Bradfield stands only 5ft 5’.  At school he was bullied mercilessly for his short stature and lazy eye.  As a result he formed a close circle with just three friends, his cousin Sean Moore, Nicky Wire, and Richey Edwards  The four schoolboys would go on to become the Manic Street Preachers and sell over 10 million albums.  Bradfield loved the band ELO but when punk came along in the 70’s his idols became The Clash.  He learned to play guitar in parent’s front room, curtains closed, with him picking out Guns N’ Roses ‘Appetite for Destruction’.  The Manics name arose when Bradfield was busking in Cardiff and got into a row with a homeless guy who felt Bradfield was poaching his panhandling territory.  The beggar asked him ‘What are you boyo, some kind of manic street preacher?’