Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs, born 23 June 1965, Burnage, Manchester, England and is one of the founding members of English rock group Oasis and rhythm guitar player from 1991-1999.
He is almost exclusively known by his nickname Bonehead, a reference to the short back and sides haircut his father made him have when he was young.
Childhood And Early Musical Career
Arthurs was born in Manchester to Irish Catholic emigrants. His father worked in the demolition industry. Arthurs supports Manchester United.
He left school in 1981 and worked as a plasterer. He started his first band in 1984 -called Pleasure and Pain. Around this time he began a relationship with Kate, who he would later marry. In the late 1980s, while working as a building contractor, he started a band with his friends, Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass), Tony McCaroll (drums) and Chris Hutton (vocals). They called themselves The Rain, after the Beatles' B-side. During this period, Arthurs owned a van which he used to transport the band's equipment to Hutton's garage where they would perform. The van was nicknamed The Bonemobile and was decorated by Guigsy with a psychdelic mural when they took it to The Stone Roses' legendary 1990 gig at Spike Island.
Oasis And Role Therein
When Hutton quit, he was replaced by Liam Gallagher. Liam changed the band's name to Oasis. Gallagher and Arthurs teamed up as co-songwriters. However, the band was still unsuccessful until Gallagher encouraged his brother Noel, who had just come back from travelling the world as a roadie for Inspiral Carpets, to join the band. Noel brought with him a collection of songs that were to make the band famous. Arthurs remembers the first songs Noel played to him being Live Forever and All Around The World.
He claims his favorite Oasis song to play was Columbia as the rhythm guitar part only consists of three chords. However, tour manager Ian Robertson has claimed that the first time Noel performed Champagne Supernova for the rest of the band - an acoustic version on the tour bus - Arthurs broke down and cried.
The Arthurs' front room was used on the iconic cover of Oasis' debut album Definitely Maybe. Arthurs had painted and plastered the room himself.
When Oasis performed the song "Whatever" for Top of the Pops, they mimed and one of the cello players from the symphony was replaced by Arthurs, who clearly had no idea how the instrument is supposed to be played. Towards the end of the song, he gave up the pretense and started using the stick to conduct. A woman plays his rhythm guitar.
Nonetheless, Arthurs is a multi-instrumentalist and is credited as having played piano and mellotron on (What's the Story) Morning Glory? and can be seen on piano in the video for "Don't Look Back in Anger". He was supposed to take lead vocals on one Oasis track, "Bonehead's Bank Holiday" - a jocular ode on the double vinyl issue of (What's the Story) Morning Glory. However, in the end Noel sang the song as Arthurs had been nervous about his first vocal performane and when Liam Gallagher took him for some drinks to calm his nerves they overdid it- samples of their drunken singing were used on the track. Noel claims to enjoy the song for its comedic value "Particularly the way he sings it, because he's beyond tone deaf." He highlights it as Oasis' "Ringo track".
On top of his role as musician he also fulfilled the vital role of band diplomat, saying "If it ever kicked off between Noel and Liam I was never scared to dive in. I was renowned for it."
Although Noel Gallagher has downplayed his relatonship with Arthurs in recent years (claiming to have shared only a few hours of conversation with him in their six years in the same band, a claim he has always made -more convicingly - about Guigsy), he gave rather a different impression in 1995, stating "being in a band with [Bonehead] is not miserable, 'cos that guy is like Peter Sellers and Rigsby combined, with less morals with either of them - he's just outrageous". Noel is also godfather to the Arthurs' first child, Lucy Oasis Arthurs (b. January 23, 1995) and sometimes claims to have written Don't Go Away at Arthurs' request, for Arthurs' mother, Delia, who was dying of cancer at the time.
Post-Oasis
Arthurs left the band in 1999, during the recording of Oasis' fourth album, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. In his official statement he claimed he wanted to spend more time with his family (his first son, Jude Arthurs - named after the Beatles' song Hey Jude - was born August 12, 1997). However, Noel Gallagher claims Arthurs left after a drunken row with Noel regarding a drink and drugs ban set by the band during recording. Noel had intended to ease the recording process by keeping Liam sober, and to make it fair, he insisted the rest of the band do likewise.
Arthurs could not cope and took to taunting Liam, drinking red wine and kicking other crew members doors in the early hours to pour booze over them[citation needed]. When Noel turned the tables and broke into Arthurs' room, waking him up by pouring wine over his head, Arthurs was so angry that he quit. His guitar parts were subsequently re-recorded by Gallagher[citation needed].
Arthurs was replaced by Gem Archer, who was thereafter pointedly referred to as a "professional". The rest of the band downplayed the reaction to his departure, Noel commenting "it's hardly Paul McCartney leaving the Beatles". However, his status in the band was underlined when Guigsy also left, less than a month later, unwilling to continue without him.
Arthurs now lives in Manchester where he has built a studio under his house and formed Moondog One (named after Johnny and the Moondogs, one of the Beatles' former titles, before they rose to fame), which also includes The Smiths' Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke.
As of 2004 Arthurs teamed up with Thai superstar Sek Loso to play rhythm guitar alongside Loso's new English bandmates. The group is touring Asia, Europe, and the US in search of a label deal.
In early 2007 Bonehead had a visible presence in the North West of England for the first time since leaving Oasis 8 years previously. Bonehead's support for Andy Rourke's Versus Cancer fundraising concert saw the pair Busking together in Manchester's Cathedral gardens to raise Cancer awareness and to fundraise for Manchester's Christies Hospital. On March 30th 2007, the Versus Cancer concert was held at Manchester's MEN arena. Bonehead surprisingly played bass guitar (rather than the trademark rhythm guitar from his Oasis days) in a two-song-set early in the night. He was in a band billed as Electric Milk Band, which also featured former members of Happy Mondays amongst others. While Bonehead seemed at ease playing the instrument, it was so quiet that it was virtually inaudible in the mix. He also appeared to lap-up the crowds adulation (chants of "Bonehead" were heard as soon as the band walked onto the stage).
He has been playing DJ sets in clubs, most recently in London. His playlist heavily features Oasis classics like Live Forever, and collaborations between the Gallagher brothers and artists like Death in Vegas and The Chemical Brothers.
He also presents a radio show on BBC Radio Manchester with Terry Christian, Natalie-eve and Michelle Hussey. The show is Manchester Music and has had fellow Manchester Music artists as guests including intastella, members of Happy Mondays, The Smiths and The Charlatans amongst others. The show can be heard on Saturday nights at 10pm.
Source: Wikipedia
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