Little Baby Nothing

"Little Baby Nothing"
Single by Manic Street Preachers
from the album Generation Terrorists
Released 16 November 1992 (1992-11-16)
Format CD, vinyl record (7"), cassette
Recorded Mid 1992
Genre Alternative rock, glam rock, soft rock[1][2]
Label Columbia
Producer(s) Steve Brown
Manic Street Preachers singles chronology
"Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)"
(1992)		 "Little Baby Nothing"
(1992)		 "From Despair to Where"
(1993)

"Little Baby Nothing" is a song by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was released on 16 November 1992 by record label Columbia as the sixth single from their debut studio album, Generation Terrorists (1992).

Content

"Little Baby Nothing" features vocals by former porn star Traci Lords. The song is about the sexual exploitation of a woman, and Lords agreed to a duet with the band's singer-lead guitarist James Dean Bradfield. Bradfield said: "we needed somebody, a symbol, a person that could actually symbolize the lyrics and justify them to a certain degree. Traci was more than happy to do it. She saw the lyrics, and she had an immediate affinity with them. It was definitely easy to incorporate her personality into the lyrics. We just wanted a symbol for it, and I think she was a great symbol. She sounds like a female Joey Ramone to me."[3] Lords said that "I listened to the tape and really identified with the character in the song... this young girl who's been exploited and abused by men all her life."[4] In an interview some years later, she admitted to being distressed at the news of the disappearance and presumed suicide of Manics' guitarist-lyricist Richey Edwards.[3]

Originally, the band wanted the duet to feature vocals by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, but she couldn't be released from her PWL contracts.[4] She later performed the song live with the group (the live bootleg recording of this is a highly sought after track amongst fans) She also collaborated with them on her 1997 album Impossible Princess.

The B-side "Suicide Alley" had previously been released as the Manics' debut single. It was included on all formats (except CD2) as copies of the original 7" release were already fetching £250–300 at auction.[5]

The inclusion of the song on CD also upset Glen Powell's plans to reissue the single. Powell had produced the original version and still owned the master tapes.[5]

Music video

The promotional video for the song was directed by music journalist Steven Wells and featured the first appearance on screen by pop duo Shampoo.[6]

Track listing

CD1
No. Title Length
1. "Little Baby Nothing" (7" version)  
2. "Dead Yankee Drawl"    
3. "Suicide Alley"    
4. "Never Want Again"    
CD2
No. Title Length
1. "Little Baby Nothing" (7" version)  
2. "R.P. McMurphy" (Live at Club Citta, Kawasaki, 13 May 1992)  
3. "Tennessee" (Live at Club Citta, Kawasaki, 13 May 1992)  
4. "You Love Us" (Live at Club Citta, Kawasaki, 13 May 1992)  
7"
Side A
No. Title Length
1. "Little Baby Nothing" (7" version)  
Side B
No. Title Length
1. "Never Want Again"    
2. "Suicide Alley"    

Charts

Chart (1992) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[7] 29
UK chart performance
UK Top 40
Week 01
Position
29

References

  1. ↑ Pike, Daniel. "Manic Street Preachers - Forever Delayed Review". BBC. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  2. ↑ Burrows, Marc (25 October 2012). "Old music: Manic Street Preachers – Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 Price 1999.
  4. 1 2 Power, Martin (17 October 2010). Manic Street Preachers. Omnibus Press.
  5. 1 2 "Little Baby Nothing". Select. IPC Media. January 1993.
  6. ↑ Wells, Stephen (13 November 1992). "Pop Will Shoot Itself". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  7. ↑ "Manic Street Preachers - Official Single Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
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