"Little Baby Nothing" is a song recorded by Welsh rock band

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Wales, Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, le ...

for their debut studio album, ''

Generation Terrorists ''Generation Terrorists'' is the debut studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers, released on 10 February 1992 by Columbia Records. On the back of significant media attention and a "disproportionately high press profil ...

'' (1992). It was released on 9 November 1992 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

as the sixth and final single from the album. The song features guest vocals by American actress and singer

Traci Lords Traci Elizabeth Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. As a 15-year-old high-school dropout, she used Identity document forgery, fake identity documents to enter the sex industry, where she began appearin ...

Content

"Little Baby Nothing" features vocals by former pornographic actress

. 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 James Dean Bradfield (born 21 February 1969) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He is known for being the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. His cousin Sean Moore is a ...

. 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 Jeffrey Ross Hyman (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), known professionally as Joey Ramone, was an American singer, songwriter, and the lead vocalist and founding member of the punk rock band Ramones, with Johnny Ramone and Dee Dee Ramone. His ...

to me." 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." In an interview some years later, she said that she was distressed at the news of the disappearance and presumed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

of the band's guitarist-lyricist

Richey Edwards Richard James Edwards (22 December 1967 – disappeared 1 February 1995, declared dead 24 November 2008), also known as Richey James or Richey Manic, was a Welsh musician who was the lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band ...

. Originally, the band wanted the duet to feature vocals by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n singer

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

, but she could not be released from her PWL contracts. She later performed the song live with the group. She also collaborated with them on her 1997 album ''

Impossible Princess ''Impossible Princess'' (briefly retitled ''Kylie Minogue'' in Europe) is the sixth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, released on 22 October 1997, by Deconstruction Records, Deconstruction, Bertelsmann Music Group, BMG and ...

''. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

" 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-inch release were already fetching £250–300 at auction. 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.

Music video

The promotional video for the song was directed by GobTV (music journalist

Steven Wells Steven Wells (10 May 1960 – 24 June 2009) was a British journalist, author, comedian and punk poet born in Swindon, Wiltshire. He was best known for ranting poetry and his provocative, unapologetic music journalism. In June 2006, he wrote in ...

and Nick Small) and featured the first appearance on screen by pop duo

Shampoo Shampoo () is a hair care product, typically in the form of a viscous liquid, that is formulated to be used for cleaning (scalp) hair. Less commonly, it is available in solid bar format. (" Dry shampoo" is a separate product.) Shampoo is use ...

Track listings

All music was composed by

and Sean Moore. All lyrics were written by

Nicky Wire Nicholas Allen Jones (born 20 January 1969), known as Nicky Wire, is a Welsh musician, best known as lyricist, bassist and secondary vocalist of the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. Prior to the group, Wire studied politics ...

and

. CD1 *CD1 was rereleased in 1997 with an altered running order. CD2 7-inch Cassette

Charts

References

Sources

External links

* *
Director Steven Wells on the story behind the video for "Little Baby Nothing"
{{Authority control 1992 singles 1992 songs British soft rock songs Male–female vocal duets Manic Street Preachers songs Songs with feminist themes Songs written by James Dean Bradfield Songs written by Sean Moore (musician) Traci Lords songs