THE man who discovered Oasis and Primal Scream will be visiting the Island this weekend for a live performance.
Scottish music mogul Alan McGee, who founded Creation Records and signed many of the biggest bands of the 1990s to his label, will be hosting a one-off DJ set at the Havana Club in St Helier on Friday.
Titled Friday Night Live, the event has been organised by local promoters Bubblebrain Records and will see Dublin-based synth-rockers Nixer entertaining the crowd prior to McGee taking to the stage.
James Dolan, partner and founder of Bubblebrain Records, said: ‘Alan McGee is the man who discovered some of the biggest bands in rock ‘n’ roll history, from Oasis and the Boo Radleys to Teenage Fanclub and the Jesus and Mary Chain.
‘Alan is now running a brand-new label, It’s Creation Baby, and is once again discovering some of the best bands around.’
The event will mark the second time that the music industry executive has visited Jersey, having taken part in a live Q&A in 2020, which was also organised by Bubblebrain Records and which took place shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
Launched in 1983, Creation Records is widely considered to be the most important independent record label of the 1990s. The label won Music Week’s ‘Independent Label of the Year’ award every year between 1995 and 1998, while McGee himself was given the Godlike Genius award by NME magazine in 1995.
‘Alan has even had a hit movie made about his amazing life,’ said Mr Dolan. ‘It is called Creation Stories and it was directed by Nick Moran, who gave us Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and produced by Danny Boyle. It tells of how one written-off young Glaswegian upstart rose from nowhere to irrevocably change the face of British culture.’
In addition to appearances by Alan McGee and Nixer, Friday Night Live will also feature performances by two local bands, Dribbler and Brave Yesterday.
Mr Dolan said: ‘The concept behind Friday Night Live is to give Jersey’s finest artists the chance to play alongside some of the hottest acts coming out of the UK and to gain advice from one of the most important names in the world of music.’
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Tickets for Friday Night Live are £8 each and are available now at fridaynightlivenixer.eventbrite.co.uk
Tom Ogg picks four of the best albums released by Creation Records
1) Screamadelica by Primal Scream (1991)
A seminal release from the grouchy Scottish indie rockers, which saw the group embracing house and dance music and crossing over into the mainstream as a result. Highlights include opening track Movin’ On Up and single Come Together.
2) Bandwagonesque by Teenage Fanclub (1991)
The much-loved Scottish pop-rock outfit’s third album featured their usual blend of catchy melodies and rich harmonies, albeit with a slightly rockier edge than usual. Bandwagonesque proved to be their breakthrough release in the US, with the album beating even Nirvana’s Nevermind in some end-of-year polls.
3) Definitely Maybe by Oasis (1994)
Even Oasis sceptics like me can recognise the importance of the Mancunian quartet’s debut album. Seemingly overnight, almost every track on Definitely Maybe was deemed a rock ‘n’ roll classic, and Noel and Liam Gallagher became superstars. The group never came close to matching the quality and consistency of Definitely Maybe with their subsequent six studio albums.
4) Radiator by Super Furry Animals (1997)
Arguably the best band ever to sign to Creation Records, Super Furry Animals never released a bad record throughout their ten-album career. The Welsh pop-rock-psychedelic five-piece found instant success with their debut, Fuzzy Logic (1996), but it was their second album, Radiator, that cemented their status as one of the most exciting and entertaining bands in the country. Tracks like The International Language of Screaming and Mountain People managed to be simultaneously supremely catchy and wildly experimental.
