Customer Reviews

Complete Collection 2: Biff Bang Pow

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This CD is worth the price for "Painter Man" and "Can I Join Your Band" alone. Fans of mod art pop or the Who and Small Faces, join the fans.

Another lesser known short lived British psychedelic band that existed only from 1966-68.Tracks that make this compilation CD worth your time are "Biff Bang Pow"(disc has two versions),"Painter Man"(disc has three different versions),Dylan's cover of "Like A Rolling Stone","Midway Down" and The Leave's "Hey Joe".Line-up:Kenny Pickett(R.I.P.)-vocals,Eddie Phillips&Ron Wood-guitars,Rob Gardner-bass and Jack Jones-drums.Might appeal to fans of Smoke,Small Faces,The Action,Pretty Things,Q 65,early Kinks and Five Day Week Straw People.

The Creation never had the sort of commercial success that came to the likes of the Kinks and the Who, two bands whose most exciting and energetic moments were also captured by Shel Talmy, the Creation's producer. They also adopted the art-rock pop-art mod image of their peers and their guitarist Eddie Phillips pioneered the violin-bow techniques that distinguished their sound on groundbreaking singles like Making Time and Painter Man, which appeared on Shel Talmy's Planet label. Perhaps the lack of major label backing or a string of line up changes hindered their chances of fame. 
At any rate, their exciting stage act was not to blame. During live performances of Painter Man, which reached no. 2 in Germany, for example, singer Kenny Pickett took to creating a spray painting, the finished canvas being slashed to pieces by violin bow or set on fire at the end of the show, to huge acclaim.
The band never released an album in their lifetime though there have been some compilations, The Complete Collection being the most comprehensive. It is split into 2 separately available CDs, Making Time and Biff Bang Pow! Both feature singles from the period 1966 and 1968, as well as unreleased tracks, alternative and stereo mixes, live performances and the like. Vol. 1 has the A-sides Making Time, How Does It Feel To Feel and If I Stay Too Long, with B-sides, while Vol. 2 features Painter Man, Life Is Just Beginning and Midway Down, with their B-sides. Well worth exploring