Trailer: Upside Down The Movie > The Story Of Creation Records

Posted on June 19, 2010 |

I’m a HUGE music documentary junkie.

Just looking at my TheBox download list will tell you that.

Something that recently caught my eye was this trailer for this new doc on
the history of one of the most famous independent UK label
Creation Records.

Creation were behind some of the biggest acts to come out of
the UK indie music scene of the last 20 years.

They pretty much defined the late 80’s and most of the 90’s
through bands like My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain,
Primal Scream, Ride and Teenage Fanclub.

The founder and face behind Creation was this guy:

Alan McGee.

The story in a tiny nutshell:

Established in 1983 by Alan and partners Dick Green and Joe Foster,
the name Creation came from a 60’s band McGee loved as a wee lad.

Their first release was a single by the band The Legends, all the
while Alan started a club named The Living Room through which, he met
several people who went on to record for Creation.

The Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream were the first bands
signed to their label that garnered critical acclaim and turned
a profit and from said profits, could fund the recordings of other
bands like The Pastels, The House of Love and Felt.

Then came My Bloody Valentine, pioneers of the shoegaze movement but
also the band that almost bankrupted the label through a two-year
long and very expensive recording process of their 1991 masterpiece
“Loveless”.

The label was sold to Sony in 1992.

Then … Oasis happened.

Alan saw them play in a tiny club in Glasgow in 1993, signed them up right
away and from it came their debut “Definitely Maybe”, which became
a huge critical and commercial success for Creation and
Sony.

Ride, Swervedriver, Slowdive, Teenage Fanclub, Boo Radleys, Ruby,
Sugar, Super Furry Animals, St. Etienne … just to name a few,
followed in their footsteps. Not all commercial successes by any means
but well respected critically.

You can check out The complete Creation discography through Wiki.

The label closed it’s doors in 1999 and Alan went on to form another
label, Poptones Record.

“Upside Down” will chronicle the label’s 15 year history, their ups
and downs and everything in between.

You’ll hear tales from all the label’s key players and interviews
from all the major bands.

Director Danny O’Connor said that he nearly went bonkers/bankrupt
himself shooting it.

A quote from a Guardian article:

“No one does excess like Creation, no one does great records like
Creation,” he said. “Creation was an indie, but it didn’t wear a
cardigan, it didn’t apologise. There was a real power in its punch.
If you think that rock’n’roll is all about swagger — this is your film.”

The movie is nearly finished and should be out before 2010 comes to
a close.

Sounding very awesome and wished I was in England when this would possibly
go down are special events that will be planned around the film’s release
featuring various bands from the Creation roster.

You can check out the official film’s website for updates, a great
fansite that’s dedicated to the label’s greatness and something I
would highly recommend:

Watching every single music video ever produced through the label’s own YouTube channel.

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Category: Creation Records, Documentary, Music Videos, Trailers
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