Manic Street Preachers Biography
The Manic Street Preachers (Often called 'The Manics' by fans) are a popular rock band from Wales. They originally formed in 1986 but back then went by the name 'Betty Blue' (The title of a Jean-Jacques Beineix Movie).
The band members; James Dean Bradfield, Nicholas Jones Miles Woodward and Sean Moore all attended Oakdale Comprehensive School together in Blackwood, Wales. In 1989 they recorded their first single 'Suicide Alley' the record sleeve of which was photographed and designed by Richey James Edwards a school friend of theirs who also later began to contribute to lyrics and song writing.
The Manic Street Preachers often come across as a very politically minded band, having grown up in the 1980's during the miner's strike they have included several of their own views and opinions in their lyrics and are often referred to as a socialist group. However, this didn't always go down well with fans and at several early gigs in their career they were bottled and heckled by fans through out and James and Nicky would hurl abuse back at the fans and give as good as they got.
1990 was a big year for the Manics, as they penned a record deal for an EP with 'Damaged Goods Records' titled New Art Riot. The EP attracted media attention for both the fantastic music and the slurs against fellow musicians that The Manic Street Preachers had become renowned for. From there the band were signed to 'Heavenly Records' and their first single released under this label was 'Motown Junk' on the 21st of January, 1991. They had developed somewhat of a 'love hate relationship' with the press which seemed to raise their profile more. They began to be known for their 'Sex Pistol' style antics but their fan base was growing and becoming ever more loyal. The manics soon received their big break into the mainstream music industry when Sony Records signed them and began to start working on their debut album 'Generation Terrorists'.
The band started touring around the world and soon built a huge following in almost every country except for the US. Reasons for this are generally unknown, but it is thought that maybe the political nature of the bands lyrics and their attitude were a contributing factor.
The Manic Street Preachers cover version of "Suicide Is Painless" became the Manic' first top ten hit in the United Kingdom. They then quickly started on their second album which would be titled 'Gold against the Soul'.
The album received mixed reviews on its release but despite this, still managed to climb the UK charts to reach Number 8. They began to adapt a more mainstream look and all was well until Richey Edwards was admitted to The Priory rehab clinic in 1994 after a series of mental heath problems and self mutilation. The bands next album 'The Holy Bible' received poor sales figures and was never released in America. However, some of the band's hardcore fans hail this as their best album ever and it is often mentioned in various 'Top 10 Album' reviews.
On the 1st of February, 1995, Richey James Edwards went missing. He was last seen at the London's Embassy Hotel in Bayswater Road. He checked out of hotel at 7 in the morning. On the 14th of February, 1995, Richey's car was located near the Severn Bridge at the Severn View service station. The bridge is now a place which has now become a renowned suicide spot. Richey was never found and the band still keep a cut of his royalties to one side in the unlikely event that he should ever return.
In 1996 the band released their first album after Edwards' disappearance called 'Everything must go' this is probably the most well known album of the bands career. 'A design for life’ reached number 2 in the charts and in 1998 This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours launched the manic's first number one single titled 'If you tolerate this your children will be next' along with several other hit singles such as 'Tsunami' and 'You stole the sun from my heart'.
The Manic Street Preachers continued to go from strength to strength and released a further string of albums including: 'Know your enemy' The greatest hits (plus remixes) album 'Forever Delayed' was released in 2002, 'Lipstick Traces' in 2003 which included their album B sides and 'Lifeblood' on November 1st 2004. The band has since had various different solo projects.
In 2007 the bands 8th album 'Send away the Tigers' was released and the band set off on another world tour. 'Send Away the Tigers' reached number 2 in the UK download charts and was released in American on 24th July 2007.