Between the years of 1996 and 1999, I worked at a small record store in Manhattan’s West Village. And when I say small I mean small. Well, I mean small for a record store. For an SUV cabin, it would have been pretty roomy. Anyway, due to our spatial issues, we were best served by focusing our efforts and specializing in certain genres, rather than trying to stock everything under the sun (which didn’t stop my boss, the store’s owner, from trying to stock everything under the sun). Among the select group of genres in which we specialized were: house music (many of our patrons were DJs); Madonna rarities (many of our patrons were European and/or gay and/or rich); and Britpop.
Indeed, it was in large part because of the store’s emphasis on Britpop that I developed my own deep and abiding fondness for the music. Every week, during slow periods at the store, I read English music newspaper The NME, and because I was young, curious and particularly dull-witted, I accepted every word of their hyperbole as cold, hard fact. If you look through my CD collection, you will find no shortage of embarrassing garbage from the likes of Kula Shaker, Northern Uproar, Hurricane #1 and worse.
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Yet while I fell for plenty of these lies in those days, I was introduced to a lot of great, great music, too, for which I am forever grateful. And among that great music is the stuff by Welsh arena rockers Manic Street Preachers, who released their world-changing fourth album, Everything Must Go, in 1996, just in time for me to read about them literally every single week for three straight years in The NME. (NB: When I say “Welsh arena rockers,” I mean they play arenas in Wales; in the States, they would play small clubs, if they ever came here. Also, when I say “world-changing,” the world to which I refer consists of approximately 20,000 residents of the United Kingdom.) Everything Must Go was a massive blockbuster in its native UK—it spawned several unavoidable singles, including the band’s biggest and most significant musical moment, “A Design for Life”—and came complete with a strange, morbid, wildly compelling narrative: The band’s dark and disturbed co-lyricist, Richie Edwards, had gone missing two years prior and was widely believed to be dead (in November 2008, he was finally declared to be “presumed deceased”); Everything Must Go was the Manics’ first album since Edwards’ disappearance, and it sounded like a band trying to come to grips with loss and renewal. It was, and is, an enormous record, and its constant presence in my world left me a lifelong follower and fan of the band, who have since released five more records, all of which deserve to be heard (or at the very least released) in America.
I’m taking a long route to get to present day here, so let me get to it: Two weeks ago, I learned that Manic Street Preachers will be playing a few shows in the States this October, to promote their new album, the great, Steve Albini-produced Journal for Plague Lovers. It will be their first time on these shores in a decade. One of the cities they will be playing is New York.
This, to me, is an extremely big deal—the opportunity to see Manic Street Preachers in a New York City club is not to be missed under any circumstances. It is too rare, too special. Anyway, tickets to the show were set to go on sale on July 31, at noon—a moment for which I waited with childlike anticipation. I was so excited, in fact, that I documented the entire day on Twitter:
• 10:32 a.m. July 31 My dilemma: Manic Street Preachers’ tickets go on sale at noon EST; at about 11, I will enter a meeting that will last upwards of six hours.
• 10:38 a.m. July 31 OK, it won’t last six full hours, but it will FEEL like six hours. (Actually, it will feel like 11 hours.) But you see my problem? I’m lost.
• 11:02 a.m. July 31 It appears I fell prey to what’s known as a “false alarm”: My meeting has been canceled, or at least postponed. Crisis seemingly averted.
• 11:52 a.m. July 31 It seems I have spoken too soon. My meeting is back on, STARTING RIGHT NOW, putting my odds of getting Manics tickets, once again, in peril.
• 2:04 p.m. July 31 My meeting is over, my Manics tickets have been obtained…time at last to consume this Greek salad and catch up on the baseball news.
Needless to say, tickets were possible to obtain because no one in New York (with the exception of me and most Welsh expatriates between the ages of 25 and 40 living in the region) cares about Manic Street Preachers. The fact that I neglected to consider this lamentable reality—even for a moment, even in a panic—speaks to my enthusiasm for the band, my Anglophilia, my ingrained, NME-fostered myopia. It also speaks to my cheery perseverance in the face of utter futility—because I have been trying to get people to care about Manic Street preachers for most of my adult life and no one has bought it, no one has listened. But I’m still here, all these years later, still trying.
Yeah. It’s basically the singer & guitarist with the drummer from Haven (another great lost band) & two other dudes. What I’ve heard is pretty good, actually. The EP consists of 4 or 5 new tracks. A bit different from there two previous efforts (the second of which I still think is great), but good none the less. You should check it out on I Tunes. Think it was about $5. By the way, off subject, but I believe that Mew album just tipped the Doves disc for me as the best I’ve heard this year, so far. It’s awesome.
(1) Oh right! I had Menswe@r confused with Nancy Boy — both bands opened for The Charlies at the show to which I referred earlier. (2) I have all the Gene albums, but only really go back to Olympian. (3) Jeez, Marion? Seriously?
menswe@r were definitely british. The debut had some catchy tunes on it. I love that Gene album & actually had it on over the weekend. They were terribly underrated, in my opinion. Have you heard Libertine & Revelations from them, as well? I believe Libertine was there swan song. It’s worth a spin. Ashame they never really made it big. You know Marion is making a comeback, right? They have a recent ep on ITunes. =^)
Menswe@r weren’t even British, were they? I always thought they were American dandies with fake accents. I saw them, actually, opening for The Charlatans way back when. (Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I just ripped Gene’s “classic” Olympian to my iPod…and I think I’m going to listen to it right now.)
Just came across this blog reading the mew review. I’ll be at the NYC MSP gig. Can not wait for it. And for the record … I have Kula Shaker, Northern Uproar & Hurricane #! discs in my collection, as well. And …. menswe@r!
Ed,
Agreed. I was lucky, in that I came of age in Britpop’s heyday, so I was exposed to an INSANE wealth of great and timeless music from The NME, Maker, The Face, et al, but those obscurities — even the bad stuff — was so much fun to unearth. For me, The NME lost its credibility when I recognized its build-’em-up-to-knock-’em-down approach to criticism, which invalidated pretty much everything they said, both positive and negative. Today, the paper is empty and utterly worthless. Still, as an indie gossip rag and place to keep up with random “so-and-so is in the studio” news, it suffices, and I will sincerely never grow tired of that ferocious, sarcastic, bratty voice somehow employed by *all* their writers. It really brings me back.
Megan,
Well said. I’ve spent the last few weeks somewhat immersed in the Manics’ catalog, and I’m amazed how well their music has aged, along with how much the band reinvent themselves with every album. At the core, of course, is Bradfield’s incomparable voice and Richie/Nicky’s lyrics, which are so powerful. I can understand why America never *got* the Manics — they are so political, so serious, so uncool — but I do think the few of us who found the band are lucky indeed, and are better for it.
Enjoy the shows. I dunno if this is your first time, but I saw them in NYC 10 years ago for “This Is My Truth” and they tore the roof off. This is a band built for 50,000 seaters, and we get to see them playing tiny clubs… It’s pretty spectacular.
I remember that one the highlights of going to “The City” in the early new wave post-punk 1979-1982 period was picking up and reading The New Musical Express as the NME was called then, Melody Maker, and Sounds, The Face and other assorted English Music papers. Just reading about these bizarre, creative groups then was cooler then listening to the “Corporate Rock” acts such as Journey that was the radio staple of the time. NME is now online and all they are is a gossip rag chronicling the latest scandals of Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse etc. Which is a shame because there have been are some incredibly talented artists coming out of the UK in recent years that include the two I mentioned above and new ones like Florence and The Machine
Just came across this in my daily ‘check-on-Manics-news’ routine. I can relate and love reading all of the blogs, articles and comments left by other excited American fans who understand the importance and brilliance of this band. They have played a significant role in the education of many. I don’t worship them by any means, but they definitely get a silent “thank you” from me everyday. I think Edwards would be happy to know how much of a positive impact he’s had on expanding young minds. I wish people would concentrate more on the positive and less on the negative aspects of his life. Guess it wouldn’t be as sensational and dramatic.
I live in SC and bought tickets for Philly. Wish I could go to the NY and Boston shows as well but unfortunately, limited funds and limited vacation days prevent me. Hopefully this small tour will be successful and encourage them to come back around next time (with more dates).
Thanks for your piece. It made my day.