, left to right: Andy Bell, Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher and Gem Archer]] Oasis are a British rock band, originally formed in Manchester.
The group shot to international stardom in the mid 1990s with their brand of psychadelic British rock, a long-lost sound that had lost favour in the early 1990s due to the popularity of such movements as Shoegaze, House Music and Grunge.
Combining mass-appeal melodies, mod style fashions and an arrogant swagger, Oasis quickly established themselves as one of the most recognizable bands of the period. The band's behaviour on and off stage quickly made them tabloid newspaper staples, with reports of heavy drinking, drug abuse and violent confrontations appearing regularly in the press. The reports usually centred on the band's nucleus: vocalist Liam Gallagher and older brother and main guitarist/songwriter Noel Gallagher. The band have undergone several lineup changes since their formation, leaving Liam as the only original founding member in the lineup as of July 2005.
History
Early years and breakthrough (1991-1994)
-1994) left to right: Liam, Guigsey, Noel, McCaroll, Bonehead]] Oasis were first known as Rain, a guitar group who had taken their name from a 1966 Beatles' b-side. The band were originally comprised of Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass), Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitars), Tony McCaroll (drums) and Chris Hutton (vocals).When Guigsy invited school friend Liam Gallagher to join the group, 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 that adorned his brother Noel's bedroom wall.
The band then played their first gig as Oasis in August, 1991, at the Boardwalk club in Manchester. Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher, who had recently returned from touring America as a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets, came to watch his younger brother play. A few months later, Noel, also a keen Beatles fan, was invited to join the band. Although he had been critical of them, he agreed, with the proviso that he would become 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 signed to Creation Records in late 1993. It is often reputed the band signed following a Glasgow concert: a concert they were allowed to play only after threatening the owner of the club, but this version of events has not been substantiated. 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 gained national UK radio airplay and were Top 40 hits in the United Kingdom.
In August 1994 their true breakthrough came with the melodic single "Live Forever," which hit the UK Top 10. Also around this time the band were involved in a high-profile incident on a ferry just outside Holland. Liam and Guigsy were arrested for fighting, Bonehead and McCarroll were also detained for alleged shoplifting. All four were subsequently refused entry to Holland, and this incident became the first of many lurid tabloid tales on the band. Rumours of Noel quitting over a sepearte incident at this time also surfaced, but the momentum rolled on and saw their acclaimed debut album, Definitely Maybe, enter the charts at #1 in early September 1994 and become the fastest selling debut album in UK history.
The single "Cigarettes & Alcohol" was then released in October 1994, its catchy 'T-Rex' riffing propelling it to #7 in the UK charts. 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 psychedelic sound of their upcoming second album. The EP peaked at #3 in the UK charts.
Britpop and the Blur rivalry (1995)
The year 1995 saw a setback to the Oasis lineup. During early recording for their second album, original drummer Tony McCaroll was sacked after a reports of scuffles with Liam and Noel. He was swiftly replaced with Londoner Alan White, whose brother Steve had drummed for Paul Weller and his Style Council. McCaroll later attempted to sue Oasis over his sacking, citing breach of contract, but lost the suit on a technicality.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/2525313.stmOasis returned to recording their second album in Wales, and soon had their first UK #1 with the first release from this album, "Some Might Say" (notably the only track from the new album to feature McCaroll's drumming), in late April 1995. During this period the British media built up a career-making rivalry between Oasis and fellow "Britpop" luminaries Blur, a rivalry the two bands were quick to maintain.
Whilst the rivalry was mostly assumed to be fictional, Noel, in an interview, told The Observer he hoped Damon Albarn and Alex James would "catch AIDS and die." He subsequently apologised for this in a formal letter to Melody Maker http://ireland.iol.ie/~kglennon/paper/bandi.htm.
On Monday, August 14th, 1995, Blur and Oasis deliberately released brand new singles on the same day, a hype tactic that dominated the week's 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?, outsold Blur's current offering, The Great Escape, and at the time, became the second-fastest selling album of all-time in the UK.
Whilst its predecessor was hailed by many as having resurrected guitar rock, Morning Glory was arranged more orchestrally, and served as the breakthrough album that made Oasis international superstars. Despite this the album received mixed, mildly disappointed press reviews. The music represented a definite change of pace from Definitely Maybe, with heavier guitar tracks being replaced with introspective, organic ballads reminiscent of 1960s British Invasion groups.
The album has since sold 3 million copies in the UK alone and spawned two further hit singles in "Wonderwall", and "Don't Look Back in Anger" which reached numbers 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, a then record breaking number for an outdoor concert held in the UK. The concert saw the group supported by amongst others, The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, and Manic Street Preachers, and was voted the third "greatest gig" of all time by readers of Q magazine in 2004.
In September of 1995, whilst on another tour of the US, Guigsy, briefly left the band, citing the depression he was currently suffering. He was replaced by Scott McLeod (Ex- The Ya-Yas), who featured on some of the tour dates, and in the "Wonderwall" video before he abruptly left; reputedly without telling anyone. In order to complete the tour, Guigsy was implored to return to the fold, and he relented. Seeing the humour in this turn of events, Noel would quip "he looks a bit like the old one, doesn't he?" after introducing Guigsy as the new bassist.
The recording and release of Be Here Now (1996-1998)
Oasis spent the rest of 1996 and the start of 1997 plotting their third 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 hit single, and UK #1, "D'You Know What I Mean", the album was perhaps their most anticipated effort, and as such became the subject of considerable media attention, fuelled in part by the record company's public relations department. Anticipation culminated with the screening of the documentary, "Right Here, Right Now" on BBC1 on the eve of the albums release. The attendant press attention and hype helped the album become the fastest-selling album in UK history, selling 423,000 units on day one: nearly 100,000 more than the previous album had managed in its first week, and reached number 2 in the US album chart.
Be Here Nows momentum carried on for the rest of the year, and it comfortably outsold Definitely Maybe worldwide, but failed to reach the heights of (What's the Story) Morning Glory. Although early media reviews seemed very promising, including a five-star appraisal in the respected UK magazine "Q", after the media frenzy settled, critics and record buyers branded the record "bloated" and "derivative" compared to their earlier efforts, coments echoed in Noel's public criticism of the album. Public attention also began to turn to other UK acts such as Radiohead and The Verve during this period, seeing them as more serious that Oasis, who come to be caricatured as slightly cartoonish in parts of the media.
Shortly after its release, British music magazine Melody Maker published an article claiming that Be Here Now was also the album most sold to second-hand record shops. The album also marked the high point of their fame in the US: Be Here Now remains the final Oasis album to go "gold" in America. Some critics have also cited this album as signifying the end of the Britpop movement.
Even the Gallaghers 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 blasé attitude, a very high intake of alcohol and cocaine (allegedly the band were also boozing and taking drugs in the previous two sessions, but not to the same extent), and a lack of time and care spent on writing the songs.
The film star Johnny Depp, a close friend of Noel's, is credited with playing slide guitar on the track "Fade In-Out", allegedly because Noel was too drunk and high on cocaine. 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."
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 with the tracklisting voted for by fans on the Internet.
Later years (1999-)
In 1999, with the band starting work on their fourth album, ex-drummer Tony McCaroll returned briefly to the spotlight. He sued the band over performance rights concerning Masterplan, which featured amongst its tracklisting b-sides sourced from the Definitely Maybe era. McCarroll and the band eventually reached an in-court settlement, which saw the drummer awarded £550, 000 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/288881.stm.The recording of the fourth album also saw founding member "Bonehead" leave the band. Bonehead's departure was reported at the time as amicable, with Noel stating that Arthurs wanted to spend more time whith his family. Arthurs' statement clarified his leaving so as "to concentrate on other things"http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/415855.stm. However, in a recent interview Noel has offered a contradicting version: that 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 had instituted the policy in the hope that it would keep Liam sober for singing properly. Matters came to a head after Bonehead had broken into Liam's room at night and poured alcohol over Liam's head. Noel, infuriated, retaliated in kind, dragging Bonehead from his own bed and pouring a bottle of red wine over his head. Arthurs, angry and surprised, left the band the next day http://www.oa515.com/inter075.htm. Finding the pressure of being in the band without his close friend too great, bass player "Guigsy" soon gave notice. White, however, elected to remain with the Gallaghers, waiting for replacements. Thus he, Liam and Noel had to re-record much of the album, with Noel playing all three guitar parts.
After speculation in the press about replacements, with Johnny Marr; Paul Weller; and Ocean Colour Scene's Steve Cradock all linked to the vacant guitarist position; and with an offer from ex-drummer McCaroll to re-join them as bassist ignored, Oasis announced their new members. Colin "Gem" Archer, formerly of Heavy Stereo was the new guitarist, and Andy Bell, formerly of Ride was to join on bass. Bell's role as bassist was considered unusual, given that he been a guitarist in Ride and had never played bass before in his life.
With this period also seeing the demise of Creation Records, Oasis formed their own label, Big Brother as a subsidiary label of the Sony group, through which to release their records in the UK.
Oasis's fourth album, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, a misquotation of Sir Isaac Newton, was released in February 2000 to initially good first-week sales. However the album was greeted by lukewarm reviews, seen as experimental and a departure from their traditional sound, and as of 2005 it remains their lowest-selling album worldwide, although it did spawn another UK number 1 in "Go Let It Out".
-2003) left to right: Gem, Whitey, Liam, Noel and Andy]]
The spring of 2000 saw the new line up embark on a world tour, which again proved eventful. In Barcelona they were forced to cancel a gig at the last-minute because of a hand injury sustained by Whitey. As a result, the band spent the whole night drinking and a heavily drunk Liam made an off-hand comment about Noel's then-wife Meg Mathews. This resulted in a punch-up and Noel jetting home immediately and announcing he was quitting overseas touring, with the band replacing him with guitar technician Matt Deighton to fulfill the outstanding tour dates. In a 2005 Q Magazine interview Noel has claimed the incident was sparked by a comment Liam made about the legitamacy of Noel's daughter, Anais. Noel said "Even now I remember being on him and punching him and splitting his lip and thinking 'He never said that, did he?'... I’ve never forgiven him because he’s never apologised. He's at arm's length until he says sorry for what he’s done."
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 Wembley show. A live album of the show, called Familiar to Millions, was released in late 2000. This period also saw the marriage break ups for Noel, Whitey and Liam, who had married the actress/singer Patsy Kensit in 1997. Liam soon started a relationship with former All Saints – Nicole Appleton, who became pregnant with his son Gene soon after that.
In mid-2001 the band returned to work on their next record. Oasis' fifth album, Heathen Chemistry, was released in July 2002. The record retained an experimental flavour, but also borrowed heavily from traditional British sounds. Heathen Chemistry was also a much more democratic recording process for the band, with Liam, Andy and Gem all penning songs for recording. This new working method, along with a lack of fighting and drug 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 several songs, and whilst critics gave Heathen Chemistry lukewarm reviews, it was commerically successful and has sold 5 million copies up to date.
The following tour once again failed to pass without incident. In late summer of 2002, whilst 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 were cancelled as a result.
In December 2002, whilst on the Eurpean leg of the tour, "official" drinking partners "Bert and Ernie" - Liam and White - as well as three members of the band's entourage were arrested in Munich after being involved in a drunken brawl at a local club. Liam was considerably inebriated and became involved in a scuffle with other drinkers; notably a 6'6" builder known as "The Powderkeg". The scuffle saw Liam lose his two front teeth. He also jumped on the club's stage and kicked a police officer in the groin. As a result of the brawling, two of the band's security guards required serious medical attention. The altercations led to 12 shows being cancelled, the band incurring £170,000 in losses, and two years later Liam was fined £45,000, with part of the money going to the injured police officer. After the end of the tour, the band spent the rest of 2003 out of the spotlight.
After nine years in the band, longtime sticksman Alan "Whitey" White, left the band in early 2004, the announcement coming just a month into recording the follow-up to Heathen Chemistry. Although various rumours have circulated regarding the reasons for White's departure, his brother Steve White stated on his own web-site that Alan was just tired with being in Oasis and wanted some time off to be with his girlfriend. Noel has recently stated that although White was a "fucking great guy and one of the greatest drummers (he) ever met, in the end he fucked off and (they) haven't seen him since." This became the first of many setbacks in the recording of Oasis' sixth studio album, resulting in the scrapping of the first sessions.
In June 2004, Oasis headlined the Glastonbury Festival for the second time in their career, and debuted two 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 declare Oasis will never play the event ever again. The concert also saw the official introduction of drummer Zak Starkey, son of the Beatles' Ringo Starr, who had actually debuted with the band at their low-key warm-up performance in Poole two days previously. However, it wasn't until the 28 May, 2005 that Noel Gallagher confirmed the status of Zak Starkey in the band as that of the full-time replacement for Alan White, resurrecting the traditional five-member line-up. Gallagher said: "We have waited for so long to reveal it, not because we wanted to create a certain mystery, it's because he (Zak) had to resolve his contractual problems with the Who, with which he has played in the last years."
-) from left: Liam, Gem, Zak, Andy and Noel on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross]]
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.
In May 2005 the band resurfaced after three years and much recording turbulence with their sixth album Don't Believe the Truth. It featured the previous albums democratic songwriting duties with Noel contributing five songs, Liam three, Andy two and Gem one. The album was leaked on the internet a month before its actual release and was received extremely well by fans. Music sites AMG and RYM gave the album the most positive reviews, since their The Masterplan, and claiming the record to be their best since their second.
This album signaled the end of Oasis' current recording contract. Following Noel's comments whilst accepting the "Best Music DVD" award at the NME Awards in London in February 2005, speculation grew that they were seeking to work once again with former boss Alan McGee on a new label, albeit one with major backing. Noel has since claimed that this was not what his comments referred to. As of July 2005 the band are still without a contract for future albums.
June 2005 also saw the band on tour after 3 years gap, but not without incidents, with one date witnessing the audience pelting the stage with bottles and objects after Liam had walked off stage at the end of the show midway through Champagne Supernova, leaving Noel to assume the vocals for the remainder of the show. Later in the month the band played two especially large gigs in USA; at Madison Square Gardens, where 16,000 seats were sold within the first hour; and at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts where the band played to their largest audience of any tour in the United States, with 20,000 in attendance.There was also some crowd trouble at their televised Manchester,homecoming gig when a crowd barrier was broken, and fans were forced to wait until the problem was fixed.
Discography
Studio albums
1. Definitely Maybe (August 30 1994) - #1 UK, #58 US - 10 million2. (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (October 2 1995) - #1 UK, #4 US - 18.5 million
3. Be Here Now (August 21 1997) #1 UK, #2 US, #1 CAN, #1 AUS - 8 million
4. Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (February 28 2000) - #1 UK, #24 US, #8 CAN, #12 AUS - 3 million
5. Heathen Chemistry (July 1 2002) - #1 UK, #23 US, #5 CAN, #3 AUS - 5 million
6. Don't Believe the Truth (30 May 2005) - #1 UK, #12 US, #3 CAN, #5 AUS, #1 JPN
Compilations
The Masterplan (B-sides compilation album) - (November 2 1998) - #2 UK, #51 US, #11 CAN - 2 millionSingles
Exclusive International Singles
Lives and Videos
Plaudits
Oasis are regularly voted towards the top of many "Greatest of all time" polls, some of which include: