Supersonic

​CD - CRESCD 176

01: Supersonic

02: Take Me Away

03: I Will Believe (Live) 

04: Columbia (White Label Demo) 

7" - CRE 176

01: Supersonic

02: Take Me Away

12" - CRE 176T

01: Supersonic

02: Take Me Away

03: I Will Believe (Live) 

 

Cassette - CRECS 176

01: Supersonic

02: Take Me Away​

Release Date: April 11th 1994

Highest UK Singles Chart Position: 31

Supersonic is the debut single by Oasis, written by Noel Gallagher. It also appears on their debut album, Definitely Maybe. It was released on the April 11th 1994 and peaked at number thirty one on the Official UK Singles Chart.

It was the song performed by the band on their debut national TV performance on Channel 4's The Word, which aired on March 18th 1994.

It remains to this day a favourite song of both the band and their fans (on the Definitely Maybe DVD, Noel cites it as his favourite Oasis song).

In spite of its popularity, Gallagher claims the song is basically a collection of nonsense lyrics written in a matter of minutes, just before the band entered the recording studios to record the track. The identity of the character "Elsa" caused some confusion — according to the song She done it with a doctor/On a helicopter/she sniffin' in a tissue/Sellin' the Big Issue. Noel claims, "Someone told me Supersonic was about prostitution. Sh*t!". It has since been revealed that Elsa was a nine-stone rottweiler with a flatulence problem who was in the studio on the day the song was written, hence the line "she's into Alka Seltzer". It was written and recorded at The Pink Museum in Liverpool.

The plan was for Oasis to record Bring It On Down for their debut single and another bunch of demos.

However, Supersonic was written and it impressed everyone so much, it was chosen to be the band's first single.

Gallagher has revealed in interviews that Supersonics distinctive lead guitar part wasn't a deliberate copy of the intro to George Harrison's 1971 single My Sweet Lord. The band recorded two videos for the song, for UK and US release. The UK version of the video features the band playing on a roof, similar to The Beatles' rooftop concert.

 

It is included on the official music album for Euro 2004, Vive O 2004!

In March 2005, Q magazine placed Supersonic at number twenty in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.

In May 2007, NME magazine placed Supersonic at number twenty five in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.

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

 

I Will Believe is believed to have been recorded for a 1993 radio session for the BBC.

The demo of Columbia is the same version as was released on a limited edition white label promo in December 1993, which itself was an edited version of the original demo recorded in Liverpool in the spring of 1993.

Cigarettes & Alcohol

CD - CRESCD 190

01: Cigarettes & Alcohol

02: I Am The Walrus (Live)

03: Listen Up

04: Fade Away

7" - CRE 190

01: Cigarettes & Alcohol

02: I Am The Walrus" (Live) 

12" - CRE 190T

01: Cigarettes & Alcohol

02: I Am The Walrus (Live)

03: Fade Away

Cassette - CRECS 190

01: Cigarettes & Alcohol

02: I Am The Walrus" (Live)

Release Date: October 10th 1994

Highest UK Singles Chart Position: 7

Cigarettes & Alcohol is a song by 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 number seven, eventually spending thirty five 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 twenty five years, such was his view on the song.

Another 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 unique 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.

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 6th 1994, as part of a Sony Music seminar. The reason why this wasn't mentioned on the original sleeve notes 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.