Richey Edwards: Missing street preacher

LATE LAST MONDAY night, near the weary end of the televised blare called the Brits Awards, three dressed-down Welshmen — two small, one awkwardly tall — shuffled onstage and collected the two biggest prizes. Amid the make-up and mini-skirts, the dry ice and chrome of our music industry's annual ceremony of self-congratulation, the Manic Street Preachers seemed as sober as social workers. Handed a statuette for best album of 1996, the singer raised an eyebrow. Given another for best British band, the bass player made a speech, level-eyed and brief, about the benefits of comprehensive education.