Sparkly, bionic, rude, fat rock, pop and punk. Millions of pounds worth of riffs. Widely influenced... bound to suit you all sirs!
"Rips your ears off and beats you to death with them"
(Dave)
Head Management Inspection Report
richard waldock guitar, howard jacobs bass, ben heaney voice/violin, douglas black kit
Not sure whether it's fair or simple enough to say Creak didn't quite manage major success.
From the first :::Powww::: cassette, the :::mighty Creak::: may rarely have ever been a publicly advertised :::gig of the week::: no matter how much effort the group put towards trying to do the right thing; or being a group who have received just a moment of national air-play and have sold barely any records to date... But what is the measurement of success?
First, Creak set out to make the music right and from the absolute earliest days (April 1995) Creak can boast to have achieved an instantly scheduled debut broadcast on National Radio at the time when the group were yet to even have a line-up to gig with. Creak envisioned stepping out at the top of the infamous ladder of success; fully formed and developed but from an invisible elevator parallel to usual route. And then they found they possibly may have gone and done just that! Maybe this is just fancy pie-in-the-sky dreaming, awful hankering after the past; even, that Creak is yet another never-has-been-band languishing on the fading memory of having approached that first well-worn lowest rung of the ladder but actually having failed to grasp it at all and even then missing all further opportunities ...
creak's first recording::::::original artwork by Andrew Linsell
Compelled to do and make it themselves on their own terms and in their own considered way, Creak were immediately noticed and encouraged by some to step up to the mark by broadcasting their first recording across UK airwaves. This was an amazing opportunity and timed deliberately and exactly to be the moment Nick Ingram was put to death by electrocution in Georgia USA, 1995. A sick publicity stunt or an artist's repsonse to Execution?
Certainly, the cut, "The Chair" was entirely fresh, recorded that day hours before the scheduled execution. The lyrics finalised from a weird inspiration near to sheer mental horror, terror and fear of the imagined prospect facing the person receiving a death-penalty that very day. Thoughts stimulated from words gleened from the newspapers that morning; the lyrics recorded actually dramatic, improvised and hyper-theatrical style. It was only upon listening back to it and noting the length being coincidentally about the time it takes on average to die by electrocution that prompted phoning up Talk Radio UK to see whether they'd consider broadcasting it being played down the phone at the alotted time of execution. They said "alright, yes", "get your stereo ready and phone back just before the show goes out". However, as it turned out, the Live "Execution Special" didn't happen, the show was dropped as the prisoner received a last hour stay of execution... Creak adding their voice to a very public outcry at the time. But then the execution did happen swiftly the next day and without Creak's musical accompaniment. "He died despite a passionate international effort to save him. British Telecom operators said today they had been "inundated" with calls from people wanting to ring the prison and ask for the electrocution to be halted... Ingram had been taken from the holding cell to the chamber adjacent to the room where the electric chair is kept. He had made the same journey on Thursday before the original stay of execution... he would be re-shaved to remove any remaining stubble which might hinder the electrocution - 24 hours after he was shaved in preparation for execution on Thursday"
(The Independent, 8 April 1995)
tbc
RECORDINGS
April-95: "Powww" : Head Management Studio : 5 song cassette, 50 copies distributed freely
October-95 : "Warp Driven Frizzle" : Flat Records Recording Studio : 3 song cassette, ? copies distributed freely
December-95 : "The Phoenix Night" : video of first live gig, 1 copy in private collection
February-96 : "Ground Hog Day" : live recording (MUSU) of full set from desk to cassette, ? copies
November-96 : "Studio 1 at BBC North" : commercial film recording, 4 copies in private collections
April-97 : "Restart/Wonky Pants" : Courtyard Recording Studios, Creaky Records (CR001) single, 500 copies
August-98 : "Great Office Party" : Courtyard Recording Studios, Creaky Records (CR***) EP, (now defunct) www.peoplesound.com
KNOWN GIGS
??/12/1995 : The Phoenix
02/02/1996 : Manchester University Students Union : supporting Whipping Boy
16/04/1996 : Band on the Wall : Showcase Well North of London - with Jinxed, Fervid, Anna Lawson
01/05/1996 : Roadhouse : Creak & guests
26/05/1996 : Republic[a] : Odd Man Out - Creak, Concrete Head - Muppet Rabies
30?/06/1996 : Castlefields : EUFA Euro96 Final Festivities
02/10/1996 : Night & Day : Manchester Festival - Fat Spiders Lunch, Creak and Breather
22/11/1996 : Night & Day : Creak
18/12/1996 : Night & Day : Day of Hate +East West Coast +Creak +Phobophilia
25/04/1997 : Night & Day : Creak
12/06/1997 : Rockworld : Carnival - Room 3
21/06/1997 : Night & Day : Polly's Overload / Creak/ The Hum of Good Machines
16/12/1997 : Night & Day : Creak
13/01/1998 : Night & Day : Heat1
19/01/1998 : Roadhouse : Creak & special guests
:::
"Sounds pretty good to me. Wild... accomplished. Liked it alot"
(Nick Abbot - Virgin Radio)
::: ::: ::: "We like Creak. We like Creak alot..."
(Dr.Crippen, Flat Records)
::: ::: ::: Sweaty Creak Waldock, Jacobs, Black and Ben-Benedicte-Ben-Benedict-Ben-Ben "Heaney are dangerous.Muso's everywhere beware you are going to be so gutted. I've already heard jelous cries of fear from the musoest muso and believe me crimes will be comitted. There is no focused image. This is big. No comparisons - no other units are similar or comparible - erotic, dynamic, panic; at least!
Ripped the spine from the rule book and used it to terrify Creak are breaking ground on many fronts. Fuck classlessness Creak sweat it and like it and believe me when I say they are already massive - huge - bigger than anyone including four barrys.
I refuse to go to wembley, maine road or the cattle festivals to see them, I will renounce them in fame but for now - Creak are not four young twats, and are loitering with intent.
(Steve Dolan)
Creak flyers::::::Hand made & photocopied
::: ::: :::
M.U.S.U.
Creak
Despite the fact that the band have only played one previous gig, there were a large number of people who had come to support Creak. Although this was partly due to the fact that the members of Creak (Ben Heaney on vocals and electric violin, Richie Waldock on guitar, Howard Jacobs on bass, and Dougie Black on drums) have played with other bands on the Manchester scene such as Ancient of Daze, Slug in the Sun, Malice in Wonderland and have also guested with people like Lionrock's MC Buzz B, it was also testament to the fact that there is still an audience for this brand of cutting edge rock. "Rock", however, is too bland and broad a tag to put on music such as this, which draws on so many influences. Although there are elements of bands such as Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, the musicianship of the band as a whole transcends the stereotypes of the genre. "Brutish" is a 160bpm ska riot; "Valentine Shine Time" is a shiny happy scary sort of an anthem; "Fandango el Diablo" a satanic helter skelter. The songs are all very original and very hard to describe. If you're bored of Britpop and Blipblop, go and see Creak - expect the unexpectedly exceptional.
(Copyright Matthew Burman, 1996)
::: ::: :::
Manchester Festival
Heavy Going at The Night & Day
This was the first time in the festival that we've seen any Rock music - pure unadulterated, loud Rock!!
...with subtle harpsichord and violin work. Now throw in a gut crunching thrash background and manic punkesque vocals, you get a sound which i simply can't describe - "different" sounds a bit insulting, but in this case, it is definitely not meant that way!...
(Feedback Network- October 1996)
original photo by? :::::: Restart Single Cover
::: ::: ::: The Roadhouse
Day of Hate; Phobaphilia; Creak; East West Coast
...The high point of the set was the new song "Restart" and a near roar went up at the end... The after-glow was gratifying but as a group we were confused... To see the audience just mutely staring, some smiling... just made me realise that a band that does what we do is more than enough...
by BAH
::: ::: :::
Manchester Evening News
Single Release coverage :::::: Friday April 11, 1997
:::original artwork by Andrew Linsell
:::Hand made & photocopied
:::
:::
:::Friday January 9, 1998