The bitter sibling rivalry which caused the break-up of rock superstars Oasis was ‘wearing a bit thin’ after almost 20 years, a Midland pal of the band claimed last night.
Noel and Liam Gallagher had fought throughout Oasis’s career but the latest spat, which led to the band cancelling a string of appearances, is the end for the Manchester supergroup.
In a statement on the Oasis website, guitarist and songwriter Noel said he could not go on working with Liam.
“It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight,” he said. “People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”
The news came as no surprise to Simon Fowler, frontman of Brummie Britpoppers Ocean Colour Scene, who has known the Gallagher brothers since the early 1990s.
Fowler, a former Sunday Mercury reporter, shared the stage with Oasis last Saturday at the V Festival at Weston Park, in Staffordshire – the show that was to be their last gig.
He said it was clear something was wrong when Oasis cancelled their Sunday night V Festival headline appearance in Essex.
“We were playing at Chelmsford when we were told that they had pulled out,” he said. “I had this feeling that, because it was not due to any medical reason, this would be the tipping point.
“Their rivarly and arguments used to be part of the appeal. It was their style. But everyone else had moved on and they were still squabbling. It was wearing a bit thin after 20 years.
“Still, they have done well and lasted twice as long as The Beatles. I just wonder what their mum makes of it all. She’ll probably tell them to shut up and grow up.”
Fowler first met the Gallaghers during one of Oasis’s early gigs at the Jug of Ale pub in Moseley, Birmingham.
“I remember meeting Liam and we went back to his hotel, the Holiday Inn,” said the Ocean Colour Scene star. “I have never met anyone like him, brimming with attitude and intelligence.
“He was the best English frontman since Mick Jagger. But Oasis should be remembered as the band who re-invented and revived the rock group mentality. They allowed a band like mine to come through.”
Earlier this month Liam revealed his relationship with Noel was so bad that they no longer spoke, travelled separately on tour and only saw each other onstage.
The split was described as a “sad day” for music by Alan McGee, the man who signed the band for his Creation Records label in 1993.
He said that the huge earnings from their world tour wasn’t enough to keep them together.
“People don’t do things for money anymore,” he added. “I know how much money Oasis were making from their tour – you could buy two very good football strikers with that amount.
“But it’s very hard for someone to do what they really don’t want to do.”
The bust-up is the brothers’ most serious one to date but McGee predicted that they may tour together again – in five years’ time.
“I think this is pretty major,” he admitted. “Noel is a proud person – he won’t go back on it. And he knows he could make a successful solo album anyway.
“He’s a master craftsman and could go and become Neil Young for a generation. Liam, too, could go solo and become the John Lennon of his generation.”
But for all their fighting, deep down the pair still love each other, he said.
“I had a coffee with Liam a few weeks ago and I said: ‘But you love Noel,’ and he said: ‘Yeah, I know’.
“They probably will work together again eventually. When you love someone, you give them a second chance.”
Source: www.sundaymercury.net
