The first line up of
Oasis actually omitted to include Noel, who at the time was a roadie for another band, the
Inspiral Carpets. With
Liam Gallagheron vocals, guitarist
Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs, bassist
Paul ‘Guiggsy’ McGuigan and drummer
Tony McCarroll they had gigged around Manchester in
1991 and 1992. Later in 1992 Noel joined the band, and by early 1993 they were a full time concern.
In
May 1993 the band travelled to Glasgow to see
18-Wheeler play at the city’s King Tut’s Wah Wah venue. Oasis blagged themselves on to the bill and subsequently impressed one audience member so much that he offered them a record deal on the spot ! That man was
Creation Records boss Alan McGhee, who later beat off major label interest to sign the band in October of that year. Promotional 12”s of an early demo,
Columbia, which had been gaining radio play, became instant collectables when it was rumoured only 50 copies existed. This number later rose to over 500 but the reputation of Oasis as a collector’s band was set.
More reputations were set in
1994 when they were thrown off a ferry crossing to Holland for brawling with crew and police. Attention, and headline, grabbing interviews on TV and in the press ensured that when their debut single
Supersonic was released the band was heading for certain success.
In April, Liam and Noel gave a now classic interview for the UK music magazine NME. The interview, in which they bicker and challenge each to many fights, was later released as a single called
Wibbling Rivalry on a British independent label,
Fierce Panda in 1995. The second single,
Shakermaker, was released in June and it scored a Top 20 position (#11). Also in that month Noel played an acoustic set at a 'Creation Records 10
th Anniversary' show in London.
Live shows in Europe and America lead up to the release of the next single
Live Forever and the debut album
Definitely Maybe in August. The album was an immediate UK #1. In October they played gigs in the US and Japan, while
Cigarettes And Alcohol
was the next single. 1994 ended with handfuls of ‘Best Of…’ the year awards and the single
Whatever narrowly missed out on being a Christmas #1.
Early in
1995 the American sales of
Definitely Maybe had passed the quarter of a million mark, and so the band took off on a huge US tour. Back home
Some Might Say was Oasis’ first UK #1 single when it was released in April. Drummer Tony McCarroll left the band after one scrap too many with Liam, his
replacement was
Alan White. During the summer work was completed on the next album, the band toured Europe and also played the Glastonbury Festival. A (now still running) rift between Oasis and
Blur began in earnest as the bands released brand new singles on the same day. This ‘Britpop battle’ was won by Blur as '
Country House' beat Oasis’
Roll With It to the top.
But the 'war' was Oasis’ because their new album
(What’s The Story) Morning Glory, released in October, was the best of the year, possibly the decade. Also in October the
Help charity album was released. It featured a re-recorded version of
Fade Away plus Noel hanging out with Paul's
Weller and
McCartney as part of the 'Smoking Mojo Filters'.
The reputation of the band is furthered by sold out shows at London’s Earl’s Court and,as
Wonderwall became yet another UK Top Ten single. Amusingly a cabaret style cover version of the song by
Mike Flowers Pops matches the #2 position, just missing a Christmas top slot.
1996 belonged to Oasis. They spent 134 weeks on the chart in that year due in part to another #1 single,
Don’t Look Back In Anger. But mostly this peculiar record was due to every previous single being re-issued and charting, then re-charting throughout the
year. The bands standing as one of the finest live acts in the UK was cemented with some huge shows in 1996. April saw them play to 40,000 fans at the
Maine Road football ground, home of Manchester City. This was more than just a homecoming gig because the band are life long fans of the team. Later in the year
nearly half a million fans saw them play in
Loch Lomond in Scotland, and then at the legendary
Knebworth shows. MTV binned a Liam-less Unplugged concert, held in the Royal Albert Hall.
Setting Sun, a track that Noel recorded with
The Chemical Brothers , was a UK #1 for the dance act in October.
The year ended with more headlines as Noel walked out on a US tour and Liam was in trouble with the police over an array of offences.
A short break as the next album was finalised began
1997. They returned in July with new single
D’You Know What I Mean, which was their third UK #1. Enormous anticipation greeted the next album, which was called
Be Here Now; it duly topped the album charts. In the US it missed out on the top by only a handful of sales.
Continuing their trend of large sold-out concerts October saw them play Earl’s Court again.
Stand By Me was released as a single in that month also.
1998 and 1999 were relatively quiet, well as quiet as any year in the life of Oasis could be !
All Around The World was released as the last single from
Be Here Now in January
1998 . A huge world tour covered every corner of the globe from the UK to the US, the Far East to Down Under.
The Masterplan album was released in October 1998; it was a collection of
fan-chosen B-side tracks from all of the singles. By the end of
1999 the old-Oasis era had passed by.The departure of Bonehead and Guiggsy in late ‘99 meant that the two brothers were the only original members remaining. Plus the death of Creation Records in December left the band to form their own label called
Big Brother, on which all their future UK albums and singles are now released.
2000 saw the band return with a revitalised line up, which now included
Gem Archer (ex-
Heavy Stereo, Oasis label mates of old) and
Andy Bell (ex-
Ride and
Hurricane #1 , more old Creation bands). A new album,
Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants, was released in
February. A single entitled
Go Let It Out, the bands fifth UK #1 single, preceded it. Live action across the world bedded in the new band members, and a storming show recorded at the Wembley Stadium during the summer was later released as the
Familiar To Millions live album. There were two more singles from
Standing…;
Who Feels Love? and
Sunday Morning Call are both UK Top 10 hits.
In
2001 the band rightly celebrated ten years of excess and success with a low key set of concerts across the UK. They then rested and readied for a resurgent 2002.
So the story so far had been up.. up.. and then down a bit, but by
2002 Oasis had cleared the competition and returned as Britain’s premier rock act. The single
Hindu Times scored yet another UK #1 hit in May, and the album
Heathen Chemistry topped the album charts too.
Don’t expect the terrible two-some and their band to disappear quietly. The next stage of whatever plan they have must surely include sticking around for longer than
The Beatles did ! !
