New Creation Records Documentary Released

Upside Down charts the legendary label's history from Glasgow to Knebworth…

Indie record label Creation Records existed between 1983 and 1999, and in that time it gave the world the likes of The Jesus And Mary Chain, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, and Oasis.

More than just a record company, Creation and its maverick head Alan McGee took a DIY punk sensibility and applied it to the music industry itself, piloting a ramshackle course that led from running small club nights on London's Tottenham Court Road to staging Oasis' era-defining sell-out shows at Knebworth.

Upside Down charts the twists and turns of a label that seemed to act more like a rock group than most of its acts - hosting drug fuelled office parties that went on for days, squaring up to the major labels (and often coming off best), and having a signing policy based more on whether McGee was a fan rather than potential for sales.

Gaining unprecedented access to those that worked at the label, contemporary journalists and many of the labels acts themselves, director Danny O'Connor's doc includes interviews with the likes of Noel Gallagher, Bobby Gillespie, and members of JAMC, Ride, Teenage Fanclub, MBV and Super Furry Animals.

It's a gripping tale, well paced and held together by some great tracks, McGee's infectious enthusiasm, and industry legend BP Fallon, who appears repeatedly as a disembodied head.

Understandably for a documentary that covers the best part of two decades, many of the label's acts don't get a look in, and the focus is very much on Creation's successes rather than its (often spectacular) failures.

These are minor quibbles however, and Upside Down is essential viewing for anyone even remotely interested in one of the most influential players in the UK music scene.

Upside Down is available now to buy on DVD and BluRay.

Gavin Cullen

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