On April 16th, Beady Eye released an exclusive 7-inch box set in celebration of Record Store Day.
Beady Eye's US and Canadian record label Dangerbird Records have given us a copy to give one away in an easy to enter competition.
The box set is limited to just 2,000 copies (available in the USA only) and includes three 7” singles for “Bring The Light,” “Four Letter Word,” and “The Roller,” each featuring a rare b-side. Also included in the box is a 13×19” poster & digital download of three live tracks recorded for KEXP Radio in Seattle.
Fans could only find the box at local independent music stores listed on the Record Store Day website.
Tracklisting: 1. Bring The Light 2. Sons of the Stage 3. Four Letter Word 4. World Outside My Room 5. The Roller 6. Two of A Kind 7. The Beat Goes On (Live from KEXP) 8. Three Ring Circus (Live from KEXP) 9. Millionaire (Live from KEXP)
All you have to do to to win the box set is join the Beady Eye and Dangerbird mailing lists details here.
One winner will be picked at random by Dangerbird Records on July 1st 2011.
Have you ever wondered to yourself what tunes two of Britain’s biggest bands – Kasabian and Oasis - get off to when they jump offstage following a monumental show at Wembley Stadium. On Saturday May 14th at the Queen Of Hoxton, the tour DJ’s of Kasabian and Oasis will be firing these tunes from the inner sanctum of This Feeling.
In Kasabian’s backstage camp is DJ Dan Ralph Martin, who according to Sergio Pizzorno is: “Quite simply my favourite DJ.” Oasis Tour DJ Phil Smith sets the scene for Oasis’ epic nights out and Noel Gallagher declares he is: “Some of the best music I have ever heard Phil Smith played it to me first.”. "Live" at TF we have Love In The Asylum, fresh from supporting The View on their UK tour. Sheffield’s The Violet May - who are fronted by Rev John McClure’s brother Chris McClure. Elsie, a modern day Blondie. The Jude , all over XFM and BBC6 Music current single ‘Ha Ha Goodbye’ right now and The 10:04’s, who just supported Razorlight at Scotland’s Haddow Festival, round up a high-five inducing line-up.
Music mogul Alan Mcgee wishes he'd walked away from the industry after Oasis' triumphant gigs at Britain's Knebworth House, because he became "delusional" with success.
MCGee was head of famed independent label Creation Records and became one of the most powerful men in the British rock scene after discovering the Wonderwall hitmakers in the early 1990s.
He went on to mastermind their huge success before closing down Creation and retiring from the industry in 2000 - but he now regrets keeping the company going after Oasis performed two iconic shows at the open-air Knebworth venue in 1996.
MCGee tells Playlist magazine, "We really should have given up after Knebworth in '96, though. Ego is a horrible thing, but I got one. I was delusional: if it had been up to me, I'd have got Oasis to do a gig from Antarctica."
I have finally given my websites blog an overhaul for the first time since 2006, I have updated the layout and features to keep up to date with not just Oasis but also Beady Eye and eventually Noel Gallagher.
Over the coming weeks I will be adding a number of different elements to the blog and will be tagging over 6,000 existing posts to make the site more user friendly and easy to navigate.
As requested it will now become easier to share the posts across a wide range of blogs and social networking sites.
Additional features include a new search function, and many more new improvements that the visitors to the site have requested.
As always, please continue to send me your comments and suggestions on how I can further improve the sites and blogs.
Review From the ScotsMan Upside Down: The Creation Records Story (15) *** Directed by: Danny O'Connor
THERE'S a running joke in this amusing documentary about Creation Records that one of the reasons the label became so distinctive was because nobody could really understand what its Glasgwegian founder Alan McGee was saying half the time; the music he put out therefore had to do most of the talking. It's not really true, of course. Though his bands – and he launched the careers of The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream and, most famously, Oasis – certainly made plenty of noise, McGee was never a shadowy background figure. His passion for music and his determination to put out only the bands that he liked (even when the bands that he liked included The Telescopes) was matched by a determination to lead the same kind of debauched rock'n'roll lifestyle as his acts.
The film celebrates all this in gleeful fashion, running through Creation's punky Scottish origins to its bloated, Tony Blair-endorsed, champagne soaked end-point. Lots of rare archival footage and new interviews with the likes of Noel Gallagher and the now clean-and-sober McGee ensure that it's entertainingly riotous, though as a film, its print-the-legend approach could have used a few dissenting voices to balance out the rampant mythmaking.
Review From Radio Times 3 Starts out of 5
This overpopulated but evocative chronicle of the rise and fall of Creation Records — which, between 1983 and 1999, gave the world The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream and, more lucratively, Britpop superstars Oasis — is guilty of the same self-mythologising as the independent label itself. Founded in London by visionary Glaswegian Alan McGee in the fertile aftermath of punk, Creation was as much about revolutionary spirit as selling records, its reputation forged on signing cool bands that couldn't necessarily play and a relentless wooing of the music press. A garrulous and entertaining McGee dominates the documentary, as effusive as any recovering addict (his drug-linked breakdown is candidly covered), but contributions from key players, including Oasis kingpin Noel Gallagher, add colour and wry humour. Blending grainy archive with black and white testimony, and drawing on a squealing, pumping soundtrack, first-time director Danny O'Connor captures the hedonistic mood of a particular time — although anyone who wasn't there might find it a bit impenetrable.
The movie is released on the 9th of May, to order the DVD, Blu-Ray or Sound track click here.
Liam Gallagher's new band Beady Eye has added its name to this year's Belsonic line-up, with the rocker claiming that his first festival appearance in the city is “long overdue”.
The band, made up of ex-Oasis members Gallagher, Gem Archer and Andy Bell, played to a packed Ulster Hall last month, with loudmouth Liam pledging a return visit in the near future.
Announcing their headline slot at Belsonic on Saturday, August 20, Gallagher said Belfast was a special place for him to play.
“The people in Northern Ireland are always so up for it — they just get it,” he said.
“It's like they know something nobody else does. But we've never played a festival in Belfast. It's about time I played an outdoor gig in the city, long overdue.”
Beady Eye and 30 Seconds To Mars tickets go on sale Friday May 6 at 9am on www. belsonic.com, Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.ie and The Stiff Kitten
The story of Creation really is one of the greatest ever told - Creation Records that is.
Maverick boss Alan McGee, who signed Oasis and Primal Scream, started the label with a £1,000 loan in 1983 and sold it to Sony for £30million in 1999.
The self-dubbed President Of Pop ran his business fuelled by a cocktail of drugs until a major health scare panicked him into going clean.
He admitted: "I was on one continuous bender from 1987 until 1994. Until Oasis came along the Creation staff were more rock and roll than the bands we signed. Then Oasis came along and things got even crazier.
"I was permanently off my head on cocaine, ecstasy, acid and speed. We'd be awake for three days.
"We went one further than having dealers hanging around. We just employed them instead.
"But they were different times. If you behaved now like we used to people would phone the police."
Alan's label is up there with Factory Records from Manchester and America's Motown and Sub Pop as the great music independents of the past century.
He gave us (What's The Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis and Screamadelica from Primal Scream and dominated Nineties music in the Britpop era.
Alan's love of music was forged in his hometown of Glasgow, where he grew up with Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie.
They went to see The Clash in 1977 and vowed to make something of themselves through music.
A new documentary, Upside Down: The Creation Records Story, captures the spirit of the label on film for the first time. It is now being shown in cinemas and will be released on DVD next Monday.
Alan, 50, said: "No one has ever managed to successfully convey what it was like in the eye of the storm. This film really captures it."
Creation are mainly associated with Oasis, the band McGee signed on a handshake with Noel Gallagher in 1993 after catching them at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow.
But it had all begun in the Eighties when McGee moved to London to start club night The Living Room.
He ploughed any cash not spent on drinking into the fledgling Creation Records and enjoyed his first hits with The Jesus And Mary Chain, The House Of Love, My Bloody Valentine and Ride.
A major turning point came in the late Eighties, when McGee heard acid house and persuaded Gillespie to take notice. Primal Scream were inspired to make their album Screamadelica.
Alan moved Creation into new premises in Hackney, east London, which became their operations centre for their most hedonistic years.
Alan recalled: "I went to the Hacienda club in Manchester one night and dance music suddenly made sense. Shaun Ryder was off his head leading 600 wild-eyed ravers on the dance floor."
The next few years were the busiest, with McGee signing bands and releasing records weekly.
He said: "During our creative peak in about 1991 I was motoring in all senses. I was banging records out but I was out of my mind too."
The year saw a run of Creation albums that are regarded as classics, including Screamadelica and Loveless by My Bloody Valentine.
But with Alan's industrial consumption of narcotics his attention to the business side of things was not as good as his ear for music.
He said: "Things got so out of hand I went to America and signed a deal for Shane MacGowan worth £300k. It wasn't until I got back home someone pointed out he wasn't even one of our acts."
It seemed the Creation rollercoaster was coming off the rails when Alan saw a new band called Oasis. It would change his life.
Alan said: "I was up in Glasgow seeing my dad and I wasn't sure I'd even go to the gig. I got there early by mistake. Oasis were on first, before most people arrived. There was this amazing young version of Paul Weller sat there in a light blue Adidas tracksuit. I assumed he was the drug dealer and that Bonehead, the guitarist, was the singer.
"It was only when they went on stage I realised it was the lead singer Liam Gallagher. I knew I had to sign them.
"Noel and I talked after the show and just said 'done' and he turned out to be a man of his word.
"I was lucky to be there. We didn't send out scouts. Most of my signings were because I happened to see new bands. That couldn't happen any more. If a new band as much as farts it's all over the internet."
During the early Oasis years Alan joined in the partying, which became wilder than ever.
He said: "We would jump on a private jet on a whim and fly to Brazil or LA for a party."
It all came crashing down on a visit to Los Angeles in 1994. Alan was staying at the Mondrian hotel when he felt so ill he called the reception desk for help. Soon he was being taken to hospital in a wheelchair and wearing an oxygen mask. He checked into a clinic and disappeared from the music scene for nine months.
Alan returned to watch the rest of the Britpop era from a clean perspective. He said: "The joy of running a record label had left me but there was a new feeling of having the biggest group in the world. It was a great two or three years."
The scene reached its biggest in 1996, when Oasis played back-to-back gigs in the grounds of stately Knebworth House, in Hertfordshire. By the end of the decade Alan had sold his remaining Creation shares to Sony for £30million - having already let 49 per cent go in 1992 for £3.5million to avoid bankruptcy.
Later he ran another label, Poptones, club night Death Disco and managed The Charlatans and The Libertines.
In 2008 he bowed out of the industry and moved to rural Wales with wife Kate Holmes and daughter Charlotte.
He says he hates everything about the modern music industry.
He explains: "I'd have to be doing sponsorship deals with coffee companies just to put a gig on. It's all about brands now and dealing with accountants."
Miles Kane has praised Noel Gallagher for helping him out with his debut solo record 'The Colour Of The Trap', which is released next week (May 9).
The Last Shadow Puppets man spoke to NME about the hook-up before playing a solo set at the Camden Crawl 2011 yesterday (April 30).
Kane explained that the collaboration with Gallagher on new track 'My Fantasy' came about pretty late in the day.
"He just came down one afternoon when I was mixing to have a cup of coffee and ended up doing a bit of singing. It was a beautiful afternoon, what a legend," he recalled.
Kane also confirmed he would never play Last Shadow Puppets songs during his solo shows and praised bandmate Alex Turner's latest material with Arctic Monkeys on their forthcoming new album 'Suck It And See'.
"I love their new record, I think it's amazing, the fans are gonna love it," he said, before enthusing about his own new material.
"It's very exciting to be getting out and doing these gigs, there's a great buzz and that makes me buzz," Kane concluded.
He went on to play ten songs during his gig at the HMV Forum, including 'Inhaler' and 'Come Closer'.
To celebrate the release of 'Millionaire' Beady Eye Records are running a very special competition to give one lucky fan the chance of winning a signed setlist from the band's first ever gig, which took place at Glasgow Barrowland on March 3rd.
To be in with a chance of winning the setlist all you have to do is re-tweet a message to your friends to let them know the new single is out now.
To enter the competition, click HERE!The competition will be open until 23:59 Saturday 7th May (UK time).
May 5th - Enterprise - London May 6th - The Horn - St Albans May 7th - tbc Liverpool May 12th - New Roscoe - Leeds May 14th - Moho - Manchester May 20th - Friends of Mine Festival - Cheshire
June 4th - Playground - Whitehaven June 24th The Cellar Southampton
July 9th - Globe - Cardiff
August 12th - Beckfest - Cumbria
Visit John's Facebook page here for ticket information, and pictures from a number of gigs they have done to date.
Highlights from a benefit concert in aid of the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami appeal. Recorded in London, the show features Beady Eye, The Coral, Graham Coxon and Paul Weller.
Highlights will be broadcast Friday 6th May at 12am (time subject to change) on Channel 4 (UK ONLY.)
Do you have any footage of Oasis that you recorded from TV and is just lying around on old VHS tapes and you can't play them no more because you have got rid of your VHS player? Did you record any footage of Oasis at any concerts?
If you would like this transfering onto DVD then please get in touch. However bad you think the quality is, I will do my best to get the best quality out of the VHS and make the transfer to DVD as professional as possible. All VHS will be returned with the footage on DVD.
Contact Chris on howdo59@gmail.com (all emails are confidential)"
Beady Eye's second single 'Millionaire' is released through their record label Beady Eye Records today. The 7" single is backed with live favourite 'Man Of Misery'. The digital bundle also comes with the video.
The limited edition numbered 7" vinyl was available to pre-order exclusively through the band's store HERE! A non-numbered 7" will be available to buy in shops from today.
Beady Eye's store has made an exclusive limited edition 7" collectors box for fans to keep their 7"s from 'Different Gear, Still Speeding' in. The box is on sale now and comes with a free live download of 'Beatles And Stones (Radio Session)'
Miles Kane may be a dapper young rocker with the world at his feet, but occasionally he sounds like a shell-shocked veteran sharing war stories. "Fame is a learning curve," he says in a treacly Liverpool burr. "One minute you're at number one and you're shagging loads of birds. And it's easy. What's hard is when reality strikes and you're back in the basement."
It was at that point that Noel Gallagher entered the story, though Kane is distinctly cagey about the subject. As is his record label, a representative of which politely requests we not go overboard on the Noel questions, no matter that his guitar solo on My Fantasy is a highlight of Kane's LP. Chatting to Miles before Christmas, the singer was happy to discuss their collaboration.
Today, in contrast, he is crestfallen when Noel's name is mentioned. It's as if you've asked what colour Y-fronts he's wearing.
Why so circumspect? It appears Kane created a bit of cyberspace kerfuffle after he let slip he had guested on Noel's hush-hush solo album, the existence of which remains a subject of wild conjecture. Confirming Noel was working on a record was apparently tantamount to tweeting the third secret of Fatima, and Kane has had to do some backpedalling.
"No offence to you, but the media blow these things out of the water," he says. "All it is is that one song. He came down when we were mixing. We had a coffee and a KitKat. That was it. It's been built out of all proportion. I don't really know him that well. I've only met him a couple of times. But that was a great afternoon, one that I'll cherish."
If anything he's friendlier with Liam, who hand-picked Kane to support his new band, Beady Eye, on their inaugural jaunt around the UK. In what seems to be a recurring theme in Kane's life and career, their first meeting was a bit haphazard.
"I'd only met him once, falling around the bar. We had a chat and got on. He'd heard a few songs and asked me to do the tour. It was a great honour. He'd come and watch me every night from the side. I'm chuffed. Not to compare myself to Oasis, but they've been a big part of my life. You grew your hair to look like them. I think they can appreciate that you are following in their footsteps."