The SECRET Love Triangle That Crafted Two of 1997’s Best Albums
Spiritualized and The Verve crossed paths in 1995 and shared some stages. But they also shared a little more than that. Kate Radley, who had been a core piece of Spiritualized and was frontman Jason Pierce’s girlfriend, started up a secret relationship with Richard Ashcroft of the Verve. In fact, they even got married in secret! This is the story of how this secret love triangle helped craft two of 1997’s best albums: “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space” by Spiritualized and “Urban Hymns” by The Verve.
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Poetic Wax is hosted by Andy Fenstermaker.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 The Best Album of 1997
1:20 Jason, Kate, and the Early Days of Spiritualized
3:52 The Love Triangle and a Secret Marriage
5:49 Parallels in Writing and Recording Ladies And Gentlemen
7:39 Floating In Space with Elvis and Love’s Fragility
9:31 The Legacy and Greater Orbits
REFERENCES & CLIPS
Vice on the Love Triangle: https://www.vice.com/en/article/spiritualized-the-verve-and-1997s-biggest-secret-love-triangle/
Spiritualized Live on MTV 120 Minutes (Aug 16, 1992) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfV_xwXvYJU
Spiritualized Live at Lisner Auditorium (May 1, 1995) cr Pete Sounds via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv_hNt4WB2k
Jason Pierce Guinness Book of World Records Interview (Much Music, Toronto, 1997) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CegkTma0eQ
Spiritualized on The New Music Series (1995) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY4xfe_ZoBk
Spiritualized “Let it Flow” Official Music Video (1995) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv1KozeXGqk
Spiritualized “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (NPR MUSIC LIVE) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7FEENQd6UI
#theverve #spiritualized #jasonpierce #richardashcroft #kateradley
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@TyDeenuss
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
I'm really new to this channel but I love it.
@XKXKIXKXK
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
2:59 "her organ work". I can easily see Beavis and Butthead using that.
@steven_uk
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
I prefer Let It Come Down. It's the follow up to Ladies and Gentlemen, and I think it's marvelous.
@spittingvenom9148
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Spiritualized is criminally underrated. Seen them 3x and each was phenomenal! Don’t believe me, just listen to Don’t Just Do Something!
@pyenapple
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
One of the albums is classic genius (Spiritualized) and the other one…well, at least it’s better than Oasis. But after the first two Verve albums Richard’s ego basically distorted the group into a narcissistic endeavor
@RStubbs-c5q3v
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Awesome album ❤❤😎 😎 😎 😎 💚💚💚💚🖤💚🖤🖤💚🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤💚🖤🖤💚🖤🖤💚🖤💚💚💚
@RStubbs-c5q3v
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Fleetwood smack!!
@monkimusic4813
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Let in come down is an amazing album…. urban hymns is 3rd rate Verve…their sell out album…1st 2 are amazing the 3rd…shite….
@Johnnybravo999
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
I like to say discovering The Brian Jonestown Massacre was like finding the holy grail. Discovering Spiritualized was like drinking from it.
@thechronicnoizeco.6675
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
I own that Spiritualized CD. I never understood the hype. I may have listened to it twice. When Radiohead came to town, Spiritualized opened for them. I still didn’t get it. Is it all just hype? Am I stupid or something? It didn’t have any impact on me whatsoever. Maybe I’m too old. I keep the CD because I’m confused about it. Some bands make more sense to me as I get older but not this one.
@SquirrelSeb84
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
I used to think of Spiritualized as "psychotropic gospel". It took me an embarassing amount of time to actually enjoy this record, and however much praised it is I still feel it's underrated.
@fooman65
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Great vid with the bizarre connection between 2 great bands. Also probably the greatest LP/cd design ever created and that's a fact.
@AntonyReyn
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
For the US kids the Spiritualized album is presented as a prescribed medicine would be in the UK with an instruction leaflet, a special edition of the Vinyl even came in a pill pop out container, I had this album for one day after getting 4 buses to get it, I resold it straight away I used to do that a lot, always had money for music but not rent. Cheers from England
@Normanbates777
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Top 5 band all time for me, J Spaceman xo
@diegobarna
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
I love how gossip explains the most amazing songs ever. We are humans and art is driven by our experiences, whatever they are. People who try to do a generational song will never accomplish it, because it's something that happens, not something that you look for.
@donny_doyle
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Spiritualized, Verve and Radiohead are my fave bands of all time. This is an old sad tale that produced two amazing records. Love the Spaceman most tho- a kindred spirit if you will. Verve's Storm in Heaven is the greatest album ever tho-
@automatics1im
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
5:35 That diagram of love looks like a balloon animal.
@chrismartin3197
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Outta Sight
@Dus10-y6p
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
How have I been absorbed by only music since 1992 and never heard of this album
@dane279
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
I thought this was going to be about Justine Frinchmann and her love triangle inspiring Suede and Blur albums. I guess there was a lot of that going around back then!
@dlow767
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Thank you for making this! One of my favorite albums of all time.
@humansincages
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Thanks for this. Everytime I hear "all I want in life's a little bit of love to take the pain away' it's like somebody has thrown a warm, comforting blanket over me
@chrisconklin873
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Thanks Andy this is awesome!
@sabertoothrobot
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Spiritualized is used to treat the mind, body, and soul.
Ask your doctor if Spiritualized is right for you.
@markcarey67
June 17, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Ladies and Gentlemen is a masterpiece…the next one, Let it Come Down was rubbish. The fact that it got good reviews (and Aphex Twins' "Drukqs" – released at around the same time got panned) caused me to stop reading the music press.