Noel Gallagher Hits The Supermarket

Noel Gallagher didn't become a Bizarre Lord for nothing.

The Oasis star not only put out some great music, but became well known for being a bit of a caner - to put it mildly.

But, like everyone, Noel has grown up, settled down and got himself a wife and kids.

And, while one of the quietest Q Awards so far was going on, Noel mirrored the event's sober atmosphere with a visit to a supermarket.

Noel looked cool as a cucumber as he waited patiently in the checkout queue.

But the Manc lad still had that rock star look about him as he pushed his trolley around the aisles.

I bet he picked up food, Cigarettes and Alcohol...

See the pictures of Noel shopping here.

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

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Review 'Upside Down: The Creation Records Story'

It's startling how well-documented - in print and on celluloid - British music from the '90s has become. Muscling into that crowded marketplace, Danny O'Connor's Upside Down picks Creation Records as its subject, with the label's founder Alan McGee as its flawed hero. Like a solid Oasis album track, O'Connor's direction is far from groundbreaking, but it's also ruthlessly efficient. As in Julian Temple's Pistols doc The Filth & The Fury, archive footage is blended with contemporary interviews (in b&w) for a narration-free recollection of what was one of the last great independent record labels.

There's the obvious drawback of squeezing 25 years into 100 minutes. Despite an admirable attempt to cover the broad scope of Creation (The Loft to Oasis, Ride to Swervedriver, Jesus and Mary Chain to Super Furry Animals), some acts - and countless stories - naturally fall by the wayside (Wot, no Mishka?! Meanwhile, the phrase Be Here Now is not mentioned once). Those whose appetite is whetted by the film would do well to read David Cavanagh's My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize - despite McGee's poor opinion of it.

What makes Upside Down always watchable is the story it tells about music that mattered. It gains from the refreshing approach of the major players - McGee included - who avoid the temptation to recast events and paint themselves as heroes or visionaries. Unlike Blur's self-regarding No Distance Left To Run, there's a real understandin4 stars out of g that magical moments in pop history are rarely calculated - and they also don't come from nowhere. A key clip finds a refreshed McGee in Manchester, embracing Acid House and being interviewed by Factory boss Tony Wilson. Asked why he moved up north, McGee plainly responds: "A better class of drug, Tony." What Upside Down neatly reveals is that - as well as the genius of people like Kevin Shields, Bobby Gillespie and the Reid brothers - it's unlikely serendipity and wonderful insanity that are the real drivers of pop.

Four stars out of five

Source: www.digitalspy.co.uk

Excerpts From Tony McCarroll's Book

Former Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll is to release his Noel Gallagher-slating book The Truth on November 20.

Originally - and kind of hilariously - he was gonna call it Oasis: The Truth, The Noel Truth, Is Nothing Like The Truth, which should give you enough insight as to who the book is really levelled at.

Yep, this is Tony's riposte to years and years of Noel slagging him off in the press, of Noel supposedly treating him like shit in the band and of Noel forcing him out of Oasis. As he told me: "It's my little opinion, and I'm speaking for the little man."

Having had a sneak read, it's safe to say that the book will divide fans.

Probably most scarring for Noel are the accusations that he 'acquired' much of his early songwriting catalogue from other bands (and we're not just talking T-Rex and Lennon here). Tony suggests on numerous occasions that he took riffs, vocals and more from Liverpool cult heroes The Real People (aka Chris and Tony Griffiths).

Extract 1

"We spent over three months with The Real People and without them we would never have created 'Definitely Maybe'. The Griffiths boys were like a musical factory. After each session they would invariably sit us down and play us something new that they had composed. I clearly remember a fantastic ditty that Tony had knocked together on his keyboard.

"This melody would be later used by Noel as he constructed the single ‘Whatever’. On top of this there was also ‘Columbia’, ‘Rocking Chair’ and ‘Don’t Go Away’. All songs that were ‘inspired’ by The Real People."
[Extract ends]

But the book also features more light-hearted anecdotes, like the time Liam and Tony found themselves in the company of a notorious New York groupie.

Extract 2

"Liam asked if I wanted to come to some apartment. I looked over to see a girl we had met earlier that evening. We called her Mary Poppins, due to her high-class English accent. She was an ex-model, and an addict - and that night, she only had eyes for Liam,

"We duly headed to her loft apartment and Liam vanished into the bedroom for a few minutes, where he sewed his rock ’n’ roll seeds and then re-entered the main room, looking flustered and agitated. ‘Fuckin’ weirdo wanted me condom. She tried to stick a fuckin’ label on it.’

"Mary Poppins next slowly unlocked a steel cabinet in the corner, which looked like a small fridge. From inside, she removed a number of items and held them up in the light, waving a handful of used condoms with white labels attached. I suddenly realised Mary Poppins’ plan and started to roar with laughter.

‘What’s on the labels?’ I asked Mary.

‘Previous donors,’ came the reply.

Each rubber had been labelled with the date and time of donation, as well as the origin of the man fat. The small fridge was actually keeping the juice loose, so to speak, and I guessed Mary was planning to artificially create her own supergroup. The two labels I caught read ‘Kurt Cobain’ and ‘Nikki Sixx’."
[Extract ends]

How Noel and Liam react will probably be the most interesting thing here. There's no doubt it will be devoured by super-fans - it openly attacks Noel when no one else at present has got the balls to do that. But whether you choose to believe what you read or not is an entirely different matter.

Here's what Tony had to say about it…

What's the reason you're writing the book after all these years?

I'm doing this for me, at the end of the day. Additionally, I hope to get a good response. There's a lot of things I need to put right. For some reason, as I stated in the book, Noel seems to want to have a go, which I can't quite get my head around. I thought 'Right, here's my opinion mate'. Right back at ya.

Do you think people will be on your side?

Well, there is another side to the Oasis story which I think needs to be appreciated. It wasn't all about one person. Without the chemistry we initially had, it wouldn't have even lasted that long. As a wall of sound what we had was already established [before Noel joined]. But fair play, the songs that he brought to the table [were] fantastic. They got us off the ground as such. You can't knock that. But I credit the whole of the first era... without Bonehead, Guigs, myself, Liam, Oasis would be nothing.

How do you feel about what happened to the band after you left?
I count myself lucky for being a part of it. For me, the special thing was that it was five normal lads from Manchester. It was the worst and best years of my life, I suppose. Fair play for the success. But it all changed. It just turned into a commercial success. I mean, I'm going up against a bloody global brand at the end of the day.

Did you follow the band much after '95?

I was actually at the last concert they did - V2009 on the Saturday night. I was among the fans. I don't purposefully follow [Oasis] concerts. But I've been going to V for the last eight or nine years or so, and it just so happened that last year they were playing, and I went 'Right, I'll have a look at this'. You know, I can't knock it for what it's turned into.

Have you heard how the others feel about the book coming out?

I've heard that Noel is getting through it, but whether that's true of not I really don't know. As for the rest of them, I don't know. Have they ever read a book in their lives?

So, an apology from Noel doesn't seem like its gonna be on the cards then…

No. No way in the world, I can't see it. Noel is Noel at the end of the day. If you get any kind of apology out of that man... I mean, I don't even think his own brother can even manage that.

Did you try?

Believe me, I offered the olive branch many times. He wasn't forthcoming in any kind of way. That's how it panned out. I keep wondering why we never sat down in a pub where it all started, and said 'You know, this ain't working out. Pat on the back for each other or whatever'. Things could have been better, and the book for me is based around that.

Source: www.nme.com

Legendary Oasis Guitarist Quits The Vortex

The former Oasis guitarist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs has left his new band The Vortex.

The band were scheduled to play at Square One in Crewe this Saturday (October, 23), but have been forced to cancel following Bonehead’s announcement.

Bonehead played rhythm guitar on the first three Oasis albums – Definitely Maybe, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? and Be Here Now – before leaving the band in 1999 during the recording of their fourth album, Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants.

Source: www.crewechronicle.co.uk

On This Day In Oasis History...

"Lord Don't Slow Me Down" is a song by English rock band Oasis. The song was released as a download-only single on October 21, 2007 and was also released on an extremely limited 12 inch single in promotion of the release of Oasis' rockumentary of the same name, Lord Don't Slow Me Down. On October 29, the song debuted at number ten in the UK Singles Chart, becoming Oasis' 21st UK top 10. It is also their 21st top ten single in a row. It is also the first single by Oasis not to reach the top 4 since 1994's Cigarettes & Alcohol.

In October 2006 the first part of the song was used in a preview of the band's movie. Written and sung by Noel Gallagher and recorded during the Don't Believe the Truth sessions, Gallagher described it as being "one of the best things, like The Who, The Yardbirds and the Jeff Beck Group combined, and it's got two drum solos on it!"[4] The entire song leaked into the internet just a few days before the video was uploaded on YouTube and the song was played on the radio, on 1 October. The song was a probable track to be included on the band's last album, 2005's Don't Believe the Truth, but was removed from the final track list by Noel Gallagher, as he thought he sang on too many songs on the record. In May 2008 an unreleased studio version with Liam Gallagher on lead vocals was leaked over internet fansites.

This song is included on Dig Out Your Soul bonus CD.



Reception

The song has been very well-received by critics and fans. Commenting on the song, Noel said "You know there's a DVD coming out for Christmas... somewhat predictably. The title track was so brilliant that the powers that be said 'let's just put it out'."[5] It debuted at #10 on the UK Singles Chart, fell 21 places to #31 in the second week and left the chart the week after. It became Oasis' lowest charting song since 1994's "Live Forever" (which also peaked at #10), a factor likely aided by the lack of significant publicity, a tangible release, and corresponding album.

Track listing

"Lord Don't Slow Me Down" - 3:17
"The Meaning of Soul" (Live at City of Manchester Stadium '05) - 2:32
"Don't Look Back in Anger" (Live at City of Manchester Stadium '05) - 5:38

Paul Weller Not Sure If Noel Gallagher Will Be On 'Avant-Garde' New Album

This year's Cool List man talks about the follow up to 'Wake Up The Nation'

Paul Weller has said that his next album will contain some "avant-garde moments", although he's not certain if stand-in drummer Noel Gallagher will make the cut.

The singer-songwriter, who features in this year's NME Cool List, explained that he is pausing from recording to tour, but he should have a follow-up to this year's 'Wake Up The Nation' out early next year.

"I haven't finished the record, I've started it, done eight or nine tracks, maybe a few more than that. It's going the right way, but I don't know when I'll finish it because I'm on tour from now to December," he told NME.

"There's elements of 'Wake Up The Nation' in the sound, but it's moved on again I think. There's a few avant-garde moments, shall I say, some sort of soundscape tracks as well and some pop sounding things as well. It's a mix, really. Just good tunes."

He confirmed that Gallagher had drummed on some of the sessions, but Weller was not sure if he would be on the finished record yet.

"If you're referring to Phil Collins he came down and did a few tracks," he joked. "Nah, Noel just came down as a mate and jammed for a few hours as a mate. Whether he makes the album or not we'll see. He's a very good drummer, people don't realise he's a good all-round musician."

Source: www.nme.com

Former Oasis Guitarist Bonehead To Perform In Crewe With New Band The Vortex

Legendary Oasis guitarist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs is in Crewe on Saturday to perform with his new band The Vortex at Square One.

Bonehead formed the seminal Britpop rockers (then called The Rain) in the late 1980s, while working as a building contractor, before the arrival of the Gallagher brothers.

Bonehead played rhythm guitar on the first three Oasis albums – Definitely Maybe, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? and Be Here Now – before leaving the band in 1999 during the recording of their fourth album, Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants.

In his official statement he claimed he wanted to spend more time with his family.

The former Oasis strummer’s latest project will be supported by Terracotta Army and Crewe’s Sumo Kings.

Organised by Control Music, The Vortex will perform at the Mill Street venue, with doors opening at 7.30pm.

Bonehead will also be performing an exclusive DJ set at the end of the night.

Tickets are £8 in advance. To book, phone the venue on 01270 509310.

Source: www.chesterchronicle.co.uk

Alan Mcgee Talks About 'Upside Down: The Creation Records Story'

“Upside Down”, the story of Creation Records, a film made by Danny O’Connor with the assistance of Radio One DJ Steve Lamaq who interviewed former artists Bobby Gillespie and Noel Gallagher, who Danny had persuaded to talk the camera.

For quite some time, there have been trailers of the film appearing on YouTube and FaceBook, with much speculation on when the film will be released. Then, last month Alan McGee starting doing some interviews discussing the film, there was a buzz again

Not only were Creation Records influential in bringing to the fore bands such as Oasis, Teenage Fanclub, Jesus and The Marychain and many more, it is a story of belief, struggle, near financial ruin, success, drugs, creativity and a vision. A label with no master plan, other than to release records they liked, and in doing so, they have left a mark in history

ZANI doubts that “Upside Down” will be superficial and sycophantic, but an insight into what went on behind closed doors, and a study of the crazy world of what was Creation Records.

Click here to read the interview.

Source: www.zani.co.uk
This week's NME has a feature on the film, more details can be found here.

Noel Gallagher: 'We're Not Chavs!'

Oasis man Noel Gallagher tells the Sports Bar about why the new introduction into the family will have no Manchester City garb.

Click here to listen to the interview.

Ex-Oasis Drummer Tony McCarroll: 'I'm Going Up Against A Global Brand By Releasing Tell-All Book'

Sticksman tells NME he 'offered the olive branch' to Noel Gallagher' over controversial 1995 sacking.

Oasis' founder member and former drummer Tony McCarroll has said he feels he is going up against a "global brand" by releasing a book levelling criticism at Noel Gallagher.

McCarroll has written about his time in the band in new book 'Oasis: The Truth'. In it, he recounts countless arguments with Noel until the songwriter had him sacked in 1995. McCarroll told NME he thinks his version of events is likely to jar with the public perception of the band's early years, and of Noel's image.

"There's a lot of things I need to put right," McCarroll explained. "There is another side to the Oasis story which I think needs to be appreciated. Maybe even get other bandmembers recognised for once. It wasn't all about one person."

Noel has repeatedly referred to McCarroll in derogatory terms since he left the band, and McCarroll admitted that his book is likely to cause friction among the band's fans.

"I'm going up against a bloody global brand," he said. "I'm doing this for me, at the end of the day. It's my little opinion, and I'm speaking for the little man."

Asked if he thought he and the guitarist could ever reconcile their differences, McCarroll said: "No way in the world, I can't see it. Noel is Noel at the end of the day. If you get any kind of apology out of that man…"

He added: "Believe me, I offered the olive branch many times. You know, tried to appease things, whatever it was. Whatever these issues were. He wasn't forthcoming in any kind of way."

Source: www.nme.com

Alan McGee - The King Of Indie Who'll Never Look Back In Anger

The story of Britpop is told in a fascinating film about Creation Records and its maverick founder, Alan McGee.

Is it a cautionary tale? Is it a celebration of one of the music industry's most unlikely entrepreneurs? Is it an exercise in Britpop nostalgia? Is it the story of a visionary or the case study of a business run along lunatic lines? All these questions are likely to cross viewers' minds when they see the fascinating new documentary Upside Down: the Creation Records Story (a world premiere at the London Film Festival next week.) The film is as much about Alan McGee as it is about the Creation Records label he co-founded. Creation survived against the odds and sometimes prospered from 1983 until the beginning of the new millennium and brought us (among others) The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, The Loft, My Bloody Valentine and, of course, Oasis.

British film-makers' obsession with the country's recent musical past shows no sign of abating. Julien Temple is developing a film about The Kinks, which will follow on from his documentaries about The Sex Pistols, The Clash and Dr Feelgood as part of his grand project to provide "a mini social history of British rebel culture" through its music. Alongside The Creation Records Story, this year's London Film Festival also boasts new documentaries about Mott the Hoople and Lemmy from Mötorhead. In recent years, film-makers have been as preoccupied by the svengalis behind the music as by the musicians themselves. We've had dramas and documentaries about managers and record producers like Joe Meek, Brian Epstein and Factory Records founder Tony Wilson. McGee is a natural choice to follow them. His story has drug addiction, megalomania and plenty of excess. What also shines through is his reckless commitment to talent – and his uncanny ability for identifying it. Once he signed a band, he was far more interested in enabling the musicians to do the best work possible than he was in lining his (or their) pocket. By the mid-1990s, the combustible, red-haired Glaswegian ex-British Rail clerk was the pivotal figure in British indie music. The major labels saw him as the man who "had the key". He despised them, even if he did sell up to them in the end.

Director Danny O'Connor insists that he hasn't made "a fan's film". His fascination was with "the human dynamic" behind the story. In particular, he hones in on the friendship between McGee and his former schoolmate, Bobby Gillespie (later of Primal Scream). Years ago, when they were teenagers, McGee accompanied the younger Gillespie to his first gig – to see Thin Lizzy.

"It was a story beyond music," O'Connor reflects of what led him to spend five years making the documentary, which was entirely self-financed. "It is about boys growing up, doing their thing, falling out and winning and losing. That was the attraction... this to me was a very dysfunctional duopoly."

He describes Upside Down as a very "male" tale – a film about "how we as men are a bit crap at relying on each other". McGee is the key voice in the documentary. "But he is not the key component. Without Bobby, he is nothing... the one couldn't exist without the other."

O'Connor has assembled a formidable star chamber to look over McGee's career. Starkly shot black-and-white interview footage shows figures including Gillespie, Jim Reid of The Jesus and Mary Chain, Noel Gallagher of Oasis and the novelist Irvine Welsh pondering McGee's story. McGee is also on hand too to look back at his younger self.

The director wasn't setting out to judge McGee or to pass his own opinions about the music he helped usher into existence. "The fighting, the egos, the complications, the vulnerability – all those things make a human tale," O'Connor suggests. "There's nothing worse than watching something when you're told what to feel."

At times, the film has an elegiac air. It's not just that the main protagonists of the story are growing so much older. In the documentary, Noel Gallagher argues that Creation Records represented a last stand for the independents. When the label disappeared, so did an old notion of indie rock. This is a thesis that O'Connor partially endorses. "In my mind, what started with Sun Records perhaps ended with Creation," he draws the connection with Elvis Presley's original label. Undercutting his own remark, he points out that he is 44. Older generations are always pronouncing the end of traditions they hold dear. "There is probably someone sitting around who is 18 who doesn't give a toss about Noel or McGee or my film – and why should they?"

There is plenty of comedy along the way. McGee has an air of the artful dodger about him. One of the stranger episodes comes when he belatedly discovers acid house and decamps to Manchester, moving into a £90 a week flat that Tony Wilson finds for him. He is shown being interviewed on Wilson's TV show. As films from 24 Hour Party People to Control have shown, Wilson was a wildly exotic figure but he seems almost straitlaced by comparison with McGee.

It is fitting that Upside Down is premiering at the same time that David Fincher's The Social Network is released in the UK. Nobody is going to mistake McGee for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg but there are obvious similarities between the two films. Like Zuckerberg, McGee was a spiky outsider at the helm of a business that grew and grew. His strategy wasn't taken from any business manual. In his early days of putting on gigs in London, he and his colleagues would drink away profits. He improvised as he went along and ran Creation as a benevolent dictatorship.

The film shows McGee at his most erratic as well as his most ingenious. The Creation boss gives a typically vivid and self-deprecating account of his drug and alcohol-induced breakdown in the mid 1990s. Whatever his foibles, he inspired huge affection and loyalty in his followers. O'Connor is generous in his praise of McGee. "He is very loyal," the director states of the subject of his film. "I adore the man. Not in a 'he taught me everything I know way' but I actually love his fusion of courage and absolute decency. The man would run to the end of the world for the people he values."

McGee left O'Connor to get on with the documentary and didn't try to mould the image the director was presenting of Creation Records. He has since seen the film and given it his blessing – even if he hasn't expressed huge confidence in its cinematic potential. (In one interview, he predicted it would last "two days in the cinema and then do 500,000 DVDs.") O'Connor, at least, is heartened by the speed with which tickets for the London Film Festival screenings have sold. It may be 27 years since Creation Records was founded but it seems the label is in no immediate danger of being forgotten.

'Upside Down: the Creation Records Story' screens at The London Film Festival on 23 and 24 October (www.bfi.org.uk/lff)

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Pretty Green Club Night Tickets On General Release From Today

TICKETS ARE NOW SOLD OUT

Pretty Green is holding its first-ever dedicated club night on 26th November at HMV’s Relentless Garage venue in Islington, North London.

DJS: Andy Bell, Paul Gallagher, Eddie Piller, Jamie Skillz

Playing Live: Exit Calm

Tickets go on general release from today, and are available through www.hmv.com.

Tickets are priced at £12.50 (plus booking fee)

Pre-Order 'Blue Moon Rising' Featuring Noel Gallagher

It's been hailed as so much more than a football film - now you can judge for yourself as the brilliant "Blue Moon Rising" is now available to pre-order.

The highs and lows of being a City supporter are captured with a warmth and humour that reflects the passion of being a Blue and makes it an unmissable treat if you love City.

The “Blue Moon Rising” film is available to pre-order now on DVD or Blu Ray. Or as a special treat for Christmas why not take advantage of the Blue Moon Rising / 2009/10 End of season review box set exclusively available to the CityStore!

Click here to order your copy now, From The Official Manchester City Website.

Noel Gallagher is featured in the latest edition of ManC – click here for more details.

Source: www.mcfc.co.uk

Noel Gallagher Wants To Play With Carlos Tevez

Chillaxed Lord Noel Gallagher is taking his time over new solo material.

Mr Big admits he hasn't played a guitar "in months" and is making the most of being bored.

He said: "It's good to be bored - for me, to be bored is nice.

"Just to stare out of the window or wonder if I should rearrange my CDs, wonder if I should count all the spare change in the whisky bottle.

"Should I go out and see what that new pear cider tastes like? There's plenty of stuff I could be getting on with."

The interview must have been done pre-baby Sonny arriving earlier this month.

Top of Noel's to-do list is getting a suite named after him in a top Manchester hotel. He said: "I stayed in the Radisson in town and they had a Peter Saville suite.

"I asked the woman why they had it and she told me that anybody who was Mancunian and stayed over 100 nights with them, they name a suite after.

"I thought to myself, 'Really? Right, you better watch this then'."

When Noel finally dusts down his Gibson and finds a band, he's up for collaborating with Carlos Tevez, who sang in a rock band in Argentina.

He said of the Manchester City captain: "I love that he doesn't care. He has no real desire to learn the language. He just goes on the television, thanks everybody and says that he loves City.

"If he ever wants to bust the guitar out and do a bit, I'm always available."

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Newcastle Man Chosen To Be Face Of Liam Gallagher Clothing Line

Sharp dresser Ed Smith has been chosen as the face of Liam Gallagher’s new clothing line.

Ed, from Newcastle, has been posing with the ex-Oasis frontman for adverts for his fashion label, Pretty Green.

Ed, who lives in Jesmond, was hand-picked by the rocker from hundreds of entries to a competition run through social network Facebook.

“I’m still buzzing from being picked by Liam as the new face of Pretty Green,” said 20-year-old Ed, who works in designer retail in Newcastle. “I’m a huge fan of his and I adore Carnaby Street style so this really is a dream come true.”

Liam was bowled over by his unique and impeccable Beatle-esque look – and the pair even bonded over a love of John Lennon. “Ed has a really unique style and as soon as I saw his pictures I knew that I wanted him to front the campaign,” said the Manchester-born singer.

“He’s perfect for Pretty Green as he embodies 1960s style in a really fresh and modern way.”

Ed found out he had scooped the prize when he received a phone call from Pretty Green on his way to work and was invited to spend a couple of days in London shooting the campaign.

He and his girlfriend Jennie spent time hanging out with Liam both on and off set. “Getting to go on the first photo shoot with Liam was an experience that I won’t forget in a hurry,” added Ed.

“He made me feel at ease straight away. I can’t wait for the next photo shoot.”

Source: www.sundaysun.co.uk

Happy Birthday To Us

The website is six years old today, thanks for visiting over the past six years.

Pretty Green Club Night Tickets Available From Today

Pretty Green is holding its first-ever dedicated club night on 26th November at HMV’s Relentless Garage venue in Islington, North London.

DJS: Andy Bell, Paul Gallagher, Eddie Piller, Jamie Skillz

Playing Live: Exit Calm

An exclusive ticket offer for Pretty Green customers will be available from today with general release on Wednesday 13th October available through www.hmv.com.

Tickets are priced at £12.50 (plus booking fee)

On This Day In Oasis History...

"Cigarettes & Alcohol" is a song by British rock band Oasis, written by Noel Gallagher. It was the fourth single to be released from their debut album Definitely Maybe, and their second to enter the UK Top Ten in the United Kingdom, peaking at #7 (three places higher than "Live Forever"), eventually spending 35 weeks on the charts, re-entering the Top 75 on several occasions until 1997.

Whereas earlier singles "Supersonic" and "Shakermaker" had used psychedelic imagery, and "Live Forever" used softer chords and tender lyrics, "Cigarettes & Alcohol" was the first real taste, among their singles, of the wilder attitude that Oasis appeared to be promoting. The song showcases the appeal of cigarettes, alcohol, drugs and partying as a remedy to the banality of working class life. Lyrics such as "Is it worth the aggravation to find yourself a job when there's nothing worth working for" tapped into the mood of British working class youth in the mid-1990s. However, the song does not set out to hold up these minor releases of work-a-day life as some ideal. They are, rather, a compromise – "You could wait for a lifetime," they sing, "to spend your days in the sunshine/(so) you might as well do the white line".

Upon first hearing the song, the man who discovered the band, Alan McGee, claimed that the song was one of the greatest social statements anyone had made in the past 25 years, such was his view on the song.

nother notable element of this song is Liam's unique pronunciation of many of the words. Most rhymes end in "-tion," and Liam draws these out into "-sheeyion," for almost every line. Noel has said that he writes many lyrics to fit Liam's extremely different vocal style.

The song was one of the first cases when Oasis was accused of musical plagiarism, a reputation of the band that would later grow. The main riff of the song is supposedly "borrowed" from "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" by T-Rex and also bears a similarity to the opening of Humble Pie's cover of "C'Mon Everybody" from the album Smokin'.

Rod Stewart covered the song on his 1998 album When We Were the New Boys.

The song is included on Oasis' compilation album Stop the Clocks.



Track listings

CD CRESCD 190
"Cigarettes & Alcohol" – 4:50
"I Am the Walrus" (Live) – 8:14
"Listen Up" – 6:39
"Fade Away" – 4:13

7" CRE 190
"Cigarettes & Alcohol" – 4:50
"I Am the Walrus" (Live) – 8:14

12" CRE 190T
"Cigarettes & Alcohol" – 4:50
"I Am the Walrus" (Live) – 8:14
"Fade Away" – 4:13

Cassette CRECS 190
"Cigarettes & Alcohol" – 4:50
"I Am the Walrus" (Live) – 8:14

Contrary to the sleevenotes, which claimed it was recorded at the Glasgow Cathouse in June 1994, "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. The reason why this wasn't mentioned on the original sleevenotes was because Noel thought mentioning the fact that it was recorded at a corporate event would look bad. The crowd noises at the beginning and end of the track are from a Faces bootleg of Noel's.

All three B-sides were featured on The Masterplan, although "I Am the Walrus" and "Listen Up" both appear as edited versions.

The Father Ted episode Cigarettes and Alcohol and Rollerblading is named after this song.

Noel Gallagher Joins Russell Brand For A Night Out

Here's Noel Gallagher after a night of mirth in Manchester with his old pal Russell Brand.

Mr Big joined Ol' Russ on his Booky Wook 2 tour on Thursday night for a special recording of the comedian's new TalkSport show, broadcast tonight at 9pm.

The sharp-tongued singer and Russ's rapier routine are being kept in check by their old Radio 2 sidekick Matt Morgan. Matt's a truly brilliant individual with one of the finest comedy brains around.

I have seen pictures of him so drunk on Jagermeister he was on his hands and knees naked pretending to be a dog.

The perfect man to be in charge of two scoundrels like Gallagher and Brand.

The show's a great alternative to Saturday night TV - I'll tune in.

Source: www.thesun.co.uk