JAMES DEAN BRADFIELD - BRADFIELD TURNED STRUMMER INTO A WELSHMAN

BRADFIELD TURNED STRUMMER INTO A WELSHMAN

Rocker JAMES DEAN BRADFIELD convinced himself his icon JOE STRUMMER was a fellow Welshman when he was a teenager, because he had such a deep hatred of English people. The MANIC STREET PREACHERS frontman, who recently released a solo album, was deeply affected by the struggle of the Welsh miners against the British government in the 1980s. And he championed the music of Strummer's English band THE CLASH to help him deal with the injustice he saw on a daily basis - but he had to turn the LONDON CALLING rocker into a compatriot first. He says, "'The English meant arrogance and the reckless exercise of power when I was a kid. I remember the miners marching when I was 16. I was listening to THE CLASH, who were from London. "When we discovered Joe Strummer was once a grave digger in Newport (South Wales) we claimed him as our own."