How to Run an Indie Label: The man who discovered Oasis tells the story of Creation Records

From the chaotic energy of founding Creation Records to the seismic discovery of Oasis, Alan McGee's Creation Stories: Riots, Raves and Running a Record Label is a no-holds-barred rampage through the gigs, the clubs, the boardrooms, and the inevitable haze of drugs and booze that defined the wild spirit of the UK indie music scene. As Noel Gallagher aptly puts it, McGee is "A true believer in the power of music and more importantly a believer in the people that make music." Bobby Gillespie concurs, hailing McGee as "our Malcolm McLaren and Tony Wilson. An instigator and motivator, a born upsetter. I've never met anyone like him."

McGee himself encapsulates the unpredictable nature of the music business: "It's about being at the right place at the right time, following your nose and diving in feet first. It's about being plugged into the mystical electricity and about surfing on the wild energy. It's about how to fuck up and how to survive and be sustained by the holy grail of the high decibel. It's about never being boring." And if there's one thing Alan McGee's helter-skelter career has never been, it's dull. His innate instinct for danger and his keen ear for classic guitar rock 'n' roll were instrumental in bringing us The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Teenage Fanclub, and Ride, before reaching its zenith in the nineties with the undeniable global phenomenon that was Oasis.

McGee's unique ability to ignite a raw power ruckus injected a much-needed visceral danger back into a somewhat moribund mid-eighties music scene. This book promises to be an unflinching and exhilarating account of that journey, offering readers everything they need to know about how to be a creative force in a world that often tries to tame such energy. Expect a rollercoaster ride through the highs and lows of independent music, told with McGee's characteristic candour and unwavering passion. This is the inside story of a label that truly shaped a generation.