My Bloody Valentines ‘Loveless’ is now regarded as a seminal record that adored by millions, but did you know that it nearly bankrupt Creation Records? Here’s the story...
Irish shoegaze band My Bloody Valentine signed to Alan McGee’s ‘Creation Records’ in 1998. The band, formulated of Kevin Sheilds, Bilinda Butcher, Deb Googe, and Colm O Ciosoig are seen as the heroes of Shoegaze, but weren’t too heroic at speedy album turnarounds.
Sheilds was (and still is) a meticulous producer and is synonymous for taking absolutely ages to release music. There seems to be a rumour every two years or so that there's new material in the pipeline, but it never seems to arrive. He had told Creation that he thought the Loveless could be recorded in five days, but those five days quickly turned into three harrowing years of the label emptying their pockets.
From 1998, the band spent time hopping from studio to studio, until finally the nineteenth one felt right. Instead of having a team of engineers, Sheilds was only willing to work with two (Alan Moulder and Anjali Dutt) because no one else saw the vision they were taking. However, both engineers ended up leaving the project to work on other album due to how long the process was taking.
In an interview with Select, Sheilds recalled that they’d recorded the ‘the drums [for When You Sleep] in September '89. The guitar was done in December. The bass was done in April. 1990. Then nothing happens for a year really. So it doesn't have vocals at this stage? No. Does it have words? No. Does it even have a title? No. [...] The melody line was done in '91. The vocals were '91. Months and months of not touching songs. .... how relentless!
Both Shields and Bilinda Butcher both suffered with tinnitus during the recording process. At one point, the studio Brittania Row even confiscated the band’s instruments at one point, as Creation couldn’t keep up with the costs that recording was taking, meaning that Sheilds himself had to source his own funds to get them back. After the album was finally finished, it was edited on a 1970s machine that was used for cutting movie dialogue, and threw the entire album out of phase, delaying the album once again whilst it had to be remastered again.
Whilst their creative process may appear humorous in retrospect, the stresses of delays affected the staff of Creation Records hugely. Dick Green,second-in-command at the label, suffered a breakdown due to the lengths he was having to go through to make sure the album came out. Their publicist even noted that his hair had turned grey almost overnight, and he shook when opening the post, knowing more bills lay inside.
After all of that faff, the album ended up costing £250,000 to create, which is a whopping £550,000 in today’s money – a simply absurd amount of money for any independent label to put into a singular project. Of course, Sheilds disputes this cost, and would rather everyone remember that most of the actual unknown amount of money was mainly used for the band to live off.
Did it all pay off in the end though? Loveless is now classed as a seminal album, adored by millions, and stands at the forefront of shoegaze staples, but it most likely doesn’t remain in McGee’s proudest of career decisions, having also worked with Oasis, Primal Scream, and The Jesus and Mary Chain. We must thank him for sticking by the never-ending project, so we now have a soundtrack to rot and wallow to.
Sony bought 50% shares of Creation the following year in 1992 – related? Most likely. It saved McGee out a great deal.
If you’re interested in learning more about Creation Records, a film was produced a few years ago about it, with some very interesting and entertaining casting. McGee’s own autobiography is also a shout, if you’re looking for those nitty gritty details.
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