Oasis (band)

There's also a 'simpergroup' called Oasis, consisting of Peter Skellern, Julian Lloyd Webber, Mary Hopkin, Bill Lovelady and Mitch Dalton.

Oasis are a best-selling rock and roll band, originally from Manchester, England. The group rapidly shot to worldwide stardom in the early 1990s with a retro brand of traditional British rock/pop that, for a number of years, had been suffocated and marginalised on the UK scene by such movements as Shoegaze, House Music and American Grunge.

With their mass-appeal melodies, 'indie' fashions, mop-top haircuts and arrogant swagger, Oasis very quickly established themselves as one of the most recognizable and iconic bands of the 1990s: the band's infamous behaviour on and off stage; including heavy drinking, drug abuse, violent confrontations with the media and public in-fighting, was manna from heaven for their PR machine and especially the UK tabloids.

The troubles and hype usually centred around the band's nucleus: warring brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher.

History

Early years and breakthrough (1991–1994)

Noel Thomas Gallagher, who was born in Manchester, England in 1967, five years ahead of William John Paul Gallagher, better known as Liam Gallagher, who was born in 1972. The pair have an older brother, Paul, who is certainly not musical but became something of a celebrity during the band's commercial peak, as did their mother Peggy and their estranged alcoholic father Tommy.

Having left school as soon as possible, Liam and Noel both drifted from job to job. In trhe early 1990s Liam's bass-playing schoofriend Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan called on Liam to replace Chris Hutton as lead singer of 'The Rain', a guitar group named after the Beatles' B-side "Rain" and originally comprising McGuigan, Hutton, Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitars), and Tony McCaroll (drums).

Gallagher accepted, and quickly pushed for the band's name to be changed to Oasis, having seen the word on an Inspiral Carpets tour poster. The new band played their first gig in August, 1991, at the Boardwalk club in Manchester. Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher, who had recently returned from touring America ironically as a guitar technician/lackey for the Inspiral Carpets, came to watch his younger brother play. A few months later, the critical and cynical Noel, a keen guitarist and also a huge fan of The Beatles, was invited to join the band, agreeing under the condition that he would be the band's sole songwriter and leader, and that they would aim for the very top.

After gaining a loyal and vocal following on the local Manchester gig circuit, Oasis were famously signed to Creation Records by label owner Alan McGee immediately after a now legendary Glasgow concert in late 1993, where the band allegedly threatened the owner of the club until he let them play. This romantic tale is occasionally disputed. Following a limited white label release of their song "Columbia", the band released its first commercial singles, "Supersonic" and "Shakermaker," in the spring of 1994. Both hit national radio and were Top 40 hits in the United Kingdom.

In August 1994 their true breakthrough came with the melodic single "Live Forever," which was a major UK Top 10 hit, and a high-profile incedent on a ferry just outside Holland in which Liam and Guigsy were arrested for fighting and Bonehead and McCarrol were arrested for shoplifting. All four were refused entery to Holland. Soon after, Oasis released their highly-acclaimed debut album, Definitely Maybe, which entered the charts at #1 and became the fastest selling debut album in UK history. This was followed up by the catchy T-Rex riffing of "Cigarettes & Alcohol", which hit UK #7 that October.

The EP "Whatever" was then released in December 1994 and saw the band in a transitional stage between the heavy sound of Definitely Maybe and the more mellow, string-laden psycadelic sound of their upcoming second album.

Britpop and the height of fame (1995–1997)

1995 saw a major change to the Oasis lineup. During early recording for their second album, drummer Tony McCaroll was kicked out of the band after an alleged fight with Liam in a Paris bar. He was swiftly replaced with quiet Londoner Alan White, whose brother Steve had drummed for the Style Council amongst others.

Oasis returned to recording their second album in Wales and scored their first UK #1 with a new track, "Some Might Say", in early May 1995. During this period the British media steadily built up a career-making rivalry between Oasis and fellow "Britpop" luminaries Blur.

Whilst the rivalry was mostly silly and fictional (although Noel took exception, famously wishing AIDS upon Damon Albarn and Alex James), it massively raised profiles of both bands. The background to the feud was simple: Oasis were the tub-thumping, unwashed people's band from the North of England, while Blur were by contrast a bunch of foppish, 'Mockney' art-school graduates from the ouskirts of London in the South of England.

On Monday, August 14th, 1995, Blur and Oasis delibarately both released brand new singles on the same day, a hype tactic that dominated the weeks news. Perhaps because it was more aggressively priced (99p vs £1.99), Blur's "Country House" eventually won the day over Oasis' "Roll With It" – selling 274,000 copies over the week to Oasis' 216,000. In the long run, however, Oasis' second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, crushed Blur's subsequent offering and at the time, the album was the second-fastest selling album of all-time in the UK.

While its predecssor was hailed by many as having resurrected guitar rock, Morning Glory served as the breakthrough album that made Oasis international superstars, despite mixed and mildly disappointed press reviews upon its release. The music represented a definite change of pace from Definitely Maybe, with heavier guitar tracks being replaced with introspective, organic ballads in vein of 1960s British Invasion groups.

However, the album has to date sold 3 million copies in the UK alone and spawned two further hit singles in "Wonderwall", and "Don't Look Back in Anger" which reaced number 2 and 1 respectively. As their rise to fame reached its zenith, Oasis performed back-to-back concerts at Knebworth Park on the 10th and 11th August 1996. The band sold out both shows within minutes, with tickets sold to an aggregate of 300,000 people for the two nights.

At the time, the ticket sales held the record for the largest outdoor concert ever held in the UK. Ex-Take That star Robbie Williams who befriended the Gallagher brothers during this period, eventually sold out three consecutive nights at the same venue in 2003 to break the record. The concert saw the group supported by The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Manic Street Preachers and others, was voted the third "greatest gig" of all time by readers of Q magazine in 2004, behind Radiohead's appearance at Glastonbury in 1997 and Nirvana's visit to the Reading Festival in 1992.

Oasis then spent the rest of 1996 and the start of 1997 plotting their third album. Be Here Now was finally released, on a Thursday, unusually, in August 1997. Launched internationally by the hit single, and UK #1, "D'You Know What I Mean?", the album was easily their most anticipated effort and probably the most anticipated album of all time in the UK. It was the subject of considerable media attention, if not record-company advertising and hype, a deliberate move.

Anticipation culminated with the help of a documentary, "Right Here, Right Now", being screened by BBC1 on the eve of its release. The following day, it became the fastest-selling album in UK history, shifting 423,000 units on day one: nearly 100,000 more than the previous album had managed in its first week. It also very nearly topped the U.S. charts later in the month.

Be Here Now's momentum carried on for the rest of the year, and it comfortably outsold Definitely Maybe worldwide, but failed to reach the heights of their second chart-topper. Although early media reviews seemed very promising, including a five-star appraisal in the respected UK magazine "Q", after the media frenzy settled, and prompted in part by Noel's public criticism of the album, critics and record buyers branded Be Here Now "bloated" and "derivative" compared to their earlier efforts. Fans quickly began to turn to other, more 'serious' UK actis such as Radiohead and The Verve during this period.

Shortly after its release, British music magazine Melody Maker published a gloating article claiming that Be Here Now was the album most sold to secondhand record shops. Perhaps worse still, the album sealed their fate in the US: Be Here Now remains the final Oasis album to go at least "gold" in America, thus boosting and effectively killing their Stateside presence in one fell swoop.

Perhaps some of the inevitable "backlash" which followed the perceived dissapointment of Be Here Now was more due to the natural levelling of interest in the band and the excessively great expectations in the record that it will surpass their predecessors as it turned to be mediocre record, rather than great. Even brothers Liam and Noel have different opinions: Liam still staunchly defends Be Here Now, compared to Noel's public criticism of it, blaming it on indulgent, lavish overproduction, a blase attitude, a high intake of cocaine, and a lack of time/care spent on writing the songs.

For example; the movie star Johnny Depp is credited with playing slide guitar on the track "Fade In-Out" becuae allegedly Noel was too drunk and high on cocaine to perform slide guitar on the recording, taped in Mustique, and thus Depp was asked to take his place. Noel Gallagher has admitted he did not play this part saying "I'll have to own up and say that's not actually me playing the slide part. That was the engineer, because no one in the band can play slide."

Later years (1998-)

Not long after Be Here Now was released, a typical Oasis row dissolved the band's promotional tour for the album. After a memorable Yellow Submarine-inspired video for their fourth UK #1, "All Around The World", the group kept a relatively low profile throughout 1998, although a compilation of popular B-sides, The Masterplan, was released in autumn 1998 to critical acclaim. Tracks were voted by fans on the Internet, choosing from the extensive range of B-sides.

In 1999, with the band beginning their fourth album, ex-drummer Tony McCaroll returned briefly to spotlight. He sued the band, claiming rights on some of the B-sides during Definitely Maybe-era, and later received half a million pounds of the sales from The Masterplan. Nevertheless, antics of the band regularly appeared British tabloid newspapers reporting the on-going rows, fistfights, cocaine and alcohol abuse.

During this testing time, founding guitarist "Bonehead" left the band after a series of violations of Noel's 'no drink or drugs'-policy for the album's sessions resulted in a confrontation between the two. Noel explained that as bandmembers were trying altogether to keep his brother Liam from boozing and cocaine so he can sing properly, Bonehead was violating these rules and came at night pooring alcohol at Liam's head. One night, infuriated Noel dragged Arthurs from the bed and gave him his own "medicine". Arthurs was very angry and surprised, so he left the band. Finding the pressure of being in the band without his close friend too great, bass player "Guigsy" soon gave notice. Unlike the two Pauls, White elected to remain with the Gallaghers, waiting for replacements. Thus he, Liam and Noel had to re-record much of the album, because at the time of its release in February 2000, Guigsy and Bonehead were officially out of the band, with Noel playing all three guitar parts.

Wild speculation in the press about who were the replacements included former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, former Jam frontman Paul Weller, and Ocean Colour Scene's Steve Cradock, who has worked with Noel before. Three other strong, plausible possibilites were ex-Suede Bernard Butler, and former Stone Roses guitarist John Squire: even ex-drummer McCaroll proposed the band to join them as a bassist.

In the end Bonehead and Guigsy were replaced respectively by former Heavy Stereo guitarist Colin Archer, better known as Gem Archer, and Andy Bell, formerly of Ride. Notably, Bell was guitarist in Ride and had never played bass in his life, when he was chosen by Noel as a replacement for Guigsy. He was obliged to learn for a couple of months to play, including the batch of Oasis' material, recorded so far. With the demise of Creation Records, Oasis formed their own label, Big Brother, within the Sony group, to release their records in the UK.

Oasis's fourth album, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, was released in February 2000 to initially good first-week sales but yet again, mixed reviews. It was a rather experimental and flowery record: sonically crisp and well-planned out but departing perhaps too much from their familiar Britpop/rock style. To date, it remains their lowest-selling album worldwide, but it did spawn yet another UK #1 in "Go Let It Out".

In spring/summer 2000, the 'new' band embarked on a world tour. In Barcelona, Spain, they were forced to cancel a gig last-minute because of a hand injury sustained by Alan White. Instead, the band spent the whole night drinking and heavily drunk Liam made an off-hand comment about Noel's then-wife Meg Matthews. This caused a loud row, which resulted in Noel jetting home immediately and announcing he was quitting overseas touring, with the band forced to count on their guitar techician/budding solo guitar star Matt Deighton to complete the rest of the tour. After two months of on-going rumours about band's long-term future, Noel returned for the British leg of the tour, which culminated in a massive Wembley show. A live album of the show, called Familiar to Millions, was released in late 2000. After that, in middle 2001 the band got right back to work on their fifth record and meanwhile broken marriages sadly followed during this time for Noel, Whitey and Liam, who had married the actress/singer Patsy Kensit in 1997.

Oasis' fifth album, Heathen Chemistry, was released in July 2002. The record retained a little bit of the experimental sound of the previous one and also borrowed heavily from traditional British sounds. Heathen Chemistry also proved to be a much more democratic recording process for the band. Unlike albums of the past, Noel was not the sole, ruling songwriter. Liam, Andy, and Gem also contrubuted offerings, and this, along with the lack of break-ups, fights, or drug abuse in the studio during recording ultimately gave the record a more relaxed and 'friendly' feel compared to past efforts. Johnny Marr also gave his toll to the album, providing additional guitar as well as backup vocals in several songs. While critics gave Heathen Chemistry lukewarm reviews, most fans received the album well, and its simplicity and familiarity perhaps helped to recapture many fans lost in the post-Be Here Now fallout.

Despite the band's efforts to stay clean and abstain from the old days of drug and alcohol abuse, in December 2002 Liam, White, and three members of the band's entourage were arrested in Munich, Germany after being involved in a drunken fight at a local club. Liam was considerably drunk and full of cocaine when he scuffled with a bunch of American Football stars – notably the fists of the 6'6" builder nicknamed 'The Powderkeg' caused him to lose his two front teeth. Then Liam jumped on stage, twirled the microphone and kicked a police officer in the groin.

Consequently, several shows were cancelled thereafter due to Liam's condition (which caused £170,000 losses for the band) and two years later Liam was fined £40,000. In 2003, while the band was on tour in the United States, Noel, Andy and touring keyboardist Jay Darlington were involved in a car accident. While none of the band members sustained any major injuries, some shows again were cancelled as a result. After the end of the tour, the band spent the rest of the year out of the spotlight.

In early 2004 and after 9 years, longtime drummer Alan White left Oasis, a mere month into recording the follow-up to Heathen Chemistry. Some stories claimed that his recurring tendonitis problems were to blame, and some accounts pointed the finger at him for the early internet leak of "Heathen Chemistry". His brother Steve White later unveiled the somewhat less exciting truth on his own web-site: Alan was just tired with being in Oasis and wanted some time off to be with his girlfriend. Unlike previous replacements, here his departure caused diffuculties in the recording of their next record, because the talented White was an important component in Oasis' sound, which resulted in midway scrapping the first sessions.

In June 2004, Oasis headlined the widely popular Glastonbury Festival for the second time in their career, where they debuted two brnad new tracks – Gem's "A Bell Will Ring" and Liam's "The Meaning of Soul". The gig was met with poor reviews and has prompted Noel to say Oasis will never play at the event ever again, but it was notable for official introduction of drummer Zak Starkey, the son of the Beatles' Ringo Starr, who had actually debuted with the band at their low-key warm-up performance in Poole, Dorset two days previously. To date, Starkey has not been announced as the permanent replacement for White, although he is committed to the band's tours and activities until early 2006, supposedly when their tour would finish). In September 2004, the band released Definitely Maybe: The DVD in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the release of their debut album. The DVD contains an enhanced audio version of the album, four hours of live footage, and interviews with band members and the production team.

The globe-trotting recording process for their sixth album was much prolonged and troubled. It was originally supposed to be released in September 2004, with the band starting recording in December 2003: after the departure of White, however, these sessions were scrapped. Oasis then worked with the famous dance duo Death in Vegas, but because of Richard Fearless and Tim Holmes' other commitments, that was also abandoned part-way through. After a decidedly mixed reaction for their new songs at Glastonbury, the band dumped everything and stated that they were beginning yet again, totally "from scratch". They holed up in a L.A. studio and after four months of sessions, Noel publicly stated in December 2004, that the record, produced by himself and American producer Dave Sardy (the Thrills), was complete and later it was mastered in a month. Meanwhile the sessions Liam attended lessons to noted vocal teacher Lisa Garvey, due to his deteriorating voice, after the harsh criticism to his performance at Glasto.

In March 2005 he confirmed that the title of the new record is indeed the rumoured Don't Believe the Truth and will be released on 30 May 2005 in the UK and a day later in the US. The album's lead-off single, "Lyla", is heavy yet melodic Who-influenced song. Liam has also aparently made a big impact on the album with his developing songwriting. Noel has also claimed that the Dylanesque album is his favourite from last four, because all members have contributed to it, thus it has different feel than a typical Noel-written Oasis album. Various influences permeating the record allegedly range from The Beatles as usually to the Velvet Underground to The Coral to Bob Dylan and back again.

The album signals the end of Oasis' current recording contract, leaving various major record labels, including EMI, V2 and former right-holders Sony to fight for Oasis rights. According to industry insiders, it's possible that the Gallaghers could eventually sign a three album deal worth in the region of £15 million, and according to sources close to the band, the Gallaghers are keen to start all over again with former boss Alan McGee, forming a similar label with a major one behind them. Rumours began to circulate after Noel's comments whilst accepting the "Best Music DVD" award at the NME Awards in London in February 2005, though Noel has claimed that this was not what he was referring to.

The expectation surrounding the new record is currently growing: in late April 2005, four tracks from a promo disc leaked on the web – "The Meaning Of Soul", "Mucky Fingers, "Keep the Dream Alive" and "Let There Be Love". There have been rumors that Sony actually leaked the album themselves to give the band publicity. A full album leak didn't look likely until May 3 2005, when Apple accidentally put the album up for sale on their iTunes Music Store service in Germany. It was withdrawn from the site within 48 hours, another possible publicity stunt according to some.

Discography

Studio albums

1.Definitely Maybe (August 30 1994) – #1 UK, #58 US

2.(What's the Story) Morning Glory? (October 2 1995) – #1 UK, #4 US

3.Be Here Now (August 21 1997 [UK], August 28 1997 Worldwide) – #1 UK, #2 US

*The Masterplan (B-sides album) – (November 2 1998) – #2 UK, #51 US

4.Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (February 28 2000) – #1 UK, #24 US

5.Heathen Chemistry (July 1 2002) – #1 UK, #23 US

6.Don't Believe the Truth (30 May 2005)

Singles

• "Supersonic" – (April 11, 1994) #31 UK
• "Shakermaker" – (June 13, 1994) #11 UK
• "Live Forever" – (August 8, 1994, #10 UK
• "Cigarettes & Alcohol" – (October 10, 1994) #7 UK
• "Whatever" – (December 8, 1994) #3 UK
• "Some Might Say" – (April 24, 1995) #1 UK
• "Roll With It" – (August 14, 1995) #2 UK
• "Morning Glory" (Australia only) – (1995)
• "Wonderwall" (October 30, 1995) #2 UK, #8 US
• "Don't Look Back in Anger" – (February 19, 1996) #1 UK, #55 US
• "Champagne Supernova" (Australia only) – (1996)
• "D'You Know What I Mean" – (July 7, 1997) #1 UK
• "Stand By Me" – (September 22, 1997) #2 UK
• "All Around the World" – (January 12, 1998) #1 UK
• "Don't Go Away" (Japan only) – (February 19, 1998)
• "Go Let It Out" – (February 7, 2000) #1 UK
• "Who Feels Love?" – (April 17, 2000) #4 UK
• "Sunday Morning Call" – (July 3, 2000) #4 UK
• "The Hindu Times" – (April 15, 2002) #1 UK
• "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" – (June 17, 2002) #2 UK
• "Little by Little" / "She is Love" – (September 23, 2002) #2 UK
• "Songbird" – (February 3, 2003) #3 UK
• "Lyla" (16 May, 2005)

Lives and Videos

• Live By The Sea – (August 31 1995)
• ...There And Then – (October 14 1996)
• Familiar to Millions – (November 13 2000)
• Definitely Maybe – The DVD  – (September 7 2004)

Band Members Over the Years

1991-1995:

• Liam Gallagher – Vocals
• Noel Gallagher – Lead Guitar/Vocals/Backvocals
• Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs – Rhythm Guitar
• Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan – Bass
• Tony McCaroll – Drums. Replaced by Alan White in 1995

1995-1999:

• Liam Gallagher – Vocals
• Noel Gallagher – Lead Guitar/Vocals/Backvocals
• Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs – Rhythm Guitar. Replaced by Gem Archer in 1999
• Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan – Bass. Replaced by Scott McLeod (Ex- The Ya-Yas) for short period of USA tour in 1995, and most notably the "Wonderwall" video before Guigsy returned to the fold. Replaced by Andy Bell on Bass in 1999
• Alan White – Drums

1999-2003:

• Liam Gallagher – Vocals
• Noel Gallagher – Lead Guitar/Vocals/Backvocals
• Gem Archer – Rhythm Guitar/Backvocals
• Andy Bell – Bass
• Alan White – Drums

2004-2006

• Liam Gallagher – Vocals
• Noel Gallagher – Lead Guitar/Vocals/Backvocals
• Gem Archer – Rhythm Guitar/Backvocals
• Andy Bell – Bass
• Zak Starkey – Drums – Starkey was involved in the recording sessions of "Don't Believe the Truth" and will perform on their US leg of the tour of the album. He is signed to Oasis until 2006. However it is unknown whether his status is as a permanent replacement of Whitey or as a session drummer.

See Also

• The Music
• Primal Scream
• Blur
• Ian Brown
• Paul Weller
• The Chemical Brothers

External Links

• Oasis – official website.
• Masterplan Forum – fan forum with live concert downloads.
• Live4Ever – Oasis Fan Site with large community and frequently updated site.
• Oasis Lyrics @ Wikilyrics
• Oasis Fansite