The Darkside Of Music: The Unsolved Disappearance Of Richey Edwards

A famed musician vanishes, a car is left by a notorious bridge, and the clues refuse to agree. We dig into the disappearance of Richey Edwards, the intensely creative guitarist and lyricist of Manic Street Preachers, and follow the breadcrumb trail from London hotel checkouts and steady ATM withdrawals to a vehicle found near the Severn Bridge with empty bottles but no note, no body, and no closure. What begins as a straightforward timeline spirals into a maze of possibilities—suicide, foul play, or a meticulous plan to start again far from the pressures of fame.

We walk through what we know for sure, what can be reasonably inferred, and where speculation starts to run ahead of facts. Richey’s political writing and personal struggles form a stark backdrop: depression, alcoholism, and anorexia intersected with lyrics that stared down geopolitical tension and the rot at the edges of culture. Then there are the sightings—London, Europe, India, Indonesia, South Africa—each one a spark that either lights a path forward or throws us off the scent. Without surveillance footage or digital breadcrumbs, the mid-90s setting becomes its own character: a time when slipping the grid was hard but not impossible.

Along the way, we explore how the band carried on as a three-piece without replacing him, preserving Richey’s credit and royalties while evolving their sound and audience. The result is a story about identity, loyalty, and the cost of chasing meaning inside the machine of music. Was the cash a travel fund or a red herring? Does a bridge signal tragedy or theatre? We don’t promise answers. We offer the most coherent map through uncertainty—and the empathy to sit with it.

If mysteries at the edge of music, mental health, and culture fascinate you, hit play. Then send us your theory: did Richey choose a different life, or did the river keep its secret? Subscribe, share with a friend who loves Manic Street Preachers or true crime, and leave a review to help others find the show.

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Transcript

Setting The Stage: A Strange Case

SPEAKER_00 0:38

What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to the show, episode two of The Dark Side of Music. Today we are going to be breaking down a very, very crazy case. Yeah. Um, Danny, what did you know anything about this prior to this?

Who Richey Edwards Was

SPEAKER_02 0:55

This is crazy. No, I knew nothing about this. And that's what made this so much more fascinating. Not not that the first case that we dealt with wasn't fascinating, but like I knew nothing. And I fell down a rabbit hole and was just like, oh, I cannot wait to talk about this.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

This one's crazy. It's weird. It's full of conspiracy. Um there's no resolve. There's no resolve. I knew I not only did I not know about this case, I have never heard of this band. I didn't know who Richie Edwards was.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

This is a deep dive. So, anyways, we're talking today. We're talking about the disappearance of Richie Edwards from the band Manic Street Preachers. Uh, I believe they were a band out of Britain. Um Danny, tell the people what uh what happened with this one.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

What happened was uh, I mean, they're they're so they're a Welsh band, the the Manic Street. Oh Welsh, yes, yeah. Um, and they're their guitarist and lyricist basically vanished without a trace in in early 1995, right? Like I mean, just just to be I like I get it, you know, we're we're talking 1995. This is the the the dawnings of the internet, but like to have a mystery like this in like you know modern era where there is no answer, someone disappeared. It's and you know, famous person disappeared. Like, we're not just talking about like people, I understand, and and and not not to even make light of that, people disappear all the time, but a famous person disappearing, like the the not maybe not the face of the band, but like an important member of this band disappeared, and they were a well-known band type of thing. And and to not even we neither one of us knew about this type of thing is crazy. Um, so I I mean, just kind of getting right into things, it's just like I I mean, no body found, no note, I I I mean, no like evidence of of like foul play, like nothing, and it just gets weirder the more you talk about it and the more you you know go through everything that happened, you know, leading up to his disappearance and everything.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Right, right. Yeah, this one caught me by such surprise. Yeah. Um, did you dive into their music once you found out about the band?

SPEAKER_02 3:24

I I didn't listen to I didn't take a deep dive. I'll say that. I I went I went to Spotify and I listened to like the top, the top songs. What about you?

The Timeline Of Disappearance

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Same thing. And I I mean they're they're a cool band, they're a very cool band. Not my cup of tea, per se. Um, they're they're like old school punk, right? Like uh like the Sex Pistols type, right? Which Anarchy in the USA, great song, but the the rest of that album, not my cup of tea.

SPEAKER_02 3:58

Right. Yeah, no, I I agree with you. I mean, it it's definitely along the lines of stuff that I've listened to in the past, like like you mentioned Sex Pistols and and maybe like vandals could that came after that and stuff like that, but you know, this was definitely never a band that I'd heard of, and and nothing I had ever heard from them. Um, just like nothing jogged any memories of something that I had heard, type of thing, either.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

So yeah, basically what happened was uh Richie Edwards um disappeared. I don't know how else to say it. Like, no, yeah, no note, nothing, no suicide note. Uh they did find his car um filled with alcohol containers. He did struggle with alcoholism, yes, um, severe depression, uh anorexia. He was also a very big political advocate. So that dives into like a whole other world of conspiracies.

SPEAKER_03 4:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

So let's talk about before the disappearance. All right. So let's dive into this. On February 1st, 1995, Manicat uh preachers were scheduled to fly to London to the United States for their upcoming album, The Holy Bible. They were supposed to be the next big thing in the US. Yeah, they never made it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:21

Oh which is crazy because look, the band continued after this. So there were stuff after this and and stuff like that, but yeah, they just never kind of revitalized to what they had since the disappearance of of Richie, basically.

Car At Severn Bridge

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Absolutely. He was like the the heart of the band, he was the soul of the band. Right. Um Richie never made it, obviously. Uh, the morning he checked out of the embassy hotel in London before leaving, he withdrew 200 pound, I believe. Okay. We'll we'll say dollars, but I think British pounds. Yeah, we can go with British pounds. Uh withdraw that from the ATM, withdrew that from the ATM every day for several days, totaling$2,800. He left behind his passport, he left behind his suitcase, and now we dive into his car that was found on February 14th. Richie's car was found near the Seven Bridge, a location tragically known for suicides. Inside the car were empty bottles of alcohol, no sign of Richie, no note, no evidence of any sort of struggle. Um, the car had been ticketed multiple times, meaning that it had sit had sat for three or more days. Ooh. We know that the car was at least vacant for three days leading up to the 14th. This discovery shaped the narrative almost immediately. So that is like the gist of what happened to him. Uh the early days, though, like I said, he was a bit of like a political advocate. He had a a very like politically driven uh songwriting style. A lot of his songs were definitely representations of the current things going on in in Eastern Europe and going on just in the world at that time in the 90s. Uh that that was when it made it tricky for me, man. Like the government disappears people a lot.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

So and you know what, what what better to do than than you know leave any like evidence and stuff like that at a bridge that is notorious for where people do commit suicide, and you know pointing it to all of these things, like I mean, all that alcohol stuff in the car could have been, you know, planted there afterwards.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

Right. Right. Um, do do you think that it was a suicide? What is your opinion?

Politics, Lyrics, And Theories

SPEAKER_02 8:04

Well, so I mean, the the the the crazy thing about this is there is no answer. Like it's not, you know, you know, it's not like, oh, you know, we had a body and and we're we're trying to decide if it's possible that it could have been suicide or anything like that. Nobody's ever been found, dead or alive. I mean, he was actually declared dead, you know, years and years and years later, type of thing, for for like legal reasons and and stuff like that. But I mean, this guy could be somewhere. Like, we're we're we got sight, there's there's other I know I'm jumping way ahead, but there's been sightings, like nothing confirmed, but like sightings uh of him throughout the years. But it's it's so hard, it's so hard to say because I I mean it's if somebody wanted to take someone out, this would be everything is ideal for this this point of suicide, which is almost like there's too many things pointing to suicide for it to be suicide. Like, um, but the one thing that you know I I do go with like maybe it's not is because there was no body recover. They they you know, they searched the river, they dredged the river, they they they you know they did a thorough search that like like we said, this wasn't like this was a known, you know, musical celebrity type of thing. So like I mean, there are probably people out, you know, law enforcement out for days and weeks, like oh yeah, combing combing everything. So like if anything was gonna be found, not even uh if it was a body was found, like clothing in the river, like you know, that could have been mashed.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Yeah, I didn't even think about that. Yeah, you would have seen some sort of a trace, right? Especially if if it were like uh a jumping from the bridge situation, like you would have found some something would have got caught on something at at some point.

Suicide Or A Planned Exit

SPEAKER_02 9:59

Yeah, and not like I'm not I'm not um like uh like familiar with this particular river. So like I don't in my mind, I I mean I'm imagining a pretty big river, but like same, but like even that is like at certain points of that river is gonna be smaller and bigger and smaller than bigger. So like they say, you know, uh it could be washed down at some point it's gonna be small enough that it's gonna get hung up on something or something's gonna snag. So like how far do you go in in a search like that? It's almost like I like like I said, this led to so many different rabbit holes. Like, like how far down the river did they estimate that it could potentially, you know, look to look for and and and stuff like that? Like, did they just happen to not look far enough? Or like how do you judge that kind of thing? And like, like I said, so many different rabbit holes, and and you know, more to come from from from that, with like the sightings that you know people were saying they saw them. They were saying they were saying they saw them in crazy places like India and Indonesia and and stuff like that, too. So yeah, all over the place.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

I think the thing is if let's say that it was a suicide, right? It was deemed suicide um for all intents and perses purposes. Um but talk about the most poetic way, you know, for a songwriter to do it. Like if it were a suicide, I couldn't imagine a more poetic way for him to go taking his car to a well-known location. Um, clearly he struggled with alcohol, so you know, the build-up to doing that act, um, leaving behind that kind of evidence though is kind of crazy. But again, he was a songwriter.

SPEAKER_03 11:52

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

I I don't know about you, I've never experienced those types of feelings before, but as a songwriter, I feel that in my soul I would have left some sort of a note, some sort of uh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:11

I'm getting those words out. Right. And you know, there are plenty of people that, you know, maybe the words wouldn't come, but yeah, exactly. Like his job, his passion, you know, in life was you know, being a lyricist and and and writing, you know, these these words down and stuff like that. You're you're you're telling us that this is the the point in his life where he couldn't figure out words to say, like right. Even something simple, like he could probably have put something very, very simple, but made it, you know, very well spoken or well well thought of, like, you know, type of thing with with few words, it's very surprising that that there was absolutely nothing.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Yeah. So also his um his arrogance and just his personality in his daily life definitely leaned towards somebody that would have left behind some sort of uh recognition of blame or you know, some sort of a note about it. So I I really don't think it was a suicide. Part of me just really hopes that he just left and started a new life because I know he wanted to get out of like he was very vocal about not wanting to be involved in music anymore, which is a very interesting through line from the last we're we're hitting a common thread here. Yeah. Um, he was very adamant about like getting out of. I think actually I I could be wrong on this, but I think from one part that I researched that he did leave the band once and then begged to be brought back before going to London. Um I I'll have to double check that, but I'm pretty sure that that happened unless I'm confusing it with another case that I was watching recently. Um but the other thing that speaking of sightings, the other thing that I thought was crazy is two days after they put the notice out that he was missing, a cab driver came forward and said, I picked him up from that hotel and drove him to this train station. Oh so, but they could never like there was no proof they could never confirm that that was true.

Cash Withdrawals And Motives

SPEAKER_02 14:44

Yeah, because we're we're not in the day and age where we are now where there would be like uh cameras all over the train station where he dropped them off and and stuff like that to actually get it, like the vehicle leaving or stop lights having you know little cameras and stuff, and you can almost like follow the car from one place to another. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

So Andy paid in cash, so you wouldn't have like a credit card uh to go off of either.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Um I am going to just fact check myself on him leaving the band real quick.

SPEAKER_02 15:15

While you do that, I mean the other thing that's that's really weird and kind of definitely makes you think that there is some plan to this, and it's not just like the plan isn't, you know, resulting in suicide is the withdrawals of cash. Yeah. Why would you number one, why why are you doing that if you know you're gonna commit suicide? What what are you doing with the cash, you know, unless you can't bring it, you can't take it with you. Like what are you doing with it? Um, unless it was like the only thing I could think, like I mean, the paying the cab and paying the the train absolutely makes sense with with cash, but if if it was premeditated for for suicide, then maybe you're withdrawing some to pay somebody else to drive your car there, or or you you know what I mean? Like, I I mean that there you could go either way with that, but like there is definitely some plan to something if you're withdrawing that amount of cash multiple times to get to a certain sum. Yeah, you're doing that for a reason, which is just adds even more to this. Like, there's some some kind of planning in this. We don't know if it was you know planning to get everything in order for suicide or planning to just be able to disappear. And the the weirdest thing is, and this is hard, you know, we're going, we're going back, it doesn't even seem like it's that far back in time, but how much more did like 2800 pounds mean in in like the mid-90s than it would now? In my head, like 2800 bucks, which I I get, you know, 200 pounds is a little bit more than that. So we're talking around 3,000 US dollars, give or take. 3,000 bucks, I'm not disappearing for very long. Like, you know what I mean? Like, that's not a lot of money.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

I just I just fact-checked it. It's still not really a lot. I mean, it's enough. Okay. Um, so according to Google, um, based off of inflation compared to today, it would be approximately five thousand nine hundred and fifty-five dollars.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

So, like six grand. We're talking six grand.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

It's enough to like get out of a city, right?

Sightings From London To India

SPEAKER_02 17:33

For sure. Which you also have to factor into that is you know, we're thinking, you know, Uber right now, you know, Uber Uber around town instead of a cab, like you know, kind of around the same fair. That's you know, 20 to 40 bucks depending on the time of day. But back then, it's probably 10. Like so everything costs less too because of inflation and and because of you know what what things were just the average back then. So like maybe six grand was enough to like get wherever he was planning on going, type of thing. And then he was like, Well, this is all I needed to live comfortably for like a year, I'll figure it out after that, type type of thing. Like, for all we know.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

No, no one researched his banking leading up to his death or to his to his disappearance. Um is like he took out twenty eight hundred dollars a couple days before. What was he doing throughout the rest of that year?

SPEAKER_02 18:31

What if this was grands and grands then? For all we know, yeah, right. The months leading up to this, for all we know. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, there's some plan here. Yeah, there's there's no way they you yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

I'm convinced that he he started a new life. I really oh absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

I you know what it's even crazier. He could have planned it for a year or or whatever, could have been planning on meeting to somebody else and only needed that 2800 pounds to get to wherever that was, and the other person had all of the the rest of the cash. Right. This big account could have been empty.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Also, if you were planning on like it's it's the the crime, crime, the case, we'll say case, uh is so like textbook who done it, like yeah, this is a if I was going to write how to disappear myself, well, you know what I mean? It's it's so perfectly of like this is a TV show. Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 19:39

This is like another uh uh another knive knives out, knives out, yeah. Yeah, it's another it's another one of those where so many different distractions are happening to take away from what's actually happening, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:50

So um, I did clarify so he didn't leave on his own will from the band. Oh uh he was kicked out for his alcoholism. Okay, uh and literally came back the year that he disappeared. So that's interesting. He was gone for six months and came back, and according to this, it says that he was brought on uh due to them going to the US, so they needed him to play the shows. Yeah. So interesting that he didn't make it there. Yeah. Did they play that show? I wonder.

Could He Start A New Life

SPEAKER_02 20:33

I don't know if they played immediately. I know that I know for a fact, I mean, we we looked ahead and and we know for a fact that you know they never replaced him. They went on as moving forward, kind of in his in his memory type of thing. Um, which is if you're going to you know continue as a band, I feel like that's kind of the the the right thing to do is yeah, you know, if if you not to replace the the you know the heart member, but if you really feel like hey, we want to continue to do this, then if you can make it happen with three piece, I mean I know it's hard to to not be able to do it. Like if if if you were to like lose a drummer or something like that, I would say you need a drummer. Um, but like, yeah, I mean, if if you can make it happen, I guess that that makes sense to do it that way. But but yeah, I mean you can you can see that you know neither one of us both of us are pretty well versed in music in the music world, and neither one of us knew about this band. So kind of, you know, what could have been, you know, yeah, never really amounted to the to the success that they could have done had had this you know US trip made it, basically.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

I I know we're talking about this case, but you bring up an interesting question that I I do want to ask. Speaking of going on as like a three-piece band, Lincoln Park. If if they hadn't had correspondence with the new lead singer, would you have liked to have seen Lincoln Park go on with just M. Shinoda?

Band Without Richey

SPEAKER_02 22:04

But Chester's voice that yeah was the voice of the band. Like, I th I feel like the only way they could have done that would have been if they had like guests, guest vocalists, maybe for for like runs of tours and stuff like that. Like that would have been like I think that would have been the best received thing that they could have possibly done. Um I don't know. I I I I don't know. It's one of those things where like you can't you can't replace Chester's voice. Like Mike just wasn't the singer. Like you know what I mean? Like and it's not like anyone can really sing like Chester either. Like you know what I mean? Like if it was like, you know, someone who sang didn't have like such a remarkable like voice and and that scream that he could do and and and stuff like that, it'd be different. But like the complexity of his actual vocal lines and and stuff like that, no one no one can live up to that. So I don't think you could I don't think you could have like a a band without a singer, but I think the only way if if I were in charge, and I know we're we're way on a side tangent now, if I were if I were in charge, like in that band, and went, what do we do now? That would have been my only suggestion. Like if we still want to do this as like a you know in in remembrance of Chester and and to the fans, like the millions of people that love Lincoln Park, I would say you go on on tour runs and you just say, like, we're gonna have this guest vocalist for this stint of shows, we're gonna have this guest vocalist, or even you know, multiple guest vocalists on the same show, type of thing, switching off songs and stuff. Because otherwise, no one can really no one can live up to that type of thing.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Yeah, I I do think that it was the if you're gonna replace him, the smartest move was to go for a female vocalist. Yep, simply because if they would have chosen any male vocalist, the fans would have been in an uproar, far more than they were because they quite they kind of were. Oh, even when she came on, yeah. Um, but that was a smart move to just be like, hey, it's almost like completely different, you know. Yeah. And she she does a fine job. I I I had definitely have heard uh her sing when they announced that she was gonna be the singer and they did that live stream. I you know, she she does a fine job. Um, but I think you're right. I think a guest vocalist thing would have been far better, and I hope that Black Sabbath does that. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:01

Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, Black Sabbath is at the point where they could they can just be like, we're we're done. That is true. You know what I mean? Yeah, that is true. When you're that old, like it's the same thing with like all of the really, really, you know, iconic big bands out there, like Rolling Stones. Like, if if something happens to any of those core members, they're done. Like, you just you just gotta say, like, hey, we're we're all old enough. Like this, we need to we need to stop. Same thing with like ACDC. Or wasn't there a story while back where they were like saying, like, stop, stop playing shows? Like, yes, you guys need to stop now, to type of things. Yes. And I I get it. Like, look, I can feel it. Like, I've played shows sick, I've played shows stuff, and I needed other people to tell me, like, hey man, we should cancel this show. Like, I'm like, no, I can I can be ready, I can be ready to do this. I don't want to say no, like that. Yeah, or we get asked about a show and I have like the flu or something. I can get ready in five days. Like, I know what that feeling is, and I can only imagine how much more amplified and amped up that feeling is when you, you know, that is your real career. Like, yeah, I would love for it to be my career one day, maybe, maybe if enough people out there uh start listening to stuff. But yeah, go check out just happy to be here.

SPEAKER_03 26:19

Yeah, uh anyway, placement.

Legacy, Royalties, And Legalities

SPEAKER_02 26:22

Um anyway, but but yeah, I can I can totally understand how much more of that drive and that that push is to to want to continue it because this is your life's work, this is what you want to you know keep going with, and you don't want to ever say no, whether it is like old age or whether it is, you know, a member leaves or a member passes away, unfortunately, unexpectedly and stuff like that. I mean, there's multiple things to that, you know, a core member can leave, like a critical member can can leave a band for just carrying. Yeah, exactly. For for just like any kind of decisions and they're never coming back, type of thing. And you really have to, you know, figure out what's best, I guess, in that situation and in that, you know, in that particular band and stuff like that. And obviously, I think no matter what, it's never gonna be the perfect answer for absolutely everyone. It's right, it which is hard, like you know, but but if you really need to continue, you just kind of have to weigh out the options, I guess, and every situation is gonna be different.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

Yeah, yeah. Um, so the disappearance. Yes, um, let's get into these sightings. Uh, you were right. Uh, people saw them in Europe, people saw them in India, uh, people South Africa. Yeah, South Africa. Uh these are crazy, man. Yeah, I I didn't realize how many times he was spotted. I mean, it do you think that part of it is like when there's like an Amber alert and 9,000 people call and they're like, I'm behind the car right now. And you're like, sir, you're in a different state.

SPEAKER_01 27:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:00

Well, here's the thing. I'm sure it's probably some of that, but but also like, and I and I hate to say this because there may actually be some, you know, like Mannox Street Preacher fans out there, like right now, like that could potentially be listening to this and stuff like that. So I don't want to downplay the significance of this band at all. But like I said already, you and I are pretty well versed in the music world and and in bands, maybe not so far back into like the the mid-90s punk scene or or anything like that. But like, how many people were really sitting around going, hey, that looks like the singer from or the guitarist from the Nanax City Preacher. Like, you you know what I mean? Like, I I'm I I you kind of have to weigh those kind of options. Like, when they do an amber alert with like cars, there's gonna be a million cars with the same make and color. Like, you you know what I mean? Like, it's so much, it's so much easier to like just go, oh yeah, there's a silver minivan. I'm behind a silver, silver minivan, like type of thing. But like, this is an actual, like, this is a person that was in a band, and and it's I I get he could probably have doppelgangers, everybody does. I've I've had that, which is really weird. Like, I'm like blue hair, they're like, Whoa, it was definitely like a darker blue, but it was blue. He had colored hair. I'm like, really? There's somebody out there that is my height, has crazy blue hair like me with tattoos, and they're like, Yeah, swear, you could you could be his brother.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

I'm like, yo, that's that's that us movie right there.

What If He’s Still Out There

SPEAKER_02 29:38

Yeah, I know, right? Which is crazy, but hey, hey, yeah, I will I'll trade off with somebody else. They can do my day job and and I'll hang out, and then we'll vice versa. Like, we'll each get a week off. Yeah, um, but but yeah, I I mean I so I wonder, you know, you can go either way with sightings because you can never get anything like confirmed, obviously. Like in saying with with other things, like with the cab driver in in like the initial area. Now, I do lend more credence to the cab driver sighting that like when it happened, type of thing, that he drove him to the train station because you know that was like right during the event in the same city type of thing. So I you you narrow it down and you make it more likely of a of a sighting and a and and of a positive sighting type of thing. Um, but yeah, I mean, I I think the rest of them it you kind of you can use that circumstantial evidence for either side of like, oh, he probably was just a guy that kind of looked like him, blah blah blah. Or, oh, it's absolutely him, because like why would anybody lie about you know seeing this one guy from this band, you know, that that was that never ended up actually blowing up in in the way they were hoping to, type of type of thing. You know what I mean? And I I feel really bad to say that because I am in a band that's trying so hard to get to to actively get bigger and bigger.

SPEAKER_00 30:57

So I mean, no like like uh well and and we're also American though, like right, because if you think about it, like now we could find out about all kinds of Welsh bands, but in the 90s, finding out about a band from from anywhere in Europe, like that wasn't that wasn't something that was just readily available.

SPEAKER_02 31:17

Well, that's the thing, they always say that, and they've said that I mean they've said that since I I believe they said that since like the the 80s, maybe even as far back as the 70s, where you don't really blow up unless you blew up in America, because like you can get like even American bands can go over to like Europe or Japan and stuff like still now. I'm not even talking about like that back then type of thing. They can go out of out of the US and get very big everywhere else, type of thing. So we might not know list. Maybe there might be people listening going, you guys are idiots, these guys were huge, you know what I mean? Like, we just don't know because we're we're in the the the bubble of like you know, when we when when out of you know country bands come here and we find out about them, they're already big everywhere else. Right type of thing. This is kind of what really like like cements it, like type of thing. Like if if if like a band from Europe or from like Asia or or you know, Australia or anywhere, South Africa, anything like that, uh Africa, anywhere, um comes to America and and blows up, they're worldwide famous. Right. Um, and that's not to say that you know they weren't everywhere else famous. It's just I feel like there's like that this this is like the bubble. Once you make it here, it kind of you know just is it cements everything in in place.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

I I will also say, uh Richie, if you're listening, want to do an interview? Yeah, or just like in the comments, just let us know. Yeah, you can be discreet about it, but be like, hey, everything's fine.

Fanbase, Impact, And What Might Have Been

SPEAKER_02 32:58

Look, there's a lot of crazy things that happened in this day and age because of the internet and and and advancements and stuff. How crazy would that be? We solve a 30-year-old, 31-year-old uh uh missing case because he just left a comment.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

Yeah, you know, sit put a selfie in there if you're hanging out on a beach, man.

SPEAKER_02 33:21

I want to know what the plan was the whole time and where was your favorite place to hang out because you I mean he disappeared to go somewhere. Like, I mean, if this is the the the you know what really happened is what we're hoping for. Like he didn't commit suicide and he actually you know lived his life out the way he wanted to live his life out. I want to know what was his favorite place to live and what was this like what did he do to stay under the radar for so long, type type of thing.

SPEAKER_00 33:47

I mean, Ted Bundy changed his name like seven times, so it can't be very hard, especially in the 90s.

SPEAKER_02 33:55

The the other thing I don't know, and and it's it's really because I'm I've never really, you know, I I've traveled on this continent, but I've never traveled inner like when I say internationally, I've never traveled off of our continent. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 34:11

Like yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fair.

SPEAKER_02 34:14

So I don't know how hard it is to travel around freely around Europe without your passport. Like I know you would need it if you were in America to get anywhere else, but like if you're in, say, London, how hard is it if you don't have your if you're not American, if if you're like Welsh, we'll talk about Richie. How hard of it would it have been for Richie to travel from like London to India or or like you know what I mean? Like right, especially that, and then and then side note to that is how hard it would it have been how much easier would it have been in the 90s because everything was you know a little less strict, I feel like in the 90s as far as that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

Just barely. He just made it by like six years, yeah. Um I mean I I feel like um I feel like he probably I number one, I think that he did this for a girl. I do I'm I'm convinced that he's gotta come back to a girl. I I really am. I'm convinced that it was for a girl. I think that he was in a a relationship that he wanted to get out of and he was having an affair, and I think he ran off with a mistress.

SPEAKER_02 35:35

Wow. That's what I think. That's a b now. I didn't look deep into like his personal life, but do we have on record like he's in a in a relationship slash or anything?

Closing Thoughts And Plugs

SPEAKER_00 35:47

I know he had someone. Um I do remember seeing that, but I don't remember how serious it was. Okay. Let's see. Alright, was Richie Edwards married? No, he was not married. He left behind no spouse, no children, no estate, no parents. Wow. Wow. He did have an on and off girlfriend named Joe. Okay. Oh wow, I didn't realize he so he was declared dead in 2008. Yeah. You weren't kidding.

SPEAKER_02 36:27

Only because of legal reasons. Like it had nothing, it had nothing to do with like them finding any new evidence or or anything like that. It was legitimately for like legal reasons. My my guess, I mean, I I didn't really dig into what those legal reasons were, but my my only guess is like maybe the Manic Street Preachers, you know. Copyright or yeah, so something yeah. Because like if you think about it, 95 to 2008, yeah. I mean, maybe maybe something was coming up from copyright, and they had to like they were getting their mass like because the whole thing with masters is like when you record them for a label, you get them back after 10 years, or or in some cases you get them back after 20 years. But like there's always they're in increments of time that you that you then get you know your your masters back and and so masters of of your recordings. Sorry, right. Sorry, anyway. I'm not I'm not explaining everything, right? You get your your own recordings back in in your possession from the label that you recorded it with and and stuff like that. If you didn't record it independently, wouldn't I assuming they didn't if they were you know already an established bigger band at this point?

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Um so yeah, where's where's Joe on all of this? That's that is very that's my question. Is I I would assume she was questioned, she would have had to have been questioned. Um if they could find her, right.

SPEAKER_02 38:00

What if she was the person that disappeared that he was getting to? That could that'd be crazy. I wonder if there's been any Joe sightings over the over the years, yeah, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 38:13

Uh yeah, this one, this one's so strange. And then so like we thought or like we talked about, the band does move forward uh as a three-piece. Um they continued for 13 years with no concrete evidence.

SPEAKER_02 38:32

Wait, that's why that's why for legal reasons, that's 13 years after 1995.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:40

So they probably disbanded the band and they had to give, you know, they had to get the copyrights to everyone and stuff like that. So they dissolved, they probably stopped the band, and that's the legal reasons.

SPEAKER_00 38:53

Wow. Oh wow, yep. Richie remains a full member of Manicette or Manicette. Shout out, Manicette. Um Manic Street Preachers to this day, royalties intact, legacy preserved. Right. Huh.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

Which is very strange because he has no estate for it to go to. He didn't have any parents, he didn't have any relatives, he didn't have anyone on file, like as a spouse or anything like that. Right, right. So none of those royalties. I mean, it's it I guess it's just on the on on the books, you know, as a as a remembrance and everything. And I I completely look not not criticizing that at all. Like I don't know, I don't know what I would do if you know if if anything ever happened to any of my my band members. I mean, they're they're some of my really good friends and and stuff like that. So like I I probably would do the same thing, like if if in in that kind of circumstance. But it's funny you said it's 13 years, and 13 years would be 2008, and that is when when he was actually declared uh dead. Yeah, yep. And it said for legal reasons, like so that means like it wasn't like oh we got some some new evidence, type type of thing. So right. It had to have just been to like re recirculate the copyrights, like type of thing, and actually legally put it in there, type of thing.

SPEAKER_00 40:13

Yeah. If if he did if he did like leave and start a new life, I don't think five grand is enough for me.

SPEAKER_02 40:23

Like I but that's the thing, yeah. I what you were saying though, no one I I can't believe and and maybe it's just because like it's just not you know out there, but like I can't believe nobody looked back to see if there were more withdrawals like during that six-month period, or or yeah, yeah. But I mean, the other thing is we're talking about this as you know, we're thinking, oh, this guy's a rock star, he's probably got a hundred grand in the bank and he only took out five of it or whatever, or he only took out really only three grand during that period of time. But like maybe he really didn't have that much.

SPEAKER_00 40:58

Maybe he had yeah, he also had a a bit of a uh habit too, right? So maybe he didn't have much money left. Right. Um I don't I don't know, man. If if I if you were to leave life, if you were to fake your death, um where would you go?

SPEAKER_02 41:21

Uh well I it's gotta be somewhere nice. Like and I'm not talking about nice as in like it's gotta be really built up and and and a really awesome place, but like nice as in weather-wise nice. So like I'm talking like a beach, so maybe like an island, maybe like New Zealand, Hawaii. Great options, Australia, like you, you know what I mean? Like, I'm thinking of something that like no one's looking for me, but like I get to live by the beach, you know. I can I can hopefully get some sort of very minimal place to live, and you know, some kind of small job where no one's paying attention to who I am, but I can live my days out. You know, to me, I would I you know, paradise to me would be a beach, like and and a and a place where you know the weather's awesome year-round.

SPEAKER_00 42:15

I I feel exactly the same. I would go to like the Bahamas or that'd be nice, you know. Yeah, somewhere really warm, really tropical. Right. And if I'm in his shoes, I'm going where I've never been heard of before. Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 42:30

Like if which might lay more evidence and more sighting to the sightings because those sightings are like pretty random places to be going.

SPEAKER_00 42:40

Could you imagine being the one guy in India that recognizes you're just walking down the street and you're like, nah, can't be.

SPEAKER_02 42:48

He's sitting there, he's got the merch, he's got the man and like a hat or something. Or patches like on a vest or something like that. Yeah, yeah. It was punk music, so it was probably he was he's probably wearing like a studded vest. Yeah, yeah. He's got a patch on that says Manic Street Preachers on it.

SPEAKER_00 43:08

Yeah, of all the of all the places, man. Oh, wow, that's the dream. That would be enough for me to come back, honestly. You know what? I think I'm gonna give it one more shot.

SPEAKER_02 43:21

I no matter what, I'm taking pictures with that person. Like, if I see somebody with my merch, I do that now. Like, I'm I'm like, I will geek out, even if it's at a show that I just sold them merch. If they put it on, I'm I'm geeking out. I'm like, oh, you're wearing my shirt, and I'm taking a picture with them. If I saw that out in the wild and I've gone been gone for a while, like say I saw that on the like say I'm visiting the UK and I see somebody wearing just happy to be here shirt. It might not even be my own merch, it might just happen to be just happy to be here on a shirt. I'm still going, you know my band? I'm taking a picture with that person.

SPEAKER_00 43:57

Oh man. Oh, that's so funny. Um, so let's talk about his legacy for a moment. Whether Richie Edwards looks uh whether Richie Edwards look took took I can't see, um, took his own life or walked away to try and escape the world. Um, his disappearance does remain a completely haunting mystery.

SPEAKER_02 44:25

Right.

SPEAKER_00 44:25

Um, a completely unsolved case within the music industry.

SPEAKER_02 44:30

Yeah. And and I I I mean, like we keep saying, we're not trying to to offend anyone if if this if if the Manic Street Preachers are like a a bigger band, you know, out there, or even in the the world like of punk, maybe maybe we're missing it because we're missing two different parts of it. Um but but like to not know him at all is is is really interesting and it's it just adds to the mystery of this entire story. Like I I I feel like to have you know no answer whatsoever is crazy.

SPEAKER_00 45:10

Right. So I I did just get on Spotify because I was like, it says how many people listen on Spotify. Let's just let's just take a gander, you know? Yeah, 821,000 people listen to the Manic Street Preachers.

SPEAKER_02 45:29

So we may have to do a part two and get somebody on here who's a Manic Street Preachers fan.

SPEAKER_00 45:33

Yeah, definitely. I guess uh they're far larger than than I would have thought.

SPEAKER_02 45:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:40

Just one of those ones that just flew under the radar.

SPEAKER_02 45:43

I I yeah, which is look, and and I keep saying this, and I guarantee we'll say it, you know, more often because all of this has to do with like the music world and and stuff like that. For neither one of us, yeah, for this to hit for for for either one of us is is very strange. And like we're not neither one of us are music snobs. I feel like both of us have listened to a very eclectic amount of music in in you know our lifetime. So yeah, it's very strange. Like, and I I wonder, you know, if it really is one of those, you know, really crazy pivotal moments. Like, had Richie made it to the US with the band on that faithful trip, would we be saying this completely different? Like going, yeah, we've heard of them, but like you know, nothing really happened because you know the the the he disappeared type of thing, or would it have still been the exact same? It's it's just very there's so many interesting parts about this story. Like, you know what I mean? Like that's that's the craziest thing about all of this is you know, you look at it and it's a you know, it's a disappearance, which is a mystery on in and of itself, but like the fact that we don't know the band, and and the fact that like what could have been is also like rabbit holes you could fall down and you could like listen to and and and just be very interested about. Like it's just yeah, it's it's a lot. This is this makes for a perfect story to be able to talk about because there is no right or wrong answer in in this circumstance, and I'm sure you know you could talk to somebody that has a completely opposite opinion, like saying, like, oh, I listen to you know Richie's lyrics, you know, a lot, and I I I side with the fact that you know this was somebody who you know was on the verge of committing suicide, and you know, he he just I believe he did it, like like type type of thing. Um, and then you know, you could also have and you can have a completely you know talk and use both sides use basically the exact same evidence to support either side of that disappearance or suicide type of thing, which is just makes it even more crazy. Like it's fascinating, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:58

It's yeah, also comment below your favorite uh Manic Street Preacher song.

SPEAKER_02 48:05

Yeah, absolutely. Like give us some suggestions, like like we might as well like the beauty of music, yeah. Give us some suggestions by people who have been listening to them because I I mean let's not let's not take Spotify's word for it. Maybe there's some some songs that that'll connect with both of us, I think. If somebody else will suggest some songs, right?

SPEAKER_00 48:24

Heck yeah. Um that that is the case that that is as deep as you can get on it, really. They we just there's no answer. We don't know what I know next.

SPEAKER_02 48:36

Yeah, if if you know about Joe or any Joe sightings or something like that, comment below too. We'll fall down that rabbit hole. We'll do a follow-up case on this.

SPEAKER_00 48:45

Absolutely. Yeah, like let us know I'll do an hour just on Joe.

SPEAKER_02 48:48

Yeah, like let's let's it's like it's like when when you get those those episodes of like those those uh episodes of TV shows where it follows the the other side of the character, but they see the same events of things happening. Yeah, oh what if we got a whole different story side for for like Joe's side of everything?

SPEAKER_00 49:06

On on a side note, I just finished with my wife the Ed Gain story. I have not okay. It's incredible, man. I mean, well, incredible in like the worst way, like I didn't realize who he was and how terrible he was either, right? Um, but man, is it a great series? It is riveting, it's thrilling. Every episode is is a new adventure that I just I I kept googling stuff. I was like, this can't be real, and and you're like, nah, it's that's how it went. It's wild. Wow, yeah. I recommend it. I I I I will take you up on that. Yeah, I was never like a true crime guy until we started this, and then I saw that and I was like, what's that about? Let's check it out. Yeah, I will say though, when you watch it, um, the guy that plays Ed Gain um does this very specific voice, and uh if you wanted to have some fun, like it's a really fun impression to do. It drives my wife insane. I just walk around talking like Ed Gain all the time now. Yeah, so you know, you'll you'll enjoy it. It's it's interesting.

SPEAKER_02 50:33

I'll do I'll definitely check it out. I'll definitely I'll get back to I'll report back after I after I get the the chance to watch it all.

SPEAKER_00 50:40

Heck yeah. Well, I can't think of a better way to end this. This has been the second episode, everybody, of the dark side of music. Yeah. Uh Danny, tell the people about yourself.

SPEAKER_02 50:53

Uh, I mean, if if you want to find me, you can you can find me and my band on all the social media outlets at uh just happy to be here. Um, and check out any of our music on you know, Spotify, Apple Music, uh, Amazon Music, Pandora, anywhere, anywhere you consume music from, you can find my band. We appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 51:12

And then after you finish up listening to their music, go check out our interview over at the Hookie Bridge Podcast. I am Harley, the host of the Hookin Bridge Podcast. We did an interview. Uh gosh, it's been over a year, almost two years now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:27

Well, no, not almost two years, because we did it, didn't we do it right before the Christmas one?

SPEAKER_00 51:31

Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was. It was last year, yeah. Right, right before two weeks ago. So, um, yeah, that was such a fun interview, man. And you you guys have such incredible music. Truly, like I kid you not, Autumn, uh Autumn's Over is constantly in my playlist. I appreciate it all the time. Every time somebody's because I I all the time people would be like, Hey, do you have any bands you can recommend? This is kind of what I like. If it's anywhere remotely close, I'm like, you gotta listen to these guys.

SPEAKER_02 52:03

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 52:04

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 52:05

We're writing some new stuff right now. I'm really excited. I'm I'm really excited about some of the new stuff we got.

SPEAKER_00 52:10

Hell yeah. All right. Well, it's been real, everybody. Thanks for hanging out. Bye, everybody. See you later.