Alan McGee, 'The Man who Discovered Oasis' plays Gig for Unemployed

[Udo Erasmus]

A legendary former record label owner and music manager will be the headliner at Cardiff's Unemployed Daytime Disc on Monday. Alan McGee,co-founder of Creation Records will be playing a special one hour DJ set at the monthly event organised by local unemployed musicians and writers who dub it 'a daytime showcase for modern music, contemporary arts and cutting edge culture

Alan was on the dole before his record label Creation Records took off with the signing of bands like Oasis, Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream. He knows what it's like to try and do creative stuff when you are skint.

launched the label with a £1,000 loan in 1983 later selling it to Sony for £30million in 1999. Afterwards he ran another label, Poptones, managing The Charlatans and The Libertines.

The Unemployed Daytime Disco now in its second year was launched in the winter of 2010.

The first Unemployed Daytime Disco of 2012 takes place on Monday 30 January, 2 - 8 pm at The Rockin Chair, Lower Cathedral Road, Riverside, Cardiff. It features bands, DJs, acoustic solo acts, electronica, dancers, performance art, poetry, stand-up comedy and other happenings. Admission is free. All welcome.

 

[skyscraper101]

Legendary my arse.

Donating a whole hour of his time to play some records, how philanthropic of him. Perhaps he also could also donate some of his millions to helping people who lost their jobs or business stock due to the fire started by rioters at the Sony DADC warehouse. Or does he still think it was 'funny'? Dickhead.

 

[Udo Erasmus]

Just what is it that you want to do? We wanna be free We wanna be free to do
what we wanna do And we wanna get loaded And we wanna have a good time

 

[gosub]

Saw Ride two Saturday's in a row @ the Camden Falcon years back, first gig was 2/3 full though McGee was there, signed them and got a video together in a week which he had on BBc2 yoof TV by the Friday night, so that the next day if you weren't on the guest list pub was rammed by 5. Always thought that was quite impressive

 

[Udo Erasmus]

More generally the show promises SIX HOURS OF THE SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND in EUROPE'S YOUNGEST CAPITAL CITY

 

[butchersapron]

Loads of old indie tat then?

 

[ddraig]

bizarre

 

[Udo Erasmus]

How so?

 

[ddraig]

why is he doing it? why now? has he moved to Cardiff/Wales?

other than that, fair play, good move, hope it gets unemployed disco loads of publicity and that it is not rammed with 30/40 somethings who think they're gods gift to music

 

[Udo Erasmus]

he is doing it perhaps 'cos the disco's have become legendary...
he was also involved in the development of new labour's 'new deal for musicians' government programme for unemployed in the late 90s(scrapped in 2009) back in the dim distant days of 'cool britannia'

 

[ddraig]

fair enough
enjoy hosting a good mate of Bliar then
i know you're english but do/did you love the 'cool britannia' shite?

 

[butchersapron]

British confederation of small businesses - best in the world.

 

[Udo Erasmus]

No I wasn't into Cool Britannia or Oasis either. I think Alan McGee (along with all the other musicians who enjoyed wining and dining with New Labour in 1997) rather fell out of love with them.

"In 1998, Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records and discoverer of Oasis, made a direct appeal the Employment Minister of Tony Blair’s government

An act of parliament was about to introduce the Welfare to Work scheme, changing the laws relating to unemployment benefit. If it was passed, those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance would have to prove they had been looking for work. If they couldn’t, their dole money would be stopped.

Alan McGee successfully argued that this would be disastrous for the British music scene – dependent as it has always been upon bands getting their chops, shit, image and demos together over a number of unemployed years. (‘Oasis Manager Advocates Sloth’ as one headline put it.)

The act was changed; there was to be a ‘New Deal for Musicians’. Their slacking would now come with state approval – if that would help, in years to come, with the balance of trade figures.

As the new Employment Minister said when she announced the New Deal: ‘The music industry is vital to our economy and the people that work within it are a key to its continued growth and success. The industry exports an estimated £1.5 billion worth of products every year and employs over 100,000 people.’

McGee’s intervention was an idealistic but belated attempt to resussitate something which had been dying for over twenty years: British Bohemia."

The New Deal for Musicians programme for young unemployed was axed by the government two years ago.

 

[butchersapron]

Do you think there should be a 'minister for rock' like they have in france udo?

 

[Clint Iguana]

why is he doing it? why now? has he moved to Cardiff/Wales?

other than that, fair play, good move, hope it gets unemployed disco loads of publicity and that it is not rammed with 30/40 somethings who think they're gods gift to music

Been living in Hay on Wye for ages and often turns up to DJ in strange places, even pubs in Mountain Ash

 

[ddraig]

fair enough then
ta

 

[Udo Erasmus]

Piece in the local paper: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/cardif...ff-s-unemployed-daytime-disco-91466-30207482/

 

[Riklet]

He made a bit of a shit joke (and might be a bit of a shit joke), but he's doing something for a good cause, and he's (possibly?) a big enough name to get people interested in the Disco, other than just indyrock fanboiz and that? Btw the Disco itself has always seemed to me like a really interesting and decent thing to be going on, n been pleased to see it succeed.

Interesting idea inviting him, I dunno. Definitely don't want to bash your hard work, and yeah he used to be unemployed etc, but what exactly does he bring to the table aside from a vaguely famous name? Genuinely interested. Also maybe a famous name is a good thing and will have good results in radicalising Europe's youngest capital city?

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Alan McGee discovered Oasis did he? Is he out of prison so soon, for that crime? What a disgrace, they should have used him to set an example to discourage others.

 

[Udo Erasmus]

Was not a big fan of Oasis myself. Mr McGee is a friend of one of the organisers of the legendary Unemployed Daytime Disco and it's nice that he's gonna play an acid house set

 

[Riklet]

Acid house set? Respect...

Would def check this out if I still lived in the Diff. Will let my dolie mates know...

 

[Udo Erasmus]

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbi...play-cardiff-unemployed-disco-91466-30212164/

“Simply it came about because I’m friends with Bronwen and she asked if I wanted to play,” he explains. “It sounds like a great idea. Nobody pays to get in and people can get up and play. I’ve never been to anything like this before. It sounds brilliant, I’ve never played an unemployed disco before.
“I’ve been asked to play an acid house dance set which I can do standing on my head, which is what I will do for them rather than the classics 90s (Britpop) set,” he adds.
“I’ll do a Hacienda-type set. There’ll be stuff like Tears by Frankie Knuckles, Ride On Time by Black Box. That sort of stuff. I’ll play a bit of Prodigy, Underworld and Primal Scream for me.
“If I like it I’ll do it loads, but they might hate my music!"

 

[skyscraper101]

What I fail to understand is how he can come across all charitable about helping the unemployed by playing a bit of Black Box and Primal Scream for an hour, yet laugh in the face of people who have lost their jobs, and could've been seriously hurt or killed in the Sony warehouse fire. It's beyond hypocritical.

 

[Udo Erasmus]

i think all he said was that it was funny to see sony warehouse burned down and lots of krap music destroyed

 

[skyscraper101]

Yeah I bet that was a real hoot for him. Seeing all those indie labels loose months of income over the actions of some fucking idiots. Still he needn't worry, he's no longer one of them. And anyway, lots of the music was 'shit.'