JOE FOSTER: The Primals were a supreme band. They’ve been there the whole time and through it all. They were the ones that carried through the whole attitude, the whole love of music and love of all different kinds of things. They’re totally eclectic. And that’s what Creation were always about.
LAURENCE: I think that Creation is probably the most inspirational label that exists. Look at Primal Scream. ‘Loaded’ was one of the most interesting, cutting edge, melting-pot kind of records that took Acid House and rock ’n’ roll culture into one thing. I still think My Bloody Valentine is one of the most amazing bands as well. We don’t have the distance to appreciate all this stuff to its fullest extent, but when you look at the Peel session of the Mary Chain, which has been released recently, when was the last time pop music had something like that? I don’t think a lot of new labels have got that heavyweight talent. Majors are about profit, about product and getting it consumed. Creation was people learning about music and loving it.
I’m glad Alan is going back to the woods. He is still very curious about music. He got into drum’n’ bass at one point. I’m really proud of Creation. I think that it is so good that he has left them. I think it is good, because there is nothing like that anymore, is there?
KLE: Those were the good old days and I don’t think I’m glamorising it. I think they really were the good old days. Don’t get me wrong. At the time there were days when I’d go home in tears, but there was life in it then; there was a passsion and everyone stuck around because it was where they wanted to be. I’m not bitter about the way things started to wind down. That’s life and life is change and no matter how great or how bad something is, it’s just never going to last. I’m so thankful that I was there for the good times.
LAURENCE: Alan finishing Creation didn’t come as a surprise to me. I knew why Alan did Creation; I knew why he loved it. Alan loves music.
SIMON STEPHENS: When I met McGee last time he’d seen me with my little boy of three months on Primrose Hill and he said, ‘I saw you walking down Primrose Hill and I turned round to Innes and said is that his kid or has he nicked it?’ To think that you would go and nick a kid and walk around Primrose Hill! But there you go, that’s fucking Alan. He has got a mind and a half on him, he does. We had some fucking funny times. He was always preoccupied with business.
ED BALL: The reason why we all love the guy is because he’s the record company boss we’d all love to be. I tried and failed. I threw down the gauntlet and said, ‘You’re the fucking man and I want to join the team.’ I think that’s what it is. That’s the difference between him and the bloke that runs Sony. The man who runs Sony could be selling Daz washing powder. It wouldn’t make a difference.
JF: Any of the bands on Creation were really quite interesting people. It kind of drifted away from having exceptional people. We had our moments. But in general, it is a true picture: we did hang out, we did all like each other, we were all part of each other’s lives and all the rest of it. That was part of the success of it. You’d be in each other’s pockets all the time and you’d get wacky ideas from people.
EB: I see Creation Records as one of the few things that got us through the ’80s and is now only starting to be understood. I think what Alan McGee brought to the table was hope for people who wanted to make music, who wanted to start a label, who wanted to do something. It was a maverick label. It was very much like Apple in that anyone could come along and could talk a crazy idea, and Alan would be into it, half for the cheek of it all. Drug damage? There’s a few things I notice in myself that I’ve lost. Apart from my hair. Thought processes sometimes are a bit bemused. But by and large I think we came through alright. Everybody pulled their socks up. Everybody had a good time. I think we all pulled through.
SUSAN MCGEE
SUSAN MCGEE: I never went to Knebworth. I went to Loch Lomond but the whole Oasis phenomenon was just unbelievable. I mean, it was mental. We were getting a chauffeur-driven car to Loch Lomond and back. And I took my friend who lived in this council estate in Possil, which is one of the worst places in Glasgow. I deliberately picked her up because it was chauffeur-driven. Everybody was waving at her and it was like the Gala Day or something in Possil. They were all waving and saying ‘There’s a Limo coming in the area!’ And then we drove off while everybody was waving. That was good.
ALAN MCGEE
ALAN MCGEE: Because of the way I grew up, my life expectation was nil right? I was the one that was born without good looks. I was a writeoff. Everybody wrote me off. Not even my mum and dad thought I was ever gonna fucking do anything. So when your parents don’t even believe in you right, the bottom line is, you don’t even believe in yourself. But I believed in Dexy’s Midnight Runners, The Jam, The Sex Pistols, The Clash and Punk rock.
I wanted to be part of that. I’d no expectations. I thought I was in the factory for the rest of my life. So when I started doing music and started managing the Mary Chain my parents started noticing me again. I was always doing it for my mum really. In ‘84 my parents started noticing me and blaming Laura which was shit for her. I was doing it to say to my mum, ‘I’m actually a good person. I’ve actually got some talent. I’m not academically bright. I’m not good looking, I’m not going to go out with Kate Moss. I’m not the best fighter in the street. But I’m good at finding bands and they pay me money for it. And now I can send you away off on holiday.’ I know it sounds pathetic but my mum’s expectation was zero. So by the time it all fucking rolled out and by the time it kind of got to ’94 I was in another world. But what was driving me, what I was trying to say to my mum was: I am alright.