A devotee of the Britpop music scene from the mid-nineties since he was a teenager, Bennett has a particular soft spot for Welsh art punks and enfant terribles of the UK rock scene, the Manic Street Preachers. The band actually pre-dated Britpop by a few years, but Bennett found his way back through their discography to become properly hooked on their agitprop blend of intellectual, literate pop and snarling, revolutionary commando rock n roll. Youve probably seen the large tattoo on his upper right arm: a rose with scrollwork reading Culture, Alienation, Boredom & Despair. Thats a lyric from Little Baby Nothing, which I believe is Bennetts favourite Manics song, from their debut album Generation Terrorists. The song, about the exploitation of women, features co-lead vocals from notorious ex porn star Traci Lords - theyd originally wanted fresh-faced pop star Kylie Minogue, but she wasnt legally allowed to appear on the record. In interviews, Wade Barrett would enthusiastically lay out his shaky plans to get his favourite band to perform his WWE theme music, and in October 2012, singer James Dean Bradfield told Q magazine:
"Let's just put this out there - if you're listening Wade Barrett, we will do your f**king theme tune - just get in touch. That would be the ultimate Situationist, bizarrist spectacle wouldn't it? Us being played over the airwaves in some Enormodome in front of 20,000 mad Yanks in Colorado somewhere..."
When someone forwarded him a link to the interview, Barrett responded on Twitter: "That last link was JDB from The Manic Street Preachers offering to record my theme song. Mind: Blown." Over the next few years, both parties would make efforts to try to arrange something, but with their mutually hectic schedules they never managed to make it happen. Should have just asked to use Revol... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf91dTrLkgA
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
