Bradfield, James Dean

Career

James was born on February 21, 1969 in the Welsh city ​​of ( UK ). He attended the local Oakdale school in Blackwood, where his classmates mocked him for years. In view of this, James’s social circle consisted of only three friends: a cousin of Sean Moore , who had lived in James’s family almost since childhood after the divorce of his own parents, and future members of the group, Nicky Wyre and Richie James Edwards . Bradfield was named in honor of James Dean ; initially, the father wanted to name Clint Eastwood Bradfield's son, but the spouse did not approve of this idea.

Bradfield loved the obstacle course and was a successful competitor in this sport. However, later his love for the popular punk rock band The Clash eclipsed a sports passion. It was then that he began to dream of “being like Napoleon,” and decided that he wanted to become a rock star. He studied guitar transcriptions from Guns N 'Roses' Appetite For Destruction album . Soon on Saturdays, he began to "give concerts" on the streets of Cardiff , hanging out with a guitar, where he supposedly found the name for the group, heard from an old tramp who called him "manic street preacher." Soon, Nicky Wyre began to join his friend’s Saturday “speeches” in front of passers-by - this was the beginning of the group.

In the group, James was the musical brain, Sean was persuaded to join as a drummer, the bassist was Miles Woodward, and Richie wrote the lyrics for their songs. After several names of the group (one of the most interesting was Betty Blue , in honor of the film of the same name), not without Richie's participation, the group received the name Manic Street Preachers . The group begins to play many concerts throughout the country, usually in prestigious establishments. One day, during this vigorous activity, James went to jail and could not sing for almost two months due to a brawl at McDonald's on Richie's twentieth birthday, where he tried to protect him.

Be that as it may, they record Suicide Alley on their money and, in the end, attract the attention of managers Philip and Martin Hall. The group soon went to London , where for some time all four lived with Philip Hall in his new house, which he had just purchased with his wife, completely free, if not to talk about the “payment” of household services. Despite the fact that 45 thousand pounds invested in the group was a significant amount for the welfare of Philip Hall, he did not give his house on bail to take this amount, although there are still several opinions on this subject. The group quickly became a cult and, possibly, at the same time the most hated group in Britain. On stage, James often cut himself with fragments of the bottles he had broken.

The Manics , as they are often called, began recording their first album in the early 90s, on which all guitar parts were recorded by James. The album Generation Terrorists (with hits Motorcycle Emptiness and You Love Us ) was released in 1992 . Almost immediately after the first album, the band released their second album, Gold Against the Soul . Made in haste and not very high quality, composed mainly of stadium rock anthems, the disc was still quite successful. During the period of work on the third, which caused a lot of controversy, the album The Holy Bible , James begins to have problems with alcohol, which may have been exacerbated after the notorious disappearance of his friend and band member Edwards.

James moves to London to solve the problem of alcohol addiction. The group decides to continue without Edwards and records the fourth album Everything Must Go , the success of which for the first time makes them part of the mainstream music.

The band’s fifth album, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours , simultaneously brought worldwide success and the first single No. 1 If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next and was not accepted by most of their most dedicated fans who turned their backs on the band. The band makes a promise that with their sixth album Know Your Enemy , they will return to the punk they once started with. Songs from the album were first played in Cuba at a concert attended by Fidel Castro (the concert was later released on DVD by Louder Than War , named after Castro’s joke following Nicky’s suggestion that the concert could be louder). However, the album failed. He was not accepted by former loyal fans, nor fans of the EMG / TIMTTMY period, and the Maniacs are sent to Wales to retire.

The band’s best, called Forever Delayed , was released in late 2002 and was accompanied by an international tour. The collection with one new song added There by the Grace of God did not have much success on the charts, but, despite this, the tour played very well. 2003/04 went on to record new material. Part of the work was done with producer Tony Visconti. As a result, in October 2004, the group introduced the new single, “ The Love of Richard Nixon, ” which easily soared to second place on the charts. A little later, the seventh album of Lifeblood was released .

Bradfield also collaborated with Tom Jones ( Reload album), Kylie Minogue ( Impossible Princess album), Patrick Jones (Commemoration & Amnesia album), and remixed Inertia Creeps for Massive Attack . In 2003, Bradfield contributed to the work on music for the new play The War Is Dead Long Live The War , written by Patrick Jones (Nicky Wyr's brother).

Solo career

At the end of April 2006, a song from Bradfield's debut single entitled That's No Way To Tell A Lie was featured on the Janice Long show on BBC Radio 2. It was the first single from the album, released July 10th. The album, named The Great Western , was released on July 24, 2006 . The single started from 18th place on the UK chart, and the album - from 22nd. Positions of both were considered successful, given the complete lack of advertising.

In support of the album, Bradfield played a series of three recitals in May 2006 in Manchester , Glasgow and London. The playlist, compiled from The Great Western tracks, included two tracks by This Is Yesterday and Ocean Spray . He also played one additional concert in London in June 2006 with the same playlist as other concerts, but with the addition of the Manic Street Preachers hit - No Surface All Feeling . A long UK tour followed during the summer and ended at the 2006 V Festival in late August. Bradfield embarked on a tour across the UK, consisting of 15 concerts in October. The second single, An English Gentleman , hit the UK charts in 31st place on October 1, 2006.

Personal life

Bradfield's engagement lasted 2 years, but in 1993 the relationship collapsed.

James's mother died of cancer in 1999 ( Ocean Spray song about her death).

He currently lives in London, but also has a house in the dock area of ​​Cardiff.

His relationship with Milen Halsall was the first stop in this sense (he used to say, “I always get tired of a woman’s company pretty quickly”), and the couple got married at a secret ceremony in Florence , Italy on July 11, 2004 .

Other

• James supports the Nottingham Forrest Football Club and the Cardiff Blues rugby team.
• His favorite record is Frank Sinatra 's Summer Wind .
• Favorite album - London Calling by The Clash .
• His favorite films include Heat, La Haine, Elephant, The Apartment and Rumblefish.
• Favorite places are Vienna , Brussels , Tokyo and Wales .
• He is a fan of singer Kylie Minogue (wrote and produced 2 tracks on Kylie's well-received critically acclaimed album Impossible Princess (which suffered a commercial failure in the UK).
• He has two tattoos - an image of a dolphin and a quote from Kierkegaard - Anxiety is Freedom .

Albums

• The Great Western ( July 24, 2006 ) - The highest position in the charts # 22.

Singles

• “That's No Way To Tell A Lie” ( July 10, 2006 ) - Top Position in Charts # 18
• "An English Gentleman" ( September 25, 2006 ) - the highest position in the charts # 31

• James Dean Bradfield Official Website
• Official site Manic Street Preachers