Japanese iTunes Offers Album Version Of Falling Down

The official Japanese iTunes store is listing the album version of the new Oasis track Falling Down for download in its store.

The Chemical Brothers remix version was recently premiered on various radio stations world wide.

It is not yet known if this is a mistake or a marketing decision by the Japanese to release the song a day before the new single The Shock of the Lightning gets its first spin on the Chris Moyles show on BBC radio 1.

The track is currently being traded on various forums and fan sites.

Source: L4E

On This Day In Oasis History...

"Roll With It" is a song by British rock band Oasis written by their lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. It was released 14 August 1995 as the second single from their second album (What's the Story) Morning Glory, reaching #2 in the UK Singles Chart (see 1995 in British music).

"Roll With It" received a great deal of attention when Food Records, the label of chief Britpop rivals Blur, moved the original release date of single "Country House" to clash with it, sparking what came to be known as "The Battle of Britpop". The British media had already reported an intense rivalry between the two bands and this clash of releases was seen as a battle for the number one spot. The media sensation was spurred on by verbal attacks from the respective camps (in particular Noel and Liam Gallagher, Damon Albarn and Alex James), that extended beyond the music industry to the point where the two bands were regularly mentioned on the evening news. In particular, public imagination was sparked by the contrast between the gritty, working class Oasis and the artsy, middle class Blur. In the end, Blur's "Country House" single sold 274,000 copies to Oasis' 216,000 copies of "Roll with It". The singles charted at number 1 and number 2 respectively however many believe Blur won tactically selling their single for £1.99 compared to Oasis £3.99 single price.



In the week of its release, Damon Albarn was asked what he thought of the song. He dubbed the band as "Quoasis" and sang "Down, down, deeper and down" in reference of the song's likeness to Status Quo's 1975 hit Down Down [1]. At this time in their careers Oasis were often criticised for 'borrowing' samples from 60s and 70s bands; this was one such song containing 'borrowed' music.

The song is like several other songs, such as "Supersonic", in that preaches the importance of being yourself. Due to its combination of a catchy tune and positive lyrics, the song ranks amongst Oasis' most popular songs and is a standard at their live performances. Noel Gallagher does not like the song at all however, and described it in a 2005 interview as "appalling".

Trivia

The song was featured on All-Star Family Fortunes aired 23rd December 2006.

In the live performance on the Familiar to Millions DVD, Liam Gallagher changes the lyrics from "don't let anybody get in your way" to "don't let any fucker get in your way".

The cover photograph was taken at the beach in Weston-super-Mare. The five television sets the band members are looking at are shown on the inner sleeve, and feature Ian Botham (watched by Guigsy), Noel Gallagher from the "Cigarettes & Alcohol" music video, snooker player Alex Higgins (after winning the World Snooker Championship in 1981), Peter Sellers in a scene from The Party, and the Who's Keith Moon.

Source: Wikipedia

Noel Gallagher On The Chris Moyles Show This Morning

Chris Moyles will have Noel Gallagher on his show on this morning to play the new Oasis single The Shock Of The Lightning.

The song is scheduled to be played at around 8am (UK), listen to the show from 6am (UK) on Friday at www.bbc.co.uk/radio1.

Tune in live as Chris could do with the extra listeners after his show lost 500,000 listener's in the last quarter. Noel is also reported to be announcing UK tour dates on the show.

In This Week's NME

This week's NME (13/08/08)

Find the answers to the following teasers in the new issue of NME, on sale across the UK from Wednesday August 13.

Have The Verve blown it with their big comeback album, 'Forth'?

Who are the bands that have influenced Crystal Castles?

Why is Mike Skinner of The Streets looking so glum?

HOW did Bloc Party go down at Lollapalooza?

Muse's exclusive South American tour diary, complete with candid private photographs.

Oasis: the Gallaghers finally go electro.

My Chemical Romance: Gerard Way tells us why he's taking a break.

All this and more can be found in the new issue of NME, on sale from Wednesday August 13.

Source: www.nme.com

Jay-Z's Attack On Noel Gallagher 'Jockin Jay-Z' Leaks In Full Online

The final edit of 'Jockin Jay-Z', the first track from US rapper Jay-Z's forthcoming Blueprint 3 album, has leaked in full online.

The song, which has been produced by Kanye West, was aired for the first time last week when Jay-Z joined West on stage in New York.

The finished version of the track includes Jay-Z's attack on Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher, where he raps: "That bloke from Oasis said I couldn't play guitar/Somebody should have told him I'm a fuckin' rock star."

He then mocks the Oasis track 'Wonderwall', singing: "Today is gonna be the day that I'm gonna throw it back to you.”

The rapper also voices his support for US democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama in the song.

West is one of a number of producers who are expected to contribute to Blueprint 3, which is due to be released next year.

As previously reported on Gigwise, Timbaland recently suggested that he was behind the whole production.

But Jay-Z played down Timbaland's comments, calling them “premature” in an interview with Rolling Stone.

Source: www.gigwise.com

Liam Gallagher’s River Dance

The second single from the next Oasis album will be Liam Gallagher's ode to John Lennon called I’m Outta Time.

It’s been picked to be the second release from forthcoming CD Dig Out Your Soul.

Liam has been making a splash in sleepy Cotswolds village Bourton-on-the-Water while making the promo for the song.

Part of the filming involved him wading through a river strapped to a parachute. Liam’s ballad is obviously so moving only getting waist-deep in cold water would do it justice.

He was overheard saying: “I wish I hadn’t written this music now.”

Even Noel has been raving about Liam’s songwriting contributions on the new album and has put his money where his mouth is by giving him the second single slot.

The first single from the collection will be The Shock Of The Lightning, out on September 29.

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Noel Gallagher On The Chris Moyles Show On Friday

Chris Moyles will have Noel Gallagher on his show on Friday morning to play the new Oasis single The Shock Of The Lightning.

The song is scheduled to be played at 8:15am (UK), listen to the show from 6am (UK) on Friday at www.bbc.co.uk/radio1.

Oasis Day On Virgin Radio Xtreme

Look out, our kid, it's Oasis Day here on Xtreme this Friday (15 August) between 9am and 6pm.

"Alright people, It's Oasis Day this Friday (15th August) on Virgin Radio Xtreme between 9am and 6pm. There's loads going on, we'll be playing the new single "The Shock of the Lightning" as well as all the old classics. On top of that there'll be exclusive live sessions, B-sides and a whole bunch of rarities. As if that wasn't enough for you die hards, we'll be airing their legendary set from V2005 as a build up to this years V Festival weekend! If you're an Oasis fan you DO NOT want to miss this. 'Ave it large with us this Friday from 9am.

Source: Virgin Radio Xtreme

The Shock Of The Lightning - Single Details

Oasis return with the first single from their forthcoming seventh studio album, ‘Dig Out Your Soul’ on 29th September. ‘The Shock Of The Lightning’, is regarded by principal song-writer Noel Gallagher as one of the band’s most instant songs “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.”

The eagerly awaited new album is released on 6th October on the band’s own Big Brother label across the world.

The B-side to the single is the sought after Chemical Brothers remix of ‘Falling Down’, another song from ‘Dig Out Your Soul’. The Chemical Brothers remix is a psychedelic, acid-tinged take of the track which has been climbing club and radio charts after Big Brother sent it to a handful of DJ’s around the world.

This is the first time an Oasis single has been backed with a remix and fans purchasing downloads of ‘The Shock Of The Lightning’ via the band’s own web site at Oasisinet or www.itunes.co.uk will also have the option of buying the video for the single. This is only available via those two web portals.

A strictly limited edition 7" vinyl collector’s box will be made available separately for fans from both Oasisinet.com and select retailers to enable fans to collect all the 7" singles from the forthcoming album campaign.

All formats are as follows:

CD: ‘The Shock Of The Lightning’ / ‘Falling Down’ (Chemical Brothers remix)

7”: ‘The Shock Of The Lightning’ / ‘Falling Down’ (Chemical Brothers remix)

iTunes / Oasisinet EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Shock Of The Lightning’ / ‘Falling Down’ (Chemical Brothers remix) / ‘The Shock Of The Lightning’ video

Source: www.oasisinet.com

Oasis' The Shock Of The Lightning Artwork

Here's a world exclusive first look at the artwork for upcoming Oasis single The Shock Of The Lightning. You can hear it for the first time on my website and the radio from Friday.

Out on September 29, it’s the first single from album Dig Out Your Soul, out a week later.

The B-side is The Chemical Brothers’ psychedelic remix of Falling Down.

Liam Gallagher’s beautiful ballad tribute to John Lennon, I’m Outta Time, is almost certain to be the band’s follow-up single.

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Happy Birthday Andy Bell

Andrew Piran Bell (born 11 August 1970 in Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh musician, and former member of the early 1990s shoegazing band, Ride, and later, Hurricane #1. He currently plays bass guitar and is a songwriter for Oasis. However, on latest albums, the band have taken less clearly defined roles and Bell was able to contribute guitar on his tunes.

Ride

Bell formed Ride with Mark Gardener (guitarist), who he met at Cheney School in Oxford and Laurence Colbert (drummer) and Steve Queralt (bassist), who he met doing Foundation Studies in Art and Design at Banbury in 1988. While still at Banbury the band produced a tape demo including the tracks "Chelsea Girl" and "Drive Blind". In February 1989 "Ride" were asked to stand in for a cancelled student union gig at Oxford Poly that brought them to the attention of Alan McGee. After supporting The Soup Dragons in 1989 McGee signed them to Creation Records.

With Ride, Bell released three EPs between January and September 1990, entitled "Ride", "Play" and "Fall". While the EP's were not chart successes, enough critical praise was received to make Ride the "darlings" of music journalists. The first two EPs were eventually released together as Smile in 1992, while the "Fall" EP was incorporated into their first LP, Nowhere, released in October 1990, which was hailed as a critical success and the media dubbed Ride "The brightest hope" for 1991. This was followed in March 1992 with Going Blank Again. The twin rhythm guitars of Bell and Gardener, both distorted, both using Wah-wah pedals and both feeding back on each other was seen as the highlight of the album's critical and chart success.

Despite having a solid fanbase and some mainstream success, the lack of a breakthrough contributed to inter-band tension, especially between Gardener and Bell. Their third LP, Carnival of Light, was released in 1994, after shoegazing had given way to Britpop. Carnival of Light was oriented towards this new sound, but sales were sluggish and the shift in musical tastes devastated much of their original audience. The band were joined at Creation Records by Oasis, who shot to fame in 1994 with their groundbreaking debut Definitely Maybe. As label mates, Bell came to know the bands Gallagher brothers quite well and often shared in their partying, if not their success.

1995 saw the dissolution of the band while recording fourth album Tarantula due to creative and personal tensions between Gardener and Bell. The track listing of Carnival of Light gives an indication of the tension that was mounting between the two guitarists, with the first half of the album being songs written by Gardener and the last half of the album being songs written by Bell - one or both had refused to let their songs be interspersed with pieces written by the other. Bell penned most of the songs for Tarantula, one of which - "Castle on the Hill" - was a lament for the band's situation and contains references to Gardener's self imposed exile from the group. The album was withdrawn from sales one week after release.

Since the break-up, both Bell and Gardener have been able to be more reflective on the reasons why the group disintegrated, with Bell especially admitting his own part in the process. It appears that they had just been too young and too stubborn and had no real idea of where the band was heading when they changed their style.

Hurricane #1

Bell returned in 1997 with Hurricane #1, another Creation signing. Aware of his own vocal fragility, Bell had drafted in a more gutsy singer, Alex Lowe, who would sing the songs Bell wrote for him. The same year, they released their first album, also called Hurricane #1. Their first single, "Step Into My World", number 29 in the UK charts (a re-mix of reached number 19 that year), and other less successful singles "Just Another Illusion" and "Chain Reaction".

Their second album, Only The Strongest Will Survive, was released in 1998 and the title track was released as a single reaching number 19.

Hurricane #1 drew criticism, bordering on ridicule, for their similarity to Oasis. Bell himself said "Hurricane #1 is not so much influenced by Oasis, it's inspired by Oasis". Ill-advisedly, they let one of their songs be used on a TV ad campaign for The Sun. Their albums did not sell well and in 1999 Bell took time out to tour as guitarist with the band Gay Dad.

Oasis

Bell has been good friends with Magnus Carlson, the lead singer in Swedish band, Weeping Willows. Together they have embarked on some musical projects. The two run and DJ at the club, Bangers ’n’ Mash. During the autumn of 2006 Carlson and Bell teamed up (with Janne Schaffer) and performed at an event dedicated to the late 1970s singer-songwriter, Ted Gärdestad.

The Weeping Willows released their fifth studio album Fear & Love with Bell as producer in February 2007. Bell played a number of instruments on eight of the album's twelve tracks ranging from glockenspiel, piano and guitar. Weeping Willows has always drawn upon early Roy Orbison and The Smiths as their main influences. On Fear & Love Bell brought some English folk music influences, and a some 1960s styled British Invasion sounds. The album was more or less recorded live in the studio, by playing the songs until the band got them right with minimal digital post production. Weeping Willows last two albums relied on a lot of post-production and remix styled studio techniques. Scandinavian music critics have given the album a warm welcome and compared some songs to The Verve, Talk Talk and Oasis.

In 2003 Bell collaborated with the Stockholm based Irish-Swedish electronica/acid house duo, DK7, on the tracks “Heart Like a Demon” and “White Shadow” for their Disarmed album.

He has also performed solo gigs at smaller Swedish summer festivals.

Source: Wikipedia

Win Tickets To Oasis Legend Bonehead & Pete Macleod Acoustic Tour

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Pete Macleod and Oasis legend Bonehead are touring together this autumn.

Brave Music Agency have given us three pairs of tickets to the gig of your choice at the following locations.

31 Oct - The Mill Mansfield
01 Nov - Brixton Jamm -London
08 Nov - Thyme & Spirit - Carlisle
14 Nov - The Attic - Accrington
15 Nov - The Ironworks - Oswestry
21 Nov - Academy 2 - Newcastle
22 Nov - Pivo Pivo - Glasgow

All you have to do to win a pair of tickets, is email scyhodotcom@gmail.com with the answer to the following easy question.

Who is Bonehead touring with in the autumn?

Important Info:
Deadline - All Entries must be received by August 16 2008.
All entries must be over 18
When sending your entry please title your email as 'Bonehead Competition'
Please include your name in your email.
Also include what gig you would like tickets for
Send all entries to scyhodotcom@gmail.com

Tickets and more information are available at www.myspace.com/petesolomusic

For more information on booking Bonehead visit www.brave-music-agency.co.uk

Thanks To Damn Morgan @ Brave Music Agency

Russell Brand's Show Last Night

Noel Gallagher features on the Viddycast from last week's Russell Brand Show.

The show this week was a selection of the best bits from previous shows.

Needless to say, Noel Gallagher features a lot during the show.

Click here to listen again or download the podcast (from Tuesday).

Oasis Will Play Three Scots Dates In World Tour

Man the barricades and put your crash helmets on...the Gallaghers are coming to Scotland.

Email can exclusively reveal Oasis will play their first gigs here for three years.

Details of their eagerly awaited UK tour - to promote new album Dig Out Your Soul - are still shrouded in secrecy.

But we can confirm the band will play at Aberdeen Exhibition Centre on November 2 then Glasgow's SECC on November 4 and 5. Tickets go on sale on August 20.

It is the first time they have played shows in Scotland since headlining a massive 40,000-capacity open-air gig at Hampden Park, Glasgow, in 2005.

The group - led by guitarist Noel Gallagher and singer brother Liam - release new single The Shock Of The Lightning on September 29.

Dig Out Your Soul follows on October 6. It is their seventh studio album and was recorded at the legendary Abbey Road.

Noel said: "If The Shock Of The Lightning sounds instant and compelling it's because it was written and recorded dead fast.

"It's basically a demo and has retained its energy. There's a lot to be said for that - the first time you record something is always the best.

"On the album I wanted a sound that was more hypnotic, more driving. Songs you would maybe have to connect to...to feel."

Noel also paid tribute to the songwriting efforts of brother Liam on the new CD.

The fiery singer penned three tracks including I'm Outta Time, which features a speech sample by his hero, John Lennon.

Noel said: "Liam's songs are really personal. What's his favourite subject? Himself. He's really good.

"If he could be bothered to finish some of the songs he started...they're amazing."

Source: www.sundaymail.co.uk

Recent Pictures Of Liam Gallagher

Recent pictures of Liam Gallagher from today's Times Magazine.

Scans thanks to Elias from L4E

Oasis Puts Bourton-On-The-Water In A Trance

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher swaggered into the Cotswolds to shoot a surreal video for the band's new album.

The rock 'n' roll star, sporting a dark suit sprinkled with white dust and a matador's hat, filmed at Bourton's model village – a miniature replica of the village as it was in 1937.

The bad boy of pop greeted Cotswold Farm Park owner Adam Henson with an 'Alright geezer' before wading through a stream and being strapped to a parachute as cameras rolled.

Liam was shooting for the track I'm Out Of Time for the new Dig Out Your Soul album, to be released on October 6.

Oasis, whose hits Wonderwall and Don't Look Back in Anger made them the biggest band of the 1990s, release the album's preview track The Shock Of The Lightning on September 29.

A 20-strong freelance film crew, working for one of London's leading music video production companies Factory Films, descended on Bourton.

The video was the vision of director Wiz, who has worked with the Kaiser Chiefs and Kasabian.

Oasis fan George Atherton, 18, son of Old New Inn landlords Julian and Vicki who own the model village behind their pub, said: "They had big 650 watt lights and lots of dry ice for a smoky effect and filmed from 11pm to 2.30pm.

"They set up four different shots. Liam walked down Bourton's main street, leaned with his back against St Lawrence Church, lay down behind Victoria Hall and walked over the bridge in front.

"It sounded like a typical Oasis song, with a bit of guitar and good lyrics."

Sister Melissa, 16, added: "Liam seemed like a nice guy, shook my hand and was quite polite.

"It's good news for the pub – Oasis are really big and the Model Village is just a little tourist attraction."

Adam Henson, who runs the rare breeds Cotswold Farm Park, said: "Having a grade A celebrity on the farm was really exciting.

"I introduced myself and said 'I'm the farmer here' and he said in his Mancunian accent 'Alright geezer'.

"My partner Charlie was his chauffeur.

"Having to walk through a stream up to his knees in mud Liam said 'I wish I hadn't written this music now'."

Location scout Tim Blair said: "A model village was part of Wiz's vision so we were drawn to Bourton. Everyone in Bourton looked after us very well."

Source: www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk

It's also being reported on several forums that the premiere for the new Oasis single 'The Shock Of The Lightning' will be on August 25th on Channel 4 at 11:30pm (UK).

Liam Gallagher On Celebrity, Fatherhood And Hating Coldplay

Liam Gallagher prefers being a stay-at-home dad these days, but he’s not lost his rock’n’roll swagger

Liam Gallagher says he and his brother “are two totally different people and the sooner people realise that the less we can go on about it”. Fair enough, but, having interviewed Noel several years ago, I can report the Gallagher boys have more in common than being in the same band and having the same mum and dad: extreme candour, for one thing. You asked Noel a question, you got a straight answer. If anything, his kid brother is even more straight-talking. Also (and I didn’t think this could be possible), Liam swears even more.

When I ask Liam what he thinks the public thinks of him, for instance, he says: “Loudmouth blagging gobshite from Manchester…and they’d be totally correct.” Or here he is on the subject of Wayne Rooney’s wedding to Coleen McLoughlin, which had taken place, and subsequently appeared in OK! magazine, not long before we met. “You’ve got this kid who’s fucking 19 [22] or whatever the fuck he is, who 20 minutes ago was playing for Everton, having a five million pound wedding! How do you fucking grasp that?”

“All right,” Liam continues, “he earned his fucking money, do what you want, but I couldn’t live with meself. That to me is just fucking ridiculous. There’s ways of doing it. In fact, what did mine cost? I got married at Marylebone station, er, Marylebone registry office. In and out, no fucking about, it cost £18. Reception over the road, it was nice, we drank champagne, but I’ve still got a lid on it.”

Would anything have induced him to sell the photographs? “Absolutely fucking nothing. It smells funny, it doesn’t sit right. I’d have to be well and truly fucking desperate. I’d have to be homeless. It’s like, haven’t you got e-fucking-nough, you little ****? I find that hard to fucking take. But that’s famous people for yer. When they’re not on the fucking telly they want to be in a fucking magazine and when they’re not in a magazine they want to be on a fucking bottle of water. It’s like, fucking chill the fuck out, you can’t do one fucking job right let alone fucking trying to do fucking five, you *****!”

It’s not just footballers “spending 100 grand on fucking Rolexes” that Liam objects to; he doesn’t have much time, any time, for celebrities per se. “I’m not one of them that walks around town like I’m the king of London. If I need to get milk I go out and get milk, but most of the time I’m indoors.” Noel, he says, “loves being famous. He adores it. I don’t think about it. I don’t do what famous people do. I don’t go to famous-y events. As long as I’m in a band and making music and playing gigs, I couldn’t give a fuck.”

Oasis are soon to release their seventh studio album. “We should have made more, we should be on our tenth or summat,” thinks Liam. “We don’t struggle for songs.” Besides Noel’s output, Liam now writes as well, contributing three (one good, one bad, one indifferent, in my opinion) of 11 tracks on the new album. What’s I’m Outta Time (the good one) about, I ask. “Ain’t got a clue, man. Didn’t sit down to write about being out of time, in time, on fucking time, it wrote itself.” He finds melodies easy, he says, but “I find it hard with words”.

He can be inarticulate in person, too, yet he is one of those people, like John Prescott, whose meaning is crystal clear despite verbal infelicity. Oasis’s publicists are nervous at letting Liam loose in a full-blown one-on-one. He is uncompromising. He doesn’t try to be your friend. His conversational style is combative. He gives an answer, then juts his chin up and stares you out with those unblinking blue eyes. Liam doesn’t trouble with the usual niceties of shifting product either. “Buy it [the new record] or don’t fucking buy it, I’m not mithered either way.”

We’re in a photographic studio in East London, sitting on facing sofas, the publicity team out of sight behind a wall but in earshot. The biggest surprise comes right at the outset. Liam, now 35, is off the fags, off the booze, off “the other stuff” (cocaine) as well. He’s been off them for nine days at any rate. And he has taken up jogging. “Not jogging, man, running. Get up early, live right on the heath [Hampstead], pair of trainers on and away I go. Beautiful.” (I’m going to edit out most of the expletives from here on, I’m sure you’ve got the general idea.)

He covers ten miles in an hour and a half. (That’s a shade over 6.5mph which, sorry Liam, is jogging, not running, speed. But well done anyway.) He comes home, walks his kids to school, has a bath, chills out, watches TV, does “whatever’s on the menu for the day”. When we met, that meant rehearsals for the new tour (now under way in Canada), hence his abstemiousness.

“Last week me voice was a bag o’shite, I had to have a word with meself. I want this to be a success, I want this to be great, I thought I’m going to have to tone it down a bit. Load of big fat lines, load of cigarettes, staying up late talking the same shit you talked the night before and the night before that, that’s not good for it [his voice]. It’s not a big deal. I’ve got willpower.” When his voice is good, he says, “no one can touch me”. (Many would agree.) “And when it’s bad, it’s a bit better than Pete Doherty’s.”

When he does drink, he says, he might “do a bottle of tequila in a couple of hours, no problem. The good stuff, Patrón.” Doesn’t that make him ill? “No, I feel all right. Red wine I can’t handle, just want to batter everyone. On tequila, I’m Bob Monkhouse. I’m a good drinker, but it’s dominos, isn’t it? Get pissed, smoke, do the other…”

I ask if he’s mellowed with age. “I can still go pound for pound with any clown at any time,” he says. “I’m not on about fighting, I can still have it drinking or whatever. But yeah, I’ve mellowed, but not in the sense of liking Radiohead or Coldplay. I don’t hate them. I don’t wish they had accidents. I think their fans are boring and ugly and they don’t look like they’re having a good time.” Liam doesn’t like any contemporary bands. “Not interested. I play the Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks, Neil Young, the Pistols. Maybe a bit of the Roses. Don’t like modern bands. Topman music, innit?”

These days, he says, “Family’s the most important thing. The kids are just the bollocks, I enjoy their company more than some idiot in a band or some actor. That’s how I’ve changed. Years ago I was in the pub.” Did he always want to be a dad? “No, not really. Just wanted to get off me tits and do music, but once you get your missus pregnant, you’ve got to step up to the plate.”

He has two boys, Lennon, almost 9, who lives with his mum, Liam’s ex-wife Patsy Kensit, and Gene, just 7, who lives with Liam and his second wife, Nicole Appleton of All Saints. The boys attend the same school. Private or state? “Private.” Was that an issue for him? “Not at all. Not a-fucking tall. They’ve got every right to be there as much as some banker’s son. When I pick me kid up, I feel amazing.” Liam left his own school, Catholic, all-boys, at 15. “Had no time for it. Got a job creosoting fences. Fifty quid a week.”

I mention that when I had interviewed Noel, he said he worried he wasn’t a good dad to Anais, then 2, his daughter by Meg Mathews. “He shouldn’t get hung up about it,” says Uncle Liam. “She’s only 8. If any bad days have gone down you make it up to her, don’t you?” As for his own paternal ability: “I’m the bollocks at being a dad. I’m top. We have a lot of fun.” Who’s stricter, him or Nicole? “Me. I’m the bad cop, she’s the good cop. I’m not Hitler, but they’re getting older, they make a mess, they tidy it up.” What if they swear? “I give ’em a medal! Nah, they don’t swear.”

He and his wife don’t go out much, he says. “Done all that, seen it, didn’t like it.” Did you get anything out of it? “Might have had a couple of lines out of it, couple of scraps, lot of earache.” If he and his wife do venture forth, they usually take Gene with them. “Go out at 6, out of there by 7.” Babysitters are not an issue. “Nicole’s mam is round the corner.” The Gallaghers do not employ a nanny. “Don’t need one.”

Liam’s own mother is still in Burnage, the suburb of Manchester where the Gallaghers grew up. He phones her every day. “I enjoy speaking to her.” He offered to buy her a new house. “She said, ‘What would I move for? You can get us a new gate.’ Noel bought her a little cottage in Ireland. She goes there a bit.” Despite his Irish roots, Liam considers himself typically English. “I hate that plastic Paddy thing. I’m into the English thing, music, football, clothes.”

The brothers’ estranged father lives in the house they grew up in. Liam was closer to his dad than were Noel or the eldest boy Paul (“He never beat me up, he beat the other two up”) but even so, he has no contact. “Not interested. Not angry, not sad, just nish.” Have his father’s shortcomings made him try harder as a dad himself? “Nah. I think you’ve got to do it right, not because he didn’t, but because they deserve it. I don’t dwell on it.”

Liam and Nicole have a second home in Henley-on-Thames. “Try to get there every weekend. Watch TV, play with the kids, sit in the garden, get in the pool, get out of the pool, go for a run, normal stuff.” How have the good people of Henley reacted to his arrival? “This lady walked past, she said, ‘You’re the coolest person I’ve seen in Henley since George Harrison.’ They’re pretty much the same as us really, they get a bad rap.” His house in Henley has its own bar, but he only stocks it with booze for special occasions.

I ask Liam if he still feels working class. He pauses. “I’m not one of them that harp on about it like Billy Bragg. I was born on a council estate, we had no money, me mam and dad split up. Now I live in a nice area, kids go to private school, few quid in me pocket, so what? I am what I am. I’m just me. I’m not a flash **** if that’s what you’re saying. And I’m not the other one, whatever that is.” Middle class? “Right. The kids are middle class though, I suppose.”

I say when I asked Steven Gerrard the same question last year, about class, he got shirty. Liam’s interest picks up. “Oh aye, Gerrard got shirty, did he? Did I get shirty then?” Not especially, I reply, and, dropping another name, tell him how Paul Weller described resisting his partner’s attempts to lure him to middle-class dinner parties. “Well, he should have a working-class party, shouldn’t he?” says Liam. “Invite all of them, they won’t come again, will they? ’Cos apparently we’re scum.”

Kids and clothing aside, a lot of our conversation is about what Liam doesn’t like or doesn’t do. He has a Mini and a Range Rover but doesn’t drive, has never learnt. He doesn’t read, apart from to his children. “It’s Grizzly Dad today, about a dad that turns into a bear. Don’t like Dr Seuss, too smart.” He hasn’t got the patience for other books, “and it’s a form of people telling you how it is, isn’t it? I like to make my own mind up.” He doesn’t want to make new friends. “Quite happy with what I’ve got.”

He tends to go to the same pub. “Read the paper, have a beer, someone says ‘Mind if I join you?’, I might shoot the breeze, depends what mood I’m in.” He doesn’t go back to Manchester much, has stopped going to Man City, “just get mithered. Noel goes. He likes signing autographs.” He doesn’t socialise with his brother. “All we need to do is make music together.”

He’s tried golf a few times – “Bit of exercise, spliff, whack fuck out of the balls, beer afterwards, it’s good” – but doesn’t sound as if he’ll be taking it up regularly. Still, if he hadn’t made it as a rock star, he’d have fancied a job “cutting grass on a golf course. Nice and chilled. Outdoors, not inside, walls and that.”

He isn’t interested in politics, although he’ll watch Prime Minister’s Questions. “I like the noises they make.” When his brother went to Downing Street to meet Blair in 1997, he isn’t sure whether he was invited or not, but “I wouldn’t have gone.” He’s lost interest in feuding with other bands. “I’m cool with Damon [Albarn]. That was only a bit of a laugh.” How about Robbie Williams? “Funny how he says a couple of things then moves to LA, know what I mean? Gives it all that and packs his bags.”

He insists he is “a passionate man”, however, and there are three other subjects he becomes passionate about. One is the paparazzi. “See me coming out of a pub with five million birds, charlied out me head, they’ve every right to take a picture. Get in my way when I’m going about me business, freak my kid out, then they get a slap.”

Another is being in Oasis. “We’ve no competition, none at all.” He knows many people, including all critics and his own brother, think the band’s form dipped after the first two electrifying albums, but he isn’t having it. “Just ’cos Noel and a couple of divvy journalists think that doesn’t mean it’s right. I think all our records are great.”

And the other subject is religion. “I don’t pray and I don’t go to church but I’m intrigued by it, I dig it. I’m into the idea that there could be a God and aliens and reincarnation and some geezer years ago turning water into wine. I don’t believe when you die, you die. All the beautiful people who have been and gone, Lennon, Hendrix, they’re somewhere else, man. Whether it’s here or whether it’s there, they’re doing some musical thingummyjig. They got to be somewhere else, haven’t they? I’d like it if everyone were all right at the end of it.”

And shortly after that, Liam, by now a little late to pick his son up, bounces to his feet. He’s taking his lad to the cinema, or, as he puts it, “I’m off to fucking ’ave it with Kung Fu Panda.” Does it feel strange, I ask, to do a big interview for The Times? “No,” he says, staring coolly back, “it’s about fucking time.”

The new Oasis single The Shock of the Lightning is released on September 29, and the album Dig Out Your Soul a week later on October 6, both on their Big Brother label .

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Ex-Oasis Man Launches New Band

Zak Starkey make Penguins a family affair

Former Oasis drummer Zak Starkey launched his new band Penguins at an intimate gig for close friends - and invited NME.COM along to witness it.

The son of Ringo Starr, who is currently touring sticksman with The Who, has been writing songs with his girlfriend, Penguins lead singer Sharna Liguz, and impressed the gathered crowd road testing a set of harmonica infused pop-rockers.

Much like Oasis, Penguins is a family affair and Zak was joined on stage by his daughter Tatia, who also plays in London outfit Belakiss, on bass.

Playing to a packed out Saint Moritz in central London on one of the hottest days of the year, the band's debut show went sweatily but smoothly. apart from a few dud starts at the beginning of tracks.

The quartet even mixed up their own tracks, such as 'Jet Engines' and 'Space Invader', with some covers including 'Swamp Snake' by Seventies rockers The Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

Speaking to NME.COM after the show Starkey said, "It was great. It was packed, great vibe, audience participation, alcoholism, paranoia, laughs, tears, bullshit, snot and bad jokes - and that was just the front row!!

"The first night of many more good times to come, here's hoping. Penguins is about having a good time, and that's what we're doing."

There are no confirmed plans for any record releases as yet.

Source: www.nme.com

30 Things You Never Knew About Oasis

Contrary to the sleevenotes, which claimed it was recorded at the Glasgow Cathouse in June 1994, 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' B-side "I Am the Walrus" was actually recorded at a soundcheck for a gig at the Gleneagles Hotel, Scotland on February 6, 1994, as part of a Sony Music seminar. Noel thought mentioning the fact that it was recorded at a corporate event would look bad.

29 more Oasis Factoids here at NME.com

Liam Gallagher Interview In The Times Magazine Tomorrow

Married with kids, Liam Gallagher has rejected the wild life in favour of domestic bliss. He runs, he swims and he's been off the booze and fags for nine days at least. Enter his world in The Times Magazine tomorrow. Plus there's a free Rough Guide Mandarin phrasebook for every reader. Then Jemima Khan opens the family scrapbook and examines the outrageous events that shaped her personal history, in The Sunday Times Magazine.

The party life is behind him now. These days, Liam Gallagher is serious about his family, his music and his clothes. But that doesn't mean he's any less forthright in his opinions. The Oasis frontman gives Robert Crampton an earful of Wayne Rooney, the paparazzi and weekends in Henley. Read the full, asterisk-spattered interview in The Times Magazine tomorrow