Nicky Wire on the time Duff played bass on a Manics song

The Manics have made so many excellent songs with guest appearances that you could put together a Manics Best Of The Guests album – Perhaps Visiting the Manics could the title be? The Welsh icons have recorded killer tracks with John Cale, Mark Lanegan, Richard Hawley, Lucy Rose, Cate Le Bon, Nina Persson, Ian McCulloch, The Anchoress and more, but as far as collaborations with their heroes go, you can imagine nothing comes close to the time Guns N’ Roses legend Duff McKagan played bass on one of their songs (well, maybe it’s on a par with John Cale). McKagan took over bass duties on the Postcards from a young man cut One billion balconies with a view of the sunand a few years ago, Nicky Wire from the band told this writer how the collaboration came about. It was because he was lazy.

“I didn’t feel like it and James said, ‘Why don’t we ask Duff McKagan?'” Wire explained. Wire discussed Duff’s guest appearance with Bass Magazine, saying, “Duff was a total blast. We sent him the track and he played such a fantastic bass line. The problem was I had to recreate it live! He’s a huge pick fan and I haven’t used one for about 15 years because I can’t reach my bass without my fingers.” Wire said Duff told the band he loved the song. “He said, ‘You’ve done it again – it sounds like a cross between Lindsey Buckingham and The Clash.’ It doesn’t get any better than that, does it?”