008
North American Tour footage from 19 Album.
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9 Apr 2026
The Bargain Bond
This episode explores the slightly chaotic creation of "Millennium," a song that became the Robbie William's first UK No. 1.
We dive into how Robbie went from being the "spare part" of Take That to a solo powerhouse as he struggled with addiction and a lack of creative confidence. Also, it turns out it's A LOT cheaper to hire a 26-piece orchestra to recreate a Bond theme from scratch than to pay to use it.
Clips:
ITV News -1999
Brit Awards - 1997
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2 Apr 2026
Britain's Biggest Illegal Rave
This episode dives into the chaotic, seven-day sprawl of the Castlemorton Common Festival in May 1992. What started as a massive police miscalculation by redirecting a convoy of New Age Travellers away from Bristol. It resulted in the largest illegal rave in British history.
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26 Mar 2026
Top Of The Mimes
For decades, every artist on Top of the Pops had to follow one rule: mime. No live music, no exceptions — just stand there, look the part, and pretend. They had some logic to the decision and most artists played along. Two of the most iconic bands of the 90s did not. This episode details the moments Nirvana and Oasis put their two fingers up at frustrating bureaucratic rule.
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19 Mar 2026
The Last Free Gig In Britain
In 2002, Fatboy Slim threw a free party on Brighton Beach for 60,000 people but instead 250,000 showed up. The roads were gridlocked for 25 miles, the pubs ran out of beer, and the police almost called in the riot squad. This is the story of Big Beach Boutique II: a disaster that somehow wasn't. Hosted by Olivia Jones.
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12 Mar 2026
Mel C Gets An Offer From Bryan Adams In A Lift
In 1998, the Spice Girls were the biggest group on Earth, but the "Girl Power" facade was cracking. Between Geri Halliwell’s sudden departure and the grueling "bone-deep exhaustion" of constant touring, the band was under immense pressure.
This episode tells the story of how a chance encounter in a Los Angeles hotel lift changed everything for Mel C. When rock legend Bryan Adams was ghosted by his first choice, he turned to a Spice Girl to save his unfinished track, "When You're Gone".
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5 Mar 2026
Supergrass Turn Down A Massive Offer From Steven Spielberg
In this episode, we explore the ultimate Britpop "what if": why Supergrass famously turned down a life-changing offer from Steven Spielberg. Just 12 months into their career—and only two years after forming in a Harvester kitchen in Oxford—the trio found themselves at Spielberg’s California ranch.
The surreal meeting saw a 19-year-old Gaz Coombes bonding with the director over The Twilight Zone before being presented with a choice that could have fundamentally altered the band's legacy. While the lure of global fame and Hollywood access was on the table, the band's reaction to the "shortcut" was an unusual one.
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26 Feb 2026
Mick Fleetwood and Sam Fox - Too Many Mistakes
On 13 February 1989, inside the grand surroundings of Royal Albert Hall, the British Phonographic Industry attempted to make the Brit Awards less stuffy.
With rock legend Mick Fleetwood and pop star Samantha Fox at the helm, autocues failed, Boy George made a gay sex joke, a government minister was heavily booed and hundreds of screaming Bros fans wiped out backstage communication. The result was a broadcast so painful the BRITs wouldn’t be broadcast live again for eighteen years.
In this episode, Olivia Jones revisits the night British music television imploded and ask whether, in all its shambolic, toe-curling glory, it was the most perfectly British awards show of all time.
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25 Feb 2026
Madonna's Cape Gets Stuck
At the 2015 Brit Awards, Madonna was pulled backwards down a flight of stairs during a live performance seen by millions. A cape. A misjudged tie. A split-second choice.
This episode looks beyond the viral moment to examine what it really revealed: a culture newly fixated on her age, a media narrative questioning her relevance, and an artist who has spent four decades refusing to disappear. From early controversy at the MTV Video Music Awards to battles with radio gatekeepers, Madonna’s career has always thrived on resistance.
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24 Feb 2026
Geri Halliwell's Union Jack Dress
On 24th February 1997, five women took to the stage at the BRIT Awards and in three minutes and thirty seconds, British pop culture changed forever.
This episode tells the story behind the most iconic dress in pop history: a black Gucci mini-dress transformed with a Union Jack tea towel. But this isn’t just a fashion story.
It’s about control. About five young women who refused to be managed quietly. About reclaiming symbols. About challenging a male-dominated industry and taking control of their own destiny.
From the wardrobe malfunction headlines to Mel C’s on-stage challenge to Liam Gallagher, from global merchandising madness to Sotheby’s auction room drama, we trace how one homemade dress became a record-breaking artefact and why Geri chose to let it go.
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23 Feb 2026
Jarvis Cocker Moons Michael Jackson
In 1996, at the height of Britpop, one impulsive act at the Brit Awards would change Jarvis Cocker’s life forever.
When Michael Jackson transformed the ceremony into a spectacle for his HIStory album — complete with messianic imagery and a newly invented “Artist of a Generation” award — Cocker made a split-second decision. He stormed the stage during “Earth Song”… and wiggled his bottom at the King of Pop.
What followed was chaos: accusations of assault, a night in a police station, Bob Mortimer acting as an impromptu solicitor, and a media firestorm that turned a moment of protest into a front-page scandal. But as video evidence emerged and public opinion shifted, Cocker became an unlikely symbol of British irreverence, pushing back against corporate spectacle.
In this episode of Amped, Olivia Jones tells the full story behind the headline. The cultural tensions of Britpop, the politics of fame, and the unexpected personal cost of becoming famous for the wrong reason.
Because sometimes the smallest gesture can create the loudest shockwave.
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18 Feb 2026
BRITs Special Trailer
The first series of Amped dives into the most talked about moments from the Brit Awards. From Jarvis Cocker’s onstage protest of Michael Jackson, to Geri Halliwell’s Union Jack dress, Madonna’s infamous cape fall, and the show which changed everything in 1989 — this season explores the performances that became music legend. Hosted by Olivia Jones and produced by Red Door Studios, Amped tells the greatest stories from the world of music.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
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