Taken from the new issue of MOJO that is on sale now.
Former Creation boss Alan McGee on the mad rise and long legacy of the band he signed.
When I signed Oasis, I don’t think I really realised what they had, songs-wise. I didn't even hear Live Forever until two or three months into our involvement. I was on the beach in Maui, and a UPS guy came and found me and gave me a cassette. I put it in my Walkman, and it was Live Forever!
Noel used to sit around my flat, just me and him, and he would look at me and go, “We are the best band in the world!” In my head, I’m thinking, It’s just me and you talking, you can calm down, there’s no journalist here. But that’s how mad that band was. And it actually ended up being true. They were absolute f*cking superstars. The obvious highlight was being sent the cassette of Wonderwall. They’d been recording [What’s The Story] for one week, and the songs came in this order: Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger, and then a couple of others.
I put it on, and there was Wonderwall, and I went, F*ck, we’re going to do it – if we’ve not already done it, we’re doing it! It was unbelievable. The beautiful thing about Oasis for me now is that it’s cross-generational: you meet people’s 18-year-old sons and daughters, and they love Oasis. Now they have longevity, and it really is a bit like The Beatles – they’ve just got the songs.
My three favourites are Slide Away, then Acquiesce, and Stay Young: (sings) “Stay young and beautiful...” I’m going to play it now on Spotify, man!I look back on everything with fondness and wonder – of course I do. What a great time, and we managed to all survive it. I’m still in music, managing people. I’m in touch with Noel, he’s a great guy. And Liam has been very kind to my bands. He has given Cast [who McGee now manages] the 19 stadium shows – so, respect, know what I mean?