This month the poll in the right side menu is for the best Oasis song written by Liam Gallagher.
The choices are
'Little James' from Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants
'Songbird' from Heathen Chemistry 'Born On A Different Cloud' from Heathen Chemistry 'Better Man' from Heathen Chemistry
'Love Like a Bomb' from Don't Believe The Truth (co-written with Gem Archer) 'The Meaning Of Soul' from Don't Believe The Truth 'Guess God Thinks I'm Abel' from Don't Believe The Truth
'Won't Let You Down' from Lyla single (B-Side)
'Pass Me Down The Wine' from The Importance Of Being Idle single (B-Side)
'I'm Outta Time' from Dig Out Your Soul 'Ain't Got Nothin' from Dig Out Your Soul 'Soldier On' from Dig Out Your Soul
'Boy With The Blues' from Dig Out Your Soul (Bonus Track) 'I Believe In All' from Dig Out Your Soul (Bonus Track)
The winner of last month's poll for Best Official DVD was 'Lord Dont Slow Me Down' with 33% of the votes.
Check out live dates from 'The Vortex', by clicking here.
Fifteen years ago this summer, two of Britain’s most popular bands engaged in a battle to capture the hearts and the critical plaudits of the nation. Blur and Oasis decided to go head-to-head by releasing their latest singles, “Country House” and “Roll With It” respectively, on the same date. It was a marketing masterstroke, provoking coverage on the national television news, and luring the public into a debate of no little vigour, which is the symptom of a healthy popular culture.
The great chart showdown teased the imagination on a number of levels. There was a pleasing bipolarity to the affair. The fey, southern English college-boy pop of Blur against the raucous northern blasts of Oasis. Artful experimentation versus back-to-basics. Cute irony pitched against a primal scream.
Attempts were made to recall the golden age of British pop music: this was the Beatles versus the Rolling Stones all over again. Unlike the mutually respectful protagonists of that conflict, however, the frontmen of Blur and Oasis really did seem to hate each other, which made perfect sense for our ever-coarsening times, and great copy.
By the end of the summer, Blur were perceived as having won the battle – “Country House” outsold “Roll With It” – but lost the war: Oasis’s subsequent album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory was universally adored, becoming one of the biggest selling British albums of all time and capturing the so-called Britpop moment with its arrogant swagger. It also managed to conquer the US market, the sine qua non of rock superstardom.
Critics, jaded by years of anodyne dance music and electro beats, generally enthused over the triumph of Oasis, overlooking the group’s execrable lyrics and blatantly derivative riffs. The simpleton je-m’en-foutisme of the Gallagher brothers further excited the nation over the next couple of years. Liam Gallagher made a string of ever more outrageous endorsements of the joys of drug-taking; Noel Gallagher found himself in Downing Street, chatting to a new prime minister in thrall to his atavistic charms.
It seems a long time ago. The new prime minister came and went, and the idea that the simultaneous release of two competing singles by “real” bands could provoke a national debate seems quaint. Manufactured pop stars – indeed the very manufacturing of them – are what capture the headlines now. The process has been deemed more thrilling than the end result. Manipulative and trite, the 2010 pop scene is a travesty of a healthy popular culture.
And what of Blur and Oasis? What does our distant perspective tell us of their skirmishes of 15 years ago?
Oasis never relived their moment in the sun. Subsequent albums became repetitive and tired. The band ran out of guitar riffs. The lyrics didn’t get any better. Their bellicose protagonists turned their ire towards each other, playing out their sibling rivalry in the tabloids. At the time of writing, they are not talking to each other. Liam Gallagher has a new group influenced, he says, by T Rex and David Bowie. Oh dear.
As for Blur, they retreated from the battle of the bands and made a series of increasingly complex, brooding works. Their front man, Damon Albarn, branched out. He recorded an album in Mali. He formed a virtual rock band, Gorillaz. And then he set about writing a Chinese circus opera that would be performed at the Royal Opera House. The band recently reformed, to great acclaim.
So there we have it: Blur were the band that moved with the times, while Oasis became imprisoned in theirs. Albarn responded to the world’s cultural changes to become arguably the most interesting British musician of the millennium’s first decade; the Gallagher brothers are still playing Punch and Judy. And yet ask anyone to pick out the soundtrack of those hot summers of the mid-1990s, and they will surely recall those surging Oasis singles. They possessed the quality that pop music confers better than any other art form: the reckless joy of being young and carefree.
Who, finally, won the war? A report by PRS for Music, the royalty-collection society, last year concluded that Oasis had received far more airplay over the years than their rivals. But that is a crude indicator. Truth is, it was never a war at all; more a tribute to the versatility of British culture, which has always managed to reconcile high thinking and low thrashing, lyricism and loutishness, pretensions to everlasting significance with cheerful evanescence.
Forget the battle of the bands: the Blur versus Oasis moment was at least one in which pop music seemed to matter. That in itself is cause for nostalgia, because if we do have a new prime minister this time next week, the pop charts will be far from his mind as he assembles the guest list for his first Downing Street party, and it will be all the poorer for it
This June, Christie’s will present an exciting and eclectic selection of unique, important and unusual pieces in the Popular Culture: Rock and Pop Memorabilia sale, to be held on 24 June 2010, at 12 noon. The sale is bursting with objects to cater for collectors of all ages, representing icons of music from 1950s to the 1990s, with a selection of items also from the present day. Highlights range from: the largest single-owner collection of The Who memorabilia to ever come on the market; an acoustic Yamaha FG-340 guitar once owned and played by George Harrison of The Beatles; and a Gibson Les Paul guitar with sunburst finish owned and played by Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols circa 1975/76; to the hand-painted banner used by U2 on the ‘BOY’ tour in 1980-81; original painting by Ian Dury, titled Honk Honk Its The Bonk, produced whilst at the Royal College of Art, under the tutelage of Sir Peter Blake (estimate: £1,500-2,000); the first known recording of Oasis in concert, 1992; original paintings of Fatboy Slim; a Dolce and Gabban necklace worn by Kylie Minogue; and a collection of original stationery from the wedding of Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese.
Fresh to the market and included in the sale from the early nineties is the earliest known recording of Oasis in concert (estimate: £4,000-6,000). The unreleased and largely undocumented recording was taken directly from the mixing desk at a gig at The Boardwalk, Manchester, in early 1992. The vendor is Dean Hanley, a figure from the Manchester music scene. He was personally given the tape by Noel Gallagher, with a request to help promote the band. Dean created demos from the cassette tape, and sent them out to record labels hoping to get Oasis their first record contract. The tape insert card is inscribed by Noel Gallagher with the title Oasis 14 Jan 1992, and the seven song titles: A Bit of Columbia, Take Me, Must Be The Music, Accoustic, Arkayla, Better Let You Know and Take Me (Demo Autumn ‘91).
For more details click here, or the Christie’s website here.
Check out live dates from 'The Vortex', by clicking here.
Voting has opened on Gigwise to find the Greatest Band Logo Ever.You can vote on iconic images associated with a host of acts, including Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Oasis, The Beatles, Muse and Nirvana.Other logos in our Rate or Slate feature include those for Green Day, Slipknot, Daft Punk and Aerosmith.
I'm from Pulse Films working on the Oasis Documentary. We've had loads of great stories through and we're still going through them. but we would really like to get more stories from an older generation of fan. We're looking for families and couples who share a love for Oasis and have an interesting or out of the ordinary story to tell. Do you know of anyone who might be suitable and would like to contribute? Could you send me their details? rachel.williams@pulsefilms.co.uk
Check out live dates from 'The Vortex', by clicking here.
This Bank Holiday Monday, Xfm is once more saluting the greatest music to hail from these isles...
On the May Day Bank Holiday (May 3), Xfm will be counting down the top 100 Best British Songs Of All Time. Last year, Oasis claimed the top three spots with 'Live Forever' at No 1, but a lot can change in twelve months. Who will make the final cut? The Beatles? The Who? Muse? Arctic Monkeys?
From 10am, Dan O'Connell will handle the first 50, while Marsha Shandur will take up the reins at 2pm for the final sprint towards the finish line. And, as we go along, we'll be revealing the Top 100 on a very special Xfm minisite - see www.xfm.co.uk for more details on Monday.
You can list to the Top 100 countdown from 10am on Monday May 3 on Xfm via 104.9 in London, 97.7 in Manchester, Digital Radio and online right here.
Taken from a inteview with Liam fray from The Courteeners, read the full interview here.
With his long sideburns and Noel Gallagher-type haircut, Liam may look like he’s modelled himself on Oasis, but he admits he’s not too distraught at their demise.
“They were a massive massive thing, it was a full movement, you only have to look at Italy and Japan and people are dressed in their parkas and whatever.
“But I think it’s good that they’ve finished, not good that they’ve split up, but they probably have a lot of different things they both want to do and get out of their system. They were a massive export.”
To celebrate May Day and the beginning of what we hope will be a great British Summer, we would like to offer all of our members this special deal: Buy any two new pique polos for only £90. To activate the offer, please enter the correct promotional code at the checkout.
UNITED KINGDOM: MAYDAYUK EUROPE: MAYDAYEU JAPAN: MAYDAYJP USA: MAYDAYUSA
Twitter was a-buzzin on Tuesday with news that Liam Gallagher, lead singer of one of Britpop’s most successful act Oasis, was spotted around Halifax shopping with his kids and wife Nicole Appleton.
The controversial rocker was enjoying a day around town during a stopover by a luxury Silversea Cruises ocean liner, popping into downtown stores like Argyle Street’s Biscuit.
Gallagher reportedly began recording his first post-Oasis material with former bandmates over the past winter and expects to release a new single in October with an album to follow in 2011.
Pulse Films are looking for Oasis Fans who have a special place in their heart for Let There Be Love to take part in a documentary film about the fans for the fans.
As you may or may not already know we have been looking for fans across the world to tell their stories and have had a great many responses, however we would very much like to get a story about how Let There Be Love has affected you and your life.
We are particularly looking for female contributors and couples to take part. Maybe the song got you through a particularly trying time in your life; maybe you have a love story with a bit of a twist.
If you have an interesting, unusual, strange or out of the ordinary story that relates to Let There Be Love, please get in touch at oasis@pulsefilms.co.uk
Check out live dates from 'The Vortex', by clicking here.
New official figures show Oasis had a very lucrative final album with Dig Out Your Soul in 2008.
Recently filed accounts for Big Brother Records reveal Liam and Noel Gallagher earned £13million from record sales that year.
The two brothers were paid a salary of £144,000 and split a dividend of £3million between them.
It doesn't reveal their full earnings for the year because they also own Noise And Confusion Touring and Oasis Merchandising.
Noel is a regular Bizarre reader and pointed out that he hasn't spoken to Amorphous Androgynous since September last year and has not been demoing with Andy Bell and Gem Archer, like I told you earlier this week.
He has mainly been eating crisps, being a family man, watching Sky Sports News and following Manchester City.
On April 28th 1996, Oasis played the second of two legendary sold-out concerts at Manchester's 'Maine Road' Stadium.
Above are a few videos from the gig. Footage from the two shows are available on the Official Oasis Video/DVD release 'There And Then'.
On April 28th 2000, Noel Gallagher and Gem Archer stopped by 'MuchMusic' studios in Canada to promote Oasis' fourth studio album 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants' and play a few songs.
Watch Part One of the interview and performance here, and here for part two.
Check out live dates from 'The Vortex', by clicking here.
SPIN Magazine has put two Oasis albums in the top 125 Albums of the last 25 years.
#71: Definitely Maybe
"For Oasis," SPIN wrote in 1996, "rock is a sport." And the game got started with Definitely Maybe, an assuming debut that "came on loud and brash...with songs about what life might be like as rock'n'roll stars." Soon after their first record, Oasis became rock'n'roll stars, of course -- thanks to a little-more-than-slightly absurd Britpop rivalry with Blur, as well as a notorious tendency to go big. As the magazine put it by the time Oasis made the cover, in 1997: "Amid this rather prudent, health-conscious decade of non-ostentation, Oasis have revived the grand rock tradition of hedonism and bad behavior." http://www.spin.com/spin25/125-best-albums-past-25-years#page=6
#21 : (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
If Oasis wanted to claim they were bigger than the Beatles, then this was what stomped all over the "White Album". In 2003 SPIN pegged the record as essential britpop, singling out the track "Morning Glory" and its "sneering delirium worthy of Johnny Rotten, borne aloft on a towering inferno of guitar." The wild success of the album would later have Noel Gallagher wishing they'd taken some R&R before recording again. "We were fueled by youth and cocaine," he told the magazine in 2008. "We were surrounded by people telling us it was the greatest thing they'd ever heard." http://www.spin.com/spin25/125-best-albums-past-25-years#page=11
Taken from a inteview with Adam Ant, read the full interview here.
I'm a punk rocker, I'm a pirate metal rocker now because these guys, metal, they look great, they're sexy, they play hardcore and they don't give a monkeys. And they look like Hayley. And you. So why not, fuck them. No really, I'd love to go on there. I'd love Paul Morley, Liam Gallagher talking about style. Oasis have been ruling the roost, remaking Beatles records and trying to convince people it's not. They've got one fucking song, 'Wonderwall'. What else you got? I mean, Noel's OK but hey, you ain't fucking Miles Davies, you certainly ain't fucking Bryan Ferry and you aint Adam Ant, Charlie."
He's won some kind of poll in Q magazine for the best front man ever
AA: "Well in my view he's the best backman. I mean, I've got a Q Award, I don't give a fuck. I gave it to me mum. Q, I mean fucking hell it must have cost them all of 30 pence, they can stick it up their ass. Those ones up there, the Ivor Novello awards, they're the only ones I've got in my flat because they are for songwriting, they're Oscars. I've not met the man, I mean he's probably a very nice chap…"
No he's not, I've met him
AA: "Marc Bolan was lovely. Bryan Ferry was lovely. Michael Jackson was lovely. Liza Minelli was lovely. I'm dropping these names because I fucking met these people and they taught me something: Be nice. People that are really brilliant are really nice, people that ain't got a lot of mouth. So here you go Liam, you cunt. I'd like to have a fight with him whichever way he wants: physically, mentally I'd beat him in anyway shape or form, I know that."
Well, if anyone ever needed a slap…
AA: "Yeah but he's probably got a very big bodyguard, but that's alright because I've got Hayley. I mean even the Spice Girls offered him out and he wouldn't take it."