Yet Another On This Day In Oasis History...

On August 22nd 2009, Oasis played there last gig ever at the V Festival in Stafford. Below is the setlist from the gig and a few videos found on YouTube.

Rock 'N' Roll Star
Lyla
The Shock Of The Lightning
Cigarettes & Alcohol
Roll With It
Waiting For The Rapture
The Masterplan
Songbird
Slide Away
Morning Glory
My Big Mouth
Half The World Away
I'm Outta Time
Wonderwall
Supersonic
Live Forever
Don't Look Back In Anger
Champagne Supernova
I Am The Walrus

On This Day In Oasis History...

"The Importance Of Being Idle" is a song on the British rock band Oasis' sixth album, Don't Believe the Truth, written and sung by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. It was the second single released from the album in the UK, on August 22, 2005, where it debuted at #1. It was also the first time that Oasis earned two successive #1's in the same calendar year. It was written by Gallagher sometime during the summer of 2004, before the band made their final attempt at recording what would become Don't Believe the Truth. He got the title from the Mark Twain book of the same name which he found whilst cleaning out his garage (it belonged not to him but to girlfriend Sara McDonald.)

Musically, as Noel has commented, the song sounds like tunes from two British bands, The Kinks and The La's. In particular, the sentiment expressed is noticeably similar to The Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon" and "Dead End Street", and the use of falsetto for every other verse line recalls The La's "Feelin'". The guitar sound is similar also to The La's b-sides; "Clean Prophet" and "Over". It also is a breakaway from the sound of Oasis's latter albums, especially the straight ahead rock 'n' roll anthems of Heathen Chemistry. The keyboard used on the pre-chorus sections was bought by bassist Andy Bell from the auction website eBay.

Noel has said that the lyrics of "The Importance of Being Idle" are inspired by his own laziness. Some of the second verse, with the reference to begging his doctor for "one more line", seems to be referring to an actual event as this resembles Noel's account of how he gave up cocaine in 1998.





















Most reviewers acclaimed the track as one of the highlights of Don't Believe the Truth, which itself was widely praised as a marked return to form. The band mentioned in interviews in June that it would become the second single, after the UK Number One "Lyla". The b-sides are Liam Gallagher's "Pass Me Down the Wine" and Gem Archer's "The Quiet Ones."



The promo film was directed by Dawn Shadforth, (whose previous videos include Kylie Minogue's award-winning "Can't Get You Out Of My Head"). Shadforth's film for "The Importance of Being Idle' starred Welsh actor Rhys Ifans and homages the style of early 1960s kitchen sink drama British films, and is set during the build up to a funeral procession in a northern town, with the extravagant undertakers parading the coffin at the video's climax and Ifans playing the part of a high-kicking funeral director. The video is based on the film and play Billy Liar with Ifans playing the role of Billy. Noel and Liam therefore play Shadrack & Duxbury, the owners of the funeral parlour where Billy works. The rest band (Gem,Andy and Zak) make a brief appearance as lazy workers playing cards in an undertaker's office. It was widely acclaimed at the time as being probably the best video Oasis had ever made, not least by the band themselves, who were said to be very happy with the finished product. The video is very similar in style and concept to the music video for "Dead End Street" by The Kinks.

Q Magazine readers placed the song at #1 in a list of 2005's greatest tracks.

The video for the song was voted the video of the year at the NME Awards.

The song is included on Oasis' 'best-of' album Stop the Clocks.

On This Day In Oasis History...

Below is a video from August 13th 2005, when Oasis played at the Summersonic Festival in Osaka, Japan.

On This Day In Oasis History...

The video below is from July 2nd 2005, when Oasis played the second of three nights at the City Of Manchester Stadium.

On This Day In Oasis History...

The video below is from June 25th 2004, when Oasis played at the Glastonbury Festival.

On This Day In Oasis History...

On June 24th 2005 Oasis played at the Tweeter Center in Boston USA, below is a video of the show.

Yet Another On This Day In Oasis History...

The videos below are from June 11th 2001, when Oasis played at the Tweeter Theatre in Boston USA, Alan White's brother Steve is on drumming duties.

On This Day In Oasis History...

The video below is from June 10th 2005, when Oasis played at the Hurricane Festival in Scheessel, Germany.

 

On This Day In Oasis History...

Don't Believe The Truth is the sixth studio album by Oasis, released on May 30, 2005. It reached #1 in the UK Albums Chart with first week sales of just under 238,000. The album entered the U.S. charts at #12, the highest any Oasis album has reached there since 1997 with Be Here Now, although its chart stay was brief. The album went triple platinum in the UK in the first week of 2006, and is the ninth fastest selling album there. As of August 2006, Don't Believe the Truth has sold approximately 2.5 million copies worldwide.




















Every member of the band contributed to the writing of tracks for the album, and the album is the first where all duties were divided between the bandmembers. On some of the tracks regular bass player Andy Bell handled guitar, while Gem and Noel contributed bass to other songs. Don't Believe the Truth is the first Oasis record to feature the drumming of Zak Starkey, who replaced Oasis' longtime member Alan White.

Liam also had a larger impact on the album by his developing songwriting. Noel has said that this album is his favourite of Oasis' last four, because all members have contributed to it. This, he claims, has given it a different feel to a typically Noel-written Oasis album.

The band embarked on a massive world-wide tour and started off at the London Astoria for their Don't Believe the Truth Tour.

Recording

The recording process for Don't Believe the Truth was prolonged. The album was originally supposed to be released around summer/autumn 2004, with an initial 3-4 week session produced by Death in Vegas. The recording finally began after Alan White's departure in January 2004 at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall, the same place where Oasis had recorded their debut album Definitely Maybe. These sessions were completed but the band weren't happy with the results.

Noel has commented since on numerous occasions that there was no problem with the work done by Death In Vegas, but he felt the songs they were working on were simply not good enough to form a record, and felt a break was needed in which new material would have to be written. In Noel's words: "we were trying to polish a turd". Around 10 tracks were worked on with Death In Vegas of which, according to Noel, 6 were "not even good enough to make the b-sides". Four of the tracks which eventually appeared on the album were worked on with Death In Vegas, those songs being: "Turn Up The Sun", "Mucky Fingers", "A Bell Will Ring" and "The Meaning of Soul", although all of these had extra work done to them or were re-recorded before being released.

After a short break in which many new songs, including "Let There Be Love", "Lyla" and "Part Of The Queue" were written, the band reconvened at their Wheeler End Studios with Noel as producer. The band were joined on these sessions by The Who's drummer Zak Starkey. In June 2004, Oasis debuted two new songs from these sessions, the Liam-written "The Meaning of Soul" and the Gem-written "A Bell Will Ring" at two live shows in Poole and at the Glastonbury Festival.

After hearing of the band's production problems from Oasis manager Marcus Russell, American producer Dave Sardy expressed interest in taking over production duties. Sardy was given tapes of existing recording sessions to mix, and after his work was praised by the band, he arrived in the UK to oversee new recording sessions at Olympic Studios in London. These sessions didn't last long before he asked the band to travel to Los Angeles and re-record most of the album there, as he felt more comfortable working in a studio closer to home. With the band eventually agreeing to this, recording sessions began at Capitol Studios in October 2004 with the band spending around 9 weeks there.

Release

The decision to have the leadoff single, "Lyla", on the album was a controversial one, prompted by the label's feeling that there wasn't a suitable lead single among the tracks originally presented. As a result, the decision was taken to record "Lyla", a song which Noel had written and demoed a year previously, but which wasn't recorded by the band during the previous recording sessions. It was decided that Dave Sardy would remix Noel's original demo with Liam recording a set of lead vocals and Zak adding a fresh drum track. "Lyla" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and number nineteen on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart. After having initial reservations about the choice of the first single being taken out of the hands of the band, Noel, who initially wanted "Mucky Fingers" to be the first single, has now reluctantly conceded that the song has indeed "done the business".

In April 2005, four tracks from a promo disc leaked: "The Meaning of Soul", "Mucky Fingers", "Keep the Dream Alive", and "Let There Be Love". The full album found its way onto the Internet on May 3, 2005, when Apple Inc. accidentally put the album up early for sale on their iTunes Music Store service in Germany. While there was no official comment by Apple or by Oasis management, it was speculated that Apple simply got "May 30" confused with "May 03" or "May 3".

On This Day In Oasis History...

Lyla is a song by the English rock band Oasis. The song was released on May 16th 2005 as the first single from the band's sixth album Don't Believe the Truth.

The song was written by Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher, who has varyingly described the track as "specifically designed for pogoing", "annoyingly catchy", and the "poppiest thing since Roll with It".

Gallagher says that the song existed in an early form as a song called Sing and dated from the Heathen Chemistry-era. He also says that the title for the final song should have been Smiler, but was changed seeing as guitarist Gem Archer's previous band, Heavy Stereo, also had a song called "Smiler".

Sony's insistence that it should be released as the first single from the album has helped to fuel the tension between the band and their record label, which has led to Oasis not renewing their contract with the record label following the release of Don't Believe the Truth.

Lyla became the band's seventh UK number one when it reached top spot in its first week of release. The song also debuted at #31 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and has reached #19 since then. It is the first Oasis song to appear on any US singles chart since 2000 when Go Let It Out hit number 14 on the Modern Rock chart.

Noel has also joked with the fact that the Lyla in the song is actually the sister of the Sally mentioned in the Oasis single Don't Look Back in Anger. Also, he had said that the song is a "love song", being about Sally Cinnamon's sister.

Originally claiming that he wasn't very fond of the song, Noel has said that Lyla "isn't even the fifth best track on the album". The song had existed as a demo since the early recording sessions for the album but was all but forgotten until practically the last minute. However, on the Lock the Box feature on the Stop the Clocks, Noel admitted that he "didn't realise how good it was until [we] played it live," and admitted he loved the "guitars, the drums, and the vocals" of the song.



Live performances

When performing on the UK music chart show Top of the Pops, Liam, who was forced to mime to the music, made no secret of the fact, walking away from the microphone with his mouth closed mid-way through lines that he was supposedly 'singing'. It would be Liam's last performance on the programme before its demise in late 2006. However, Noel and the rest of the band would return in August 2005 to perform The Importance of Being Idle and later in 2009 to perform their last ever released single Falling Down.



Lyla was covered by the Foo Fighters during a performance at BBC Studios.

The song is included on Oasis' compilation album Stop the Clocks. It is also included in FIFA 06 as a track.




















Track listing

CD RKIDSCD 29

"Lyla" (Noel Gallagher) - 5:12
"Eyeball Tickler" (Gem Archer) - 2:47
"Won't Let You Down" (Liam Gallagher) - 2:48

7" RKID 29

"Lyla" (Noel Gallagher) - 5:12
"Eyeball Tickler" (Gem Archer) - 2:47

DVD RKIDSDVD 29

"Lyla" - 5:14
"Lyla" (demo) - 5:29
"Can You See It Now?" (Documentary) - 9:22

The DVD also contains a hidden piece about new drummer Zak Starkey. The video lasts for 1:16 and is accessed by highlighting the word 'Credits' on the main menu, then pressing right until you see the name Zak appear. Then press 'Play' or 'Enter' to view the video.

On This Day In Oasis History...

Below are a number of videos from May 12th 2005, when Oasis played at the Alcatraz in Milan, Italy.

On This Day In Oasis History...

The videos below are from March 10th 2006, when Oasis headlined the Hot Festival in Buenos Aires , Argentina.

The band had previously played at the Hot Festival in 2001 when they co-headlined with Neil Young & Crazy Horse.

On This Day In Oasis History...

'Falling Down' was a single released on March 9th 2009 by English rock band Oasis, featured on their 2008 seventh studio album Dig Out Your Soul. Written and sung by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher, it was released as the third single from the album and is also the final single released by the band with the digital release occurring a day earlier.

The song debuted at 10 in the UK Singles Chart.

"Falling Down" is the fifth Oasis single to be sung by Noel rather than Liam (not including "Lord Don't Slow Me Down"). It is also the second Oasis song to be used in a TV series (the first being "Half the World Away").

"Falling Down" posted a subtle improvement from its predecessor, "I'm Outta Time" on the UK Singles Chart, reaching #10 in its chart entry week. This was something of a return to form for the band, after "I'm Outta Time" charting at #12 made it the first Oasis single released in the UK to fail to reach the top 10 since "Shakermaker" in 1994.

Between the two releases the band had put out 22 singles which made the top 10.




















However, it still showed a decline in the band's fortunes; from the release of "Whatever" at the end of 1994 until the release of "I'm Outta Time" the band had only had one single which failed to reach the top 4 in the charts, and that had been 2007's "Lord Don't Slow Me Down" which was only a minor promotional release and a non-album track and also download only.



The heavily compressed drum-rhythm and sense of disillusioned psychedelia bear a strong resemblance the Beatles song "Tomorrow Never Knows", being cited as Noel's finest effort so far to emulate the atmosphere of that song.

An excerpt of the B-side song "Those Swollen Hand Blues" appears at the end of "Mucky Fingers", second track of Oasis' 2005 album Don't Believe the Truth.

The lyric: "Catch the wheel that breaks the butterfly" references the quotation: "Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" from Alexander Pope's "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot".

The song was released as downloadable content for the video game Guitar Hero: World Tour on 29 January 2009.

The song was used in the opening sequence for the Production I.G anime Eden of the East, which first aired on Fuji TV's noitaminA timeslot on April 9, 2009.

On This Day In Oasis History...

Below are a number of videos from February 14th 2007, when Oasis picked up the Outstanding Contribution award at the Brit Awards.

On This Day In Oasis History...

Let There Be Love" is a song on the British rock band Oasis' sixth album, Don't Believe the Truth. Written by Noel Gallagher, it is the second Oasis song to feature Liam and Noel on lead vocals, the first being the B-Side "Acquiesce". It was released on November 28th 2005 as the third single from the album in the UK, and the second single in the US. It reached number two in the UK charts, capping a very successful year for the band. Many critics cited this song as proof that Oasis had returned to form we had seen in the mid-90's.

A demo for the track was recorded during demo sessions for Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. A bootleg of these demo sessions was leaked onto the Internet in early 2000. This track was given the unofficial title "It's A Crime" on many bootlegs as the track was unknown and unreferenced anywhere before then. The album version of the song is structurally almost exactly as the same as the demo with a slight change in melody in the part that Noel sings. The lyrics to the chorus remains intact, but the verses and bridge have totally rewritten lyrics.




















The single version of the song omits the second verse and chorus.



A second, Noel-sung demo was released on the "Let There Be Love" DVD single. It has the same lyrics as the album version, and in fact the album version takes some elements from the demo such as the piano. It was probably recorded sometime in 2003 or 2004, prior to the main Don't Believe the Truth recording sessions.

The video is a montage of some of Oasis' live shows during the summer of 2005 including clips of the gigs at Hampden Park and the City of Manchester Stadium. The clips don't actually show the band playing 'Let There Be Love'.

The song has only been played live once, on an Italian radio show in late 2005.

On This Day In Oasis History...

Stop the Clocks is an album by British rock band Oasis made up of Oasis' favourite songs and moments of their career so far and was released on November 20 2006. “Unlike most albums of this nature, Oasis have sat down and undertaken the almost impossible job of picking what they consider to be their finest moments ever. So 'Stop The Clocks' is imbued with the sort of willfulness that has helped make Oasis the favourite band of millions of people worldwide and its running order will no doubt provoke equal parts adulation and bar discussions from the millions of Oasis fans worldwide. Could it ever be any other way?” . It released in November 2006. The "retrospective collection" is an 18-track double album with the featured songs chosen by Noel Gallagher. It went 3x platinum in the UK with sales as good as any album there since Be Here Now.

The album has come about due to the end of Oasis' recording contract with Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Noel Gallagher has gone on record before on numerous occasions saying that Oasis wouldn't release a greatest hits album unless the band were about to split up. However, in an interview with news.com.au in December 2005, he hinted that Sony were planning to release one anyway, and that despite his misgivings, he would have to get involved with it otherwise it'd be "shit". This was clarified in September 2006, when he told the NME that when he made it clear to Sony that the band were not going to re-sign to them, the record label decided to release a greatest hits album. Gallagher then explained that he insisted that it had to be a 'best-of' because he felt a compilation of the best singles, album tracks and b-sides would produce a stronger album than a compilation of singles.

To address some fans' concerns that the release of a greatest hits album was a sign that the band were about to finish, based on some of Noel Gallagher's previous comments, the press release for the album confirmed that they are merely taking "a well earned sabbatical prior to starting work on new material, destined for similar levels of success in the future. As such, this is not a full stop, but merely a time out; a dream set list, and a chance for the world to review the immense contribution that Oasis have made and continue to make to rock 'n' roll."

To celebrate the release of the album, the band will be unveiling their first full-length film - Lord Don't Slow Me Down, shot during the Don't Believe the Truth world tour, from May 2005 to March 2006, the film was shown in November 2006 around the world in selected picture houses, theatres and cinemas to winners of fans competitions and the press. It was also broadcasted on Channel 4 in the UK.

The album debuted at #2 in the UK charts selling over 50,000 copies in its first day of release and 216,000 in its first week of release, surprisingly not selling enough to knock off the top spot to The Love Album, by the boy-band Westlife. It also debuted at #89 on the U.S. Billboard 200, starting with 18,000 units sold. It did however enter the Japanese Oricon album charts at #1, selling 87,462 copies in its first week.

In Japan, a box set was also released of all their singles to coincide with the album.

The Songs

Stop the Clocks focuses heavily on the band's most popular albums, Definitely Maybe and (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, with each contributing five tracks, plus four B-sides (also included on the band's other compilation album The Masterplan) from this era. Only two tracks appear from Don't Believe the Truth, and one track each from Standing on the Shoulder of Giants and Heathen Chemistry, whilst Be Here Now is overlooked completely.

When the release of Stop the Clocks was first announced in July 2006, speculation was rife that the unreleased song of the same name would be included on the record as a bonus track. However, Noel Gallagher told fans at a Q&A session that the song was considered for inclusion, but they weren't happy with any of the many versions they have recorded.

Gallagher also confirmed that the title was chosen to sum up what was described in the initial press release as being "merely a time out; a chance for the world to review the immense contribution that Oasis have made and continue to make to rock 'n' roll." Noel Gallagher revealed in an interview in April 2005 that 'Stop the Clocks' was the original title for the band's early recorded material in early 2004, which turned eventually into Don't Believe the Truth.

Gallagher revealed to Billboard that he was approached about including some new songs on the album as well, but that he opted not to "because it takes the focus away from what you're actually trying to say with a retrospective."

Gallagher told the NME in September 2006 that he picked the tracks on the album, and there were about eight songs that "should be on there, but aren't". He explained that his original vision was for a 12-track album on one CD, but, after whittling down from an initial 30+ tracks, the track-listing was finalised. He admitted that he's had arguments with people about the tracklisting but that "someone has to pick the tracklisting, and I've picked it and that's the end of it. But that must mean we're pretty good, if people are arguing about what's not on it, it's brilliant!"

During an interview on Radio 1 in October 2006, and later during a question and answer session with The Sun, Liam Gallagher, who got a songwriting credit with his "Songbird", claimed that he was happy with the tracks Noel had selected for the album, although he said that he would have liked "Rockin' Chair" and "D'You Know What I Mean?" to be included. Noel, however, admitted that "D'You Know What I Mean?" was to be included on the album up until the moment it was being mastered, explaining that the length of the song "upset the flow of the album".

In the special boxed-edition of 'Stop the Clocks' at the end of the 'Lock the Box' interview, when Liam was told 'Whatever' was not on the track-listing he said "Thank fuck for that".

Track listing

All songs written by Noel Gallagher except "Songbird", written by Liam Gallagher

Disc one
"Rock 'n' Roll Star" (from Definitely Maybe)
"Some Might Say" (from (What's the Story) Morning Glory?)
"Talk Tonight" (from The Masterplan)
"Lyla" (from Don't Believe the Truth)
"The Importance of Being Idle" (from Don't Believe the Truth)
"Wonderwall" (from (What's the Story) Morning Glory?)
"Slide Away" (from Definitely Maybe)
"Cigarettes & Alcohol" (from Definitely Maybe)
"The Masterplan" (from The Masterplan)

Disc two
"Live Forever" (from Definitely Maybe)
"Acquiesce" (from The Masterplan)
"Supersonic" (from Definitely Maybe)
"Half the World Away" (from The Masterplan)
"Go Let It Out" (from Standing on the Shoulder of Giants)
"Songbird" (from Heathen Chemistry)
"Morning Glory" (from (What's the Story) Morning Glory?)
"Champagne Supernova" (from (What's the Story) Morning Glory?)
"Don't Look Back in Anger" (from (What's the Story) Morning Glory?)

Cover

The cover was designed by Sir Peter Blake, best known for his design of the sleeve for The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but also well recognized within the genre for his work on the cover of Paul Weller's Stanley Road album.

According to Blake, he chose all of the objects in the picture at random, but the sleeves of Sgt. Pepper's and Definitely Maybe were in the back of his mind. He claims, "It's using the mystery of Definitely Maybe and running away with it." Familiar cultural icons which can be seen on the cover include Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, Michael Caine (replacing the original image of Marilyn Monroe, which couldn't be used for legal reasons) and the seven dwarfs from Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.

Blake also revealed that the final cover wasn't the original one. That design featured an image of the shop 'Granny Takes A Trip' on the Kings Road in Chelsea, London.

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On This Day In Oasis History...

The Shock Of The Lightning is a song by British rock band Oasis and is the fourth track from the band's seventh studio album Dig Out Your Soul. The song was released as the first single from the album on 29 September 2008. It received its first airplay on 15 August 2008 on multiple UK and Irish radio stations including the Ian Dempsey Breakfast show on Today FM in Ireland, BBC 6 Music by Shaun Keaveny, and by Chris Moyles on BBC Radio 1. Chris was joined by Noel Gallagher on the 15 August 2008.

Noel said of the song: "If 'The Shock of the Lightning' sounds instant and compelling to you, it’s because it was written dead fast. And recorded dead fast. 'The Shock of the Lightning' basically is the demo. And it has retained its energy. And there’s a lot to be said for that, I think. The first time you record something is always the best”. It was described by NME as "a massively improved version of 'It's Gettin' Better (Man!!)'" and featuring "love is a litany/a magical mystery" as the song's chorus.

The single is the first Oasis song to feature a remix on a studio release. The B-side is a remixed version of the album track "Falling Down" by The Chemical Brothers, who Noel has worked with in the past. However, a promo release of Oasis' cover of "Cum On Feel the Noize" contained the "Lynchmob Beats Mix" of "Champagne Supernova" by Brandon Lynch that was also re-released as a stand alone promo for Stop the Clocks. Consequently this is their first official CD single release that does contain a new track as a B-side.

On 30 July 2008, the official Oasis website posted a Dig Out Your Soul trailer which contained a 23 second clip of the intro to "The Shock of the Lightning" as well as a 20 second clip of the drum solo. On 15 August 2008, the song received it first airplay on the The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 with Noel Gallagher present. Noel said of the song on Shaun Keaveny's Radio 6 show, "It's a driving, pumping, pop, rock 'n' roll masterpiece". In NME, the song was named as 'song of the week' and received a score of 9/10, despite being referred to as "only the fifth best song on Dig Out Your Soul".





















"The Shock Of The Lightning" entered the UK Singles Chart at #3, becoming the band's first lead single since their debut, "Supersonic", to fail to reach #1 in their homeland. However the song reached #12 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart in the USA, making it their most successful single there since "Don't Go Away", which peaked on the chart at #5 in 1998. It also reached #93 on the Billboard Hot 100, their first song to chart on the Hot 100 since "Don't Look Back in Anger" in 1996.



Music video

The music video for the song (directed by Julian House and Julian Gibbs) debuted on the band's official site on 25 August at 17:30 (UK time) and was broadcast on Channel 4 at 23:40. The video depicts Liam singing and the occasional appearance of the rest of the band, intercut with stock footage related to the album's artwork. The opening shot of the video of silhouetted heads is a reference to the cover of the Rolling Stones compilation record Hot Rocks 1964-1971.

Track listing

All songs written by Noel Gallagher.

CD / 7"
"The Shock of the Lightning", 5:02
"Falling Down" (Chemical Brothers remix), 4:32

iTunes / Oasisinet exclusive bundle
"The Shock of the Lightning", 5:02
"Falling Down" (Chemical Brothers remix), 4:32
"The Shock of the Lightning" (music video)

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Happy Birthday Zak Starkey

Zak Starkey, (born 13 September 1965) 50 today is an English drummer, well-known as the first child of The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey) and his first wife Maureen Cox. Starkey is mostly noted for his unofficial membership in The Who, since 1994.

Starkey is the fourth drummer for the rock band The Who, playing with them live and occasionally in the studio. He is also known as being the third drummer for the English rock band Oasis. Starkey has also worked on session and touring basis with artists including: Johnny Marr, Paul Weller, The Icicle Works, the Waterboys, ASAP and the Lightning Seeds.

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On This Day In Oasis History...

"The Importance Of Being Idle" is a song on the British rock band Oasis' sixth album, Don't Believe the Truth, written and sung by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. It was the second single released from the album in the UK, on August 22, 2005, where it debuted at #1. It was also the first time that Oasis earned two successive #1's in the same calendar year. It was written by Gallagher sometime during the summer of 2004, before the band made their final attempt at recording what would become Don't Believe the Truth. He got the title from the Mark Twain book of the same name which he found whilst cleaning out his garage (it belonged not to him but to girlfriend Sara McDonald.)

Musically, as Noel has commented, the song sounds like tunes from two British bands, The Kinks and The La's. In particular, the sentiment expressed is noticeably similar to The Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon" and "Dead End Street", and the use of falsetto for every other verse line recalls The La's "Feelin'". The guitar sound is similar also to The La's b-sides; "Clean Prophet" and "Over". It also is a breakaway from the sound of Oasis's latter albums, especially the straight ahead rock 'n' roll anthems of Heathen Chemistry. The keyboard used on the pre-chorus sections was bought by bassist Andy Bell from the auction website eBay.

Noel has said that the lyrics of "The Importance of Being Idle" are inspired by his own laziness. Some of the second verse, with the reference to begging his doctor for "one more line", seems to be referring to an actual event as this resembles Noel's account of how he gave up cocaine in 1998.





















Most reviewers acclaimed the track as one of the highlights of Don't Believe the Truth, which itself was widely praised as a marked return to form. The band mentioned in interviews in June that it would become the second single, after the UK Number One "Lyla". The b-sides are Liam Gallagher's "Pass Me Down the Wine" and Gem Archer's "The Quiet Ones."



The promo film was directed by Dawn Shadforth, (whose previous videos include Kylie Minogue's award-winning "Can't Get You Out Of My Head"). Shadforth's film for "The Importance of Being Idle' starred Welsh actor Rhys Ifans and homages the style of early 1960s kitchen sink drama British films, and is set during the build up to a funeral procession in a northern town, with the extravagant undertakers parading the coffin at the video's climax and Ifans playing the part of a high-kicking funeral director. The video is based on the film and play Billy Liar with Ifans playing the role of Billy. Noel and Liam therefore play Shadrack & Duxbury, the owners of the funeral parlour where Billy works. The rest band (Gem,Andy and Zak) make a brief appearance as lazy workers playing cards in an undertaker's office. It was widely acclaimed at the time as being probably the best video Oasis had ever made, not least by the band themselves, who were said to be very happy with the finished product. The video is very similar in style and concept to the music video for "Dead End Street" by The Kinks.

Q Magazine readers placed the song at #1 in a list of 2005's greatest tracks.

The video for the song was voted the video of the year at the NME Awards.

The song is included on Oasis' 'best-of' album Stop the Clocks.

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On This Day In Oasis History...

The video below is from August 20th 2005, when Oasis played at the V Festival in Chelmsford, England.




Check out the current collection and offers from Pretty Green here.