James Dean Bradfield
|
James Dean Bradfield in the late 1990s |
James Dean Bradfield is the lead
guitarist and vocalist for the famous
Welsh rock band
Manic Street Preachers.
Career
Born on
February 21 1969 in
Pontypool, he attended the local Oakdale Comprehensive school in
Blackwood where he underwent years of cruelty & bullying (he claims he was like a "nerdier version of Woody Allen") for his name, lazy-eye (a popular nickname was "Crossfire") & small size (another nickname was "He-man" considering James is still only 5"5). Because of this James formed a rather exclusive relationship with three friends: his cousin
Sean Moore, who lived with James and his family throughout their childhood after his own parents' divorce, and future band members
Nicky Wire (real name Nicholas Jones) and
Richey James Edwards. Bradfield is named after
James Dean - his father wanted originally to call him
Clint Eastwood Bradfield, but was vetoed by his mother.
Bradfield loved to run and was a fine steeple-chaser, and soon grew fond of famous
punk rock band
The Clash. He there-and-then gave up his dream of "being like
Napoleon" and decided to be a rock star. He learnt to play guitar by learning how to play
Guns'N'Roses's
Appetite For Destruction with the curtains drawn in his parents' front room. He was soon
busking of a Saturday on the streets of Cardiff - where he got the name for the band from an old tramp who called him "the manic street preacher".
Wire soon began to join his friend busking (playing acoustic guitar) and the seeds of the band were planted. James was the musical brain, Sean was persuaded to join and the bassist was Miles "Flicker" Woodward while Richey drove for the band. After several names (the most interesting apparently being "Betty Blue") and the firing of "Flicker" followed with Richey joining, the band became
Manic Street Preachers. The band began playing riotous gigs in various ‘toilet' venues around the country. During these hectic times, James once had his jaw broken and couldn't sing for almost 2 months when he tried to defend Richey in
McDonalds on his birthday.
However, they managed to release the self-financed
Suicide Alley and were eventually signed by managers Phillip and Martin Hall. All four soon moved up to
London, where they lived with Phillip Hall for some time in his new home rent free, which he had just brought with his wife, ‘paying' their way by tidying and cooking. Contrary to popular belief, manager Philip Hall didn't remortgage his house, although the £45,000 investment still took up a massive amount of his personal wealth. The band quickly became a cult and, possibly, the most hated band in Britain. James would often be pelted with bottles on stage - and once took one full on the face.
The Manics (as they are often called) began recording their first album in the early 90s, and James supplied all the guitar parts despite Richey being credited with playing the instrument on the album.
1992 saw the band release
Generation Terrorists which included the hit single
Motorcycle Emptiness. It was quickly followed with the moderately successful but critically mixed anthemic rock of
Gold Against the Soul. During the era of their controvserial third album
The Holy Bible, James became a semi-alcoholic - which only worsened with the infamous disappearance of friend and band member Edwards. [See
Richey James Edwards for more]
James later moved to London, continuing to battle issues with alcohol. The band then decided to continue without Edwards and record the fourth album
Everything Must Go - the success of which brought them into the mainstream for the first time.
The band's fifth album
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours saw them berated by many 'hardcore' fans for going mainstream but brought them huge worldwide success and their first number one single in the form of
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next. With their sixth studio album
Know Your Enemy, the band promised a return to their punk beginnings. Tracks from the album were first aired in Cuba at a concert attended by
Fidel Castro (this gig was later made in to the DVD
Louder Than War, which is how Castro described the concert). However, the album failed to enthrall either the hardcore faithful or the
EMG/TIMTTMY-era fans and the Manics retreated to Wales.
The release of the band's 'Best of'
Forever Delayed was at the end of 2002, and was accompanied by a nation-wide tour. Neither the compilation, nor the new material
There by the Grace of God made much impact on the charts, and although the tour sold well, it was a somewhat sober occasion compared to earlier stints. 2003/04 were spent recording ‘new material', including time with veteran producer
Tony Visconti and in November 2004 the band released their single
The Love of Richard Nixon, which breezed to number 2 in the charts. The band's seventh album
Lifeblood was released shortly after.
Bradfield has also collaborated with
Tom Jones on his
Reload album,
Kylie Minogue on her
Impossible Princess album,
Patrick Jones on his
Commemoration & Amnesia album, and has remixed the track
Inertia Creeps for
Massive Attack. In
2003 Bradfield contributed original music for the brand new play
The War Is Dead Long Live The War written by
Patrick Jones (Nicky Wire's brother).
Solo career
In late April, a track from Bradfield's debut solo single entitled "
That's No Way To Tell A Lie" premiered on Janice Long's show on
Radio 2. It became first single from the album and was released on
July 10 while the album entitled
The Great Western was released on
July 24. The single debuted at #18 in the UK single charts while the album debuted at #22 on the album charts, relatively decent considering the lack of hype.
In support of the album, he played a series of three solo gigs in May
2006 in
Manchester,
Glasgow and
London. The setlists consisted of tracks from the upcoming album as well as two
Manics tracks, "This Is Yesterday" and "Ocean Spray". He has also played one further date in
London ULU in June
2006, featuring a similar setlist to the other gigs, but with the addition of further Manics favourite No Surface All Feeling.
He is currently scheduled to play a solo concert at the 2006 V Festival in late August.
Personal life
*During the early 90s, Bradfield was engaged for almost 2 years, but the relationship broke up in 1993.
*James' mother died of cancer in
1999 (the song
Ocean Spray, James' first published lyric, is about her passing).
*He currently lives in London, but also has a house in the dock area of
Cardiff.
*He finally settled down (despite previously saying "I always get bored of the company of women really quickly") with PR woman Mylene Halsall, and the pair were married in a secret ceremony in
Florence,
Italy on the 11th of July 2004.
Trivia
*He supports the
Nottingham Forest football club.
*His favourite record ever is
Summer Wind by
Frank Sinatra. His favourite album is
London Calling by
The Clash.
*His favourite films include
Heat,
La Haine,
Elephant,
The Apartment and
Rumblefish.
*His favourite places are
Vienna,
Brussels,
Tokyo and
Wales.
*He is a fan of singer
Kylie Minogue (he wrote and produced for Kylie's flop album
Kylie Minogue).
*His two tattoos are of a dolphin and the
Søren Kierkegaard quote 'Anxiety is Freedom'
*His childhood nicknames were Joe 90, Crossfire and Terence McCann due to the large glasses he wore to correct his cross-eyed appearance.
Albums
Image:Greatwesterncover.jpg|The Great Western
(24 July, 2006) - #22Singles
* "
That's No Way To Tell A Lie" (10 July, 2006) -
#18*
Official James Dean Bradfield Site*
Official Manic Street Preachers Site*
BBC Biography*
Spoof Site
