Oasis are an English rock band, formed in
Manchester in 1991, led by lead guitarist and primary songwriter Noel Gallagher and his younger brother, lead vocalist and songwriter Liam Gallagher. Oasis are arguably the most successful group to emerge during the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. In 2005, The Guinness Book Of Hit Singles And Albums declared Oasis
the "Most Successful Act of the Last Decade in the UK."[1]
[2] Oasis have sold more than 60 million albums alone
worldwide,[3] and have had eight UK number one singles.
Liam and Noel Gallagher are the only original band members. The present lineup is completed by rhythm/lead guitarist
Gem Archer, bass guitarist Andy Bell and
drummer Zak Starkey, son of former Beatle Ringo Starr.
With the success of their Mercury Prize-nominated debut album, Definitely Maybe (1994), and its even more successful follow-up, the 20 million selling
(What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995), coupled with a
rivalry with their contemporary Blur, Oasis attained fame in the mid-1990s, and became the
leaders of the Britpop movement. The Gallagher brothers were featured regularly in
tabloid newspaper stories, and cultivated a reputation as both bad boys and a band of the
people.
At the height of their fame, Oasis' third album, Be Here Now (1997), reached #1 in
the UK charts, #2 in the U.S. and also became the fastest-selling album in chart history, with almost half a million copies sold
on the first day alone and just under 700,000 copies in its first week. With the loss of founding members, the band suffered a
notable drop in popularity in America. However, they found replacements and managed to soldier on and release commercially and
critically successful albums afterwards. In 2005, their sixth album Don't Believe
the Truth was released becoming their best-selling and best-received album in a decade. In November 2006, the band
released a "best-of" album entitled Stop the Clocks, which received great
attention, especially in the UK, selling more than one million records in three months. In February 2007, Oasis received the
BRIT Award for outstanding contribution to music.
The band have been working on their seventh studio album, expected to be
released sometime in 2008.
History
Early years and breakthrough (1991-1993)
Oasis first played live in August 1991 at the Boardwalk club in Manchester.
Noel Gallagher, who had heard of Liam's involvement when he phoned his mother whilst on tour in Germany as a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets, came to watch his younger brother
play. A few months later he was invited to join the band. Although he had been critical of them, he agreed, with the provision
that he would become the band's sole songwriter and leader, and that they would commit to an earnest pursuit of commercial
success.[4] Oasis under Noel Gallagher crafted their musical approach to rely on simplicity: with Arthurs and McGuigan restricted
to playing barre chords and root bass notes, respectively, McCarroll playing basic rhythms, and the band's amplifiers turned up
until the sound distorted, Oasis created a sound "so devoid of finesse and complexity that it came out sounding pretty much
unstoppable."[5] Their first radio session was for the
now-defunct BBC Radio 5 on the Manchester-based Hit the North programme
which was, on that day, presented by Marc Riley and New Order's Peter Hook, and not usual presenter Mark Radcliffe.
After over a year of live shows, rehearsals and even taking the time out to record a proper demo (known as the
Live Demonstration tape), the band's big break came on May 31 when they were spotted by Creation Records co-owner
Alan McGee. Oasis were invited to play a gig at King
Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, Scotland, by a band
called Sister Lovers, who shared their rehearsal rooms. Oasis, along with a group of friends, found the money to hire a van and
make the six-hour journey to Glasgow.
When they arrived, they were refused entry to the club as they were not on that night's set list, but bullied their way
in.[6] They were given the opening slot and impressed
McGee, who was there to see 18 Wheeler, one of his own bands, that night. McGee was so
impressed by what he saw he signed the band to Creation four days later.[7]
Britpop era and height of fame (1994–1998)
Following a limited white label release of the demo of their song "Columbia", their
first single, "Supersonic", was released in April 1994, reaching #31 in the charts.
Their third single, "Live Forever", was their first to enter the Top 10 of the UK charts.
After troubled recording and mixing sessions, their debut album, Definitely
Maybe, was released in September 1994, entering the charts at #1, and at the time becoming the fastest selling debut
album in the UK.[8].
The band also garnered attention due to Noel Gallagher's penchant for taking the odd riff or lyrics from other artists. The
track "Cigarettes & Alcohol" had a main riff which Noel Gallagher admitted
he'd taken directly from T. Rex's 1972 release "Get it On". "Supersonic" had a guitar solo reminiscent of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" and "Shakermaker" was reportedly the subject of legal action by the New
Seekers due to the similarity to their song "I'd Like to Teach the
World to Sing".
The best part of a year of constant live performances and recordings, along with a typically hedonistic lifestyle commonplace
in young rock bands, were starting to tire the band out and a breaking point was finally hit during a gig in Los Angeles in September 1994 where Liam was under the influence of crystal meth, leading to a shambolic performance during which he made offensive remarks about American
audiences and assaulted Noel with a tambourine. [9] This upset Noel to such an extent that he temporarily quit the band immediately
after and flew to San Francisco. He recovered enough to finally rejoin the
band in a Texas recording studio in October 1994 to record new songs, most notably
"Talk Tonight" which directly related to his recent experiences. Two of these songs were
released as B-sides on Oasis' Christmas single EP "Whatever" which peaked at #3 in the
UK charts and foreshadowed the band's move toward a mellower sound on the following album.
Oasis had their first UK #1 in April 1995 with "Some Might Say", the first single from
their second album. At the same time, drummer Tony McCarroll was ousted from the band,
replaced by Londoner Alan White, formerly of Starclub and younger brother of renowned studio percussionist Steve White,
whom Paul Weller himself recommended to Noel. White made his debut for the band at a Top of
the Pops performance of "Some Might Say".
During this period, the English press seized upon a supposed rivalry between Oasis and fellow Britpop band Blur. Noel Gallagher played along, telling The Observer that he
hoped Damon Albarn and Alex James of Blur
would "catch AIDS and die". [10] He subsequently apologised[11] for this in a formal letter to Melody Maker
magazine.
On August 14, 1995, Blur and Oasis released new singles on
the same day, setting up "The Battle of Britpop" that dominated the week's music
news. Blur's "Country House" outsold Oasis' "Roll
with It" 274,000 copies to 216,000 during the week.[12] Oasis' management came up with several reasons for this, claiming "Country House" sold more because
it was less expensive (£1.99 vs £3.99) and because there were two different versions of "Country House" with different B-Sides
forcing serious fans to buy two copies.[13] An
alternative explanation given at the time by Creation was that there were problems associated with the barcode on the "Roll With
It" single case, which did not record all sales. [14]
Oasis had begun recording material for their second album in May of that year in Rockfield Studios near Monmouth.[15] Although a softer sound
led to mixed reviews, Oasis' second album, with their first new member, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? became a huge seller and is currently the third
largest selling album of all time in the UK. The album also went on to sell 19 million copies worldwide [16] and spawned two further hit singles "Wonderwall" and "Don't Look Back in Anger", which
also reached numbers 2 and 1 respectively. The album's opening track, "Hello", with its sing-along chant, was a common feature of
Oasis' live performances. It also contained their hit "Champagne Supernova" —
featuring guitar playing and backing vocals by Paul Weller — that received widespread critical acclaim and peaked at #20 on the
US charts. Despite not being released in the UK, it received significant airplay and remains one of the band's most popular
songs.
Oasis line-up, 1995-1999: Noel, 'Bonehead', Liam, 'Guigsy' and
White
In September 1995, bassist Paul McGuigan briefly left the band, citing nervous exhaustion. He was replaced by Scott McLeod,
formerly of The Ya-Yas, who featured on some of the tour dates as well as in the "Wonderwall" video before leaving abruptly while
on tour in the USA. McLeod later contacted Noel Gallagher claiming he felt he had made the wrong decision. Gallagher curtly
replied "I think you have too. Good luck signing on".[17] In order to complete the tour, McGuigan was successfully convinced to return to
the band.
In February 1996, Oasis became only the third band after The Beatles and The Jam to perform two songs on the same edition of British music television programme Top of the Pops: "Don't Look Back in Anger" and a cover of Slade's
"Cum on Feel the Noize". On April 27 and April 28 the group
played their first headline outdoor concerts at Maine Road Football Ground, Manchester. Highlights from the second night featured on the video There And Then, released later the
same year. As their career reached its zenith, Oasis performed [[Concerts at Knebworth House|back-to-back concerts at Knebworth
on August 10 and 11]], 1996. The band sold out both shows within minutes; 250,000 people over
two nights (10 million people applied for tickets, and 330,000 were actually sold),[19] at the time a record-breaking number for an outdoor concert held in the UK, and
to this today the largest demand for a show in British history.[20]
The next month proved to be difficult for the group. On August 23 Oasis was due to play the
prestigious MTV Unplugged at the Royal Festival
Hall but Liam pulled out, citing a sore throat. He watched the performance from a balcony with cold beer and cigarettes,
heckling Noel's singing between songs. The group left for a tour of American arenas early
the next month but within days Noel flew home without the band, who followed on another flight. This prompted media attention,
and the group issued a statement assuring fans that Oasis were not splitting up. Oasis' success at the 1996 BRIT Awards was overshadowed by Liam's statement that "Has-beens shouldn't be presenting awards to
gonna-bes." after being presented an award by INXS singer Michael Hutchence.[21]
Oasis spent the end of 1996 and the first quarter of 1997 at historic Abbey Road
Studios recording their third album. Be Here Now was released in August 1997.
Preceded by the UK #1 single "D'You Know What I Mean?", the album was perhaps
their most anticipated effort, and as such became the subject of considerable media attention. Anticipation culminated with the
screening of the documentary "Right Here, Right Now" on BBC1 on the eve of the album's release.
The attendant press attention and hype helped the album become the fastest-selling album in UK history, selling 423,000 units on
its day of release, and reached number 2 in the US album chart.
Be Here Now ultimately outsold Definitely Maybe worldwide but could not match the sales of (What's the Story)
Morning Glory. Although early media reviews were positive, once the hype had died down, the album was criticised for being
bloated and derivative with most of the critics focused on the extensive length of several songs, the heavier sound, and
overproduction. Noel defined the album as "the sound of a buncha guys... on coke... in the studio... not giving a fuck."[20]
The Britpop movement was over and the band failed to meet expectations with Be Here Now. After the conclusion of the
disastrous Be Here Now tour, amidst huge media criticism the group decided to stay clear of each other and kept a low
profile throughout 1998. Noel Gallagher also was criticised for firing most of his stacks of songs into B-sides. Some of these
were later included on The Masterplan, a compilation album of 14 B-sides, released
in November. "There was a two- or three-year period where everything I wrote was just fantastic.", related Noel in a recent
interview. "And, of course, if all the B-sides for the singles off Morning Glory would’ve been what became the Be Here
Now album, I think we would’ve gone on to be possibly one of the biggest bands of all time. Not that we’re not anyway. But I
think we would’ve been as big as U2, because I had an idea in my head for
Be Here Now – it was to be the most bombastic, fucking hugest-sounding record of all time. And I didn’t worry too much
about the words or the arrangements. But the really interesting stuff from around that period is the B-sides. There’s a lot more
inspired music on the B-sides than there is on Be Here Now itself, I think." [12].
Transitional stage (1999–2004)
In early 1999 the band began work on their fourth studio album. First details were announced in February with Mark "Spike"
Stent revealed to be taking a co-producing role. The majority of the album had been written by a now "clean" Noel Gallagher, who
had quit taking cocaine in mid-1998. This was to have a major influence on the lyrical content of the album. Recording sessions
began in the south of France in April, with everything believed to be have been going to plan.
Behind the scenes, however, things were not going well and the shock departure of founding member Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs was
announced in August. This departure was reported at the time as amicable, with Noel stating that Arthurs wanted to spend more
time with his family. Arthurs' statement clarified his leaving as "to concentrate on other things".[22] However, Noel has since offered a contradicting version: that a series
of violations of Noel's "no drink or drugs" policy (imposed by Noel so that Liam could sing properly) for the album's sessions
resulted in a confrontation between the two.[23]
Oasis fans were given a further shock days later, as the departure of bassist Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan was announced. McGuigan said
later that the departure of his close friend triggered his own.
The now three-piece Oasis chose to continue recording the album, with Noel Gallagher re-recording most of Arthurs' guitar and
McGuigan's bass parts. The hunt was also on for replacements for the two guitarists with such names as Bernard Butler, Johnny Marr, John
Squire, David Potts, Gary "Mani" Mounfield
and Steve Cradock all rumoured to be contenders to fill the positions. The first new
member to be announced was new lead/rhythm guitarist Colin "Gem" Archer formerly of
Heavy Stereo, who later claimed to have been approached by Noel Gallagher only a couple of
days after Arthurs' departure was publicly announced. One of Archer's first roles was on November
5, 1999, where he took part in filming of the promo video for Oasis' new single,
"Go Let It Out", which was the first single to be taken from their new album. David Potts,
who was rehearsing at the time with the band, backed off because he thought he would be sacked soon and didn't want to play the
bass. The band then drafted Andy Bell, former guitarist/songwriter of
Ride and Hurricane#1 who was announced as their new
bassist, a week later. Bell had never played bass before and he was obliged to learn to play it, along with a handful of Oasis'
back catalogue of songs, in preparation for a scheduled tour of America in December 1999.
With the death of Creation Records, Oasis formed their own label, Big Brother,
named after Noel, which released all of Oasis' records in the UK and Ireland.
Oasis' fourth album, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants,
was released in February 2000 to good first-week sales. However, the album was met with lukewarm reviews and seen as a small but
noticeable departure from their traditional sound, with more experimental, psychedelic influences. To coincide with the general
atmosphere of change surrounding the band, the cover of the album — an animated photo of New York — featured a new "Oasis" logo
designed by Gem Archer and was also the first Oasis release to include a song written by Liam Gallagher, entitled "Little James".
As of now, Standing is among the band's lowest-selling albums worldwide, although it did spawn another UK #1 with "Go Let
It Out" and contained "Fuckin' in the Bushes", which is often used as an opener
for Oasis gigs.
After two months of rumours about the band's future after every such sibling brawl, Noel returned for the Irish and British legs of the tour, which included two major shows at Wembley Stadium. A live album of the first show, called Familiar to Millions, was released in late 2000 to positive reviews. The second Wembley show,
which was broadcast to over a dozen countries, was a chaotic affair. Liam was clearly drunk, making several rambling statements,
which included a derogatory announcement of his separation with his wife, Patsy Kensit and
also at brother Noel. He also had trouble singing in tune and at times changed the words to certain lines and at other times did
not bother to sing at all.
Along with Liam, Noel and Alan both ended their marriages during this period. Liam started a relationship with former
All Saints member Nicole Appleton, who soon
became pregnant with their son Gene. Noel started dating publicist Sara MacDonald and their relationship continues to this day,
even though the pair broke up for a short time in 2002.
Throughout 2001, Oasis split time between sessions for their fifth studio album and live shows around the world. In January,
the band played three festival dates in South America before returning to England for studio work. In May, the band travelled to
North America for the month-long Tour of Brotherly Love with The Black Crowes and Spacehog. Alan White missed the tour with a
thumb injury, and was replaced by older brother Steve. Noel and Gem joined The Black Crowes on stage at the end of most shows,
performing classic rock covers. The tour was followed by a June gig in Paris supporting Neil
Young and July appearances at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan and a festival show in Bangkok, Thailand. In October,
following two months of recording, Oasis performed six shows to sold-out venues in London, Manchester and Glasgow. Dubbed 'Ten
Years of Noise and Confusion,' the shows celebrated the band's first ten years as a live act.
Heathen Chemistry, Oasis' first album with new members Andy Bell and Gem
Archer, was released in July 2002. The record blended the band's sonic experiments from their last albums, but borrowed heavily
from 1960s and 1970s English rock music. Liam, who was rapidly growing as a capable songwriter, wrote the hit single,
"Songbird". Heathen Chemistry was also a much more balanced recording
process for the band, with all of the members, apart from White, penning songs. This new working method, along with less fighting
and drug and alcohol abuse in the studio, ultimately gave the record a more relaxed feel compared to past efforts. Johnny Marr
provided additional guitar as well as backup vocals on a couple of songs, and while critics gave Heathen Chemistry
lukewarm reviews, it was commercially successful.
After the album's release, the band embarked on a world tour that was successful but once again flavoured with incidents. In
the US kick off Tour in Pompano Beach, Florida, vocalist Liam lost his voice on the third song, after a brief confusion on stage,
Noel decided to go alone with the concert, performing most of the Masterplan album songs, it was considered a memorable concert
for the fans. In late summer 2002, whilst the band was on tour in the US, Noel, Bell and touring keyboardist Jay Darlington were
involved in a car accident in Indianapolis, IN. While none of the band members sustained any major injuries, some shows were
cancelled as a result. Liam also suddenly bolted offstage for no apparent reason during a show in Fukuoka, Japan, leaving Noel to take over vocal duties. It was the
second Fukuoka show in three years that Liam failed to complete.
In December 2002, the latter half of the German leg of the band's European tour had to be
postponed after Liam Gallagher, Alan White and three other members of the band's entourage were involved in a violent brawl at a
Munich nightclub. All of the Oasis party were arrested and were only released after the band's
management reportedly paid out around £170,000 in bail money. Police later said that Liam, White and members of the band's
entourage had been drinking "very heavily". Tests also showed Liam had been taking cocaine as well. Two years later Liam was
fined around £35,000, with part of the money going to an injured police officer, violently kicked
in the groin by Liam. Liam lost two of his front teeth, while White had a brain scan, due to minor head injuries.
The band ended the year by embarking on a short UK arena tour. 2003 began with the release of "Songbird", the fourth single
taken from Heathen Chemistry. It was the first Oasis single that hadn't been
written by Noel Gallagher, and reached number 3 in the official UK charts in February. The band then ended the Heathen
Chemistry tour in March by performing two shows in Dublin, before returning to Germany to play four rescheduled dates.
Oasis began recording a sixth album in late December 2003 with producers Death in
Vegas at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall. The album was originally planned for a September 2004 release to coincide with the
10th anniversary of the release of Definitely Maybe. However, longtime drummer Alan White, who at this time had played on
nearly all of the band's material, left the band in early January 2004. At the time, his brother Steve White stated on his own
website that "the spirit of being in a band was kicked out of him" and he wanted to be with his current girlfriend[24]]. In subsequent interviews, Noel seemed to agree, saying
that he has nothing against White, but the latter's personal life was impeding on his professional commitments with Oasis.
Recording sessions continued with drummer Terence Kirkbride, brought in temporarily, who only performed on the track "Mucky
Fingers". Zak Starkey, drummer of The Who and the son of Beatles' Ringo Starr, was later asked by the band to join them in the sessions. He also played on the subsequent
world tour as well as all of the band's music videos. However, as at that time Starkey was unconfirmed as a band member, he was
not featured on the album's sleeve and did not appear in promotional activities such as interviews and photo-shoots. Thus, for
the first time in the band's career, Oasis appeared as an official four-piece. At the end of the band's tour in March 2006, Noel
Gallagher confirmed Starkey was invited to join Oasis full-time. Terence Kirkbride has since become the full-time official
drummer in Oasis.
In June 2004, Oasis, with Starkey, headlined the Glastonbury Festival for the
second time in their career and performed a greatest hits set, which included two new songs — Gem's "A Bell Will Ring" and Liam's
"The Meaning of Soul". The performance received mixed reviews as the brothers were reprising their roles as brawling siblings.
Liam, having problems with his singing, walked offstage at the end of the concert, and Starkey was still getting to grips with
the songs, which he had only played publicly for the first time a couple of days previously at Poole Lighthouse.
In September 2004, the band released Definitely Maybe: The DVD commemorating the 10th anniversary of their debut
album's release. The DVD contains an enhanced audio version of the album, four hours of live footage, and interviews with band
members and the production team.
After much turbulence, the band's sixth album was finally recorded in Los Angeles-based Capitol Studios from October to
December the same year. Producer Dave Sardy took over the lead producing role from Noel, who
decided to step back from these duties after a decade of producing leadership over the band.
Resurgence in popularity (2005–present)
In May 2005, after three years and as many scrapped recording sessions, the band released their sixth studio album,
Don't Believe the Truth, fulfilling their contract with Sony BMG. It followed the path of Heathen Chemistry as being a collaborative project again, rather than
a Noel-written album. It was also the band's first album in a decade not to feature the drumming of Alan White, with Zak Starkey
taking his place. The record was generally hailed as the band's best effort since (What's the Story) Morning Glory? by
fans and critics alike, spawning two UK #1 singles: "Lyla" and "The Importance of Being Idle" (the band's 7th and 8th #1 UK singles, respectively),
whilst "Let There Be Love" entered at #2. Oasis picked up two awards at the Q Awards:
one a special People's Choice Award and the second for Don't Believe the Truth as Best Album. Following in the footsteps
of Oasis' previous five albums, Don't Believe the Truth also entered the UK album charts at #1. The three singles off that
album were all hits in the UK and demonstrated the fact Oasis can still make the music and attract the fans 10 years after they
were at their most popular.
In May 2005, the band with their new drummer, embarked on a massive world tour — one of the biggest in their career. Beginning
on May 10 at the London Astoria, and finishing on
March 31, 2006 in front of a sold out gig in Mexico City, Oasis played more live shows than at any time since the Definitely Maybe tour of
1994–1995, visiting 26 countries, headlining 110 shows and playing to 1.7 million people. The tour passed without any major
incidents and was the band's most successful in more than a decade. The tour included sold out shows at New York's
Madison Square Garden and LA's Hollywood
Bowl, two venues important to the Gallagher brothers because their idol, John Lennon,
proclaimed them to be the two places a band must play if they visit the States.[25]
Also in 2005, Oasis contributed to the original soundtrack of the film Goal! with
a new song called "Who Put the Weight of the World on My Shoulders", written and sung by Noel Gallagher. The CD also contains a
new version of "Cast No Shadow" completely re-recorded and produced by UNKLE which
features Noel on vocals, as well as a remix by Dave Sardy of "Morning Glory".
In 2006, Oasis released a "Best-of" double album entitled Stop the Clocks,
which featured what the band consider to be their "definitive" songs. Though the band didn't want to release a 'Best of', their
contract with Sony Music had just expired, forcing a release against the band's wishes. So, the band chose to be involved,
"otherwise it would be shit" as Noel said later in an interview. [26] In November 2006 the band released "Lord Don't Slow Me
Down", a rockumentary film looking back at the 2005–2006 world tour on selected
cinemas. That same month, Noel and Gem, backed by Terry Kirkbride (soon to be officially annouced as the new full-time drummer),
began a short tour to promote Stop the Clocks. They have played around a dozen shows in various countries around the
world.
On February 14, 2007, Oasis as a fourpiece received the
BRIT Award for outstanding contribution to music.[27] After receiving their award, the band, backed by Starkey, played a set
consisting of "Cigarettes & Alcohol", "The Meaning of Soul", "Morning Glory",
"Don't Look Back in Anger" and "Rock 'n'
Roll Star".[28]
Oasis have recently covered Within You Without You for the Re-recording of
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for BBC radio 2.
[29]
On August 13, 2007 the band announced on its website that the
DVD Lord Don't Slow Me Down will be released on October 29, 2007. Together with the rockumentary the edition will count with a
second DVD. This will include live footage from an Oasis gig at Manchester in July 2005.
On September 24, 2007, two days after the birth of Noel
Gallagher's first son, Donovan Rory Gallagher, Oasis announced that they will release their first ever digital-only release,
"Lord Don't Slow Me Down", on October 21. 2007. The track is
available via Oasisinet.com and comes in a digital bundle including two live tracks from the group's City Of Manchester Stadium
shows in 2005, "Don't Look Back In Anger" and "The Meaning Of Soul", the latter of which is available immediately. A video for
the song premiered on Youtube October 1, 2007 the same day the
song was first played on radio.[30]
Oasis' next album has been confirmed for a 2008 release by the band. Said Noel of the recording, "It would be great if it was
done by the end of the year [2007] and we could get out on the road by next summer, but that's insane wishful thinking." Liam has
said the band would like to record the new album in London to be closer to his children as opposed to traveling to producer Dave
Sardy's studio in Los Angeles.
Influences
Musically and lyrically, Oasis cite bands such as The
Beatles, The Who, The Clash, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks as their major influences. They
also cite The Stone Roses, The Smiths,
The La's, The Jam, and T.Rex as other key influences. Liam's vocal style is highly influenced by the snarl of Sex Pistols vocalist Johnny Rotten. Upon their arrival on the British
music scene, many magazines heralded them as 'The Sex Beatles,' a mix of the
