Greatest Band Of The 90's

10. The Flaming Lips
09. Belle and Sebastian
08. Suede
07. The Happy Mondays
06. Radiohead
05. Wilco
04. The Stone Roses
03. R.E.M.
02. The Verve
01. Oasis

If a band is being judged and understood within the limits of the actual music and songwriting strength, which should obviously be the standards when judging a band, then Oasis is clearly of superlative rank in the history of pop music.

Circumscribed with the 90's itself, there was no songwriter that held the power of song the way Noel Gallagher did. There was no singer that held the vocal power of Liam Gallagher.

There was no band that could be considered as "timeless" in the 90's as Oasis. The amount of good to great songs that lie in Oasis's 90's output is enormous to say the least, so enormous, that some of their good songs seem average compared to their best, and those songs opined as "average" are in most cases, the A-sides of all the lesser bands in the 90's.

How do you define music in the 90's to an alien that flew down to earth and wanted to know about current modes of music? You play "What's the Story Morning Glory" with its massive wall-of-sound guitar space backing vocals so raw yet so mellifluous.

You then go and play "Live Forever" to inculcate the alien with Oasis's ease at defining the 90's with anthemic anodyne, and these are just two great songs within 20-30 more great songs in the Oasis 90's catalogue, and then there are their B-Sides.

What Oasis pass off as "B-sides" would be the best songs for other bands struggling to broach the pop market medium. That a song like "The Masterplan" is a B-side is obfuscating.

That songs like "Underneath the Sky" and "Let's all Make Believe" are left off official albums is astonishing until you're reminded of how great their album songs are too.

Oasis are the most justified band to release a B-Sides record in this history of pop music. Many an Oasis fan would become converted by their B-side album, and all the subsequent B-sides released on new singles.

When Oasis is considered in a typical setting, what is usually covered most is drug interests and in-band fighting which has nothing to do with the music and quality of songwriting.

These accidents while puerily interesting in the moment, will fade away in the aging of a band, and any form of creativity in general. When these "accidents" fade, all that will be left is the band's creative output, and when new generations uncover this desiderate goldmine of songs, Oasis will be fully considered as one of the hallmark bands in this history of pop music.

If the best band of the 90's is to be solely considered by how many great songs are in their repertoire, then Oasis is clearly the greatest band of the 90's.

Source: www.old-wizard.com

Inside This Months Copy Of Q

50 Great Years Of British music starrring The Beatles, Radiohead, Queen, The Clash, Kate Bush, The Libertines, Oasis, Elvis Costello, The Prodigy, The Who, David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Amy Winehouse, Blur, The Smiths, Arctic Monkeys, Led Zeppelin, Coldplay, Sex Pistols and Cliff Richard

Source: www.q4music.com

Oasis & Blur Team Up Together To Make Cheese

If only Blur and Oasis had cracked open the Babybels in the Nineties, Britpop’s biggest feud might never have happened.

Now Blur bassist and dairy farmer Alex James, 39, thinks he’s got the perfect whey to bring them together.

The floppy-fringed legend has persuaded his former band’s singer Damon Albarn, 39, to team up with the Gallagher Brothers and create a special stilton for next month’s BRITs.

Elegantly wasted Alex has invited the Mancunian monobrows and old All-Bran to his Cotswolds cheese factory to start work on the smelly olive branch, which they will call A Country Roll (With It).

The bands split music fans by releasing their two singles Country House and Roll With It on the same day in 1995.

But the cheese will be an edible symbol of their new comradeship.

Our gourmand with the Jacobs Cream Crackers said: “Damon and Alex have always been enthusiastic about cheese – it was the glue that held Blur together for so long.

“But it wasn’t until recently that Alex discovered Liam, 35, and Noel, 40, shared their obsession.

“So he had the masterplan of creating something constructive through the medium of cheese, which would mark their maturity.”

He felt the Earl’s Court rock ceremony would be the perfect occasion to showcase their efforts and will offer the mouse food as a dessert alternative at the awards dinner.

Damon is a vegetarian and donated recipes, including Albarn’s Cheesy Garlic Potatoes, to The Vegetarian Society’s menu.

He can’t wait to head to the 200-acre farm to get to work with the other Big Cheeses.

As Alex explained: “From hard drugs to soft cheese! That’s me. From boozy, vegetarian vampire of the Groucho Club, to rural sober family man.

“It’s amazing, the friends you can make, just through cheese. People get very emotional about it.”

We’re sure their stilton will bring a tear to the eye.

Source: www.dailystar.co.uk

Damon Albarn Biography Tainted By Outdated Rivalry

Let’s get one thing straight: life has been very, very good to Damon Albarn. Even today, the back catalog of his best-loved band, Blur, plays like a veritable Encyclopedia Cool Britannia ­— a seven-album testament to the cultural high planned by the press, patented by Suede and perfected in Blur —and his is the mockney accent plastered all over it. If Britpop made England cool again, Blur made it count.

In “Damon Albarn: Blur, Gorillaz and Other Fables,” co-authors Martin Roach and David Nolan cover the ways in which, through Blur — and through Damon — the British Empire struck back. In doing so, they have created the most complete evaluation of Albarn’s life and career to date, if not the most insightful one.

“Fables” provides an outstanding entrée into the United Kingdom of the 1990s for fans born in the wrong country or at the wrong time. For those who were re-introduced to the Union Jack by Ginger Spice’s dress instead of Noel’s Epiphone, it’s important to understand that for all intents and purposes, Blur was Britpop. Suede might have been the misnomer’s first patron, Pulp its brightest and Oasis its biggest, but no band belonged to it, and subsequently loathed it, quite like Blur. Which made Albarn the movement’s pretty face.

His band’s formative years included all the shenanigans you might expect from four twenty-somethings who have never held proper jobs: press wars, infighting and over-indulgence — in short, serial chaos. (It’s telling that the most oft-used adjective is “shambolic.”) In “Fables,” all the Blur boxes are ticked: there are the Seymour years, followed by the anti-American years, the anti-Oasis years, the anti-Blair years and the anti-Graham years — in the same order in which Stuart Maconie covered them (in “Blur: 3862 Days: The Official History”), just without the same panache.

The trouble with an unauthorized biography, and with this one in particular, lies in the nature of its construction. Nolan and Roach may know that Albarn is afraid of becoming Sting, but they got that tidbit from recycled NME and Mojo clippings, not from the cover star himself.

Unsurprisingly, Fables also suffers from the generally anti-Mancunian, specifically anti-Gallagher bias both camps tired of 10 years ago. (One band’s members has two eyebrows, the other’s has one — the rest is trivial.) Too many of the book’s pages are spent rehashing the difference between second-to-none and second-to-one.

By page 100, the nostalgia the bio was soaked in starts to grow tired, in the same way the quote about Noel Gallagher wishing “Damon caught AIDS and died” did before it was uttered and subsequently repeated in this book. Add to this an apparent lack of copy editing and any mention of the bankruptcy scare that shook up Maconie’s version, and Blur fans would be better served by bassist Alex James’ autobiography, until such a time as Damon puts down the operas and pens his own.

Source: www.themaneater.com

Oasis Are Nominated For Two NME Awards

Oasis have been nominated in two categories for this years NME Awards 2008.

Best Track
'Fluorescent Adolescent' – Arctic Monkeys
'Flux' – Bloc Party
'Men's Needs' – The Cribs
'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' - Oasis
'Let's Dance To Joy Division' – The Wombats

Best Music DVD
'Up The Shambles' – Babyshambles
'The Song Remains The Same' – Led Zeppelin
'Unplugged In New York' - Nirvana
'Lord Don’t Slow Me Down' - Oasis
'I Told You I Was Trouble' – Amy Winehouse

The awards are now only a few weeks away, on February 28 at their new home, the Indig02 in north Greenwich, London.

Take a look at who is left in each category, and then cast your vote via NME.COM/awardsnominees. Remember and get your votes in by 10am on Monday February 25.

Source: www.nme.com

ChildLine Rocks

Legendary bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (ex-Deep Purple, Black SabbathLACK), Deep Purpledrummer Ian Paice and Thunder are among the artists who will share the limelight to raise money for ChildLine at the indigO2 in London on Thursday, March 13

Sponsored by Kilmartin and hosted by Radio 2's "Whispering" Bob Harris, ChildLine Rocks aims to raise a six-figure sum for ChildLine.

Special VIP packages are available at ChildLine Rocks, including a pre-show reception, a chance to meet some of the artists and a live auction.

VIPs will be able to bid for tickets on the famous Flight 666 piloted by Bruce Dickinson for a trip to see Iron Maiden play live in Lisbon and be personally escorted by Bruce on a backstage tour. There will be guitars donated by Noel Gallagher and Status Quo, a Gibson guitar signed by all the artists appearing at ChildLine Rocks, a Led Zeppelin plaque and other top rock prizes.

Click here for more information

Source: www.theindigo2.co.uk

Vote For The Best British Album!

To mark 50 years of great British music, the UK’s biggest music magazine, Q, and the nation’s favourite music retailer, HMV, are teaming up to crown the best ever British album – as voted for by you!

Just pick your 3 favourite British albums of the last 50 years (released between 1958and 2008). The vote is only open to artists from the UK - so Belfast's Van Morrison is OK, Dublin's U2 are not.

To make things even more enticing, everyone who votes will be entered into a grand prize draw. One winner will win a gold disc of the album voted Number 1 by the great British public and all of the Top 50 albums featured in the Best Ever British Album vote.

Plus 49 runners up will win one of the albums featured in the final Top 50 albums list.

Click here to cast your vote

Source: www.q4music.com

Oasis Dartsboard Up For Grabs

Ever wanted to throw darts at Manchester rock legends Oasis?

Well now's your chance - if you have a spare £1,000.

A rare dartboard, used on the front of the band's greatest hits album, Stop The Clocks featuring the hit Wonderwall, is up for sale.

The dartboard, which is one of only a few that were made for competition winners, has been acquired by online memorabilia store 911.com and is up for grabs at £995.

The board has a burgundy coloured outer ring and bullseye, blue, yellow, cream and grey sub-sections and wire dividers and numerals.

It also comes with its own set of three tungsten darts complete with black and white Oasis logo flights.

A 911.com spokesman said: "This unique and scarce promo item is in mint condition and must be the ultimate Oasis collectable!"

Source: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Bonehead Club Date In Leeds

Date: Friday 14th March 2008
Venue Trash @ Josephs Well, Chorley Lane, Leeds, LS2 9NW

Thanks to Damian Morgan

New Oasis Album Title And Artwork Revealed

TODAY I RECEIVED THIS EMAIL TO THE SITE, CLAIMING TO BE FROM SOMEONE AT THE NME. I THOUGHT I WOULD POST IT TO SHOW YOU SOME OF THE GARBAGE I GET SENT INTO THE SITE.

Hi my name is Michael and I'm currently doing work experience in London for the NME magazine.

I'm here for three months and my job involves making the tea, answering the phones and I have just been made in charge for the last month of my work experience of the weekly crossword.

Yesterday our cleaner in the office never turned up, so I was summoned to HQ to empty all the bins and generally clean the office by Jamie Fullerton as we have a very important guest in the office this week to announce the nominee for the 2008 NME Music Awards.

Whilst cleaning the office I noticed that Dele Fadele had left his computer on. So I opened it up and there was a interview done on Thursday with Noel for publication in next weeks magazine.

It reveals the album cover (attached)and name 'THE BEST THING SINCE ME' and also includes the dates for the forthcoming tour to be announced exclusively on NME.COM in the morning.

So I forwarded on the artwork to my personal email address to forward it on to you as I know the fans would love to see it now.

Please don't tell anyone about this email, as Dan Martin threatened all of us work experience people with the sack about things getting out.

Best wishes and I love the site

Michael

JUST TO SAY THANKS TO MICHAEL FOR GIVING ME SOMETHING FUNNY TO READ ON A SUNDAY MORNING.

Icke-An't Believe Noel Is Fan

Bizzarre Lord Noel Gallagher couldn’t be more different from workshy lump Robbie Williams.

But they share one thing in common - an admiration for crackpot preacher David Icke.

Earlier this week I revealed Robbie has been hanging out with Icke in LA and the pair have been discussing their shared interest in aliens.

But I nearly passed out when I heard Noel once went to a marathon seven-hour seminar to hear the former footie-goalie- turned-pundit talk about our political leaders being lizards.

Noel was snapped out with missus Sara Macdonald on Thursday night after a civilised ale with brother Liam at the Met Bar.

A source said: “Noel and a few pals went to Brixton Academy a few years back to see Icke.

"Noel’s a fan of his crackpot antics and wanted to hear him in the flesh explaining his oddball theories.

"He even got an invite back stage for a cup of tea. He had T-shirts made up for his pals with the Nike swoosh and the word ‘Icke’ on the front.”

I imagine Lord Noel will be burning his Icke books when he finds out he’s pals with Rob the nob.

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Versus Cancer & Danny McNamara’s The Aftershow Join Forces

Aftershow at Moho this Friday, Danny has organised a mammoth night of live bands at the venue after next month’s Versus Cancer concert at the MEN Arena on 23 February. Tickets for the night go on sale this Friday 25th and are expected to sell out fast.

The night marks the first time that the concert after show has been opened up to the public. The line up for the night is set to include Dodgy, Boy Kill Boy, Example and The Paddingtons, with more acts and some very special guests to be announced in the coming weeks.

The gig will mark Dodgy’s first live performance in almost 10 years and follows the release of their live album in 2007. Famous for Britpop anthems ‘Staying out for the Summer’ and ‘Good Enough’, their appearance at the Aftershow will continue the reunion vibe that Versus Cancer has become famous for.

Having recently toured with Echo & The Bunnymen who treated the crowd to a legendary performance at last year’s Versus Cancer, acclaimed indie-rock talent Boy Kill Boy are a huge addition to the line up. Currently touring with Athlete, the band are set for a huge 2008 with their own headline tour coinciding with the release of their hugely anticipated second album ‘Stars and the Sea’.

Hailed by Radio 1’s Zane Low and Pete Tong and now signed to Mike Skinner’s label ‘The Beats’, Example is set to really get the crowd going. The appearance at the Aftershow comes ahead of his UK wide ‘I love Mandy’ tour which kicks of in March.

Indie band The Paddingtons mark the fourth addition to the bill. Having toured with Babyshambles, and been signed by Alan McGee – the band, who are currently recording their second album look set for continued success this year.

Danny McNamara the lead Singer with Embrace said, “ The Aftershow’s going from strength to strength this year moving to a Friday and to a great new venue in the centre of town. Being asked to do this one off Saturday for Versus Cancer is a massive honour. We want to do what we always do, which is to bring the public and the artists together and put on the best new bands before anyone else, with big headliners and one offs to bring the crowds. Me and all the other people I have working at The Aftershow are really looking forward to putting on the party of the year. But I advise people to buy early as tickets will sell out fast.”

Tickets for the Aftershow are £5 in advance and if there’s any space it will be £8 on the door on the night, with proceeds going towards fighting cancer. See www.theaftershow.net for more information

Source: www.versuscancer.org

Blast From The Past...

Gem Archer's first band was The Edge. Started at Willington Parkside School in County Durham, they existed in varying incarnations of Jeff Walker, Gem’s high-spirited, best friend also on guitar, with a local doctor’s son Michael Chesters on drums.

Though Gem’s lyrics were strong enough, sadly his voice wasn’t, and so once at Durham New College he recruited a lead singer in the scream of Simon Scott, an eclectic performer a la mode of New York Dolls. Had anyone made it big back then, truly my bets would have been on Simon.

This band was very popular around the north-east in the early-mid 80s.I just happen to have copies of their two singles. The first records Gem ever recorded on.

For more information about the band and to listen to there music visit www.stewart-piercy.com

Thanks to OasisNewsBrazil

New Limited Edition Oasis Poster For Sale

To celebrate Oasis' legendary show at Water Rats on 27 January 1994 - 14 years ago this Sunday - we have recreated the original black & white fly poster of the show that first introduced the band's name onto the streets of London back in the day.

- Printed on matt 160gsm paper
- Dimensions 50 x 73 cm
- Limited to 400

This bit of Oasis history is available from the Oasis shop and yours for just £10.

Also still available are posters and limited edition silk screen prints of the 1994 Brighton show, at which Ride and The La's supported Oasis. Created by Sheffield artist Pete McKee, they make a great collector's item. A limited number of the special 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' prints is also still in stock.

For these and more items visit the Official Oasis Online Store

Source: Email from Oasisinet

Oasis Bootleg Artwork Wanted

I'm looking for the CD artwork for the following Oasis shows, for the Bootleg Artwork section on the site.

If you have any of the artwork that I'm looking for, could you please Email it to scyhodotcom@gmail.com

1992
??/??/1992 THE BOARDWALK, MANCHESTER
??/??/1992 PORTASTUDIOS, MANCHESTER

1994
07/04/1994 TRAMWAY, GLASGOW
27/04/1994 GLR RADIO SESSION

03/05/1994 MARK LAMARR SHOW

07/06/1994 MAIDA VALE STUDIO'S, LONDON
08/06/1994 MARQUEE CLUB, LONDON
12/06/1994 GLASGOW CATHOUSE, GLASGOW

24/08/1994 2FM RADIO, IRELAND
25/08/1994 AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND

16/11/1994 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

06/12/1994 JOOLS HOLLAND, UK

1995
30/06/1995 ROSKLIDE FESTIVAL, DENMARK
05/10/1995 BOURNEMOUTH, U.

29-30/11/1995 TWO NIGHTS IN BRIXTON

1996
10/03/1996 RHODE ISLAND, USA
26/03/1996 STADTHALLE, GERMANY

13/04/1996 SAN FRANCISCO, USA

10/08/1996 KNEBWORTH, UK (soundcheck)
15/08/1996 CORK, IRELAND

08/09/1996 JONES BEACH, USA

1997
12/07/1997 GLASGOW, SECC
18/07/1997 MUNICH, GERMANY

09/09/1997 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
23/09/1997 SHEFFIELD ARENA, UK

03/11/1997 LE ZENITH, FRANCE
10/11/1997 MADRID, SPAIN
17/11/1997 MILAN, ITALY

1999
05/12/1999 DETROIT, USA
11/12/1999 ANAHEIM, USA

2000
17/01/2000 LIVE LOUNGE
09/03/2000 OSAKA, JAPAN
03/05/2000 FAIRFAX
03/06/2000 LEIPZIG, GERMANY
07/06/2000 BERLIN, GERMANY
11/06/2000 ROCK IM PARK, GERMANY
27/08/2000 READING FESTIVAL, UK

2001
24/06/2001 BERCY, PARIS, FRANCE
11/10/2001 MANCHESTER APOLLO, MANCHESTER
14/10/2001 GLASGOW, BARROWLANDS

2005
15/06/2005 TORONTO, ONTARIO (EDGE FM)
10/07/2005 NATIONAL BOWL, MILTON KEYNES
05/08/2005 SUDOETE FESTIVAL, PORTUGAL
04/11/2005 HEBRON, BARCELONA
19/12/2005 ODYSSEY ARENA, BELFAST

2006
10/02/2006 FM HALLAM ARENA, SHEFFIELD, UK

Ex-Stone Roses Man To Play London Club Night Gig

Ex-Stone Roses and Ian Brown band guitarist Aziz Ibrahim will play his debut solo London gig on Saturday night (January 26) at London’s Sin venue.

The gig will be part of the This Feeling club night, which has previously seen a live set from The Enemy.

Oasis’ Noel Gallagher, Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner and Kasabian are regular visitors to the club night, which features house DJs playing classic indie hits and new music.

Ibrahim will play Ian Brown songs as well as his own material. He is set to work with Paul Weller on a forthcoming album.

Tickets can be bought from here.

Source: www.nme.com

Sofa Used On The Front Cover Of 'Definitely Maybe' Sells For £900

Earlier this month I posted about the sofa used on the front cover of Definitely Maybe, it sold last night on internet auction site ebay for £900.

The item came with a full COA signed by Bonehead in 2001, and also included in the sale was an original promo poster of the album.

Tonight's TV Choice

Pop! What Is It Good For? The 1990s

BBC4, 10.00pm (UK)

Pop was turned on its head in the Nineties by superstar DJs, samplers and Britpop. Here, music journalists Caitlin Moran and Paolo Hewitt and musician Goldie revel in the rise of hip hop, R’n’B and urban music with Moran also reminiscing about Kurt Cobain, and Hewitt recalling life on tour with Oasis.

Goldie, meanwhile, says he has yet to forgive Robbie Williams for pinching some of his shirts. The shock revelation among the panellists, however, is that one of them has a sneaking admiration for pop king Ricky Martin.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Liars On Oasis

Liars have gone through this decade's hype and destroy cycle and emerged victorious. Rather than return to the dance-punk party long after the keg had run dry, the band took the widely panned tribal sounds of sophomore release They Were Wrong So We Drowned (2004) and refined them toward the excellent Drum's Not Dead.

Now, with nothing to prove to the critical establishment and armed with the most easily accessible album of their career (Liars), the boys have hitched a ride on Interpol's massive stadium tour.

On the afternoon of that trek's New York City stop, the band's principle members -- Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill, and Julian Gross -- talked in their cluttered Midtown hotel room about bringing their uncompromising live show to a larger audience, the nerve-wracking personal revelations of Liars, and why Oasis wasn't really so bad.

Taken from a interview that you can read the interview in full here or watch a video of the boys talking about Oasis here.

How do you think that's gonna go? [Laughs.]
JG: I'm pretty excited about it. Yeah, "3 Days." I'm ready.

AH: But are you ready for the six-song acoustic EP? [Laughs.]

AA: I've been recently doing the Britpop thing, with Pulp's This Is Hardcore, Blur's Blur. You know, Oasis, man, they write good songs. [Laughs.] The lyrics are just so stupid. It's amazing.

So when people go back and try to find meaning in some of your older, more surreal lyrics, do you think --
AH: There's no connection to the Oasis story!

But is that even a worthy thing for them to do?
AA: It's a cool thing. I don't know if you know, but we never print our lyrics, and it's kind of an important part for us because we love this feedback that we get from kids. They'll write to us an say, "You know, I was wondering what "Mr. You're on Fire" says. Does it say, "House in the world," and all this really weird stuff, and I write back and say, “Yes, that's exactly what it says.” Because it's so well written.

This idea that they can be involved and think about it and develop their own ideas for what it is. So maybe when we use some surreal words or ways of using lyrics, it's really an attempt to allow people to have their own interpretation of it. To take it where they want to. With a literal song like "Protection," I guess I don’t know what it's like for a third party to hear it, but I wonder are you thinking, “Angus on the beach smoking a cigarette.” I don't know if it's so literal that you stop thinking that way. But with a more surreal song, when it's like "Wonderwall," it's like, “What?”

Source: www.prefixmag.com

Liam And Noel Gallagher Sing "I Once Knew A Lady"

More fun with the talented Stevie Riks, check out more of his superb videos here.