A Better Life - Complete Creations 1983-1991 - 6CD Clamshell Box Set

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Cat No: CRCDBOX125

Release Date: 27 May 2022

Label: Cherry Red

Packaging Type: Clamshell

No of Units: 6

Barcode: 5013929112599

Genres: Indie

Description
- A deluxe six-CD box, boasting the entire recorded output of Biff Bang Pow! with the bonus of everything issued by The Laughing Apple.
- Curated with the full support of Alan McGee and other band members, the clamshell set also adds a raft of previously unissued demos and live material.
- Plus tracks from an abandoned album, ‘Sixteen Velvet Fridays’ and a handful of previously undocumented songs.
- And a Laughing Apple CD also adds some hitherto unheard demos by Alan with the band Newspeak (pre-Laughing Apple).
- With sleevenotes including quotes from those involved, this is the ultimate tribute to one of the unsung talents of the C86 generation of indie bands.
Biff Bang Pow! were formed by Alan McGee around the same time he founded Creation Records in 1983. Having evolved out of post-punk band The Laughing Apple, which he’d started in 1980 with friend Andrew Innes, Biff Bang Pow! made seven albums and a handful of singles – many of which were indie hits – before they finally dissolved in 1992.

To many fans of Creation Records, Biff Bang Pow! were the label’s best-kept secret, fusing ‘60s psychedelia and power pop with beautiful, haunting melodies. Their early sound seemed to reinvent The Jam circa 1980, with a pop art approach reminiscent of the ‘60s band from whom their took their name, The Creation (who recorded the song ‘Biff Bang Pow!’).

Albums two and three, ‘The Girl Who Runs The Beat Hotel’ and ‘Oblivion’, captured Biff Bang Pow! at their peak, from the former’s tranquil, ‘60s pop tunes (often with Christine Wanless singing) to the latter’s power pop swagger. Later records adopted an increasingly acoustic bent, essentially solo outlets for McGee, after his discovery of ecstasy, when he was listening to Neil Young and Nick Drake.
Tracklisting