Have you been feeling more ’90s than usual lately? Have you been listening to Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me” or Portishead’s “Roads” on repeat while wearing your Calvin Klein basics? You can thank FX’s buzzy new series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette for that. The show has not just spurred a style phenomenon but a musical one as well.
The woman behind it is none other than music supervisor Jen Malone. Her storied career in the music business, including the transformation of her indie rock PR firm, Black & White, into an all-women music supervision company, has made her notable for her mining of era-specific deep cuts between tactful deployments of sometimes forgotten big hits of yesteryear on some of TV’s most talked-about series. Among them: Euphoria, Yellowjackets, and Wednesday.
Malone’s picks for Love Story create a sexy, sleek, adult vibe, full of great pop, R&B, and alt-rock from that era. It complements the passionate, sometimes volatile, and always heavily surveilled romance between JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Ahead of the series’ sixth episode, which chronicles the ups and downs of the doomed lovers’ wedding in Georgia, Malone dug into how she curated the music for the show — and everyone’s recent go-to playlist.
When were you brought on to Love Story?
I was brought on during preproduction, so maybe a month before we started. The studio executives recommended me to the team, and I got the script. I was freaking out as soon as I heard that it was a period piece in the ’90s. The producers and I were aligned in the idea of the music for the show.
You mentioned in the past that the appeal of working on Yellowjackets was that you had been a teen during that same era. What was your recollection of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette that same decade?
I knew about them, obviously, and I would see the pictures and be like, “Oh my gosh, she’s so pretty.” But I wasn’t following it in the press. I was kind of in my own world, working in New York City as a publicist for bands. So it was a little bit outside of where I was. I’ve always been in music and the entertainment industry, so I wasn’t really in the whole fashion scene, but I definitely knew about them. And I remember when I heard about the plane crash. I think anybody who heard about that, whether you knew them inside and out or were somebody like me, your heart broke when you found out.
Did you do research on the music they liked or did you want to build a separate world for this show?
I knew that John really loved more classic rock. I believe the Rolling Stones was one of his favorite bands. So, we didn’t want to use the Rolling Stones, but we had Tom Petty’s “You Wreck Me” in there. I did a lot of research on the wedding episode. I watched JFK Jr. and Carolyn’s Wedding: The Lost Tapes, not only for research for the show but also just because Carolyn was very elusive. There’s not a ton of information about what she listened to. So we just really went with songs that were of that time period but are not the super-obvious ones.
We wanted to really make the soundtrack accessible with songs from all different genres. I think we’re able to achieve that, but we had to balance it out with some of the ubiquitous songs, like “Linger” for example. There’s certain songs that you’ll hear that bring you back and you know exactly where you were, who you were with, what you were wearing, just like it just brings you back to such a specific moment in time.
The tone of the music really creates this really grown and sexy ’90s world. Which songs were you most excited about getting licensed for the show?
We were so lucky because we didn’t get any denials for the show. Every song that we wanted to use, we were able to. I guess my white whale was Björk. She’s difficult to clear. I sent the request after we put “Human Behaviour” in the episode and everybody completely fell in love with it. There was no other song that was going to beat it, but we weren’t getting the approval. The mix was coming up, and I was getting a little bit nervous, but I was like, It’s not a no. We don’t have a no, so let’s just keep with that.
When you get to that point, sometimes you write a letter to the artist, and usually the showrunner or the director does that. But I wrote this one. Her records Post and Debut were so important to me. It was literally the soundtrack of the first time I ever fell in love. That was such a core memory. My letter explained the show and the scene and why “Human Behaviour” was so perfect on so many different levels. It was very heartfelt, honest, vulnerable, and within 48 hours, we got the approval.
I worked very closely with Kate Bush’s team to get that one over the line. “This Woman’s Work” is a song that is very important to Kate. We just wanted to handle that one with care.
I personally gasped when Madonna’s “Secret” opened up the fourth episode. Perfect match for that episode’s plot but also for Madonna’s own romantic history with JFK Jr …
That was Ryan Murphy’s pick.
Oh wow!
He is so good with music. All of his shows have amazing music, so he comes to the table with ideas. Madonna can be tricky, but she was totally game for this. She was an easy clear, and we’re so grateful. Such an iconic Madonna song. That’s not the one that you would pick first from the ’90s. You would probably go into 1998 when Ray of Light came out.
I was surprised to hear “(Nice Dream),” by Radiohead, in the wedding scene and not the couple’s real-life first-dance pick, which was Prince’s “Forever in My Life.” How did you choose that song?
We wanted something more romantic and something a little bit slower. It was a very stylized shoot with them, kind of rising up over everybody. We just wanted something slower and more in the cut. Bryce Dessner’s score is absolutely incredible and brings tears to my eyes. We complemented the sound of the show with songs as score.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it feels like most of the scenes with the Kennedys rely more heavily on score than pop-song selections. Was there a specific difference in tone you wanted to create between the couple’s life in New York City together versus when they’re with this storied family?
It’s a good question. We have an Ella Fitzgerald song playing when Jackie is burning the letters and “Camelot.” That was definitely intentional, because I don’t think we would have a ’90s song score over Jackie.
Everyone has the official show playlists downloaded now. What’s it been like seeing people want to continue living in the musical world you built for this show?
It’s what I really hoped for, because I’m very proud of the soundtrack, and the ’90s were an amazing time for music. I think the music is unlocking a lot of core memories for people. Between people reaching out to me personally or seeing the comments online of people saying, “Oh my God, I remember the first time I heard the song,” that’s so special. I’m a proud card-carrying member of Gen X. This one is for us.
Sometimes it’s Gen-X’s kids who are really loving this music. Growing up, I was always making mixtapes, introducing people to new music. In a way, I kind of get to do that with music supervision as well. Being able to put Cocteau Twins in there or Primal Scream and watching all the kids discover them … a lot of these songs are some of my personal favorites. This music touches people’s hearts.
There’s also the cosmic timing that some of these songs are having resurgences already. Jeff Buckley’s “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” debuted on the Billboard “Hot 100” just a couple weeks before the episode it was featured in came out.
It’s proving, once again, that Gen X is the best generation. We’re showing the kids we really are. I love working on period pieces.
It feels like really great supervision for film and TV has, in recent years, been one of the biggest sources of music rediscovery and discovery. Great needle drops have been pushing old songs and breaking artists to the charts more than ever. Seeing that happen more frequently, how has that changed or even reinvigorated your relationship with your job?
First and foremost, my job is to serve the story and the showrunner’s vision. Everything else that happens is just icing on the cake. It all comes down to the song. Whether it’s something like “Goo Goo Muck,” by the Cramps, in Wednesday or any song that’s in Love Story, like Primal Scream, Low, Slowdive, Peter Gabriel’s “Blood of Eden,” I definitely dig in back catalogues. It was that time period where you would listen to a full record. The deep cuts are fun to bring back.
It makes me more excited and passionate. I’m happy to be able to introduce some of these amazing songs and sometimes forgotten songs and some songs or artists that just never really broke out. Maybe this is their chance now, to a new audience.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.