Former Creation Records boss Alan McGee has declared the loss of former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren as a “serious kick in the balls”.
Speaking to NME Radio‘s Jon Hillcock, the man who signed Oasis said it was hard to take in the news that McLaren had lost a battle with cancer yesterday (April 8).
“It felt like a really serious kick in the balls,” he said. “The reason it was such a big one was because growing up Malcolm was such a big figure. He was a big figure I looked up to and aspired to, from ’77-’78, then when we became friends in about ’95-’96.”
He also hailed the late McLaren for creating the punk movement during the ’70s. “Me and [Primal Scream] singer Bobby Gillespie wouldn’t even have a life if it wasn’t for punk,” he said.
McGee also said that McLaren predicted the rise of downloads and the MP3 culture way back in the ’90s when they became friends.
“It was amazing he came out with so many ideas,” he continued. “He predicted the MP3 culture bringing down the music business. At the time I thought, ‘You’re mad’, but he was right.”
McGee said he knew little of McLaren‘s condition – with the late mogul having been diagnosed with mesothelioma last October.
“He was the ultimate rock ‘n’ roller, he understood rock ‘n’ roll brilliantly,” he added. “I know lots of people around Malcolm and I didn’t know he had cancer. He came in in a flash and he went out in a flash.”
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