Creation Records

Got a couple of their singles, saw them live one time and got a old fanzine or two with an interview or whatever. They are still revered in that particular corner of the internet that honours the flame of late-80s ethereal guitar pop. TBH I didn't really like them much at the time in comparison with eg. St Christopher who sounded similar. I don't recognise any songs on the retrospective since the songs from Irony aren't on it!. Also I'm sceptical of the Gruff Rhys connection though they are def Welsh. I just don't think the timings work out as Gruff would've been quite a few years younger. OG drummer was named Geoff.

I love Emily a great deal, think I voted for that EP in the recent Creation polls; saw them a couple of times back then (though not until after they had left Creation). Ollie was an absolutely amazing singer and songwriter.

There was a demo of dreamy acoustic folk-pop, bits of which came out on flexis as was often the way back then; some people in fanzine worlds were very excited about them. Those people were generally a bit disappointed with the "Irony" EP, which wasn't the big step forward we maybe expected, not necessarily improvements on the demo versions. I think we were unfair; it sounds really good to me now. I never heard about any Gruff Rhys connection but the drumming on the EP wasn't the very best. They drifted off Creation after that.

Next they turned up on Esurient, the brief but inspirational label run by Kevin Pearce (he's a fellow who's worth being aware of: it's his "Hungry Beat zine you see propped against the Vox amp on the front of "Pass The Paintbrush Honey", he wrote the mod bible "Something Beginning with O" which Heavenly put out, he's been writing brilliant stuff for decades now, partly under his "yr heart out" banner); a 3-track single, "Stumble" came out and they'd moved forward quite a lot, deeper, jazz-inflected, extraordinary drumming (courtesy of a fellow called Gian who I understand recently passed away, I'm sorry to say) and more complex songs. This is one of my favourite records ever. They recorded another single for Esurient, "Merry-Go-Round" but that never emerged, Esurient had run out of steam.

Then the pitched up on a label called Everlasting, in Cambridge with an LP called "Rub Al Khali", looks for all the world like some hippy private press album from an indeterminate point in the 70s or 80s. It was recorded in a barn and was looser and felt more provisional. I think about half of it is untouchably good, the other half I never quite got.

That was it, record-wise. I understand they reconvened from time to time but no more records came out (and no more shows happened to my knowledge) until that comp arrived a few months back with lots of unreleased stuff (I'm led to believe by people who know that they just kept recording for their own enjoyment); Ibought it straight off, though I have all the records and flexis and whatnot. I understand it's not to everybody's taste and for me they never quite hit the heights of "Stumble" (but barely anyone did).

Here's "Stumble", the photos on this youtube videos were taken by my old friend Dan at a show I was at, the show was genuinely amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS6Mu2p5hbM

(the other sides of this, "Rachel" and "Boxing Day Blues" are there on youtube also and well worth it).

"The Old Stone Bridge" from the demo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA4rb9hQ5zw&nohtml5=False

The version of "Mad Dogs" from the Creation EP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45L84HogcKs&nohtml5=False

That's probably more information than you wanted, wasn't it? Oh well, you did ask.

xpost yeah, only "The Old Stone Bridge" from Irony is on the comp, and even that in the demo version above. For myself I'd take Emily over St Christopher every time, though I liked St Christopher well enough.

Good info :) They certainly sound better to my aged ears than to my teenage ones. The flexi you posted there of The Old Stone Bridge is the song I'm (and most people?) familiar with, even though compared to other bands in that flexidisc label/fanzine circuit they are way less frantic, punky and scrappy, which is what I was looking for at the time. Course it was all dimininshing returns - should've stuck with these guys.

It's driving my crazy that Oliver's voice is reminding me of someone else from the era and I can't place it! Any ideas?

Not sure, but then I've listened to them enough that he just sounds like himself to me.

Thanks. That is as great a post as I could've asked for.

Wikipedia and an EBay listing are my source for the Gruff connection.

xpost. Got it! I was thinking of Jim Irvin from Furniture, who kinda sound like what Emily might have sounded like with a decent studio and some money.

speaking of, Mark G you need to finish that creation poll.

> The Old Stone Bridge is the song I'm (and most people?) familiar with

Reflect On Rye was on Doing It For The Kids which I guess is most people's exposure to Emily

hi, yeah things have been very busy but I will get back on track next week probably.

Those 'Rub al Khali' tracks are something else. They really did a 180 degree turn, and I think I really like it. I found the Retrospective album last night and mostly enjoyed it. Some of the demos and acoustic songs are pretty rough, and the vocals + drumming don't always shine, but I think I agree with that 2005 Stylus blurb.

I just read that Stylus article and I think I disagree with approx. 80% of it (ie there are maybe 10 of the fifty where my estimation of the record matches his; a good number of those are the things we both dislike.

It's a decent enough attempt, despite his vagueness about a lot of it, but this was 11 years ago. Largely the stuff he praises is predictable - Upside Down, Pastels, Felt, Velocity Girl,etc - where the bands became better known and and the musical tropes are familiar from the 60s bands that influenced them and the subsequent scenes that developed around those bands and songs.

There's also a major "had to be there" factor with the more offbeat releases on Creation, where the reasons for their existence are more obscure from a distance of 3 decades. Just because it subjectively sounds like a bad song does not always mean it was a bad record at the time. There's a few of those here.

Haha I'm probably mostly just grumpy that he doesn't go into the kind of raptures I think the Jasmine Minks deserve! But it's not that he likes stuff that I don't, mostly, it's that what he describes hearing is at some variance to what I hear in a fair few cases PLUS he likes lots of things I don't.

Yeah he's lukewarm on the Jasmine Minks but lauds those Pastels singles which are actually quite lacklustre (Baby Honey notwithstanding). Jasmine Minks are the best of the early bands. But then they are practically the only Creation band from that era that was a proper band - ie. with a stable line-up that rehearsed, had a decent repetoire of songs and did gigs regularly.

Well, the X-Men

Them too. Both the Jasmine Minks and X-Men still doing the occasional gig.

Who's the lady wahoo-ing on "Foxy"? I'm not sure if she makes the track amazing or horrible. I'm still deciding.

According to the sleeve notes she's called Jo Roberts, and "she simply wandered into the studio one day, and the group invited her to add backing vocals." That's all I know.

I also note that (contrary to a previous post of mine up there) Gian played wind instruments and the second drummer was named Nick. I resign.

These first 50 Creation singles are bloody fascinating to me and please someone write a book about them, completely ignoring the later nonsense.

Many thanks for the Emily info. I'd been wondering about that band for years, owing to the likely unfounded, it turns out, Gruff Rhys chatter.

Here is the official line on Gruff:

Mark Williams
‏@MarkW06
@mjqmjqmjq cheers, gruff did play drums but not on any recorded stuff and only for a couple of gigs

Are you ready!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DM8mlZwVQAE13qQ.jpg:large

https://variety.com/2019/film/global/danny-boyle-alan-mcgee-biopic-creation-stories-1203190503/?fbclid=IwAR3r3GQ0xCUGanCMuRoblfmYl68cdWCaojThJyea39G8kBYddFHKWX0vod8

“It’s a story of relentless ambition, mental torment, drugs, bankruptcy, unfathomable wealth, courting politicians and of how one written-off young Glaswegian upstart rose to irrevocably change the face of British culture,” according to the film’s production company...

https://iadsb.tmgrup.com.tr/38c561/645/344/0/41/800/467?u=https://idsb.tmgrup.com.tr/2019/03/21/600k-sign-uk-government-petition-calling-to-revoke-article-50-stay-in-eu-1553158383295.jpg

The burning question will be, who plays Rubber Jaw?

Awesome, can't wait. Creation & Mute mean far more to me than Factory ever did.

The production company can use that quote in the promotional material.

fbclid=IwAR3r3GQ0xCUGanCMuRoblfmYl68cdWCaojThJyea39G8kBYddFHKWX0vod8

I am available to provide additional dialogue should the filmmakers require it - particularly in those scenes involving the character of Bobby Gillespie. I also feel that the Old Etonian just out of RADA they pick to play Bobby might need a dialogue coach to help them perfect Bobby's extremely working class accent.

Got excited for a second as I saw the name 'Cavanagh' in there, which could ideally have meant the inclusion of the Terry Bickers curry binge scene but then realised it's to be based on McGee's autobiography. Have long since fantasised about a film of gargantuan length based on My Magpie Eyes.... featuring Lawrence, House Of Love, Baby Amphetamine etc, but all things considered, this will most likely be terrible

https://www.nme.com/news/music/creation-stories-movie-alan-mcgee-irvine-welsh-danny-boyle-oasis-interview-movie-2477425

Given the people involved I think McGee’s book makes sense as the source text, but I have low expectations.

‘My Magpie Eyes...’ is a phenomenal book, I need to re-read it. Could it work as a film? Certainly wouldn’t provide McGee with the same opportunities for myhologising.

Would love to read My Magpie Eyes, but it's always going for silly money. Presumably a reprint will never happen?

xpost I know it's implausible but we're allowed to fantasise. There are so many bizarre stories across the eras in the Cavanagh book but I can't imagine them making it anywhere near a screenplay, let alone not vetoed by McGee. Fully expect it to be dominated by the Scream and Oasis and painting McGee in a flattering light

this will be pure wank

Paul and Jim both firmly OTM in those two posts.

The film would seem a great opportunity to get “the accountants version of the story” (McGee, of course) back in print.

Was watching Upside Down the Creation Records Story on Amazon Prime last night. Throughout, there were interview clips of an old man in a bowler hat who I don't remember being identified onscreen. My guess being that the man was deceased and the interviews were archival and anyone familiar with the label would understand that. Can anyone help me out here?

https://i.imgur.com/q7Hf59H.png

That's BP Fallon

That’s BP Fallon: “ageing Irish DJ, music guru and McGee’s Death Disco co-conspirator (“purple-browed Beep” in T.Rex’s Telegram Sam).”

Thanks all. And he's still alive! Wonder what was up with the old-timey television conceit.

Holy shit, that biopic. What a trainwreck, poor Ewen Bremner carrying the weight of the whole thing, lucky he's a good actor.

It died a death didn’t it?? Literally vanished without trace. I was half tempted to watch it but I feel like those stories have been told a million times.

Guessing it was a tax-dodge thing for somebody(?) Like Status Quo's heist movie.

It was made by Nick Moran, and I feel he had one eye on his mate Dexter.

Problem is, there's really not much of a tale to tell, so it's leavened out with huge amounts of super-real scenes, like Trainspotting and Human Traffic 25+ years too late.

It also makes me crazy how filmmakers who decide to do this kind of movie (esp British ones) can never get a simple scenario like a small gig to look/feel right.

I think 'Control' just about managed it, but the scenes of MBV playing in The Living Room with the crowd (of about 30 people) jumping in the air pumping their fists and rotating 360 degrees while screaming in joy, come the fuck on.

There is a very good recreation of a gig at a 80s shithole uk venue in Nico 1988.

That pre-Smiths Morrissey biopic of a few years ago was particularly bad at this.

sorry to pop in here with an interruption, but that WHAT??

i just watched the trailer and omg how did i miss this????? it looks absolutely, tremendously terrible. i must watch it.

It was a lot better than I expected. Then again, I was expecting very little, but it was mmm passable.

Well, I tried to sorta sum it up

https://theshfl.com/guide/creation-records

i can't find page 2 where you obviously talk at length about revolving paint dream.

Alack.