Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins Praises Liam Gallagher

Foo Fighters‘ Taylor Hawkins has spoken out in praise of Liam Gallagher – hailing him as a ‘fucking good rock singer’ and remembering ‘great nights out’ together.

The drummer, who just released his new mini solo album ‘KOTA‘, was talking to NME about the inspiration to work on music away from the Foos, when he opened up about his admiration for the former Beady Eye and Oasis man – and even compared him to Freddie Mercury.

“I’ll tell you something about Liam Gallagher,” Hawkins told NME. “That guy is such a fucking good rock good singer. When people talk about Freddie Mercury, they’re like ‘Oh my god, he’s so outrageous’ – a lot of people just skip past the actual thing of what it is that made them great. I watched that Oasis documentary [Supersonic] the other day, and there’s this part were he just sings ‘Champagne Supernova’ in one take in its entirety, and you just go ‘oh fuck’, you know, the reason we all liked him in the first place is because he’s a fucking good singer. He can fucking sing a rock ‘n’ roll song dude.”

Hawkins continued: “I hope him and his brother can get his shit together. I mean come on boys, everyone wants to see Oasis again, give us a break – come on!”

When asked about how long he’d known the Gallaghers and the Foos history of playing live with Oasis, Hawkins replied: “Oh yeah I’ve known those cats off and on. I was playing shows when I was drummer for Alanis Morissette for all these Christmas festivals, so the Foo Fighters were doing it before I was in the band, Jane’s Addiction, and Oasis. It was right when that album ‘What’s The Story? (Morning Glory)’ came out. We’d be in England and  every single car was either playing Blur or Oasis.”

He went on: It was such a fun time, 1995-96, it was amazing. I remember their bus would pull up, outside of Ohio or New Jersey or something like that, and watching those two guys smacking each other, not even out of the bus. We’re going ‘ oh my god, there they are the real deal’. They look amazing and they’re beating the crap out of each other and I can’t even understand a word they are saying. I had a couple of great nights with them Liam back in the day, back in the 90s.

“Every time I see him I get a big hug. I love him. I think he’s one of the great frontmen over the last 20 years, no question. As far as a guy who can hold a microphone and sing, and really not do much of anything. He can move, one little sway, his hair’s always impeccable and he’s always got the best sweatshirt you’ve ever seen in your life.”

Source: www.nme.com

Oasis, ABBA And Guns N' Roses Are Bands Fans Most Want To Reunite

ABBA is the group we’d most like to make a comeback.

The Swedish icons of 70s and 80s pop took 28% of a poll, with second place going to Guns N’ Roses. Oasis were third. A survey of 1,000 people was carried out by Samsung after Kate Bush’s long- awaited return to the stage.

When it came to previous comeback artists that people most regretted not going to see during their return performances, one in 10 people wished they had not missed the Rolling Stones followed by Kate Bush and Take That.

Whilst the nation had to wait 35 years to see the talents of Kate Bush back on stage , the singer’s comeback this week has also resulted in an increase in music streams on Deezer.

The Samsung partner recorded an increase of 120% in the number of streams of her biggest hits the day after Kate Bush’s comeback was first announced in March, whilst there was a 701% increase the Saturday prior to her first comeback gig last Tuesday when compared with her stream count from the same time last month.

Of the performers no longer with us, the flamboyant front man of Queen, Freddy Mercury (22%) was the act people most wished they had been able to see perform live in concert beating the hip swinging, Elvis Presley (14%) and ‘Smooth Criminal,’ Michael Jackson (12%).

Samsung’s Robert King said: “It’s great to see that music from previous decades still remains popular across all generations today.”

Source: www.irishmirror.ie

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Liam Gallagher Named As Top Choice To Front Queen

Gigwise readers have named Liam Gallagher as their top choice to step into the shoes of Freddie Mercury as the future frontman of Queen.

The Oasis and Beady Eye rocker topped the recent poll, pushing the current star fronting Queen, Adam Lambert, into second place.

George Michael and Paul Rodgers placed third and fourth in the poll - with both having performed with the remaining members of the band at previous events. Fifth place was Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears.

Gigwise readers were not keen on Queen taking a hip-hop direction however, with Kanye West proving the least popular artist to take up the role. Brian May's new best mate Dappy was second-least favourite with Will.i.am, Olly Murs and Lil Wayne also proving unpopular choices.

Source: www.gigwise.com

Roger Daltrey: Oasis Will Be Back In Four Years

The Who legend has told Xfm he reckons Liam and Noel will be reunited within four years....

Talking to Xfm's Gordon Smart on Smart on Sunday Roger Daltrey said he has no doubt that the band will be back together sooner than we think.

"You know damn well that they'll be together - I predict within four years. And it will be magic. They'll be bigger than ever and they'll be drinking twice as much," he put forward.

Liam Gallagher is one of those in the running to be named Xfm's Greatest Frontman of All Time.

Last week saw thousands of you voting and this morning we named the shortlist of twenty - as voting continues to put them in order.

See the shortlist>>>

So who would Roger Daltrey be voting for?

"The [best] frontman of all is no doubt Mick Jagger. Close second Freddie Mercury. And then pre-him in the early rockers I would say Chuck Berry and, of course, Elvis. I like Coldplay, I like Chris, I think they're great. Last time I saw them he was doing all this amazing running about... I kind of thought they were better when he didn't!"

The Who frontman also revealed to Gordon that he's going to feature on a new Beatles covers album.

"They're doing a Lennon/McCartney tribute album with different people singing the songs and they asked me to Helter Skelter - which nobody wanted to do [laughs]. Oh it's brutal!"

Roger Daltrey is the patron of the annual Teenage Cancer Trust gigs in London.

Source: www.xfm.co.uk

The Ten Best Rock'N'Roll Frontmen

Who are the best rock'n'roll frontmen of all time? Not solo artists but real frontmen - men that actually front bands. We choose some of our favourites.

01. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols

Yes he's not very cool anymore, but 30 years ago Johnny Rotten was the snarling, sneering photogenic face of punk rock. His natural ability to (often literally) wear a load of rubbish and still look breathtaking combined with a voice that immediately captured the dark sarcasm of his lyrics.



02. Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones

He may not have pioneered the hip swivelling, camp-as-a-row-of-tents frontmen approach (Little Richard and of course Esquerita got there 10 years earlier) but Jagger certainly made it his own. Mixing a voice that brings-to-mind the arrogance of grizzled old bluesmen, an off-stage reputation as a snobby twit and a dance resembling a chicken and Jagger is, for many, the ultimate frontman.



03. Jimi Hendrix of the Jimi Hendrix Experience

Hendrix's on-stage theatrics rarely overshadowed his immeasurable talent but it can't be denied that Hendrix was as much showman as he was musician. With a dress sense as good as his guitar playing, a reputation as something of a drugs dustbin and the ability to do with his guitar what Little Richard did with his vocals - Hendrix pretty much invented the rock'n'roll cliché. That so many have followed his path speaks volumes.



04. Marc Bolan of T Rex

Marc Bolan mixed the foppish persona of Mick Jagger with the voice and hair of Bob Dylan and the fashion of David Bowie when he helped to pioneer glam rock. Often dismissed as a tween pin-up, Bolan was in fact vital to reinforcing the ever-important teen divide in the early 1970s - making long hair, beards and flares the look of the establishment rather than the cosmic teenage rebels.



05. Iggy Pop of The Stooges

A true wildman of rock'n'roll, Iggy Pop (or James Newell Osterberg, Jr. as his mother knew him) took blues-inspired rock'n'roll to new levels in the late 1960s. After watching Jim Morrison (whose omission from this list is sure to be questioned) perform at the University of Michigan in 1967, Pop took his stage act to new extremes, rolling in glass, exposing himself and vomiting onstage. Without Pop, punk rock would not have developed as we know it.



06. Freddie Mercury of Queen

Freddie Mercury is another who aped Mick Jagger, although Mercury's performance was more outlandish in almost every way. His untrained voice was one of a kind, rolling from heavy rock baritone to soaring falsetto with ease, while image wise Liza Minnelli-inspired flamboyance was key.



07. Liam Gallagher of Oasis

Liam Gallagher is nothing but a frontman. His own songs are awful and his personality vacuous but when Liam Gallagher takes the stage something very silly and slightly magical happens. Forget his voice for a moment (which even the harshest critic couldn't deny is powerful and distinctive) when the man stands motionless on stage with a tambourine in his mouth, scowling at the audience you really can't take your eyes off him. You sort of hate him but you also kind of envy him. This is what a frontman is.



08. Bono of U2

Further proof that you don't need to like someone to recognise their talent as a frontman. Somehow, somehow, Bono has become even bigger than his band, meeting political leaders, making poverty history , editing The Independent for a day, saving the world. All the while he's managed to churn out the kind of atmospheric rock'n'roll that demands a theatrical frontman. He's even entered popular culture as a derisory term for an egotistical, overblown frontman. Johnny Borrell from Razorlight? He's a bit Bono isn't he.



09. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana

The classic doomed rock'n'roll frontman. Cobain was so punk rock that he killed himself because he didn't want to mislead fans into thinking he still found Nirvana fun. On top of that he wrote vicious, poetic lyrics and then screamed them unintelligibly over huge-sounding, pop-laced rock'n'roll. His legacy has ensured every year new waves of troubled young things rip their jeans and pick up a low slung guitar in his honour.



10. Joe Strummer of The Clash

Joe Strummer was a punk rocker with a heart a soul. While Johnny Rotten quickly became a cartoon anarchist, Strummer aimed for real revolution, showing his fans that rock'n'roll could be politically intellectual as well as nihilistically so. He also managed to inject blues, rockabilly, soul, folk and dub into The Clash's sound, all the while looking look Kenickie from Grease's cooler little brother.

Source: www.independent.co.uk

The Devendra Banhart remix of '(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady' and the Liam Gallagher-penned 'I Believe In All' and 'The Boy With The Blues' are now available to buy on iTunes.