They were all tousled hair, stripey T shirts and pointy boots as they walked around with their Big Star records under their arms and a "tomorrow belongs to us" look on their pale faces. All those Creation bands were, of course, absolutely right - in their musical predictions, if not their clothes sense. Quite possibly the coolest label on the planet, they started off with The Jesus And Mary Chain, Primal Scream, Ride and The House of Love. And then My Bloody Valentine came along ...
Creation, like Rough Trade, was pretty much the archetypal indie label. Formed by a former British Rail clerk from East Kilbride, Alan McGee, they were named after a famous Sixties psychedelic band. While their early releases (anyone remember Jasmine Minkl) might have been consigned to the dustbin of indie history, the label has now totted up trillions and trillions of sales, thanks largely to the phenomenal A&R talent of McGee.
Strange to think now that the label almost went under thanks to the efforts of My Bloody Valentine, whose Loreless (1992) album cost so much to record that all concerned were considering calling it a day. When Primal Scream went on to bring out the big selling Screamadelica (winner of a Mercury Music Prize) the figures started to add up again and McGee went out talent spotting and found a band called 18 Wheeler. Not many know of this band, but in their own little way, they are part of rock folklore because it was at an 18 Wheeler gig in Eing Tut's in Glasgow that Oasis first appeared.
The story goes something like this: Oasis, like most decent rock bands, were desperate to sign to Creation (loads of cred etc;) and thinking that Alan McGee would be at the 18 Wheeler gig they set off from Manchester in their "tour bus" to blag on to the bill. When they arrived at Eing Tut's they informed the promoters that if they didn't get to play there would be trouble. They played five songs that night, encored with I Am The Walrus and McGee went over to Noel Gallagher in the bar afterwards and signed the band there and then. Cool or what.
Creation have just re released 12 of their classic albums at a special low price, and there is some amazing stuff here: you've got both Isn't Anything and Loveless by My Bloody Valentine, Nowhere by Ride, Bandwagonesque by Teenage Fanclub, Beaster by Sugar and a lot, lot more (seven to be precise). Flicking through Q magazine (in Eason's, for free) it was interesting to read how the term "My Bloody Valentine influenced" cropped up in a number of the reviews of the reissues - incidentally, My Bloody Valentine are the only band in the world to have left the label and are now signed to Island, who anticipate a new album from them some time in the next 17 years.
Creation struck a lucrative deal with Sony a few years back, although McGee still owns 51 per cent of the label's shares. According to a recent report in Music Week, Sony bought out McGee's 51 per cent for £12 million, but since then that deal has fallen through and McGee has decided to keep his shares and renew the original deal with Sony (the deal gives Sony international rights to all Creation's releases) for a further five years. The last of the independents.
TALKING about the Mercury Music Prize, Ian McNabb (ex Icicle Works) came close to winning it a few years back.
McNabb has been busying himself working with Crazy Horse of late, and you can hear what they've been getting up to when McNabb plays Club Loaded at the Olympia this very night (late). Crazy Horse won't be with him tonight, but they will be appearing here next month when they're reunited with their paymaster, Neil Young ... You'd want to get yourself sorted for Massive Attack tickets pretty sharply. They headline the Groove thingy in Cork next weekend and also putting in appearances are Alex Reece, Dreadzone, The Mad Professor, Portishead DJ Andy Smith and The James Taylor Quartet... The lovely Cathal Coughlan, who I honestly believe should be appointed the new director of the Arts Council (please sign my petition) has a solo album, Grand Necropolitan, out very shortly. "Tunes you can sing along to," he promises ... Next week: we slide into the PVC, get the handcuffs out and talk dirty to The Sultans Of Ping.
