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A new book collating early photography of Manic Street Preachers has been announced. The band’s fusion of left-wing, anti-authoritarian politics, glam metal riffs, and eye-linger made them instant cult heroes, splitting opinion like few other groups in their era. Gaining copious amounts of inches in the weekly music press, Manic Street Preachers quickly built up a profoundly influential visual identity, echoed by thousands of fans.

Incoming tome Little Baby Nothings – the title echoes a song from their debut album – collates work by photographer Valerie Phillips, who shot them countless times during their open era. A limited edition book published by Longer Moon Father, the idea was sparked into life after bassist, lyricist, and effortlessly stylish gentleman Nicky Wire found some long-lost negatives in his home archive. Touching base with Valerie Phillips, the book was brought into being through those conversations.



The photographer comments...

“ When I was a baby photographer obsessed with records and seeing bands, I was asked to get a train to a small town in Wales to take pictures of Manic Street Preachers. I hadn’t yet figured out how to take the kind of pictures I wanted to take. So I made it up.

That day. With the beautiful Manics. We were both in our own starting-out all-consuming little worlds and now those worlds collided.

” Nicky Wire pens the introduction to the book, and an excerpt has gone online: “ It was a bitterly cold day in late winter March 1.

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