Upside Down: The Creation Records Story

Upside Down: The Creation Records Story (2010)

Genres - Music, Historical Film  |   Sub-Genres - Biography, Music History  |   Run Time - 101 min.  |   Countries - United Kingdom  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Mark Deming

Alan McGee was a British rock fan who had played in bands, managed artists and booked clubs, and next wanted to start a record company to help upstart acts being their music to the world. In 1983, McGee co-founded Creation Records, which would become one of the most important and influential independent records labels of the '80s and '90s; McGee's signings read like a who's who of cutting-edge British rock of the era, including the Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Teenage Fanclub, the Boo Radleys and Swervedriver, while also helping to promote the rise of Acid House. In 1993, Creation signed Oasis, who would become far and away the biggest British band of the '90s, but what should have been a triumph for Creation proved to be the beginning of the end. McGee had a keen eye for talent, but he wasn't as capable as a businessman, and he and many of his partners at Creation had an appetite for drugs that added to the company's chaotic reputation; McGee left the label in 1999, and a year later they were out of business. Filmmaker Danny O'Connor offers a look at the music and the behind the scenes madness behind one of the UK's most celebrated record companies in the documentary Upside Down: The Creation Records Story. The film received its world premiere at the 2010 BFI London Film Festival.

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Keywords

behind-the-scenes, independent-music, music-industry, rock-music, drug-addiction