You Had to Be There
- Author Jodie Harsh
- Narrator Jodie Harsh, Russell Tovey
- Publisher Faber & Faber
- Publish Date 23 September 2025
- Run Time 9 hours and 12 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Autobiography: arts and entertainment, Cultural studies.
Flexible Pricing & Rewards For Listening
At xigxag, the more you read, the less you pay* on select audiobook and x-book® titles, as in the table below. Pricing updates automatically in the app and resets one year after your first purchase. And you can always find a selection of brilliant titles available for only £3.99.
Titles Purchased
- 1-5
- 6-10
- 11-15
- 16-20
- Over 20
Price per title
- £8.99
- £7.99
- £6.99
- £5.99
- £4.99
*Only the full price titles you buy count toward your personal pricing tier. Full price titles don’t include Listen for Less or other books bought with a voucher or discount code.
Listen to a sample
What to expect
'Gallops through the pre-mobile phone era with wit and chaotic energy.'
Sunday Times
'
A joyous rags-to-riches tale.'
Financial Times
'Nostalgic, salacious and bitingly witty.' Joe Lycett
'A delicious, neon-soaked fever dream.' Munroe Bergdorf
'I couldn't put it down.' Annie Macmanus
The defining book on the iconic noughties-era of pop culture in London as told by DJ Jodie Harsh, who saw, did and survived it all.
Jodie Harsh arrived in London aged fifteen in 2001, heading straight off the train from Canterbury to her first club night at the Astoria. Intoxicated by this initial taste of city nightlife, she didn't leave the party for years, falling in with the right wrong people and exploring the sides of London best experienced under cover of darkness.
Throughout the noughties, from Camden and Soho to Mayfair, from Notting Hill and Primrose Hill to Hackney Road, the city was a messy, beating, slick and sordid melting pot. New music, new fashion, new art, all came together in a mad, dizzying rush before - and during - the financial crash of 2008. Different scenes collided, exploded, were reborn and shaped across the city, at rapid speed.
Harsh grabs us by the hand and leads us back to those decadent times: from the Astoria to The Cross, the Soho Revue Bar to Mahiki, Boombox to The End and her famous friends' houses; to a time before social media and cameraphones were ubiquitous and a life without their perpetual scrutiny allowed for a more liberated, hedonistic and creative existence. You had to be there, and Jodie Harsh was. Every single night.
| Author | Jodie Harsh |
|---|---|
| Narrator | Jodie Harsh, Russell Tovey |
| Duration | 9 hours and 12 minutes |
| Release Date | |
| ISBN | 9780571394913 |
| Format | Audiobook |
| Publisher | Faber & Faber |
| Genre | Autobiography: arts and entertainment, Cultural studies |
| Collections | In Their Own Words, The xigxag Ten |
| Availability | AU, GB, IE |
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK’s only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at £8.99. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from £3.99. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.