Pickett, Phillips, Thompson and Jones had previously been in The Mark Four, accompanied by John Dalton who had left to join The Kinks. Garner had previously been in the Tony Sheridan Band.

Their style was originally loud pop-art, similar to The Kinks and The Who, but developed into a more typically mid 1960s psychedelic sound. The most popular Creation song was "Painter Man", which made the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart in late 1966, and reached number 8 in the German chart in April 1967.

It was later covered by Boney M in 1979, and reached the number 10 position in the UK charts. The song featured, in an intersection in the second half, lead guitarist Phillips's trademark of playing his instrument with a violin bow. He was reputedly the first guitarist to pioneer this technique, although Jimmy Page would later do so to greater acclaim.

Phillips was also responsible for coining many of the band's best known quotes: "Our music is red – with purple flashes" was one such soundbite that was also used in their marketing material. They took their pop art experimentation slightly further when singer Kenny Pickett would spray paint a canvas during their live shows, before a member of the road crew would set light to artwork on stage.

Although most of their singles were issued in the UK, after "Making Time" and "Painter Man", there were no further hits. They even had four singles were issued in the US ("Making Time" b/w "Try And Stop Me" and "Painter Man" b/w 'Biff Bang Pow" on US Planet, "If I Stay Too Long" b/w "Nightmares", and "How Does It Feel To Feel" b/w "Life Is Just Beginning" on US Decca), without success, though they remained extremely popular in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

At the end of 1966, Garner left and was replaced by Kim Gardner; plus in March 1968 Pickett left and was replaced by Ronnie Wood (both of these new members had been in The Birds), but Pickett soon returned, replacing both Phillips and Gardner.

Shortly afterwards, however, Creation disbanded; Pickett continued as songwriter for their American producer, Shel Talmy, and also became the guitar technician for Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin; Ronnie Wood joined the Jeff Beck Group; Gardner co-formed Ashton, Gardner & Dyke and was later a member of Badger; Jones became a cabaret singer. Pickett and Phillips later wrote the hit single "Teacher Teacher" for Rockpile.