Levine Thanks Gallagher For Derisory Comments

Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine was flattered to be on the receiving end of British rockers Oasis' derisory comments - as the bad words raised the band's profile in the U.K.

Outspoken Oasis star Noel Gallagher took offence at having to share the stage with the American group at English festival V in August 2005, saying, "If we had a hand in picking the bill, Maroon 5 wouldn't be on it."

But the This Love singer has thanked Gallagher for criticising the band, as he believes his comments have helped make Maroon 5 more popular.

He says, "You go to England and it's different - depending on who's after you there. "Oasis said some things about us but the most flattering thing you can get being an American band coming to England, is something from Oasis, so thank you, Noel, for hating me, you've validated my existence."

Source: www.contactmusic.com

Shockwaves NME Awards Host Catches Oasis Man's Eye

Oasis's Noel Gallagher has reacted to former Shockwaves NME Awards host Russell Brand's declaration of love for the guitarist.

In celebration of Gallagher's 40th birthday, which takes place on May 29, Brand posed wearing a garland round his neck with the legend: "Noel I love you too".

The Oasis star said: "The boy's desperate cries for love are pathetic, yet strangely compelling. I thought we had a strictly platonic relationship based on nothing more than our rapier-like wit and a mutual lusting for my missus."

He told The Sun: "Seems all along he's just wanted to use me like one of his blow-up dolls. I'm disgusted yet strangely intrigued."

Source: www.nme.com

Seven Ages Of Rock

The website for the series the Seven Ages Of Rock that starts on BBC2 on May 19th has opened here.

The site also also has a page on Oasis (here) with part of an exclusive interview with Noel Gallagher and lots more.

Episode 7/ What The World Is Waiting For Indie 1980/2007
Saturday 30th June, 9PM BBC 2

The story of British indie, beginning with The Smiths, the archetypal indie group. The film follows The Stone Roses as the heirs to the indie crown, Suede's dark sexuality and the media saturation of Brit-pop's Blur v Oasis.

What The World Is Waiting For explores how indie ultimately lost its once cherished intimacy and integrity in front of 250,000 fans at Oasis's Knebworth spectacle in 1996 and how, by returning to its roots in clubs and bars (and even front rooms) with bands such as Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines and The Arctic Monkeys, indie became respectable again.


Sebastian Barfield Director/Producer Of The Show

"Back in April 2006, I found myself in the plush basement of a Chelsea boutique hotel, with a film crew, waiting to interview Noel Gallagher. He was due to be turn up at 11am, but we were ready half an hour early. While I used the time to redraft my questions for the nineteenth time, I overheard my colleagues chatting about the mid-90s moment when the man we were waiting for 'owned' British rock.

Tony, the film's researcher, had worked next door to Oasis' old record company, Creation, in Primrose Hill and recalled seeing the legendary indie label balloon in size as the millions started rolling in. Desperate for extra staff, the label employed his girlfriend.

Louis Caulfield, our camera-man, had done his first ever day of paid work as runner on the band's first video: a task that apparently involved keeping them constantly supplied with alcohol and their favoured flavour of herbal refreshment.

Less glamorously, I had spent the heady years of Brit-pop working at a Birmingham call centre, and it was there in 1996 that I had spent a frantic day manning the phones, taking credit card details from anxious fans desperate to secure tickets to Oasis' statement shows at Knebworth. It was a short day for me - within hours, tickets for what was already being dubbed the biggest concert in British history had all gone.

It struck me that in the mid-90s Oasis had presided over their own mini-economy. Of the four thirty-somethings waiting for Noel that morning, two of us had indirectly worked for him, another's girlfriend had worked for him. The only person untainted by the Gallagher shilling was our Russian sound-recordist who had been in the former Soviet Union.

I was interviewing Noel about the "over-grounding" of British indie - something for which his band was largely responsible. In approaching the film, I hadn't dared attempt a dutiful chronicle of British indie scene from the late 70s to the present day - we would need an entire series to do justice to that story. Rather, I narrowed my focus to show the trajectory of the music through a few key bands from the mid-80s onward - The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Suede, Blur, Oasis, The Libertines - and in the process show that what happened to the "indie" scene in the 90s was similar to how Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd took "underground" music into stadiums in the 1970s.

When Noel turned up, he was on time, funny, and only started swearing when the camera was switched on. He held court for two hours. My main memory is of biting my tongue hard during some of his stories, so that my guffaws wouldn't appear. As he shook my hand to say goodbye, he told me he could have kept talking all day.

When I look back at Noel's interview and the 12 year-old old archive of Blur and Oasis, there's a clear sense that Britpop coincided with the end of the rock industry's glory days.

Top of The Pops was still the important shop window for a band as it had been in the 60s; the internet was yet to happen, and the record industry was awash with cash. Now, with personal play-lists, digital radio, and iTunes, everything has fragmented. In the last ten years something has definitely changed, and we are in a new era of rock that is still taking shape.

Noel is clearly aware of this. In his interview he said: "Back in the 90s there was so much money floating about it was unbelievable. I remember us being invited to bashes in proper stately homes. We were getting f***ing DVDs given to us... These days you're lucky if you get a f***ing Christmas card."

A band becomes a phenomenon when people who couldn't care less about music start talking about them; when their success somehow defines a cultural moment in the life of the nation. What's interesting about Oasis isn't that they were a British rock phenomenon - that can't be disputed - but the fact that they were possibly the last."

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Now It's Time For Noel Gal-agher

Noel Gallagher choked on his Coco Pops yesterday when he saw a bikini-clad Russell Brand camping it up on my page and declaring his love for the Oasis star.

Russ was about to text his snap to pal Noel for his 40th birthday. Daubed on the comic’s belly was: “Noel, I love you too” – and round his neck was a garland.

The Bizarre Shagger Of The Year 2006 also quipped he fancies becoming top gay swordsman – and claiming Noel as his first scalp.

I thought we had a strictly platonic relationship based on nothing more than our rapier-like wit and a mutual lusting for my missus.

“Seems all along he’s just wanted to use me like one of his blow-up dolls. I’m disgusted yet strangely intrigued.”

Now I fear Noel’s intrigue could lead to curiosity – and another rash picture. Russ is in Hawaii filming rom-com Forgetting Sarah Marshall, directed by Nicholas Stoller.

So my artist boffins have mocked up the sort of Noel snap Russ might expect on his mobile soon . .

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

In My Opinion... Oasis

Nowaysis… we debate Noel's options.

Noel Gallagher has rightly earned himself a reputation as an 'elder statesman of rock'. His role as the wise and witty leader of Oasis is as much a part of the rock and roll establishment as Keith Richard's resilience, Johnny Borell's arrogance and younger brother Liam's petulance.

With an ability to write tunes that will hammer through your skull, perforate your soul and tattoo themselves on your heart, Noel is the driving force behind the band that helped define the 90s, and he has demonstrably proven throughout the course of Oasis' 13 years in the spotlight that he is the pivotal point of inspiration, not just for the music, but for everything. Their style, their sound, their ethos, the very core of all that binds them together, and that makes them carry on because he knows that in the end its all worthwhile.

But in a recent interview with the NME the leader of one of the greatest bands to ever roar out of Manchester revealed that he may be preparing to embark on a solo career. The question is, should that eponymous chapter of the Brit pop book, the one where Oasis finally disband, ever really be written? And do the fans - and more pressingly Noel himself - even want it to be written?

Definitely Maybe is considered by many to be one of the best, if not the greatest, debut albums of all time. When it was matched, and arguably bettered, in 1996 by second album (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, it seemed that the musical machine that was Oasis, with cigarettes and alcohol on their lips, whisky in their hands and fire in their guitars, was unstoppable.

However, many fans were disappointed one year later with Be Here Now, the cocaine fuelled third offering from the boys from Burnage, laden with seemingly endless guitar solos and a far cry from the hype. Similarly, the fourth and fifth albums - Standing on the Shoulders of Giants and Heathen Chemistry - did little to quell the general feeling of unease surrounding the creativity in the Gallagher camp. Thankfully, in 2005, with a new album cheesily titled Don't Believe the Truth, the band seemed to have found their feet again.

Speaking to the NME in that interview, he said: "I've actually got a backlog of songs that are slowly building up. The thing about a solo record is the time to do one is between Oasis world tours because you'd have a good couple of years.

"But it takes me so long to write the songs that eventually I run out of time (before Oasis begins again), but I've got a backlog now of about four or five songs which are probably too far in the past as far as the band in concerned, but which could work on my record... it's coming."

But is it really? A statement on Oasis' official website, issued to put a halt to rumours of Noel's impending solo stardom, bluntly reads: "Noel Gallagher is not preparing to launch into a solo career.

"Noel [and] Gem have had a great time performing their semi acoustic shows recently and will continue to do so when it feels like a good idea."

Noel has steadily built up a strong reputation as a top notch solo performer. His recent outings at the Teenage Cancer Trust concerts were applauded by all corners of the music press, and rightly so. Warm and engaging, he held the audience in the palm of his hand and turned out classic hit after classic hit, many of which would never dare to surface on the set list of an Oasis gig.

It could be very easy for Noel to follow the path taken by his friend and inspirational musician Paul Wellar, whose departure from the Jam and dalliance with the Style Council was anything but the best thing that ever happened to many of his fans. However, years later he crept back onto the scene as a solo artist and now the Modfather commands a level of reverence reserved for the musical elite.

But the problem with Noel is, he is Oasis. His presence in the group provides the perfect juxtaposition for Liam, both on stage and on record. Watching Noel perform is clearly never going to be an unpleasant experience, but at the same time it's never going to get your adrenalin pumping and your spirit soaring like an evening spent with the complete line-up. His solo shows are a chance to air the songs that never normally get played live and undeniably that is an experience in itself which hopefully will continue as a superb side project. But you'd be hard pressed to find one Oasis fan who'd rather watch Noel sing Round Our Way than see Oasis sing Live Forever.

Because even though their old songs that you've heard a million times before will always be there best, the Gallagher charm, with Liam's voice all Sex Pistol's swagger and Noel's guitar playing all Smith's-esque steadiness, which will always make them special. Their newer and decidedly lesser impressive songs will always be forgiven for a rousing rendition of Supersonic.

So what of a Noel solo album? Well, it goes without saying that any record from the man responsible for some of the greatest tunes ever written, and with a perhaps unequalled adeptness for 'borrowing' from other artists, would be worth a listen or two.

But Noel is no fool. He may have come a long way from the MTV unplugged show which he self-depreciatingly conceded as a performance where he "died on stage", but he'll never stray too far from the band that catapulted him onto the world's stage in the first place. With eight songs all ready under his belt for the next album, he will hopefully bring the band another step closer back to the greatness of the mad for it, supernova heights, Wonderwall era, even if he does fit in a semi-acoustic offering along the way.

In the world's best B-side, the Masterplan, Noel asserts that "it's up to us to make the best of all the things that come our way". So, should Noel go solo? Definitely. Maybe.

Laura Topp

Source: www.inthenews.co.uk

On This Day In Oasis History

"Lyla" was the first single from British band Oasis' sixth album Don't Believe the Truth, released on May 16 2005.

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". Noting the varied influences of the song, Gallagher says that it's "a bit like... The Soundtrack of Our Lives doing The Who on Skol in a psychedelic city in the sky, or something".

However critics have argued that "Lyla" is perhaps more than simply influenced by other bands, noting the striking similarities between the song and "Confrontation Camp" by The Soundtrack of Our Lives and to a lesser extent "Street Fighting Man" by the Rolling Stones. The first line of the song reinforces the notion that the song was also partially inspired by The La's.

Noel has also revealed that the Lyla in the song is actually the sister of the Sally mentioned in the Oasis single "Don't Look Back in Anger".

Admitting that he isn'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.

Noel 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 1998.

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.

The song leaked on the internet during late March 2005, weeks before its May release date, after an unauthorised early airing on Polish radio station Radiowej Trójce.

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

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

Watch the music video Here, and a live performance Here.

Source: Wikipedia

This D**k Looks Like A Chick

I’ve discovered an early 40th birthday present winging its way to Noel Gallagher.

This terrifying picture of comic Russell Brand in a bikini and Hawaiian garland is being sent to the legend’s mobile as we speak.

Noel is a big fan of Russell’s Radio 2 show and during a recent phone-in jokingly declared his love for the loudmouth.

Now Russ – in Hawaii filming the St Trinian’s remake – is having a belly laugh of his own by scrawling on his tum: “Noel, I love you too.” The tiny cossie shows off fake love bites and an Ecstasy tattoo.

Russ is so proud of his Bizarre Shagger Of The Year 2006 title that he joked to me: “Now I’ve triumphed in the heterosexual division it’s time to focus on the gay league. Winning that is all that could top Hammers’ escape from Premiership relegation.

“Noel is the perfect scalp to get me started then I’ll turn to Liam.”

Good luck, Russ, but I hope Noel doesn’t now raid the knickers drawer of his lovely girlfriend Sara MacDonald.

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Guests For Soccer AM This Week

Sky Sports One (UK) 9AM-12PM

Joining Tim Lovejoy and Helen Chamberlain on the show this week Noel Gallagher, Hard-Fi, Ian Holloway and celebrity soccerette Gemma Atkinson.

More On The Seven Ages Of Rock

The Seven Ages of Rock
6 x 60 mins & 1 x 90 mins
Starting Saturday May 19th - Saturday 30th June, BBC TWO at 9pm

BBC 2 takes you on a journey through the Seven Ages of Rock and explores the music that has been the soundtrack to our popular culture and defined each generation since the 1960's. From the producers of award winning series Dancing in the Street, Walk on By, Lost Highway and, most recently, Soul Deep, comes another landmark television history that will chart the story of rock music from the suburb to the stadium, from the crackly '45 to the MP3 download. Along the way, rock's greatest performers, singers, writers and producers tell us how rock emerged, grew, strengthened and gave voice to each new generation.

2007 sees rock music at its healthiest state since the 1970's. Despite numerous predictions that 'rock is dead', it has survived. Fans are attending more gigs and more festivals than ever before and the guitar is definitely back as the weapon of choice. The UK alone has nurtured a rich new crop of rock bands over the last 5 years, each one building on the solid foundation and heritage of the past, creating a vibrant and promising legacy for the future.

Seven Ages of Rock will, though the prism of a central wrap-around artist or group, explore a key era in rock. From the UK electric blues boom, via the psychedelic rock of the late 60's; from the 70's punk explosion and on to the rise of grunge and indie rock in the 1980's and beyond, this series tells story of each age through the music itself: breaking down key tracks, getting behind the songs and ideas and providing a social context for the progression of the music. With contributions from some of the biggest names in rock, the series will set a new standard in heritage music television.

1. The Road to Woodstock – The rock revolution of the 1960's as seen through the life and music of Jimi Hendrix. We see how he became the first, ultimately doomed, icon of rock; from delta blues man, Dylan-esque poet and the technological prophet, Hendrix was the synthesis of everything that had gone before him and all that was to come. This episode also explores the influence of rhythm &blues on a generation of British musicians such as The Rolling Stones, Cream and The Who and how the song-writing of Bob Dylan and studio developments of The Beatles transformed the possibilities and ambitions of rock.

2. Between Rock And an Art Place – How rock became a vehicle for artistic ideas and theatrical performance. From the pop-art multi-media experiments of Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground to the sinister gentility of Peter Gabriel's Genesis, this episode will trace the story of how artistic and conceptual expression permeated rock. We follow Pink Floyd from the fated art school genius of Syd Barrett via the global success of Dark Side of the Moon to the ultimate rock theatre show – The Wall. Along the way, the film will explore the retro-futurism of Roxy Music and the protean world of David Bowie.

3. Blank Generation – A tale of two cities, London and New York and the bands that emerged from the dispossessed, the lost, the angry: the blank generation. Each city gave birth to a bastard child that would be the biggest and fundamental shift in popular music since Elvis walked into Sun Studios 20 years previously - punk. Through the scorched earth music of The Sex Pistols, 'Blank Generation' will unpick the relationship between the bankrupt New York and the class and race-riven London of the mid-1970's and explores the music of The Clash, Ramones, Television, Patti Smith, The Damned and Buzzcocks.

4. Never Say Die – The longest surviving genre in rock, certainly the loudest, Heavy Metal is a worldwide phenomenon. With no intention of going away, metal has been the most controversial and misunderstood of all rock genres. Emerging at the tail end of the hippy dream, from the rust belt of industrial England, heavy metal would go on to conquer the world, securing in the process the most loyal fan base of all. With Black Sabbath as the undisputed Godfathers, we follow their highs and lows, and, along the journey, meet Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Metallica.

5. Global Jukebox – The film follows the development of some the biggest names in Rock in the 70s and 80s (among them Queen, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Police and Dire Straits) and examines how - with events such as Live Aid and the rise of MTV - Rock achieved a global influence on culture and politics. The film will show how, in the early 90s, U2 effectively brought this era to a close, re-imagining what it meant to be a successful rock band, and reinventing the big rock show so completely that fifteen years later most major rock tours are still pale facsimiles of Zoo TV and Popmart.

6. The Last Rock Star – the rise of alternative rock in the USA. We trace the history of the American underground music scene that launched the careers of bands like REM, Nirvana and The Pixies and explore the influence of unsung pioneers like Black Flag and Husker Du. We explore why the bands that emerged from the underground offered an alternative both to the established music industry and the prevailing politics of the Reagan era and why their music resonated with the Generation X audience in search of songs that reflected their lives and articulated their hopes and fears. We'll see how alternative bands began to enjoy greater popularity in the early 90s, with REM breaking into the mainstream charts with 'Losing My Religion', and we'll take a fresh look at the explosion of the Seattle 'grunge' scene, culminating in the success of Nirvana's 'Nevermind' and the short life and tragic death of Kurt Cobain – an artist whose triumph and tragedy continues to cast an inescapable shadow.

7. What the World is Waiting For – British Indie music was once seen as the bastion of the over earnest 'High Fidelity' snob who would sneer at chart success. Often political in its stance, indie was a way of defining oneself in a sea of ersatz pop and vapid chart fodder. Not tied to the corporate dollar of the majors, the indie label was the redoubt against the forces of mediocrity and was a precious source of integrity and honesty. A generation would find meaning in the music of The Smiths, the archetypal indie group of the 1980's. Lyrically adroit and melodically commanding, they would foment a dedicated following around the world. However, they split on the brink of huge success and the identity of indie rock would undergo a profound transformation. From the Stone Roses, the heir manqué of the indie music crown, via Suede's dark sexuality and the media saturation of Brit-pop's Blur v Oasis, indie was now a marketing device, ultimately losing any of it's once cherished intimacy and integrity in front of 250,000 fans at Oasis's Knebworth spectacle in 1996. Indie was mainstream. Indie was dead.
But was it? As the millennium dawned, a new cohort of bands emerged to redefine British indie. By returning to its roots in clubs and bars, even front rooms, indie became respectable again. Once again, it meant something beyond a marketing cliché. From The Libertines to Franz Ferdinand and The Arctic Monkeys, indie labels reconnected to their fans, using both new technology and good old rock n roll to inspire and motivate a new generation to ditch the decks pick up a guitar. Rock is back. But for some, it never went away.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Girls Aloud Singer Sarah Harding Admires Liam Gallagher

Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding has slammed celebs that head to rehab to cure their tearaway tendencies.

Hardened party lass Sarah, 25, says she admires Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, but has no respect for stars that check into clinics...and out of the clubs.

'Only pussies go to rehab,' she tells Glamour. 'I'm a bit of a geezer-bird, but I don't drink pints.'

Wonder if that's a dig at bandmate Nadine Coyle's ex-boyfriend Jesse Metcalfe, 28, who recently received treatment at a rehab clinic in LA?

Source: www.nowmagazine.co.uk

Calling All Fans With Photos & Mobile Phone Clips From 2005 Manchester City Stadium Shows

Did you go to any of the Manchester City Stadium shows in July 2005 ? Do you have any photos or mobile phone clips of your experience either of you and your mates enjoying the day or the band on stage? If so we would be very interested in seeing them for possible inclusion, in an up and coming fan gallery on a forthcoming official Oasis DVD release. You could also be in with a chance to win one of ten advance signed copies of the DVD!

Email oasis_dvd_pic_gallery@yahoo.co.uk and attach the photos and or mobile phone clips you have (no more than 2 photos/clips per person - so pick your best ones!) Photos should be emailed as jpegs the highest resolution you have and mobile phone files should be less than 10 MB ! Please include in your email your contact details including address and daytime contact number. Photos and clips need to be emailed over by Friday 25th May 2007 for consideration.

Good luck you could become an official contributor to this exciting project!

(By entering this competition you agree and confirm that the photographs/video footage (“the Content”) you are supplying are your copyright and do not infringe on the rights of others, that you are free to grant and do grant us the rights to exploit the Content in the manner described in the competition terms and conditions and that the opportunity to win the competition is sufficient consideration for the rights granted herein. You acknowledge that we are under no obligation to use the Content.

Winners of the signed DVD's will be picked randomly from all the submissions and notified by email on or before September 9th 2007. The judges decision is final.)

Source: www.oasisinet.com

Q Radio Presents Oasis

Tune into Stadium Q 9pm on 27 May to hear the band recorded live in concert on the There And Then tour. Q Radio available at

Freeview 716, Virgin Media 878, Sky 0181 and www.home.q4music.com

Source: Q Magazine

Noel Gallagher On Soccer AM Next Week

Noel Gallagher is once again appearing as a guest on Soccer AM on Sky Sports 1 next Saturday.

Hard-Fi are also on the show along with a celebrity soccerette!

The show starts at 9AM (GMT)

Ride To Reform?

Ride are the latest band to hit the reunion trail, following the recent reformations of other indie icons the Jesus and Mary Chain.

Ride fronted by Andy Bell and Mark Gardener were at the forefront of the shoegazing scene until the band's disintegration in 1996.

Members of the group have pursued various musical pursuits since the band's split, most notably Andy Bell who formed the short-lived Hurricane#1, and then went on to become a permanant bassist for Oasis.

Mark Gardner has also toured extensivley as a solo artist, whilst drummer Laurence Colbert has been drumming with the newly reformed Jesus and Mary Chain.

Ride are tipped to play the North By Northeast Music and Film Festival in Toronto, Canada. The festival takes place June 7-10.

There is no word yet whether Ride will play any UK dates, though a live DVD is being planned for release soon.

Source: www.uncut.co.uk

NME Article

Ride have denied reports they are about to reform.

Reports appeared in the press today (May 11) that the shoegazing stalwarts would reunite for Canadian festival NXNE, plus stage UK dates and release a DVD.

However NME.COM has spoken to the group's management who denied Ride are about to reform, saying there was no truth in the stories.

"This point in time would be the least likely for this kind of thing to happen - they're all very busy at the moment with individual commitments and very full schedules," explained the group's manager Dave Newton. "Having said that, if the organisers of NXNW want to get in touch with an offer, I'd have to put it to the boys."

Ride formed in Oxford in 1988 and were signed to Creation, before splitting in 1996.

Bandmember Andy Bell now plays bass in Oasis, Mark Gardener solo material is available from Soniccathedral.co.uk, while drummer Loz Collbert is currently playing drums with The Jesus And Mary Chain.

Source: www.nme.com

Syd Barrett Tribute Concert

The late, great Syd Barrett will be given a posthumous tribute at London’s Barbican venue. Or, in the words of the promoters, Syd’s spirit will be “invoked.” No less than producer/author Joe Boyd (profiled in the current, May, issue of HARP, incidentally) along with Nick Laird-Clowes are producers of the even, that will include such storied guests as Kevin Ayers, Vashti Bunyan, Chrissie Hynde and Robyn Hitchcock.

Here’s the breakdown, courtesy of the Barbican:

The spirit of Syd Barrett is invoked by an all-star line-up of music and lights. The many guests include Kevin Ayers, The Bees, Vashti Bunyan, Mike Heron, Robyn Hitchcock, Chrissie Hynde, Captain Sensible, Sense of Sound choir+ more tbc. The house band includes, Andy Bell on bass (Oasis), Simon Finley on drums (Echo & The Bunnymen), Ted Barnes on guitar (Beth Orton).

Syd Barrett was an eccentric genius and the founding member of Pink Floyd, and his creative legacy and quintessential English vocal delivery has proven remarkably influential. An obscure figure whose life-long struggle with mental illness shortened his creative period in music to only 7 years, however during that short time such classics as Arnold Layne and See Emily Play and Floyds first album The Piper at The Gates of Dawn were all written and recorded. Recently David Bowie, Bobby Gillespie, Brian Eno and Jimmy Page have all paid personal tribute to the 'Crazy Diamond'.

Lighting Design by Peter Wynne Willson
Producers, Joe Boyd, Nick Laird-Clowes
Plus Rare film footage, and projections of Syd Barrett's paintings.
Produced by the Barbican

For more details—you might want to inquire about plane flights to London first, of course—go to the official Barbican website.

Meanwhile, Mr. Boyd emailed us to let us know of an article he wrote about Syd titled “Syd Barrett: The king of freak London.” You can read it online at Britain’s Independent website

Source: www.harpmagazine.com

Vote For Oasis In The KROQ 'Best Bands Of All Time'

This Memorial Day weekend, KROQ counts down the 106.7 Biggest KROQ Bands of All Time, as decided by you. Vote for your three favorite bands, and you'll be entered to win a pair of tickets to the KROQ Weenie Roast Y Fiesta.

For more information click here

Source: www.kroq.com

Kasabian Slam British Fans

Kasabian guitarist Serge Pizzorno has slammed British fans who liken the band to their musical predecessors The Stone Roses, Oasis and Primal Scream.

The star believes fans in other countries accept the band for their rock prowess without drawing comparisons with similar groups.

He says, "The foreign fans listen to the music more and don't call us The Stone Roses or anything. "I think they get us for who we are, especially in France and places like that. There's no baggage like in the UK."

Source: www.contactmusic.com

What Happened To Rock Under Blair?

What has been the predominant musical sound during Tony Blair's premiership? You might disagree, but I'd plump for what one critic recently dubbed mortgage rock: the portentous, wistful, stadium-filling, ballad-heavy, post-Britpop genre that gets played in the background when an English team gets knocked out of an international sporting tournament, or an unsuccessful X-Factor hopeful collapses weeping into the arms of Kate Thornton. In fairness, it wasn't really around when Blair took office, although the records that influenced it were: Wonderwall, OK Computer, The Drugs Don't Work. For the entirety of this decade it's been, for better or worse, the sine qua non of British rock: you would think the record-buying public would be sick of it by now, seven years after Coldplay's debut, but no. They keep buying it: it was Snow Patrol, not the Arctic Monkeys, who made the best-selling album of last year.

What does its predominance tell you about the Blair years? You could argue that it's rock music as light entertainment, with all the edges sanded off: it's not furiously angry or inconsolably upset or wildly nihilistic in its pursuit of fun. It's the sound of economic prosperity. There's something about it that suggests a vague sense of melancholy, or dissatisfaction, as if things haven't turned out quite the way people expected.

The one thing rock and pop music hasn't done much in the Blair years is protest. Plenty of artists have political causes, but they don't seem to write many songs about them. Chris Martin wants to Make Trade Fair, but he clearly feels it's more expedient to write that on his hand than to sing about it on a Coldplay album. Dozens of artists recently put their name to a CND advert decrying the replacement of Trident - everyone from Razorlight and Kaiser Chiefs to rappers Sway and Roots Manuva - but I'd bet none of them write a song about it. You could have argued that a lot of the big, contentious issues during the Blair years don't really make for striking protest songs: the most skilled songwriter would be hard pushed to come up with something catchy about top-up fees or City Academies or Private Finance Initiative. More surprising is the fact that there hasn't been a British equivalent of, say, Green Day's American Idiot - a huge band delivering a rip-roaring, fuck-you, call-to-arms about the war in Iraq. The biggest British band that regularly express dissent with the government are Radiohead, but they don't sound angry so much as at best, terribly disappointed and at worst, utterly defeated: brilliant and moving as Thom Yorke's song about the suicide of Dr David Kelly, Harrowdown Hill is, it's hardly a stirring man-the-barricades anthem.

I wonder if rock music apparently losing its power or will to protest has anything to do with the way New Labour so successfully pursued its support in the mid-90s. If you're looking for a definitive image of rock in that decade, you could do worse than the shot of Noel Gallagher shaking hands with the PM. It's hard for something to retain its anti-establishment cachet when it's effectively been co-opted by the government.

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Andy Bell Of Oasis Thinks Alex Turner Of The Arctic Monkeys Is Playing A Cute Game

"They're obviously very young," says Bell. "Everyone goes on about that, as if you can't be smart and young. But you only have to listen to Alex's lyrics to know he is very smart.

I don't think he avoids the press because he's shy, but because they know they're not that kind of band.

You can put Liam or Noel (Gallagher) in front of a camera, and they're great. But Alex is never going to be like that.

So he avoids it, without being boring - like what they did at the Brits when they dressed up. I think they're doing everything right: the second album's out only a year after the first, which is a genius move."

Source: The Independent

Happy Birthday Paul McGuigan (Guigsy)

Paul McGuigan (born 9 May 1971 in Manchester), better known by his nickname, Guigsy (pronounced "Gwigzee"), was one of the four founding members of British rock band Oasis. He was the bass player for Oasis from 1991 to 1999 and is 36 today.

A staunch football fan and a life-long supporter of Manchester City F.C., Guigsy had originally shown great promise as a footballer. He would regularly play football at Ewood Park, which was also frequented by future band mates Noel Gallagher and Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs. However, a torn knee ligament at 16 years of age put this dream out of the question. Whilst still with Oasis, he and journalist Paolo Hewitt wrote a book about football player Robin Friday, entitled The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw (ISBN 1-85158-909-0). Guigsy was renowned for his encyclopaedic knowledge of football and cricket. In an interview for a BBC Radio 1 documentary in 1995, Guigsy described his favourite magazine as being FourFourTwo.

The Rain and Oasis (1991–1999)

In the late 1980s, Guigsy started a band with his friends, Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar), Tony McCarroll (drums) and Chris Hutton (lead vocals). They called themselves "The Rain", after the Beatles B-side. When Hutton quit, Guigsy invited his school friend, Liam Gallagher, to join. Gallagher suggested changing the band’s name to Oasis. Liam's brother Noel joined shortly thereafter.

Even in the mid-1990s, with the band's popularity at its zenith, he remained characteristically reserved. Acknowledged as the "Quiet One", there are very few recorded interviews with him at all. Noel Gallagher said of his bass player "I think he's spoken to me, and this is no word of a lie, since I was 17—thirteen years—for a total of about an hour. All he says is sweet as and alright. That's all." Though a competent bassist, Guigsy was often replaced by Noel Gallagher on the bands early recordings. However, there is no sign that the two were on edge as was the case with McCarroll, whom Gallagher would also often replace.

Guigsy, unlike the rest of the band, has only a handful of notable instances of unruly behaviour (including being locked in a cell with Liam on a ferry to the Netherlands, and subsequently being denied access to the country). Paolo Hewitt has suggested he "had a much more valuable role to play as a calming influence." There certainly is evidence to merit this claim. During the recording of their debut album, Definitely Maybe, it was Guigsy who, after a dispute with Bonehead, took Noel to the pub, filled him with booze and then accompanied him back to the studio where the band then recorded "Slide Away". Additionally, when Liam had to attend a court trial for unruly behaviour in Australia in 1998, it was Guigsy who, amid the chaos and mayhem that descended on the tour, gathered the entire party for a game of football in the local park.

He met Ruth Tolhurst on a plane whilst the band were on their way to Japan for a series of gigs on September 1994. They entered a long-term relationship. Guigsy left Oasis for a short time in 1995 due to nervous exhaustion. Ian Robertson, who was Oasis' tour manager at the time, puts this down—in part—to Liam Gallagher's vitriolic attacks, stating "more than anybody, Liam's venom poison surrounds him." He was replaced by Scott McLeod (who can be seen in the "Wonderwall" video). However, after McLeod's disappearance in the middle of an American tour, Guigsy agreed to return (it later emerged that McLeod had become homesick and left without telling anybody). His first gig back in the band was a legendary show Blackpool on 2 October 1995 — the same day that (What's the Story) Morning Glory? was released.

Post-Oasis (1999–present)

When, in 1999, Bonehead quit the band after a drunken row with Noel, it seemed probable that, due to his nervous disposition, it was only a matter of time before Guigsy would follow him; indeed, a few weeks later, he left Oasis for the second and last time. He claimed he wished to spend more time with his family and that he had been toying with the idea of quitting anyway, a proposition he began considering as far back as the Be Here Now tour, during which Ruth (whom he married 4th April 1997 on the island of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean) gave birth to his first son, Patrick. Though he was present at the birth, within a week he was forced to leave them for the tour. In an interview on August 2001, Guigsy stated: "At the time, I thought, I'll make one more album, play one more world tour and then that will be it. But when Bonehead left, I thought, 'Now's the time.' One original member has gone. They are going to have to get a replacement so the best thing would be to get another at the same time. I always said when it stopped being fun I would quit. And that's what happened." Noel Gallagher claims Guigsy quit by fax, and would avoid phone calls from the Gallaghers in the following weeks. Though he eventually gave up trying to contact him by phone Noel claims to bare no malice towards Guigsy.

Guigsy presently lives outside London with his wife and son. He occasionally performs as a DJ. He declined to appear in the 2004 Definitely Maybe DVD, though a polite letter explaining his reasons for doing so appears as a hidden extra, along with a short segment with pundits giving their views on him.

Source: Wikipedia