Oasis Feature In BBC Radio 2 Show That Airs Next Week

Johnnie Walker's Long-Players 
Wednesday 18th February at 22:00 (UK Time) on BBC Radio 2. 

Johnnie and David Hepworth discuss two releases from 1994 that are defining albums of Britpop - Blur's Parklife and Oasis's debut Definitely Maybe.

Featuring contributions by Blur and their producer Stephen Street, while fan Johnny Depp and Creation label boss Alan McGee chat about Definitely Maybe.

Listen live on www.bbc.co.uk/radio2

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Noel Gallagher Blames Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian And Bastille For The State Of English Music

Noel Gallagher has spoken about the lack of working-class voices in contemporary music, suggesting the likes of Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian have made no impact in terms of encouraging any new “noise coming from the council estates”.

During an interview for the BBC Master Tapes show, via NME, a member of the audience questioned the Oasis founder about the health of the current British music scene. “You only have to look at the charts, what happened at the end of the 90s, all those bands used to be in the top 10, like us, Manics, Pulp, the Verve, Suede and Blur, and I think bands like that have been marginalised and sidelined,” he said. “There’s X Factor and all that kind of thing, but you name me the last great band that came out of this country? There’s not really been any great bands in the last 10 years.”

Specifically lamenting the lack of exciting bands (adding that One Direction were “not a band” but a group), Gallagher said that Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian had done little in the last decade to expand the variety of musicians operating in an increasingly middle-class music industry: "Shame on those two bands for a start because they didn’t inspire anybody else. The working classes have not got a voice any more. There doesn’t seem to be a noise coming from the council estates, you know what I mean?

I’d have eaten Bastille alive in an afternoon in the 90s, one interview, destroyed, gone, never to be heard of again. Easy, had ’em for breakfast. My bass player summed it up – we’re constantly saying: ‘Where is the next band coming from?’ and he rightly says: ‘Never mind the band, where are the people?’”

Gallagher added: “When I first started I wanted to get in the charts and wreck it, like stamp Phil Collins out and Wet Wet Wet, they’ve got to go, and all that 80s gear, we don’t need that any more. I don’t see anything from the working class, I just don’t see it.”

The musician’s recent statements echo his comments from a 2013 interview in weekly men’s magazine Shortlist, claiming that it was only the “middle-class” bands that refused to play at Teenage Cancer Trust gigs taking place at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

The new album from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Chasing Yesterday, is released in March.

Source: www.theguardian.com

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Gary Barlow: Take That And Robbie Williams Chart Battle Is Like Blur And Oasis

Gary Barlow has joked Take That's current chart battle with Robbie Williams is similar to the feud between Britpop bands Oasis and Blur.

The 43-year-old singer-songwriter has spoken out following the news his band Take That's first album since the departure of both Jason Orange and previously Robbie, 'III', will go up against their bandmates surprise new record 'Under the Radar'.

Referring to the famous Britpop battle between Damon Albarn's Blur and Liam and Noel Gallagher's Oasis, Gary said: ''It's like Blur versus Oasis all over again.''

However, the former 'X Factor' judge revealed Robbie - who first left Take That in 1995 before rejoining in 2010 and quitting again in 2012 - had told him and his remaining bandmates Mark Owen and Howard Donald about his new album, but failed to mention it would be released on the same day as theirs.

Gary told The Sun newspaper: ''I only found out about that on Sunday (30.11.14).

''It's funny, because we have obviously spent a lot of time in the studio with Rob.

''About two years ago he said, 'I've got all these songs and I don't know what to do with them so I'm going to put them on an album one day'.

''So it's not a surprise he's doing it, but it is a surprise it's out this week.

''He played us most of them and there are some cracking songs because whatever Rob writes is good.''

Meanwhile, the 'These Days' hitmaker claims both Robbie and Jason will be returning to the band in the future.

He said: ''Take That is five people. Exactly when they come back is up to them. That will keep it interesting.''

Source: www.tourdates.co.uk

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Russell Brand Reveals That Noel Gallagher Uses The "Parklife" Meme To Mock Him

Russell Brand has revealed that Noel Gallagher uses the "Parklife" meme to mock him.

The 1994 single was used to mock Brand earlier this year after one Twitter user originally compared a long, impassioned passage from the comedian's book on revelation to the spoken word part of "Parklife" provided by actor Phil Daniels.

Appearing on "Alan Carr: Chattyman," in an episode that will air this evening (November 28), Brand reveals that as well as the public, even his friends use the joke to mock him.

"He [Gallagher] finishes his texts with it now," Brand says. "He'll go, 'Alright Russell, how's it going? ' then say something offensive about my hair or my private beliefs, and then go 'Parklife'. I secretly think, 'I remember when there was a race to be Number One and Blur won it against Oasis, so f--k you, in a time machine.'"

This is the latest occasion on which Noel Gallagher has poked fun at his friend, having more recently said that he believes the comedian's so called revolution "might be as short-lived as his acting career."

Source: www.ultimate-guitar.com

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Russell Brand To Record Oasis' 'Roll With It' With Noel Gallagher

Russell Brand has said he will record an Oasis song in response to people who have been likening his recent rants to Blur's Parklife lyrics.

The comedian's tweets containing his thoughts on society have been bombarded by users writing simply "Parklife".

Brand claimed he was not offended by the tweets, but said he was planning to team up with Noel Gallagher to record a version of the Oasis hit Roll With It.

Oasis were famously Blur's chart rivals and had a high-profile battle to top the charts 19 years ago.

In an interview with radio station Magic, Brand said: "I'm a comedian, and I make all my living out of mucking around and talking, and I've certainly tormented people in the past. So yeah, I don't mind that, I think - unless it's malicious."

He pointed out that his sidekick from his old Radio 2 show, Matt Morgan, had similarly said "Parklife" many years ago when he launched into a rant.

Brand went on: "I don't know Damon Albarn particularly, but I've spoken to Noel Gallagher and we plan to respond with a Roll With It single. I'll say 'Roll with it' after every seven words."

The Parklife trend started after the star tweeted: "This attitude of churlish indifference seems like nerdish deference contrasted with the belligerent antipathy of the indigenous farm folk, who regard the hippie-dippie interlopers, the denizens of the shimmering *** temples, as one fey step away from transvestites."

Journalist Dan Barker's response prompted thousands of tweets: "Russell Brand's writing feels like someone is about to shout 'PARKLIFE!' at the end of every sentence."

Blur's song famously features lyrics about getting woken up by dustmen and feeding the pigeons.

Brand said his old pal Gallagher would not be attending his live show at the Royal Albert Hall in London next week.

"I've not invited him, because he's not been supportive enough lately, " he said.

"If he's seen anywhere near the vicinity, I'm going to have someone grab him by the eyebrow, tie a kite to it, and send him off into the ether."

Source: www.sky.com

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Alan McGee: Digsy's Dinner By Oasis Was A Piss-Take Of Blur

Alan McGee has been telling XFM about the making of Oasis's classic debut album, Definitely Maybe - which gets a deluxe, 20th anniversary reissue today (19 May).

One of the many interesting anecdotes about the album (you can hear his full commentary here) was that the song Digsy's Dinner was effectively the opening salvo of the "Britpop Wars".

McGee says: "I think it was a piss-take of Blur. I don't think Noel's ever admitted to that. It's a piss-take of that Britpop thing. It was Noel proving that he could do that in his sleep."

The rivalry between the bands would reach its height a year later in the summer of 1995, when Blur's Country House went up against the Oasis single Roll With It in a battle for the Number 1 spot.

He also revealed how Liam Gallagher adopted his characteristic "sneer", after a radio session version of the classic track Cigarettes And Alcohol saw him impersonating former Sex Pistols singer John Lydon.

"As a joke, he was sneering like Lydon," remembers McGee. "Noel played me that and I said, 'That stays!' And Noel went back and said to Liam: 'That stays!' Liam kind of brought in that sneer. He was always Lennon-y, but he brought in the Lydon thing to the vocal. Noel told me: 'Alan, he's only taking the piss'."




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Damon Albarn Says Blur's 'Country House' And Oasis' 'Roll With It' Were 'Both Shit'

Damon Albarn has revealed he thinks that Blur's 'Country House' and Oasis' 'Roll With It' were "both shit".

The two tracks went head-to-head in the UK Official Singles Chart in August 1995 – in a chart battle which has now become a symbol of the two bands' rivalry in the Britpop years. Blur ultimately hit the Number One spot.

Writing in a RedditAMA for Dazed Digital, Albarn revealed that he now thinks that both tracks were not any good.

Albarn recently told NME that making an album with Noel Gallagher is a "distinct possibility" in future.

"I still see Noel from time to time. We text a bit," Albarn said. When asked if the pair would be making a record together, he replied, "I can imagine that being a very distinct possibility at some point in the future. But, as yet we haven't really talked about it, although…"

Albarn continued: "OK we have a little bit. We're talking. It's not anything to get excited about yet. I mean, he's doing his thing. He's finishing a new record. I've got my record coming out, but the principle of us making music together is something…you know, it would be fair to say, we have discussed it at least once."

Damon Albarn released his debut solo album 'Everyday Robots' yesterday (April 28).

Damon Albarn will play a string of live dates to mark the album's release. Damon Albarn will play:

Source: www.nme.com

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Damon Albarn On Oasis: "I Was Never Gonna Beat Noel In A War Of Words"

Blur frontman describes class rivalry between the two bands as "insane".

Damon Albarn has said that while Oasis and Blur were always rivals during their Britpop heyday, Noel Gallagher held the upper hand in the press.

He also discussed the division that many fans saw between northern, working class Oasis and southern, middle class Blur.

Speaking in an interview with The Guardian, the Blur frontman said: "The whole class thing was just insane," says Albarn, growing suddenly animated even after all these years. "But we were young and we let ourselves get caught up in it. And the competitiveness was ridiculous for a while, but, you know, I was never gonna beat Noel in a war of words."

The pair have recently become friends and collaborators, and Albarn recently told NME that making an album with Gallagher is a "distinct possibility" in future.

"I still see Noel from time to time. We text a bit," Albarn said. When asked if the pair would be making a record together, he replied, "I can imagine that being a very distinct possibility at some point in the future. But, as yet we haven't really talked about it, although…"

Albarn continued: "OK we have a little bit. We're talking. It's not anything to get excited about yet. I mean, he's doing his thing. He's finishing a new record. I've got my record coming out, but the principle of us making music together is something…you know, it would be fair to say, we have discussed it at least once."

Source: www.nme.com

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Alex James: 'I Still Annoy Noel Gallagher'

Blur bassist discusses Noel and Damon Albarn's newfound bromance

Alex James described Noel Gallagher and Damon Albarn as "best buddies" while appearing on XFM Breakfast with Jon Holmes this morning (April 10).

Holmes told the Blur bassist-turned-cheese-maker that he had introduced the pair onstage the night they played together at the Royal Albert Hall, leading James to reveal: "They've been, like, best buddies ever since."

Asked what he made of their friendship, James added: "I think it's a lovely, lovely ending. They have got quite a lot in common, and they obviously enjoy each others company. It's a nice way to end. I think I still annoy him a bit, but I really try not to!"

In this week's NME, on newsstands now and available digitally, Albarn reveals that making an album with Noel Gallagher is a "distinct possibility" in future.

"I still see Noel from time to time. We text a bit," Albarn says. When asked if the pair would be making a record together, he replied, "I can imagine that being a very distinct possibility at some point in the future. But, as yet we haven't really talked about it, although…"

Albarn continues: "OK we have a little bit. We're talking. It's not anything to get excited about yet. I mean, he's doing his thing. He's finishing a new record. I've got my record coming out, but the principle of us making music together is something…you know, it would be fair to say, we have discussed it at least once."

Source: www.nme.com

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Oasis 20 Years On: The Two Brothers At The Birth Of Lad Culture

Oasis released their first single, 'Supersonic', 20 years ago today. Bill Borrows looks back in admiration at two decades spent in the company of the Gallaghers.

As Kurt Cobain's lukewarm corpse awaited discovery at 171 Lake Washington Boulevard, Oasis played live on Radio One for the first time. Three days later, his body had been found, and the team behind the launch issue of new magazine Loaded were engaged in frantic phone calls to the printer in an attempt to pull a story lamenting Cobain’s inability to behave like a real rock star and commit suicide properly.

‘Supersonic’, the first Oasis single, was released three days later and the defining magazine of the 90s hit the shelves (minus the Cobain piece) two days after that. Blur’s relentless and catchy ‘Girls and Boys’ was everywhere and in a couple of months the soon-to-be rechristened New Labour Party would elect a youthful leader to challenge the tired, sleazy, divided Tory government (if we knew then what we know now etc…).

Quite obviously something was afoot in the land. It felt like change.

Cobain had sung, ‘I Hate Myself And I Want To Die’ but less less than a year later everybody had already "sniffed it up a cane on a ‘Supersonic train" and now wanted to ‘Live Forever.’ Oasis had asked the question: ‘Isn’t everybody else sick and f****** tired of being miserable?’ The genius, whether by accident or design, was to answer it themselves two singles later.

"Maybe I just want to fly/ I want to live/ I don't want to die/ Maybe I just want to breathe/ Maybe I just don't believe," demanded Liam and, out-staring his brother’s words, "I want to live forever." Even the NME, still in their tear-stained Nirvana t-shirts and skinny-fit black jeans, found time to conclude, "Basically, what thus far looked like obnoxious Manc arrogance suddenly looks like sheer effortlessness. A terrific record." Yeah. Terrific. Thanks for catching with up the mood of the nation.

The mainstream media were not far behind, ‘Definitely Maybe’ became the fastest selling debut album in UK history and soon everybody was sprinkling cocaine on their cornflakes. Oasis and the brothers Gallagher were suddenly household names and just as likely to turn up on the front of the Daily Mirror as in the pages of the music press. Watching their lives from the outside became a national sport.

"When we started off," explained Noel, "we wanted the girls, the cocaine, the fur coats. It wasn't like it was an act. It was almost like working-class people winning the pools. We went bananas." Everybody lapped it up. The music was on the money (they couldn’t have got away with it otherwise) but more importantly their attitude chimed with the times. It was during this period that Liam stole the rights to the two finger salute from Kes. He still owns them today.

This is not the Oasis story - that remains to be written - but over the next twenty years entertaining interludes between number one albums, landmark gigs and the best guitar music for a generation would include: Fights between the brothers; cocaine; Liam shagging and marrying famous women; fights between the brothers; cancelled gigs; slagging each other off; divorces; cocaine; fights with photographers and bouncers; band break-ups; cocaine; band make-ups; slagging off every band around (particularly middle class outfits like Blur); cocaine; and, fights between the brothers.

They also gave a great quote. Whether it was Noel declaring his manifesto ("Smoke where you want, drink what you want, whenever you want. Get the age of consent down. Legalize drugs. Kill all the people who like grunge music. Kill all surfboarders. Melt the snow. Anybody who wears a cowboy hat should get the electric chair") or Liam explaining what he would be doing for on Christmas Day ("The usual. I'll be sitting there all day getting wankered. Probably eating loads of fucking food and all that. What are the kids after this year? What do you think? Loads of fucking toys") it was always memorable.

The second album, ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ went straight to number one in the UK in October 1995, peaked at number four in the States and then it really went ‘Champagne Supernova’. But the "sheer effortlessness" of their ascent began twenty years ago today. Oasis, the band, might be in storage somewhere, but the brothers are still box-office, still feuding, still walking tall and still talking back. It has been rock n’ roll from the start. The only ingredient missing? A death in the band. But then, as they were so keen to point out at the start, they always wanted to live forever.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

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Damon Albarn On Collaborating With Noel Gallagher

Damon Albarn has told NME he and Noel Gallagher have ‘discussed’ the possibility of collaborating together in the future.

The former rivals publicly rubber-stamped their reconciliation at the 2013 Teenage Cancer Trust concerts when Gallagher, acting as curator last year, joined Albarn and his Blur chum Graham Coxon onstage for a rendition of ‘Tender‘.

Since then, rumours have been rife of a studio hook-up between the pair and Albarn, who has his first solo record ‘Everyday Robots‘ out at the end of this month, has now admitted that is a possibility in the future.

“I can imagine that being a very distinct possibility at some point in the future,” he said of a collaboration. “But, as yet we haven’t really talked about it. OK, we have a little bit. We’re talking. It’s not anything to get excited about yet. I mean, he’s doing his thing.”

“He’s finishing a new record. I’ve got my record coming out, but the principle of us making music together is something, you know, it would be fair to say, we have discussed it at least once.”

Source: www.live4ever.uk.com

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20 Years Of Oasis’ Definitely Maybe

It’s likely, halfway through 1994 as one continued the incessant touring trail after finally completing work on his band’s debut album, and the other came to an agreement which would see him adopt the mantle of leader of the Labour Party, that Noel Gallagher and Tony Blair had never even heard of each other.

However, just three short years later the pair would meet inside 10 Downing Street with a handshake and a glass of champagne for an image which now – in all its superficiality – suitably defines an era. By then Noel Gallagher was rich, successful and exhalted. Tony Blair, equally, had just been carried to power in the UK on a landslide, himself now carrying the hopes of a nation blossoming with colour after a generation of grey Tory decline. Or so went the narrative anyway.

Their meeting was the appropriately bizarre hedonistic tipping point of Britpop – that intangible, loosely defined media invention with which Oasis are now so intrinsically tied. Britart and Cool Britannia had themselves been gobbled up by the tabloids in its wake. “Revolution!” they cried. “London swings again!” Yet now, like the Sex Pistols did a decade on from the Summer Of Love, we must surely look back through gritted teeth knowing that, just like Johnny Rotten in 1977, for the majority it was essentially ‘Bollocks’.

Even before that Blair/Gallagher summit was held most of the main protagonists had already come to realise as much. The tabloid press – Dr. Frankenstein to Britpop’s monster – decided enough was enough. Blur were about to re-emerge from their ridiculous Benny Hill cartoon ‘Country House‘ selves with bags under their eyes, a moody camera filter and a far darker story to tell on ‘Beetlebum‘. The gloomy Wigan stroll of Richard Ashcroft and The Verve‘s ‘Bittersweet Symphony‘ would be the diametric anthem for 1997′s summer, ‘Urban Hymns‘ the instant post-Britpop bible. Oasis’ timing was less savvy; the insane riot of ‘Be Here Now‘ arrived right in the eye of a backlash storm, soundtracking a mindset which had already pulled out of the station. It would be another year before Noel Gallagher finally boarded up Supernova Heights and went cold turkey on Billy Connolly videos.

All of which, incredibly twenty years on, makes ‘Definitely Maybe‘ retrospectively more important than ever – and why this article chooses to get those Britpop footnotes out of the way at the earliest opportunity.

Read the full article here.

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Listen Again To Noel Gallagher And Damon Albarn On BBC Radio 6 Next Month

Saturday 5 April 
4.00-5.00am 
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC

As part of the Britpop at the BBC season, this is another chance to hear two programmes first broadcast on the World Service, in which Noel Gallagher and Damon Albarn talk to Sean Rowley about the music that has shaped them.

Sean visits Noel at home and Damon in his studio where they talk about their lives and the music that has influenced their own unique sounds.

Britpop at the BBC is a week of programmes on Radio 2, 6 Music and BBC Four and at bbc.co.uk/britpop marking 20 years since the birth of Britpop.

As we told you many times this seems to be a year marked for anniversaries; Oasis are celebrating the 20th anniversary of Definitely Maybe and Blur are celebrating the 20 th anniversary of the release of "Parklife"

Source www.bbc.co.uk
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New London Club Night Kicks Off With The Definitive Oasis Tribute Band

Rock, roll and Bowl to the sound of Britpop at new club night 'Bowl With It' which will feature a Britpop tribute band and Britpop anthems blasted out by 90's Mike and Cool Britannia. Expect plenty of Oasis, Blur, Supergrass, Verve, Stone Roses, Pulp, all the very biggest and best Britpop anthems till 3am.

First are up are Noasis "live" plus 90's Mike and Cool Britannia DJ'ing till 3am.

Noasis is the definitive tribute band to Manchester's five piece super group Oasis with an obsessive attention to detail the band recreates the real Oasis experience with amazing energy playing all the classic songs as if they were their own.

Adv Q jump tickets £5 | £7 on the door

Advance tickets & info @ www.bloomsburybowling.com or  www.facebook.com/Bowlwithit

**To book bowling or karaoke in advance call 020-7183-1979 or e-mail info@bloomsburybowling.com. Some bowling can be booked on the night on a first come first served basis from 9pm-3am**

Address : Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, Tavistock Hotel, Bedford Way, London WC1H 9EU

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Damon Albarn - 'I'd Love To Collaborate With Noel Gallagher'

Former Britpop rivals won Music Moment Of The Year for Teenage Cancer Trust duet at NME Awards 2014 (February 26)

Damon Albarn, who collected the Award For Innovation at the NME Awards 2014 with Austin, Texas last night (February 26), has said that he would "love" to collaborate with Noel Gallagher in the future.

Albarn and Gallagher were given the Music Moment Of The Year prize for performing together at a Teenage Cancer Trust show in May of last year. The Blur singer also later admitted that the band had written 15 new songs for a new album, but said they won't see the light of day for years.

Albarn also was on hand at last night's ceremony to present Beatles legend Paul McCartney with the Songwriter's Songwriter Award, while other big winners included Blondie, who were the recipients of this year's Godlike Genius title, and Arctic Monkeys, who took home five gongs.

Click here to watch the video.

Source: www.nme.com

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There's An Anger To Liam Gallagher, Which Makes Him A Great Frontman

You can only picture the smile that must have spread across Liam Gallagher's face. One minute he was rehearsing with Beady Eye, the band he formed with fellow erstwhile Oasis members Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock, after big brother Noel took his bat and ball and went home in 2009. The next, Beady EyeYou can only picture the smile that must have spread across Liam Gallagher's face. One minute he was rehearsing with Beady Eye, the band he formed with fellow erstwhile Oasis members Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock, after big brother Noel took his bat and ball and went home in 2009. The next, Beady Eye were being asked to help save the Big Day Out after Oasis' one-time Britpop nemesis Blur had pulled out.

But as it happens, that wasn't exactly how the band saw it go down. ''Blur never came into it,'' Archer says. ''Someone said, 'What about going to Australia?' and we all went, 'Yes'.''

But you can bet Liam had a smirk to himself when he did find out.

The younger Gallagher has been laughing all the way to the bank, countless magazine covers and the top of many a chart ever since Noel, with his then seemingly endless arsenal of swaggering rock'n'roll anthems, took charge of Liam's fledgling outfit and transformed it by the mid-1990s into the Oasis millions know and love.

Yet when Noel walked out on their final incarnation five years ago, he must have known any future project of his would pale in comparison with Oasis for one key reason. He may have been the one with the tried and tested songwriting talent but Liam was the truly irreplaceable one, thanks to his rare combination of charisma, attitude and (not always, but often) vocal heroics.

''Liam's stage vibe is definitely based on an antagonistic sort of vibe,'' says Bell, who switched from playing bass for Oasis to guitar for Beady Eye.

''There's an anger to him on stage, which makes him a great frontman.''

Fellow Beady Eye guitarist Archer describes Liam as ''fearless with how he approaches any night''.

It is why the average Britpop fan who didn't demand a Blur-related refund for the Big Day Out will want at least to have a quick look at Beady Eye's set.

Well, that and the fact that, now they have established themselves with two albums of their own - 2011's occasionally exhilarating Different Gear, Still Speeding and last year's improved and more adventurous follow-up BE - they are open to playing Oasis songs.

''I have a feeling people are just going, 'F--- Beady Eye, we want Oasis back','' Liam told NME in June. ''I feel sometimes people are boycotting Beady Eye because they think the quicker I get the needle with it, the sooner I'll be going round knocking on Noel's door. They've got it all wrong.''

''It felt like a natural thing to do,'' Bell says. ''From the beginning we kinda had a word with ourselves and said, 'Well, if we do that [play Oasis songs] right off the bat, this is gonna be seen as kinda not separate enough from Oasis'.

''We've thrown a couple in now because ... it's not like we've become massive all around the world as Beady Eye. We're getting there, but I think a lot of people that come to see us do wanna hear Oasis songs. We think if we give them a couple of treats, y'know, they'll keep listening to Beady Eye.''

Still, hard acts to follow don't come much more difficult than Oasis. You can't help but wonder why the four members other than Noel decided to continue together in what was inevitably going to be a similar vein but without the skills of their principal songwriter.


''The '09 Oasis tour, which ended up with us breaking up, was the best we ever sounded live,'' Bell explains. ''We basically wanted to preserve that kind of inter-band chemistry.

''Obviously Noel was gone, so there was a big part missing, but the rest of us were still on that stage and we wanted to keep that same musical feeling. There was no, like, 'Let's change anything'. It was just forward momentum - 'let's keep going' - which powered us through the first album.''

Do Beady Eye perhaps feel like they have something to prove? ''No ... we're still driven to make music,'' Bell says. ''It's not about proving, really. It's more just about having that drive to keep on playing. You always want more, you always want to be bigger, you always do want that top spot but you've gotta be realistic sometimes. And if it ain't happening, then is it really the end of the world? I don't think so. It's still good to be playing music.

''It's still good to be, y'know, earning a living from it.''

There is, of course, one way that they could all earn a lot of money playing music and make a lot of people very happy: by getting Oasis back together. This won't happen until the Gallagher brothers start talking to each other again; and Bell can't confirm if there is any truth to a recent rumour that they are doing so.

''I haven't heard anything about that, but if that's the case then that's great,'' he says. ''I'd be happy if they did bury the hatchet - y'know, just on a personal level it'd be a good thing.''

''There's unfinished business there,'' Liam told NME. ''People ask would I get Oasis back together. I'd do it for nowt. But if someone's going to drop a load of f---ing money, I'd do it for that too.''

- with Peter Vincent

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

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Beady Eye's Gem Archer: "You Can’t Run From Your Own History"

Oh what became of the likely lads. Oasis splitting up in 2009 was felt as a mild tremor in Australia and as an earthquake in the UK. A cultural institution had come apart at the seams; the band that had epitomised Cool Britannia, sound-tracked the rise of New Labour and chronicled an entire generation's adolescence had finally imploded under the weight of two of the biggest egos in modern music.

Out of the ashes, Beady Eye was formed; aka Oasis sans Noel. And the band have split the critics down the middle in the UK, much like their previous incarnation. Unsurprisingly, for every voice claiming their latest album BE to be the freshest and strongest Liam has sounded in years, there is another berating its delusional rock pretence and telling the youngest Gallagher to either rebuild the wonderwall with his brother or jog on.

On the eve of their last-minute call up to the Big Day Out, guitarist Gem Archer remarks candidly on the glory days of being in the band that was supposed to be bigger than The Beatles as well as the fall back to Earth and regrouping as Beady Eye.

TheVine: Considering Oasis were so ubiquitous in the UK, did you find it hard to carve out a new identity for Beady Eye when you first came together?

Gem Archer: I don’t think we ever thought about having to carve out a new identity, it was more a case of everybody realising that we weren’t going to get back together in one month’s time. We thought when we played our first gig that people would be shouting for the Oasis tunes, but by the time we had recorded the album and were ready to go on the road, it was fully formed.

But being associated with Oasis is inevitable, you can’t run from your own history and Liam’s voice will always be associated with those songs.

When it all unfolded in Paris, was it hard for you personally to come to terms with the fact that Oasis was over?

To put my head in that space again, I think it was a great run, it was ten years of my life spent playing some of the best music all around the world to some of the best fans. I just tried to remember that and I tried to tell myself not to get too greedy, not to hold on to stuff.  It’s kinda like *makes sound of bomb dropping from sky* count the good times and just hope there’s more coming. It wasn’t as if Oasis had been around for a year and it was a case of what could have happened. It felt like it was time.

Well there must be many aspects of the transition from Oasis to Beady Eye that have been a joy. You’ve played smaller venues and had a lot more freedom; do you feel like a new band again?

Definitely, but there have been certain challenges we’ve faced as well, like writing a whole new set of material after a career of performing Oasis’s music. It was like hitting the reset button. And we did say at the time that it was a good little spur on, because we stopped resting on our previous achievements.

If you know you’re only going to need two or three songs from your new album when you go on tour then maybe that informs what sort of album you make. But if you said to most bands that on their next album they could only play that material on tour, they would dig down deep inside themselves.

And have you enjoyed playing a bigger role in the song writing of Beady Eye, away from the autocracy of Noel?

When Andy and I joined Oasis, Noel was always asking if we had any songs to bring to the band. Although we knew Noel was the writer, he was always very encouraging with all of us, and if we did have any tunes, we’d always demo them.

And so now, we’re still writing the music, but we’ll do one of Liam’s and then we’ll do one of Andy’s and then one of mine and then back to Liam. But we flesh out all the songs together by jamming. Like on ‘Bring The Light’, Liam suggested we add more keys, he said he wanted it to sound like The Sex Pistols meeting Little Richard and so Andy (Bell) was just ‘avin it on the keys like a madman, it was a great laugh.

Well both albums have made the Top 5 in the UK but only one single has broken the Top 40. So you’re writing good albums but do you need to write better singles?

Well the charts aren’t what they were and the radio isn’t what it was and the whole thing is ever changing. It’s not the time for guitar music at the moment; it’s a different era. And how do you even calculate it now? All the teenagers are listening to music on Youtube.

Does that carry over to your opinion about critics as well? After so much rhetoric surrounding your former band, do Beady Eye care what the critics think of them?

We do, of course we do. We don’t avoid reading stuff, but we don’t chase it either. As long as they give the record a go, I don’t mean attention, I mean if they properly sit down and find out what we’ve done, then it’s all good. But if it’s just gossipy shit, then you turn the page before the end of the sentence.

What was the conversation like with the band before you started adding Oasis songs to the Beady Eye live show?

It all came about when we were asked to play with The Stone Roses at their comeback gig in Manchester and Liam suggested we play a few Oasis songs. I saw it as being the right place and right time, because it was The Stone Roses that awoke Liam to music as a teenager, it would have been mad for him not to play some of those tunes. From then on there was no discussion about it, because we had our own album and the genie was out of the bottle.

Are there any particular songs from the Oasis canon that you wouldn’t play live?

I don’t think we’d do anything that Noel sang the vocals on. But then again, you never know…

Maybe you could step up to the plate on lead vocals like back in the Heavy Stereo days?

No no no no man, Liam’s the voice of this band.

Do you miss having Noel around?

Yeah of course, we see each other every now and again and we text each other, so it’s not like he’s vanished off the face of the earth. But he was always was great to play next to and to shoot the shit with in the studio.

Well I am a massive fan of The Stone Roses and if you’d said to me a few years ago that I would see them play live in 2013, I would have thought you were crazy. But it happened. So if you were a bookie, what odds would you give me for an eventual reunion of Oasis?

An eventual reunion? Well I’m not a gambling man but the answer is it could happen, so it’s worth a wager.

So what’s the best and worst thing about working with Liam Gallagher?

I couldn’t even say what’s pissed me off, because Liam is Liam and I like Liam. People find it hard to believe because of this public image made by lazy journalists, but he’s a really top bloke. There is not a gig in the world he would turn away from, it could be Madison Square Garden or it could be upstairs in the boozer, it doesn’t matter, he’s unafraid.

Finally, did you notice the irony of replacing Blur on the Big Day Out?

No not really, it was never brought to us as replacing Blur; their cancellation wasn’t even a story over here in the UK. It was brought to us as whether we wanted to go play the Big Day Out and we thought it was a fantastic way to start the new year.

Chris Lewis

Beady Eye are on the 2014 Big Day Out tour.

Source: www.thevine.com.au

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Beady Eye: "2013 Was Our Annus Horribilis"

Ahead of their first ever Australian tour Beady Eye drummer Chris Sharrock reflects on the band’s topsy-turvy year with MICHAEL HARTT.

2013 was the best of times and worst of times for Beady Eye. Having spent the first part of the year recording their second studio album, BE, with producer Dave Sitek, the band and their new material received a much warmer reception than they did for their debut Different Gear, Still Speeding. Then, a few shows into the start of their album tour, guitarist Gem Archer was hospitalised with severe head trauma after falling down stairs at his home, leading to months of forced inaction and loss of momentum.

With Archer now fully recovered, the band ended the year with an extensive UK tour and as a last minute addition to the Big Day Out line-up as one of the replacements for Liam Gallagher’s former Brit Pop rivals Blur. Ahead of Beady Eye’s debut Australian tour drummer Chris Sharrock (ex-The La’s, ex-World Party and Oasis’ drummer for their last world tour) reflected on the year that was with FL’s Michael Hartt.

It’s just over a month since you were added to the Big Day Out line-up. Was it a nice surprise to get the call-up?
Yeah it was. We didn’t think we were doing anything in January, actually. This came in at the last minute. It was a surprise, “Yeah, we’re going to Australia!” It’ll be good to get some heat and some sun. We’ve always wanted to play Big Day Out. I’ve never played it. I don’t know if the lads have ever played it.

Given the history that’s there, did you have a bit of a chuckle when you found out that you were replacing Blur?
Yeah, yeah. [laughs]. No, not really. That would be in bad taste. It was more like “Oh wow. That’s funny.” We got the irony of it. It’s no big deal, really. That was all a hundred years ago, wasn’t it? We’re just glad to be out, glad to be going somewhere. Especially Australia.

From an outsider’s perspective, 2013 seemed to be a year of mixed results for Beady Eye. The album got good reviews but then Gem got injured. How was it within the band?
It was our annus horribilis [latin for horrible year]. I mean, we put BE out, we did about eight gigs and then Gem had that accident. That put us out of the game for three months. I think that’s why it’s been a bit quiet. You’ve got to keep it in perspective though. It’s only music. As long as our mate’s alive and back to full health, that’s all that matters, really. It was a shit thing to happen at a shit time as well, but we’re back on form now.

After the lay-off, how were the shows you did in the UK at the end of the year?
It was great to be back. We had these 10 or 11 UK gigs booked in. We were kind of racing to make sure Gem was better. His timing was pretty good. Although when the accident first happened, we had to cancel a few things in Europe and Japan, it’s great that he was alright for that UK tour. Those gigs have been the best gigs we’ve ever done or so people were saying anyway. It was a positive end to the year.

In the downtime, were you working on new music?
We were probably all working on music individually. There’s probably a few songs going to come out of it. It was mainly just time off. Cooking, washing and cleaning [laughs].

You had an extended line-up of the band when you were first touring BE. Are you bringing that line-up, with the horns section, here?
No, we’re not bringing the horns. The last time I saw the horns was just before Gem’s accident. We didn’t use the horns on this last tour we did. It’s good when we have them. They’ll be there on a keyboard sample so it’ll sound like they’re there [laughs].

In terms of the set list, what can we expect? A mix of both the albums? Other stuff?
I think it’ll be a mix. I don’t exactly know what the set is for this is. It’ll probably be the same as what we’ve been doing at our Brit gigs. It’s a bit of both – heavy on the new album, I’d say. I’d say it’s 60 per cent new, 30 per cent old stuff and 10 per cent some really old stuff.

Including Oasis songs?
Yeah, I think we’ll be probably sticking a couple of them in there. Keep the punters happy.

You toured with Oasis in support of their last album but didn’t get to record with them. Are you disappointed you didn’t get to play on an Oasis album?
Yeah, kind of. It would’ve been nice to do but at the end of the day you think “Well, I did the gigs.” It wasn’t meant to be, I guess. I’ll live with it.

After your visit here, will the rest of 2014 be a touring or writing/recording year for Beady Eye?
A bit of both, I hope. I know that as soon as we finish in Australia we fly home, we’ve got about three days at home then we’re straight off to Europe. It’ll just be a quick change of clothes [laughs]. Then we’re off to Japan as well. I think that takes us up to early March and after that, I don’t know if we’re coming off the road or we’re going to do something or if we’re going to have time off.

You just got announced for Coachella after that too [playing the Sunday night along with Arcade Fire, Beck and Neutral Milk Hotel].
Oh really? We’re going to California? You’ve made my day! I didn’t know we were doing that. News travels slow around these parts.They don’t tell me anything. I’m just the drummer! [laughs].

Beady Eye sideshow
Monday, January 27 – The Enmore, Sydney

Big Day Out dates:
Friday, January 17 – Western Springs, Auckland
Sunday, January 19 – Metricon Stadium & Carrara Parklands, Gold Coast
Friday, January 24 – Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne
Sunday, January 26 – Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney
Friday, January 31 – Bonython Park, Adelaide
Sunday, February 2 – Claremont Showgrounds, Perth

Source: www.fasterlouder.com.au

Check out the current collection from Pretty Green's AW13 collection here.

Beady Eye's Chris Sharrock On Replacing Blur At Big Day Out

Beady Eye drummer Chris Sharrock said the band thought it was funny when they were hired to replace Blur at the Big Day Out festival. Blur used to be rivals of Liam Gallagher's previous band Oasis.

He said: "It was more like ‘Oh wow. That's funny.' The irony of it. It's no big deal though, really. That was all a hundred years ago, wasn't it? We're just glad to be out and going somewhere. Especially Australia."

The band will perform in Australia for one show on January 27 at The Enmore in Sydney and then perform second-last on the "Blue" stage at the festival.

Sharrock added: "We didn't think we were doing anything in January, actually. This [opportunity] came in at the last minute. We've always wanted to play Big Day Out. I've never played it. I don't know if the lads have ever played it."

At recent festival appearances the band have played songs from 2011's Different Gear, Still Speeding and 2013's BE (produced by Dave Sitek), as well as several Oasis songs.

Sharrock said that fans can expect the same in Australia. He said: "I'd say it's 60 per cent new, 30 per cent old stuff and 10 per cent some really old stuff. And I think we'll be sticking a couple of [Oasis covers] in [to] keep the punters happy."

Source: www.411mania.com

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Oasis Dominate Vinyl Sales Chart

Official Charts Company release list of big sellers from the fallow years of vinyl.

Considering that figures for UK vinyl sales in 2013 have reached a reported 12 year high, it’s not altogether surprising that all but two of the 20 biggest selling records of the last two decades listed by the Official Charts Company and NME were released in the preceding 8 years.

Leading the way with first and second place are Oasis, whose What’s The Story Morning Glory? pips Definitely Maybe to the top spot, with Portishead’s Dummy taking the final podium place. Although The Beatles also figure strongly, the list is a pretty succinct document of the more adventurous end of the mid-90′s mainstream, dominated as it is by Brit pop (Oasis, Blur, Pulp) and its Mod and Madchester fore-runners (Paul Weller, Stone Roses), Bristolian trip hop (Massive Attack, Portishead) and The Prodigy.

While it is no surprise to see Radiohead’s The King Of Limbs sneak into the chart as the only LP released post-2001, the next most recent entrant is Travis, whose The Invisible Band peaks at a heady forth spot. (via NME)

Here’s the full list:

1. Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? 1995)
2. Oasis – Definitely Maybe (1994)
3. Portishead – Dummy (1994)
4. Travis – The Invisible Band (2001)
5. Radiohead – The King Of Limbs (2011)
6. Leftfield – Leftism (1995)
7. The Beatles – Live At The BBC (1994)
8. Massive Atack vs. Mad Professor – Protection/No Protection (1995)
9. Queen – Made In Heaven (1995)
10. The Prodigy – Fat Of The Land (1997)
11. Paul Weller – Stanley Road (1995)
12. The Stone Roses – Second Coming (1994)
13. Blur – Parklife (1994)
14. Nirvana – MTV Unplugged In New York (1994)
15. The Prodigy – Music For The Jilted Generation (1994)
16. Neil Young – Harvest (1972)
17. Pulp – Different Class (1995)
18. Oasis – Be Here Now (1997)
19. DJ Shadow – Endtroducing (1999)
20. The Beatles – Anthology 1 (1995)

Source: www.thevinylfactory.com