From Manchester, England, Oasis became overnight sensations in
1994 on the back of sublime singles and exponentially increasing
press interest. Widely regarded in the press as natural successors
to the Happy Mondays, Oasis proffered a similar working-class,
roughneck chic. The band's creative axis is the Gallagher brothers,
Liam John
(b. 21 September 1972, Longsight, Cheshire, England;
vocals) and Noel Thomas
(b. 29 May 1967, Longsight, Cheshire,
England; guitar/vocals). They were brought up by Irish Roman
Catholic parents in the south Manchester suburb of Burnage. While
his younger brother was still in school, Noel, whose C&W DJ father
had purchased a guitar for him at age 11, discovered punk, and like
many of his peers happily engaged in truancy, burglary and glue-sniffing.
After six months' probation for robbing a corner shop he began to take
the instrument seriously at the age of 13, later finding his role model in
Johnny Marr of the Smiths. Liam was not weaned on music until 1989
when his elder brother took him to see the Inspiral Carpets. Afterwards,
Noel befriended that band's Clint Boon, subsequently becoming a guitar
technician and travelling the world with them. When he telephoned home
in 1991 he was informed by his mother that Liam had joined a band.
Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs
(b. 23 June 1965, Manchester, England; guitar),
Tony McCarroll
(drums) and Paul 'Guigsy' McGuigan
(b. 9 May 1971,
Manchester, England) had been playing together as Rain
(not the
Liverpool band of similar moniker) before meeting with Liam, who
became their singer, as they changed their name to Oasis. When Noel
returned to watch them play at Manchester's Boardwalk in 1992,
he recognized their promise, but insisted that they install him as lead
guitarist and only perform his songs if he were to help them. Noel
continued as roadie to the Inspiral Carpets to help purchase equipment,
as the band set about establishing a local reputation. The incident that
led to them being signed to Creation Records quickly passed into rock
mythology. In May 1993, they drove to Glasgow with fellow denizens
of the Boardwalk rehearsal studios, Sister Lovers, to support 18
Wheeler at King Tut's Wah Wah Club. Strong-arming their way onto
the bill, they played five songs early in the evening, but these were
enough to hypnotize Creation boss Alan McGee who offered them a
contract there and then. However, they did not sign until several
months later, during which time a copy of the band's demo had been
passed to Johnny Marr, who became an early convert to the cause
and put the band in touch with Electronic 's management company,
Ignition. With news spreading of the band's rise it seemed likely that
they would join any number of labels apart from Creation, with U2 's
Mother label rumoured to guarantee double any other offer. However,
loyalty to the kindred spirits at Creation won through by October 1993,
and two months later the label issued the band's 'debut', a one-sided
12-inch promo of 'Columbia' taken straight from the original demo.
BBC Radio 1 immediately play listed it
(analmost unheralded event for
such a 'non-release'). The following year began with a torrent of press,
much of it focusing on the band's errant behaviour. Punch-ups and the
ingestion of large quantities of drink and drugs led to gig cancellations,
while frequent, often violent, bickering between the Gallagher brothers
lent the band a sense of danger and mischief. 'Supersonic' reached
the UK Top 40 in May. 'Shakermaker', owing an obvious debt to the
New Seekers' 'I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing
(In Perfect
Harmony)', duly made number 11 two months later. High-profile dates
at the Glastonbury Festival and New York's New Music Seminar ensued,
along with more stories of on-the-road indulgence. The Beatles -redolent
'Live Forever', with a sleeve featuring a photo of the house where John
Lennon grew up, reached the Top 10 in October, all of which ensured that
the expectation for a debut album was now phenomenal. After scrapping
the original tapes recorded at Monmouth's Monnow Studios, the songs had
been completed with Mark Coyle and Anjali Dutt, with subsequent mixing
by Electronic producer Owen Morris, at a total cost of £75,000. In
September 1994, Definitely Maybe entered the UK charts at number 1,
and, backed by a live version of the Beatles' 'I Am The Walrus', 'Cigarettes
And Alcohol', a stage favourite, became the band's biggest UK singles
success to date, when it reached number 7 in October. In December, they
released the non-album 'Whatever'
(not quite the Christmas number 1),
a lush pop song with full orchestration that sounded astonishingly
accomplished for a band whose recording career stretched over only
eight months. Their assault on America began in January 1995, and with
a few gigs and word-of-mouth reports, they were soon hovering around
the US Top 50. In mid-1995, it was announced that drummer McCarroll
had amicably left the band and Alan White
(b. 26 May 1972, London,
England) sessioned on their second album. The eagerly anticipated

(What's The Story) Morning Glory? was a rich and assured record.
Gallagher's Beatlesque melodies were spectacular, from the acoustic
simplicity of 'Wonderwall' to the raucous and dense harmonies of 'Don't
Look Back In Anger' and 'Morning Glory'. Further gems included 'Roll
With It' and 'Some Might Say', the latter having already provided the band
with their first UK chart-topping single during the summer. 'Roll With It' and
'Wonderwall' were also UK number 2 hit singles, while 'Don't Look Back
In Anger' became their second chart-topper the following March. Nobody
could dispute that
(What's The Story) Morning Glory? was one of the finest
albums of the pop era, and it went on to become one of the bestselling
albums of the 90s by a UK act. Oasis were suddenly receiving the media
attention that was previously bestowed on Liverpool's fab four. With the
massive attention and success in the charts the volatile relationship of the
two brothers came under public scrutiny. Their sex lives, drug habits and
fist fights were all examined and dissected, their uncompromising behaviour
and laddish attitudes increasingly both entertaining and irritating. Rumours
of the band splitting came to a head on their ninth attempt to break
America in September 1996. Following one of their many fights, Noel
returned to the UK with the band in tow the following day. The rest of the
US tour was cancelled and the press statement that followed reported that
although touring was unlikely the band would stay together. Nevertheless,
awards continued to flow throughout a remarkable year, highlighting the fact
that few modern rock bands have created such a body of high-quality work
in such a short time, and no other
(except the Beatles) has become a such a
massive media success. The band's greatly anticipated third album was
introduced to the world by the UK chart-topping single, 'D'You Know What
I Mean?'. The title of Be Here Now was inspired by John Lennon's response
to a question regarding the transient state of rock 'n' roll. This philosophy
was applied to the album: not since the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band in 1967 had there been such anticipation for a new record.
Queues formed outside record shops on the day of release as 800,000 copies
were sold in the UK within 24 hours. The music was much denser than in the
past, with guitars overlaid on many tracks and Liam's vocals turned up to 11.
Although still relying on the Beatles for inspiration, there were some
outstanding songs. 'Stand By Me' will stand as one of Noel Gallagher's
finest songs and the epic 'Hey Jude'-styled 'All Around The World' quickly
became a live encore favourite. There were further problems for the Gallagher
brothers, however, when Liam was arrested in Australia for allegedly assaulting
a fan, although the charges were later dropped. A compilation of the band's
most popular b-sides, including live favourites 'Acquiesce' and 'Stay Young',
was released in 1998. The following March, former drummer McCarroll,
who had been pursuing a claim for loss of earnings and royalties, settled with
the band out of court for an estimated £550,000. A turbulent year came to an
end when both Arthurs and McGuigan left the band in August. Arthurs
replacement was Gem
(ex- Heavy Stereo ) while McGuigan's place was
taken by ex- Ride and Hurricane #1 leader Andy Bell. The band dealt a
seemingly fatal body blow to the ailing Creation label at the start of 2000
by announcing that they would release their fourth album, Standing On The
Shoulder Of Giants, through their own Big Brother label. Though it was
premiered by February's chart-topping single, 'Go Let It Out', the album
failed to convince the growing number of doubters who questioned the band's
ability to ever reproduce the magic of their mid-90s heyday. The brothers
continued to grab the headlines, although most of the news concerned
their marital problems and Noel's on-off-on decision to play with the band.