|
Motormouth Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey James and bassist Nicky Wire stir up more controversy for Howard Johnson on the eve of their support slot at the Milton Keynes Bon Jovi bash!
The Manics are in town, the sun is shining and all is right with the world. With 'Gold Against The Soul', the band's second album, having warmed the cockles of Hard Rock hearts, it's time for the boys to take their contentious vision of white guitar trash right into the belly of the beast, with a much-coveted slot opening for Bon Jovi alongside Billy Idol and Little Angels at Milton Keynes Bowl on September 18th. There'll be a new single, 'Roses In The Hospital', to coincide, but guitarist Richey James has been more busy working out the riff to 'Livin' On A Prayer' (“'cos I was told it's easy!") while bassist Nicky Wire has been regaling the audience at The Phoenix Festival, telling the too-trendy tossers: "Roll on Bon Jovi. it'll be better than this f**kin' shit!" Ah, we love The Manics, us!
"People are so concerned with what's trendy and what's not trendy," explains Richey. "If we were going out on tour with Rollins, then nobody would bat an eyelid. Because it's Bon Jovi, people are going 'you can't do that... just because you can't!' Well we always agreed to be used so that we could play music to people who hadn't heard us before, that was the whole point. Our attitude was always if someone got us a gig, we'd f**kin' play it. We would play with any f**ker!" Indeed they still will. When they prove that aggro and angst can mix at Milton Keynes, you'll be mighty glad of it!
TEN LITERARY OR HISTORICAL FIGURES WHO WOULD HAVE MADE KILLER ROCK STARS
LENIN
Nicky: "He was so dedicated that he slept on a bed of nails! He was fully focussed and pure and was more scary than Rollins!"
SHANNON FROM 'NIGHT OF THE IGUANA' BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
Richey: "He was a really poetic, sad, drunken loser and was far better at it than Morrissey!"
R.P. McCMURPHEY FROM 'ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST' BY KEN KESEY
Nicky: "The ultimate nutter, non-conformist, pissed ,drug addict, Rock 'n' Roll rebel. Ozzy with intelligence!"
ELIZABETH TAYLOR PLAYING MAGGIE IN 'CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF'
Richey: "She could have outscreamed Janis Joplin!"
GEORGE BEST
Richey: "He was the coolest man alive and he would have got the best women. He would have put Adam Clayton to shame. He was actually asked once why he'd only slept with three out of the seven Miss Worlds at the time and he answered that he was too pissed on the other three nights!"
NEMESIS THE WARLOCK FROM 2000 AD
Richey: "He's the fire-breathing demon from the edge of your dreams, so he would have been the ultimate Heavy Metal frontman."
ALBERT CARUS THE FRENCH NOVELIST AND PHILOSOPHER
Nicky: "He was the coolest and smartest writer ever-and he loved football. Kinda like an intellectual Happy Mondays!"
'PATRICK BATEMAN FROM 'AMERICAN PSYCHO' BY BRET EASTON ELLIS
Richey: "He would have out-snorted Aerosmith ten to one! The most decadent man on the planet."
VINCENT VAN GOGH
Richey: "He even out-self mutilated Iggy Pop. He would have been the best U.S. underground loser band, because he never would have sold a record! He would have been more credible than Flipper!"
MICHAEL FOOT FORMER LEADER OF THE LABOUR PARTY
Richey: "The Bob Dylan of his generation. He was a great philosopher on the sly and was magnificently grumpy!"
TEN BANDS WHO THE MANICS WISH WERE DEAD
BLACK OAK ARKANSAS
Richey: "I saw a video of them recently and I couldn't believe how completely appalling they were. It was as if they were from another planet!"
THE TIME
Nicky: "The ultimate roadie's hand. Who cares about what Princes backing group did?"
SHOWAODYWADDY
Richey: "When I was little it seemed as if 'Under The Moon Of Love' was at number one for at least a year! I hated the way they used to get the drummer to come to the front of the stage to sing that really low bit!"
MAGNUM
Nicky: "A truly sad band. I want them to go to their graves knowing the misery that they've caused everybody."
XTC
Richey: "I f**kin' hate 'em big time! Everyone at college loved 'em, They were the ultimate in Smug Rock and nobody actually plays their records. People would buy them, put them in a really prominent position in the middle of the bedsit and leave them there!"
STEVE VAI
Richey: "A musician isn't there lust to play as many notes as he possibly can, he's there to express what he feels. No-one would buy a book just because it had the most syllables per page, would they?"
BAD BOYS INC.
Richey: "I saw them on the telly the other day and they were saying how they wanted to appeal to the gay market because their market research had shown that they made up 85% of the pop record-buying public. Pop bands should be all about lunacy and sex, innocent little boys who don't know what the f going on, not demographics!"
JAMES
Nicky: "A totally pretentious pile of shit. Anyone who says they get over a bad gig by practicing Tai Chi and dancing (like James vocalist Tim Booth) has got to be a total wanker. I bet he dances all the time!"
KISS
Richey: "Every American band loves them and when they meet them it's like they're in the presence of Cod. There are million-selling acts like Skid Row and Pantera and they're kissing ass big time."
ACE OF BASS
Nicky: "Simply for bringing European music to Britain!"
| 
