Controversial?

I think much of the critical reaction to Oasis is driven by what happened after, in terms of them being the derivative all-lads together, sing-a-long-at-festivals and the legacy of every subsequent guitar band to emerge out of the UK being lauded/branded as their successors.

Oh, and the fact that the constant fall-outs between Liam and Noel Gallagher all too often seemed pre-meditated, designed in the main to garner column inches in the tabloid newspapers for whom they were something of a godsend.

One thing worth remembering is that Oasis were something of a slightly slow burner to begin with.  The debut single didn’t crack the Top 30.  The follow-up stalled at #11.  The third single was a slightly bigger success in that it reached #10.  These were released in April, June and August 1994, in advance of the debut album Definitely Maybe.

They were a band who paid their dues in 1994.  This is a comprehensive list of the cities and towns they played in between 23 March and 18 June, just prior to their first appearance at Glastonbury:-

Bedford, London, Tunbridge Wells, Oxford, Birmingham, Southampton, Bristol, Bath, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Middlesbrough, Stoke-on-Trent, Leeds, Liverpool, Kingston upon Hull, Coventry, Portsmouth, Newport, Derby, Leicester, Windsor, Northampton, Chelmsford, Cambridge, London, Sheffield, Birmingham, Cardiff, Ilford, Norwich, London, Manchester, Preston and Glasgow.

The venues were all small or medium-sized, the sorts of places that bands go to in the hope of creating a bit of a buzz and attracting an ever-increasing fanbase.

Things really did change dramatically after the debut album, with a #1 single before the horribly manufactured Britpop fight with Blur in which the Mancunians would lose the battle to have a single go straight to #1 but would win the so-called war as (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? went on to sell 5 million copies in the UK and 22 million copies worldwide.

Supersonic did sound quite different from the norm in April 1994 and, for my money, is a very worthy debut. I’d never, however, have predicted what would happen next……

mp3: Oasis – Supersonic

As would become the norm, Oasis provided three other tracks on the CD single, with these b-sides usually being previously unreleased numbers, along with the occasional cover. The thought of the single being given any sort of remix treatment was frowned upon:-

mp3: Oasis – Take Me Away
mp3: Oasis – I Will Believe (live)
mp3: Oasis – Columbia (white label demo)

In this instance, none of the b-sides can be labelled as classics or fan-favourites, a situation that would soon change with some of the most popular and enduring Oasis songs being sneaked out quietly and without fanfare, with one or more b-sides often being superior to the actual single.

Supersonic entered the charts in at #31. It would drop out of the Top 75 within two weeks, although such would be the mania around Oasis that fans would continue to buy the single in reasonable numbers over an extended period, with the result that it actually spent 60 weeks in the Top 100 all-told, including a remarkable 30 weeks from November 95 to June 96, on the back of the success of Morning Glory.

Incidentally, in an era when CD was king, Creation Records did press up a smallish number of copies of Supersonic on 7″ and 12″ vinyl, which now fetch around £50 – £75, even if not considered a mint copy.

JC

A GUEST SERIES

39. Whatever – Oasis (1994 Creation Records)

Released as a single in December 1994 (Reached Number 3)

There used be this ‘indie club’ at University, (it wasn’t called Indie Club, it was called ‘No Wave’ which was sort of clever, but I called it Indie Club after the Fast Show sketch) basically a bunch of like-minded kids (usually boys to be fair) who thought they were cool because they liked guitar music and not Robbie Williams. We used to meet on a Thursday and plan discos and try to get live bands to come and play in our student union.

Mainly though, we were just trying to impress cute indie girls who wore skinny jeans and Converse trainers. Sadly for us, we all looked like the drummer from Shed Seven, even if we thought we looked like Jude Law.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned Frank or not before. Frank was strange. He was obsessed with being the most indie, or having the most records (to the point where he used to steal records and CDs off of DJs when they were not looking), or telling us that he heard a band first. Frank, is one of those people, will claim to have seen a band when they were just beginning.

He for instance, claims to have definitely have been in the audience at Oasis’ Water Rats show in London (27th January 1994), a legendary show that took place weeks before they became superstars. Roughly 73,000 people claim to have been at that show, when the capacity of the Water Rats was about 200.

Towards the end of the winter semester at University, indie club had its Christmas party. About halfway through one of the guys who was DJing decided to play the new Oasis single – which was the six minute string laden epic ‘Whatever’. Frank nodded along to it and then said “Oh they’ve finally released this, of course they debuted it at the Water Rats Show,”, then shifted in his seat and said “the applause at the end, is taken from that show…”

Ok Frank. Whatever.

For the record, and I’ve just looked this up, I didn’t know this at the time – Oasis played six songs that night staring with ‘Shakermaker’ and ending with ‘Supersonic’ – they definitely did not play ‘Whatever’ as far as I know, it didn’t even exist at the end of January 1994.

‘Whatever’ was released in December 1994 a week before Christmas and the band were convinced it was going to be the Christmas Number one. You can hear this at the end of the track as it descends into applause and members of the bands roaring “Number One!” and “OASIS!!” in the background, in the studio, not, you know live at a sweaty flea pit in London.

It’s a bit laddish to be fair, but before all that nonsense you get this string laden affair (the band hired a proper orchestra for those bits in a pique of musical maturity) which compliments Liam’s vocals and the band’s music. What’s great about ‘Whatever’ is the arrangement. The way that is starts with that string section and the band join in gradually is great.

Then as the songs goes on the exact reverse happens, first Liam songs singing, then the guitars stopped, then the drums stopped before all that is left is the same strings that you heard at the start. It’s a masterpiece.

One of the B-Sides ain’t half bad either

Slide Away

SWC

 

 

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON FRIDAY 28 MARCH 2008

I don’t know about you, but I’m of the opinion that Oasis have been treated dreadfully by the media.

‘His talent and attractiveness, which had worked so well for him was becoming a burden.’
‘He was dealing more and more with the terrible scrutiny that came with superfame and the concurrent loss of privacy, the inability to make mistakes’
‘His slightest flaws were now magnified for the rest of the world….this tabloid machine was powerful, it was predatory and it had to be fed every day.’
‘Whom the tabloids first inflate, they eventually attempt to destroy, or at least try to diminish.’
‘The scrutiny of his life had become brutal and unforgiving.’

The previous five statements were lifted from a biography of basketball player Michael Jordan, but they could very easily apply to either of the Gallagher brothers when the commentators decided to kill off the movement that had been labelled Britpop.

In some ways, it is kind of difficult to comprehend just how meteoric the rise of Oasis was back in the early 90s. In May 1993, they were blagging their way onto a bill at King Tut’s in Glasgow. Within 12 months, their debut single reached #31. A succession of great releases, always without fail accompanied by at least one and usually two outstanding b-sides on the CD single came at regular intervals, and it was their fifth release, Some Might Say, that hit #1 in April 1995.

Furthermore, they were a band who provided a great live experience.

The first hint of fallibility came in August 1995 when a frenzied battle played out in the full glare of the media saw Roll With It fail in the battle for supremacy with Country House by Blur. In truth, both were pretty ordinary singles, way below the standards that either band had been producing over the previous 18 months.

What happened next couldn’t have been predicted by anyone. On 30th October 1995, the single Wonderwall was released. And I can honestly say, that in my near 45 years on this planet, I can’t ever recall a single that so seemed to be loved by anyone and everyone with a genuine interest in music.

Amazingly, it peaked at #2 – kept off the top spot by Coolio and Gangster’s Paradise.

There was nearly a total travesty of justice when an easy listening version of the song by Mike Flower Pops almost hit #1 a couple of months later, but it too stalled at #2. The demand for Oasis was so large that tribute bands began to pop up all over the place, including No Way Sis who themselves had a Top 40 hit in early 1996.

The follow-up single Don’t Look Back In Anger merely kept up the momentum. It seemed that Blur were the real losers in the Britpop battle as their singles began to flop and there was a critical backlash to their LP The Great Escape – not withstanding its one true moment of brilliance in The Universal.
But while Blur bounced back with their next album and singles, Oasis lost it all almost overnight. There’s no argument from this fan that Be Here Now in 1997 was pretty awful, as was much, but not all of Standing On The Shoulders of Giants in 2000. Equally, there has been much to admire on Heathen Chemistry from 2002 and Don’t Believe The Truth from 2005. It will be very interesting to see how the next LP sounds…

One thing that is often forgotten about Oasis is just how much money they brought in for Creation Records, and as a consequence, the label was able to bankroll some other great, critically-acclaimed but less commercially successful acts in the mid 90s, such as Teenage Fanclub, Super Furry Animals, Boo Radleys, My Bloody Valentine, The House of Love and Felt.

So maybe in retrospect we all owe Liam and Noel Gallagher a bit of a thank you.

I suppose like most folk, I probably got a bit sick and tired hearing Wonderwall when it was here, there and everywhere. I certainly got fed-up when it, and Don’t Look Back In Anger, became lager-fuelled anthems that were the staple of stag nights up and down the land. But it truly is a thing of beauty that is well worth listening to every now and then:-

mp3 : Oasis – Wonderwall
mp3 : Oasis – Round Are Way
mp3 : Oasis – The Swamp Song
mp3 : Oasis – The Master Plan

2015 Update : Bizarre coincidences – this post will appear in the middle of a 3-day trip by myself, Aldo and Jacques the Kipper, along with two other friends, for a football-filled weekend in the Manchester area to commemorate a couple of 50th birthdays (but no, we won’t be taking in tomorrow’s Manchester derby).  Oh and its now just exactly one week till 20th anniversary of its release as a single….

Sitting in a pub recently with about a dozen workmates of both sexes, ages ranging from early 20s to late 50s. A good variety of music has been playing along in the background providing a nice setting for what is a celebration of one of the collective’s 50th birthday. I’m without doubt the biggest music snob in the room and there’s been a few songs which have gone down well that have set my teeth on edge but I’ve not wanted to break into a rant and spoil things. Then the song Whatever by Oasis starts up which leads to one of my colleagues, who up until now I had never heard express any opinion about music, really puts the boot into what he describes as ‘Beatles-apologists and rip-off merchants’. Next thing I know, a couple more folk are agreeing with him. I think however, I surprised everyone by taking them to task and putting up a spirited defence of the band.

All of which got me to come back and dig out this posting from the old place back in 2008.

———————————-

I don’t know about you, but I’m of the opinion that Oasis have been treated dreadfully by the media.

‘His talent and attractiveness, which had worked so well for him was becoming a burden.’
‘He was dealing more and more with the terrible scrutiny that came with superfame and the concurrent loss of privacy, the inability to make mistakes’
‘His slightest flaws were now magnified for the rest of the world….this tabloid machine was powerful, it was predatory and it had to be fed every day.’
‘Whom the tabloids first inflate, they eventually attempt to destroy, or at least try to diminish.’
‘The scrutiny of his life had become brutal and unforgiving.’

The previous five statements were lifted from a biography of basketball player Michael Jordan, but they could very easily apply to either of the Gallagher brothers when the commentators decided to kill off the movement that had been labelled Britpop.

In some ways, it is kind of difficult to comprehend just how meteoric the rise of Oasis was back in the early 90s. In May 1993, they were blagging their way onto a bill at King Tut’s in Glasgow. Within 12 months, their debut single reached #31. A succession of great releases, always without fail accompanied by at least one and usually two outstanding tracks on the CD single came at regular intervals, and it was their fifth release, Some Might Say, that hit #1 in April 1995.

Furthermore, they were a band who provided a great live experience.

The first hint of fallibility came in August 1995 when a frenzied battle played out in the full glare of the media saw Roll With It fail in the battle for supremacy with Country House by Blur. In truth, both were pretty ordinary singles, way below the standards that either band had been producing over the previous 18 months.

What happened next couldn’t have been predicted by anyone. On 30th October 1995, the single Wonderwall was released. And I can honestly say, that in my near 45 years on this planet, I can’t ever recall a single that so seemed to be loved by anyone and everyone with a genuine interest in music.

Amazingly, it peaked at #2 – kept off the top spot by Coolio and Gangster’s Paradise.

There was nearly a total travesty of justice when an easy listening version of the song by Mike Flower Pops almost hit #1 a couple of months later, but it too stalled at #2. The demand for Oasis was so large that tribute bands began to pop up all over the place, including No Way Sis who themselves had a Top 40 hit in early 1996.

The follow-up single Don’t Look Back In Anger merely kept up the momentum. It seemed that Blur were the real losers in the Britpop battle as their singles began to flop and there was a critical backlash to their LP The Great Escape – not withstanding its one true moment of brilliance in The Universal.

But while Blur bounced back with their next album and singles, Oasis lost it all almost overnight. There’s no argument that Be Here Now in 1997 was pretty awful, as was much, but not all of Standing On The Shoulders of Giants in 2000. But there was a return to a semblance of form with much to admire on Heathen Chemistry from 2002 and Don’t Believe The Truth from 2005. It will be very interesting to see how the next LP sounds.**

One thing that is often forgotten about Oasis is just how much money they brought in for Creation Records, and as a consequence, the label was able to bankroll some other great, critically-acclaimed but less commercially successful acts in the mid 90s, such as Teenage Fanclub, Super Furry Animals, Boo Radleys, My Bloody Valentine, The House of Love and Felt.

So maybe in retrospect we all owe Liam and Noel Gallagher a bit of a thank you.

I suppose like most folk, I probably got a bit sick and tired hearing Wonderwall when it was here, there and everywhere. I certainly got fed-up when it, and Don’t Look Back In Anger, became lager-fuelled anthems that were the staple of stag nights up and down the land. But it truly is a thing of beauty that is well worth listening to every now and then:-

mp3 : Oasis – Wonderwall
mp3 : Oasis – Round Are Way
mp3 : Oasis – The Swamp Song
mp3 : Oasis – The Master Plan

—————————————–

** That of course was Dig Out Your Soul, released later on in 2008. It was a step backwards and it’s no real surprise that it proved to be the final LP the band would release. But I stand by my view that for a while at least, Oasis were very worthy of the critical praise heaped upon them by the media and music fans alike.