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| Oasis | ||
|---|---|---|
![]() Singer
Liam Gallagher (left) and
guitarist Noel Gallagher of Oasis,
live in 2005
|
||
| Background information | ||
| Origin | Manchester, England | |
| Genre(s) | Britpop Rock Indie Rock |
|
| Years active | 1991–present | |
| Label(s) | Creation Epic Columbia |
|
| Associated acts |
The Rain Starclub Ride Heavy Stereo The Who |
|
| Website | www.oasisinet.com | |
| Members | ||
| Liam
Gallagher Noel Gallagher Gem Archer Andy Bell Zak Starkey |
||
| Former members | ||
Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs Tony McCarroll |
||
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 one of the most successful groups 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." Oasis have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, 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.
With the success of their debut album, Definitely
Maybe (1994), and its even more successful
follow-up, the 19 million selling
At the height of their fame, Oasis' 3rd 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. However, as the decade ended,
the initial praise the album received on its release vanished,
and the band suffered a notable drop in popularity in America. In 2005,
their sixth album
Contents
|
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. 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."
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 May 31 when they
were spotted by Creation Records co-owner Alan
McGee. Oasis were invited to play a gig at
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. 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 4 days later.
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 3rd 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 finally finished and was released in September 1994, entering the charts at #1, and at the time becoming the fastest selling debut album in the UK..
The band also garnered attention due to Noel Gallagher's
penchant for taking the odd riff or lyrics from other artists. The
track "
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. 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
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". He subsequently apologised 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 "
Oasis had begun recording material for their second album in
May of that year in Rockfield Studios near Monmouth.
Although a softer sound led to mixed reviews, Oasis' second album, with
their first new member,
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 whilst 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
In February 1996, Oasis became only the 3rd 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 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
The next month proved to be difficult for the group. On August 23 Oasis were 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. It received massive media attention and the group promptly issued a statement assuring fans that Oasis were not splitting up. Oasis' success at the 1996 BRIT Awards was overshadowed by Noel's statement that "Has-beens shouldn't be presenting awards to gonna-bes." after being presented an award by INXS singer Michael Hutchence.
Oasis spent the end of 1996 and the first quarter of 1997 at
historic Abbey Road Studios recording
their 3rd album. Be Here Now was
released in August 1997, the band choosing to launch it on a Thursday
rather than the traditional Monday. Preceded by the UK #1 single "
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."
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 finally found a more high-profile home 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].
In early 1999 the band began work on their 4th 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 the summer of 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". 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. 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,
Oasis' 4th album,
After two months of ongoing 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
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 3 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, "
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 3rd 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 3 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 groins 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 4th 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 4 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 slated 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. In subsequent interviews, Noel seemed to agree, saying that he has nothing against Alan, 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 Zak was unconfirmed as a bandmember, 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. Starkey was invited to join Oasis full-time after the end of the band's tour in April 2006.
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, 4 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.
In May 2005, after 3 years and as many scrapped recording
sessions, the band released their sixth studio album,
In May 2005, the band 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.
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.
In November 2006 the band released "
On February 14, 2007, Oasis as a fourpiece received the BRIT
Award for outstanding contribution to music.
After receiving their award, the band, backed by Starkey, played a set
consisting of "
Next in the pipeline for Oasis appears to be a release of one
of the City of Manchester gigs from 2005's world tour.
Oasis have recently covered Within You Without You for
the Re-recording of
Oasis' next album has been confirmed by the band. In an interview with the BBC's Colin Paterson Noel said the songs are written and Oasis are due to start recording their seventh studio album on July 3. He added "It would be great if it was done by the end of the year 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. This is highly likley as Noel has announced that his girlfriend is pregnant with their first child.
Musically and lyrically, Oasis cite bands such as The
Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones and The
Kinks as their major influences. They also cite The
Stone Roses, The Smiths, The
La's, The Jam,

| Oasis |
|---|
| Liam Gallagher | Noel Gallagher | Gem Archer | Andy Bell | Zak Starkey |
| Tony McCarroll | Paul
"Bonehead" Arthurs | Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan
| |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: Definitely
Maybe | |
| UK Singles: |
| EPs: Whatever EP | Stop the Clocks (EP) |
| Compilations: The Masterplan | Stop the Clocks |
| DVDs: Live
by the Sea | |
| Films: |
| Demos: Live Demonstration |
| Related articles |
| The
Rain | Britpop
| Owen
Morris | Creation Records | |
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