Alan McGee
Alan John McGee (born 29 September 1960) is a Scottish businessman and music industry executive. He has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for The Guardian. He co-founded the independent Creation Records label, running it from 1983 until its closure in 1999.
Alan McGee
Alan John McGee
29 September 1960
East Kilbride, Scotland
Glasgow, Scotland
Record label owner, film producer, singer, songwriter, guitarist, DJ, music blogger
1981–1991, 1997–1998 (as musician)
1983–2007 (as record label owner)
McGee subsequently founded the Poptones label, running it from 1999 to 2007. He has managed or championed acts such as the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Telescopes, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Momus, Oasis, and the Libertines.[1] He was also the lead singer and guitarist for the indie pop group Biff Bang Pow!, who were active from 1983 to 1991.
Early years[edit]
McGee was born in East Kilbride on 29 September 1960.[2] He grew up in Glasgow and attended King's Park Secondary School, where he met future Primal Scream founder Bobby Gillespie. McGee left school at 16 with one O-Grade.[3] He and Gillespie were heavily into punk rock, and they joined a local punk band, the Drains, in 1978. The band's guitarist was Andrew Innes.[4]
After the breakup of the Drains, McGee and Innes briefly joined the band H2O, then moved to London[5] and formed the band the Laughing Apple with Mark Jardim, a drummer from Croydon.[3] In 1983, quitting his job at British Rail, he co-founded Creation Records (named after cult 1960s band the Creation).
McGee said that his intention with Creation "was to merge psychedelia with punk rock".[3] He also formed the band Biff Bang Pow! (named after the Creation's song), which would continue until 1991, and began running a club night called "The Living Room" at The Adams Arms in Central London. He also began managing the then-unknown band the Jesus and Mary Chain, whose first single was issued on McGee's label in November 1984.[3]
Music industry career[edit]
Creation Records[edit]
Creation Records was one of the key labels in the mid-80s indie movement, with early releases featuring artists such as Primal Scream, the Jasmine Minks, and the Loft. When the Jesus and Mary Chain moved to Warner Brothers in 1985, Creation was able to use McGee's profits as their manager to release singles by acts including Primal Scream, Felt, and the Weather Prophets. While these records were not commercially successful, McGee's enthusiasm and ability to promote Creation releases in the weekly music media ensured a healthy following. Following an unsuccessful attempt to run an offshoot label for Warner Brothers, McGee regrouped Creation and immersed himself in the burgeoning dance and acid house scene, the legacy of which saw him release era-defining albums from Creation mainstays Primal Scream and new arrivals like My Bloody Valentine and Teenage Fanclub.[3]
During this time Creation had run up considerable debts, which forced McGee to sell half of the label to Sony Music in 1992. McGee calls the Sony years as the beginning of the end of the real Creation Records, which was driven by Joe Foster, Tim Abbot, Dick Green and McGee himself, and not by Sony accountants and marketing managers.[3] At the point it seemed Creation would collapse into receivership, the recently signed Manchester band Oasis began selling albums in huge quantities, and became one of the leading lights of the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. The success of Oasis was unprecedented for an act on an independent label, and their second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, became the biggest-selling British album of the decade.[6]
This brought McGee substantial exposure, and his position was noted by the revitalized Labour Party, who considered him a figurehead of youth culture and courted his influence to spearhead a media campaign prior to the 1997 General Election. McGee was largely responsible for changing government legislation in relation to musicians being able to go on the New Deal, which gave musicians three years to develop and be funded by the government instead of having to take other jobs to survive.[3] In 1998, Omnibus made a documentary about McGee and Creation for BBC One.
McGee was awarded by the NME 'Godlike Genius' award in February 1996 [7] and Creation Records was awarded "independent label of the year" every year between 1995 and 1998 by Music Week. McGee returned to making music in 1997, collaborating with Ed Ball under the name the Chemical Pilot, releasing the album Journey to the Centre of the Mind in 1998.[2]
While Oasis went on to sell nearly 54 million records by 2008, Creation continued issuing albums by other artists, none of which came near the success of the Manchester band. Rumours began to circulate of McGee's dissatisfaction with the direction Creation had gone. In late 1999 it was announced that Creation Records would cease operations. The final album released by the label was Primal Scream's 2000 release XTRMNTR, which went gold in the UK.
Post Creation: Poptones Records and Death Disco[edit]
The dissolution of Creation Records led to McGee forming Poptones in 2000. The label is named after a song by Public Image Limited. During this period McGee also ran an international club night, Death Disco, under which name he also DJs occasionally. Death Disco had branches in Glasgow, London, New York City, Budapest and Los Angeles, and featured appearances from artists such as the Libertines, the Killers, BRMC, Kaiser Chiefs, Glasvegas, Razorlight, the Hives, Kasabian, the Darkness, Neils Children, and the Foxes. McGee had no further involvement with Death Disco after 2009.
In May 2007, McGee told The Independent newspaper that he was winding down Poptones for financial reasons.[8][9]
Political views[edit]
In January 2000 he likened the Labour Party to Big Brother in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, and accused Tony Blair of being a "control freak". He had previously been one of Labour's biggest financial donors, having donated £100,000 to the party.[23]
One of McGee's last acts as the head of Creation Records was to use £20,000 of the company's money to fund Malcolm McLaren's campaign to run for Mayor of London.[24]
In late 2009, McGee withdrew his support for the Labour Party, and wrote an article for The Sun on 1 October 2009 in which he praised Conservative leader David Cameron, saying that "at least David Cameron looks like a leader."[25]
In the 2010 general election, McGee stated that he had voted for Liberal Democrat Roger Williams.[26]
Personal life[edit]
McGee's mid-1990s drug intake was such that he eventually suffered a breakdown. He has said he has no idea of the amounts of drugs he was using at this point, but that he cannot remember anything of the year 1993 other than the signing of Oasis. He added that Oasis were 'cool' about his cleaning up, but that his sober state made his relationship with Primal Scream difficult.[41]
McGee has been married twice. His first marriage was unsuccessful but produced a son named Daniel. Due to McGee's former long-term drug habit, he had been estranged from his first wife and had not seen his son since he was a baby. Dan was adopted by his ex-wife's new husband in 1994 and his name was changed to Daniel Devine. In 2005, McGee told The Independent that his son, whom he had not seen since he was a baby, had contacted him and they had reunited,[42] though they were later reported to be estranged again.[43][44]
Since 1998, McGee has been married to Kate Holmes, of the band Client and formerly of Frazier Chorus and Technique, who now runs the fashion label Client London. They have been together since 1994, and have one child.[45]
McGee is a keen supporter of Rangers.[46]