On This Day In Oasis History.....

"D'You Know What I Mean?" was the first single from their third album Be Here Now. In the UK, its highest chart position was #1. The song was written by Noel Gallagher.

At the time "D'You Know What I Mean" was released, Oasis were at the height of their fame, and as a result, the single, along with the album, was highly anticipated. Upon its release it was critically and commercially successful, but as was the case with Be Here Now, once the hype died down, the single was seen as bloated and indulgent, embellished with lyrics and guitar parts played backwards and strange morse code and helicopter sound effects. All Music Guide labelled it "Oasis' first boring single".

The song also exhibits some of Noel Gallagher's less admirable songwriting qualities. Many of the lyrics are meaningless and cliched, while the guitar chords on both the verse and the chorus are essentially the same as the chords used for the verse in the Oasis single "Wonderwall" (Em7/G/Dsus4/Asus).

However, the song also shows more of Noel's influences. While the lyrics may seem inane and banal, reference are included to Bob Dylan ("Blood on the tracks must be mine") and The Beatles ("Fool on the hill and I feel fine"). The song also features Led Zeppelin's "wall of guitar" sound as well as a drum loop from N.W.A.

The Morse code in the background translates to include such sayings as "Bugger All", "Pork Pies" and "Strawberry Fields Forever."

However, despite the critical coldness to the A-side, one of the B-sides, "Stay Young", has become a popular Oasis song, so much so that fans voted it onto the B-sides collection The Masterplan - one of only two B-sides from the Be Here Now period which made the album. The song was originally intended to be the "Digsy's Dinner" of Be Here Now (the lighthearted novelty track, such as "She's Electric"), until Noel set it aside in favour of "Magic Pie". Gallagher claims not to be particularly fond of the track.

Cover Information

The single cover photograph, by Michael Spencer Jones and directed by Brian Cannon of Microdot, was taken in front of the Blind Steps, a staircase in Wigan so called because the run past the Blind Workshop, which can be seen to the left of the shot. The steps can still be found on Darlington Street. The shoot was shrouded in secrecy to protect mass media coverage, but newspaper The Wigan Evening Post got exclusive rights to cover the event and subsequently sold the photo's to the Daily Mirror. At a lunchtime break , Liam Gallagher and sleeve designer Brian Cannon enjoyed a pint of beer in the nearby Crispin Arms pub by Birkett Bank.

Source: Extracts taken from Wikipedia

Del Piero Planning Supersonic Final

OASIS star Noel Gallagher will be Alessandro Del Piero's lucky mascot for the World Cup final against France in Berlin.

Gallagher is friends with the Italian striker and has been asked by Del Piero to turn up to the final in exactly the same clothes he was wearing for the semi-final against Germany.

The Oasis songwriter told www.fifaworldcup.com: "The semi-final was the first time I'd seen Italy play and before the game we went to the hotel and Del Piero was a bit upset because he wasn't starting but he then said, `I'm going to come off the bench and score'."

After the game he said I'd become his lucky mascot so I've got to go to the final and wear the exact same clothes and underwear and socks to bring him good luck.

"So I'll be wearing a white T-shirt and dark blue jeans and trainers."Del Piero is a big Oasis fan and once gave the Gallagher brothers a pair of his boots. "I had to split them with Liam - he's got one boot and I've got the other," said Gallagher, who was left dumbfounded by the semi-final in Dortmund. "I've been to a lot of big football matches in my time but I have to say the atmosphere there was just sensational. If I never see another game in my entire life, that will do for me.

"Gallagher is also confident that Italy will win against France.

He added "I think Zidane has played his great game against Brazil because Brazil let him play. He is not going to be allowed to play on Sunday night."

As for Henry, this is going to either be the defining moment in his career where he is going to be absolutely amazing or, as I think, he won't actually get a kick."

source: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Noel Gallagher And Russell Brand Team Up For Charity

Russell Brand and Noel Gallagher are raising money for recovering drug addicts.

The British TV star, who has battled his own addiction to heroin, and the Oasis guitarist have teamed up to hold a charity concert in aid of anti-drugs charity Focus.

Russell, who was helped by the group to overcome his own heroin addiction, and Noel are staging the show in London’s Koko club in November and are hopeful they will be able to raise much-needed funds for the charity.

Russell, who has been dating recovering cocaine addict Kate Moss in recent weeks, said: "I’m doing this thing for recovering junkies, for Focus, a wonderful charity which helped me through my addiction. Me and Noel Gallagher and Dirty Pretty Things are doing a gig at Koko in November, everyone should come along."

source: www.femalefirst.co.uk

10 Year Anniversary Of Oasis At Knebworth

Ten years ago Oasis played the biggest gigs of their career taking over Hertfordshire stately home Knebworth House for a weekend (August 10-11, 1996).

In the course of the weekend, the Mancunians played for 250,000 people, at the time a record, confirming their then dominance of the British music scene.

With the band supported over the two nights from the likes of Manic Street Preachers, The Charlatans (playing their first gig following keyboard player Rob Collins' death in a road accident) and The Prodigy among others, the event was one of the defining moments of the Britpop years.

Now NME is looking to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Oasis at Knebworth - and we need you.

Email your stories, memories - and if you can scan them - pictures from the weekend to features@nme.com with Knebworth as the subject and the best will feature in a special edition of NME coming this August.

Source: http://www.nme.com/

Noel Obsessed With Buying Sports Shoes

Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher recently confessed he has become addicted to buying sports shoes since giving up drugs.

The millionaire rocker is particularly obsessed with vintage Adidas sneakers.

He said: "Since I gave up being a professional drug user, I've always got to be addicted to buying something and Adidas trainers have become my vice.

"I don't know how many I've got - hundreds."

Source: FemaleFirst

Peggy Tells The Boys To Fatten Up!

The Gallagher brothers have been told to "fatten up" by their worried mother.

Liam and Noel have been summoned home to Burnage, Manchester by mum Peggy, who has become concerned with the stars' new fitness regimes.

Peggy saw a picture of Liam in a glossy magazine, prompting her to call her sons and tell them what she thought, according to The Sun.

A friend said: “Peggy is a typical northern mum and wants her lads to look big and strong. She is terrified they will start wasting away. Peggy got straight on the phone to tell Liam and Noel to come home for a homemade dinner and ‘none of that poncy muck you get in London.’

Source: Digital Spy

On This Day In Oasis History.....

"Sunday Morning Call" is taken from the band's fourth studio album Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants and was released as the third and final single from that album on 3 July 2000, peaking at #4 in the UK charts. The song is written and sung by Noel Gallagher, who took over lead vocal from brother Liam Gallagher on an A-side for the first time since "Don't Look Back in Anger" in 1996.

Though the song has the same anthemic feel that popularised many Oasis songs, and departs from the psychedelic feel of "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants", which had been poorly received by critics, it received a mixed critical reception. NME described it as "a dreary thing indeed", whereas All Music Guide described it as a "self-consciously mature departure from the group's usual ebullience... a deliberately mellow, mid-tempo [song]".

The music video is a take on the Jack Nicholson film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, with characters resembling McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. It was filmed in an old mental institution in Vancouver, Canada and features Scottish actor James Cunningham, who has previously starred in the original play of Trainspotting. Unlike the film, the video begins with the McMurphy character escaping his home and giving chase to the authorities, and ends in a football match. While the inmates celebrate a victory, Oasis are seen watching from the asylum window, and Noel Gallagher makes a 'wanker' hand gesture at Cunningham.

As "Carry Us All" and "Full On" are also sung by Noel, this is the only Oasis single thus far not to feature Liam Gallagher singing.

Source: Extracts taken from Wikipedia

On This Day In Oasis History.....

Heathen Chemistry was the fifth studio released album by British rock band Oasis, released on the 1st of July 2002 . It marked a return to form for the group as it sold over 1 million copies in the UK and about 3.7 million worldwide as of 2006.

The album was recorded during 2001 and early-2002, and was the first album written and recorded with the two new members, bassist Andy Bell and rhythm guitarist Gem Archer. With Gem Archer and Andy Bell writing one track each, and Liam Gallagher contributing three, it signalled the end of Noel Gallagher songs dominating Oasis albums.

Heathen Chemistry was received more warmly than the previous two Oasis albums, Be Here Now & Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants by both fans and critics alike. The album spawned four singles: The Hindu Times, their 6th number one single in the UK, Stop Crying Your Heart Out, a song made famous as it was played on the BBC when the English football team were knocked out of the World Cup by Brazil, the Double A-Side, sung by Noel - Little by Little / She is Love - and Songbird, the first single written by Liam. This album was the last one to feature the drumming of their longtime sticksman Alan White, who left in early 2004.

The release of the album was overshadowed by an Internet leak of all 11 tracks almost three months prior to release. However, listeners of the commercially released album heard slight differences to two tracks, "Little By Little" and "Better Man".

The title of the album, according to Noel, came from a T-Shirt he saw in a second hand shop which featured a logo reading, "The Society Of Heathen Chemists". Similarly, the name of the first single "The Hindu Times" originated from a logo on a t-shirt that read the same thing, which Noel saw during a photo shoot for GQ's 100 Greatest Guitarists edition. The name was given to the track when it was just an instrumental, as all the instrumentals of this album where given actual titles as opposed to "Instrumental 1" etc, and the name stuck once the track was finished.

Source: Extracts taken from Wikipedia