Liam Gallagher On John Lennon, The Beatles, Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays, The La's, And More

Below are a number of interviews with Liam Gallagher who talks about John Lennon, The Beatles, Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays, The La's, and more.

Noel Gallagher 'Was Never Asked To Play One Love Gig By Organisers'

Noel Gallagher was reportedly never asked to perform at the One Love Manchester gig by organisers.

Following Noel's 'no show' at Sunday's concert, his younger brother Liam took a very public dig at the High Flying Birds frontman on Twitter.

However, reports suggest Noel had never been invited to play by organisers or Ariana Grande's manager Scooter Braun in the first place.

“Noel has been getting a real bashing for not being at the gig, which is totally out of order," a source said.

“The fact he wasn’t asked to even perform at any point by any of the organisers makes a mockery of Liam’s claims.”

They added to The Sun: “Noel also felt the concert was aimed at fans of pop, not rock, a belief shared by Manchester icons Johnny Marr, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and Morrissey."

It comes as it was revealed the 50-year-old rocker had quietly made an incredible gesture by donating all the proceeds from Oasis’ 1995 hit Don't Look Back In Anger to the We Love Manchester fund.

The song, written by Noel, became an unofficial anthem for the victims of last month’s Manchester bombing after grieving people attending a memorial broke into a spontaneous rendition following a minute’s silence.

A source told the Mirror: “Very soon after the attack, Noel contacted the charity and offered to donate subsequent royalties from the track to the victims’ families.

“But he insisted it was done on the proviso that it was not publicised.”

Earlier Simon Kelner wrote in the i newspaper: "I happen to know that Noel has been donating all profits from sales of ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ since the bombing to the We Love Manchester campaign.’

Noel acknowledged those claims as true, as he retweeted a link to the article on his official Twitter account.
Since the gig, Don’t Look Back In Anger leapt to No. 27 in the Official Charts midweeks on Monday, after re-entering at No. 66 in the wake of the attacks last Friday.

A spokesman for Noel said last week: “Sadly, Noel will not be at the concert this weekend. "He’s been out of the country on a long-standing family trip since before the concert was announced and is unable to attend.

“Needless to say he is very supportive of the event and wishes everyone huge success on the day.”

JohnnySource: www.mirror.co.uk

Tabloid Alert: Oasis “Definitely Maybe” Reuniting For Gigs In 2016

The band is planning a comeback UK arena tour after a six-year break. Other big Manchester bands including the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays have made a fortune through comebacks.

Now the Gallagher brothers Noel, 48, and Liam, 43, plus bandmates Andy Bell and Gem Archer, are in “serious talks” to follow suit.

Our source said: “Other bands have reunited and had a fantastic pay day so it makes sense for everyone involved.

“It has been discussed seriously – it’s only a matter of time.

“It is looking so certain it is worth betting on for next year.”

Noel and Liam have made up following the arguments that led to the band’s split. In March, Liam revealed they had healed their rift after tweeting a picture of himself holding an Access All Areas pass for Noel’s gig with his band High Flying Birds.

They had reportedly settled their differences in January during a family wedding in Ireland.

The brothers famously split after a series of rows between them.

Noel quit the band in 2009 after cancelling a gig at Paris’ Rock On Seine festival just hours before they were due to play. He left Liam and formed his new band.

His brother went on to start Beady Eye with Gem, 48, and Andy, 51.

Source: www.dailystar.co.uk

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Shaun Ryder Says 'Liam Gallagher Should Get Himself A TV Chat Show

Happy Mondays' frontman Shaun Ryder has said he thinks Liam Gallagher should get himself a TV chat show.

Ryder made his suggestions for the Beady Eye singer in the new issue of NME, which is on newsstands now and available digitally. He said: "Apart from have another crew cut, I think he should get himself a TV chat show."

Others, including Johnny Marr, also gave their suggestions as to what they think the ex-Oasis frontman should do now that his latest band Beady Eye have split. Marr, who performed live with Noel Gallagher earlier this month, maintained that Liam should stick to what he's good at, despite the press attention and drama that follows him.

"Liam loves music and loves being in a band. People shouldn't forget that," he said. "It's a shame all this stuff kicks up, because his fame gets in the way of that love. It's not a job, it's a passion he's had since he was a teenager, and he's really good at it.

"I'd hate to see the consequences of his band breaking up and the soap opera that goes with it stop him making music. Oasis were together a long time; the fact they're brothers might mean they have to go off and live their own lives more than people in a regular band, because they've been together since they were children.

"There is a human being in there, who brings people happiness, and people need to remember that."

Producer Alan McGee, who's known Gallagher since May 1993 when he signed Oasis to Creation Records, added: "I love Liam – whatever he wants to do is fine with me."

This week, it was revealed that Liam Gallagher will perform The Who Band as part of a Teenage Cancer Trust gig next month. It will be his first live appearance since the demise of Beady Eye.

Source: www.nme.com

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Oasis: ‘We Were Five Lads From Strong Irish Backgrounds Making Music’

In a year that has seen much consideration of Ireland’s cultural impact on British life, this month’s re-issue of Oasis’s classic debut, Definitely Maybe, offers solid evidence of its impact, 20 years on from the album’s original release.

It is a record that Noel Gallagher once described as “the sound of five second generation Irish Catholics coming out of a council estate” and true to that summation, Definitely Maybe is perhaps a work that could only have been made by a group of Irish Mancunians.

England saw a wave of Irish migrants arrive in the 1960s as cities such as Manchester provided essential labour during a construction boom.

The children of those immigrants would find new sub-cultural identities in football, fashion and pop music creating a vital and expressive contribution to the communal social fabric and culture of British life, particularly in the north west of England.

Inspired by the anti-establishment, anti-imperial post-Thatcher working class sensibilities laid down by The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and Primal Scream, all five members of Oasis came from a strong Irish sub-culture.

Within the story was sibling rivalry, protective Irish mammies, absent fathers, hymns, rebel songs, support of Celtic and the Republic of Ireland, holidays in the west of Ireland and everyday post-industrial city life in backstreets Mancunia.

The rise of Oasis amplified the triumphs, humour and tragedy of Irish diaspora life to the nation.

Two decades on, Oasis founding member and rhythm guitarist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs confirms the significance of that background to the music, attitude and character of the band.

“He’s absolutely right in what he said,” Bonehead says of Noel’s comment. “That’s exactly what we were. We were five lads off the street. I get asked that a lot; ‘what is it about Manchester and Liverpool bringing out such great music?’ and my answer is the same, Celtic blood. It really is that, it’s the only explanation.

“It’s working class people from strong Irish backgrounds making music. My mother was from the west of Ireland in Mayo, a place called Swinford which is literally a few miles from Noel and Liam’s grandparents. My dad was from the North, about 30 miles south of Belfast.

“I went to very Irish Catholic schools, St Roberts in Longsight — everyone was Irish Catholic, we all went to church on a Sunday. I was an altar boy until I was 16 and it was time to hang up the cassock. The family had visions of me being a priest not a rock ’n’ roller.”

Was Irish music a conscious influence on the band? “I was talking about this with Alex (Lipinsky) who I’m in a band with,” he says.

“I put on Sweeney’s Men and he said it sounded like Oasis and The Stone Roses. If someone asked if we were influenced by that, well consciously no but subconsciously probably yes. You can hear their influence in a lot of other Manchester bands like Doves.”

Whether it is later episodes of Shameless or Benefits Street, the media often convey a feckless one dimensional vision of working class life. It’s fair to say Oasis were instilled with a resolute Irish work ethic and for the most part the five-piece held down steady jobs while rehearsing six nights a week. The nuts and bolts of the band were in place as early as 1991.

Liam Gallagher fronted The Rain with Bonehead, a plasterer, bassist Paul ‘Guigsy’ McGuigan, a call-centre telephonist, and drummer Tony McCarroll, a labourer. Noel Gallagher was the last to join. After stockpiling songs working for an Irish building firm, he would immediately take creative control.

Speaking shortly before Oasis split in 2009, Liam reflected on the period: “We had the music. From my point of view you have to try that bit harder with the Irish thing or if you’re Scottish; you’ve got to dig deep because everything revolves around England. My mates, the lads that were English had everything on a plate.”

On leaving school without qualifications Noel Gallagher’s mother Peggy asked him, “what is going to become of you? If music is what you really want to do, I don’t care if you stay on the dole but you better not let me down.”

A stint as a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets provided the budding songwriter with some vital insider awareness. Bonehead casts his mind back to his first recollections of the brothers.

“I knew Noel worked with the Inspiral Carpets and I’d see him at gigs and around the streets and boozers where we lived. I knew Liam before he joined the band, Liam was a young kid, and always a cool f**ker with the best clothes and when you’d see him he’d let on ‘alright mate’.

“I knew he’d make a great front-man. Peggy was everybody’s mate, she was a wonderful woman, still is — and no one is prouder of what Noel and Liam achieved with the band. She’s still here, there and everywhere with them; Queen Peggy.”

Oasis walked the same Manchester avenues and alleyways and came from the same Irish environment as The Smiths. Notably Johnny Marr also offered the band a helping hand. “He hooked us up with our manager (Marcus Russell) and invited us down to his studio,” says Bonehead.

“He was like ‘take this, borrow that, whatever you need.’ We loaded everything in the van. I’ve got to know all The Smiths apart from Morrissey; I’ve become close with Mike Joyce, we grew up two miles from one another. I didn’t know him then but we all knew the same people. It was an instant bond. Those guys are very much the same as us in many ways.”

The Chasing The Sun 20th anniversary edition of Definitely Maybe charts the evolution of the band. The songs and production took a number of attempts to get right and among the 33 extra tracks is the previously unreleased Strange Thing. You can literally hear the band’s self-belief grow as they shake off the indie/baggy era in exchange for a juggernaut of slice-of-life foot stomping, four to the floor rock ’n’ roll.

The bonus discs include a clutch of early sketch recordings and demos which indicate the effort and craft that went into delivering the finished versions, said Bonehead.

“Some of the early songs, like Strange Thing, have got a baggy beat. There’s more songs from that time that have that very Manchester sound, we were still finding our feet. There were times it wasn’t happening in the studio. We tried to record Bring It On Down, which was meant to be the first single, but we weren’t nailing it.

“Noel was in the control room and started writing down some words for what was to become Supersonic; he literally wrote it in minutes. He sang us the melody and wrote the words down for Liam and that was it; bang, recorded in a couple of hours.

“We then brought the song down to Maida Vale and played it to Alan McGee [Creation Records label boss] who was like ‘where the f**k did that come from?”

As momentum gathered throughout the summer of 1994, word of the band’s euphoric gigs swelled like a revival movement. Month by month they outgrew venues as Noel Gallagher enjoyed his most prolific period as a songwriter, never bettered since. Over the next few years his “stockpile” would fill airwaves, pubs, tenements and night-clubs with a run of anthems, said Bonehead.

“He had written Whatever and All Around the World years before Definitely Maybe. I remember saying to him, Whatever has got to be on the album. He had a vision for the band by that point and he didn’t want to record it. He decided to wait until we had a 40-piece orchestra. There’s a strings version on the re-release, it’s been great even for me to hear this stuff.”

Touring with The Verve was also fundamental to the band’s development. “We all looked up to The Verve, they were one of those bands that we aspired to and when we went out on our first proper tour it was supporting them. We learned a lot watching them on stage every night. That was an incredible experience in itself.”

The live versions of Supersonic from around that period sound very spontaneous, particularly Noel’s lead? “That happened sometimes especially at a good gig he extended the outro, he would literally make it up.” Were you never tempted to deliver a solo yourself?

“I went up the neck a few times and Noel would be like ‘nah man, keep it chugging’. Doing bar chords used to do my head in sometimes. I came up with the riff for Up In The Sky and he built the song around that one but generally Noel would arrive with the finished song.”

A number of the live recordings are from early Glasgow gigs. The city where they were discovered by Alan McGee was a stronghold for the band, sharing its diaspora link with Manchester and a well-documented support of Celtic.

“I always had a thing for Celtic because my dad was a die-hard supporter,” says Bonehead, “that was his team. My favourite player was Jimmy Johnstone. Every weekend he made a point of travelling up in the work van with a load of Irish lads, they would get pissed and watch Celtic. Glasgow and New York are my favourite cities in the world.

“Scotland in general was always really good, I remember we played this record company gig with reps flying around and we blew the place apart, that’s where the version of I Am The Walrus comes from.”

The special edition album repeats the inaccuracy that the recording was taken from the Glasgow Cathouse. Noel Gallagher previously explained that “it would look shit if you put ‘Live at Sony Seminar in Gleneagles’! We had a version of it from the Cathouse in Glasgow, which sounded quite similar but it was rubbish.”

The last gang in town currency that created Definitely Maybe wasn’t lost on Noel Gallagher either: “We were all from working class Irish backgrounds, we weren’t the best looking band in the world, apart from Liam who’s a good looking lad, but the point is anyone could have been in the band.”

As the structure of the band was slowly dismantled in favour of ‘professionals’ with the ‘right haircut’ they also conceded the folk spirit and idealism that captured the British public’s imagination. The first to go was drummer Tony McCarroll in April 1995. Although much lambasted by Noel Gallagher, it’s widely acknowledged the drums characterised the raw power of the now classic album.

“No matter what people say there was only one person who could have played drums on Definitely Maybe,” says Bonehead, “and that was Tony, it really was. If you strip away Noel’s guitars and listen to the rhythm section, it’s pure punk attitude in that record.”

Bonehead would quit the band himself in 1999 after a drunken argument with Noel followed by Paul McGuigan. “We were all f**ked by that point,” he says, “but I don’t think it hit me until prior to recording (Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants). I think he picked his moment (McGuigan). I didn’t expect him to leave as well.

Oasis were the first and last band since The Beatles to enjoy such widespread public esteem in Britain. Until their final split in 2009 they would routinely sell out stadiums across the globe. Rumours of an Oasis reunion continue to abound.

A recent exhibition, Chasing The Sun 1993-97, celebrated the early years of the band and a reunion of the original line-up would undoubtedly exhilarate a generation of fans whose lives were sound-tracked by the band’s early output.

Of late, Bonehead has returned to playing live with Phoneys & The Freaks. He has also re-established a solid friendship with Liam Gallagher. “I’m probably closer with Liam now than I ever was, we’ve played together at a couple of events recently.” Will you play together again? “I’d love to,” comes the reply. Is there talk? “There might have been.”

For now Paul Arthurs is staying tight-lipped but if he gets a call from the man he still calls “the chief”, he won’t stand in the way of what the public wants. In many ways he displays something of the Irish Mancunian steadiness that underpinned Oasis.

“I went to see Noel’s High Flying Birds in Glasgow,” he says, “and he dedicated a song to me. We’re not close, I bump into him from time to time but if he wants me to play a gig or whatever — I’m there.”

Definitely Maybe: Chasing The Sun Edition will be released on May 19.

Source: www.irishpost.co.uk

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What's Going On At 'This Feeling' This Weekend?

The Dexters play at 'This Feeling' in Milton Keynes tonight the band have done around 300 gigs in the last two years including tours with Miles Kane, The Rifles, The Courteeners, Glasvegas, Happy Mondays.

Check out the debut album, their music has been used on BBC2 sitcom 'Grown Ups', Soccer AM and more.



Visit www.thisfeeling.co.uk for tickets and infomation on club nights all over the UK.

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Noel Gallagher Rejects 20 Million Pounds For 'Oasis' Reunion

Noel Gallagher has turned down 20 million to reunite with brother Liam for an Oasis world tour.

The singer-songwriter has put the kibosh on plans for the reunion which, would mark 20 years since the band’s 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe.

The Sunday People can also reveal that Paul Weller and the Happy Mondays had been lined up as special guests.

Noel, 46, right, has been asked to make up with frontman Liam for the tour, which ­included two gigs at Knebworth.

But the simmering feud between the ­brothers, which boiled over in a backstage row in 2009, won’t be cooling off any time soon.

A source close to Noel revealed: “There were hopes he would do it but frankly, he just doesn’t want to. The Oasis reunion is well and truly off.

“He has refused all offers, it got to £20 million but even the lure of money like that just didn’t work.

“Liam is very keen to get back together, if only for the money but Noel is having none of it.

“There have been several ­intermediaries from their respective camps working very hard indeed to reach some form of agreement but Noel isn’t budging and a working ­solution between the brothers simply can’t be found.

“It’s a real shame and Noel knows how much his fans would love to see the band reform but he doesn’t want to commit to the time, he is quite ­happy as he is.”

Source: www.irishmirror.ie

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Liam Gallagher 'Made Up' At Being Voted The Ultimate Singer By NME.COM Users

Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher says he's "made up" after being picked as the ultimate singer by NME.COM users.

Liam was voted as the ultimate frontman in NME's poll of the greatest musicians ever, as part of the Ultimate Band issue, which is on newsstands from today or available digitally.

Pick up a copy to see who the likes of Johnny Marr, Foals, The Maccabees, Jake Bugg, The Libertines, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Frank Turner, The Mighty Boosh and tons more picked as the line-up for their ultimate band.

The ultimate band, as picked by NME.com users is:

Singer – Liam Gallager (Oasis)
Bassist – Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Guitarist – Johhny Marr (The Smiths)
Drummer – Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters)
The 'other guy' – Bez (Happy Mondays)

"I'm made up people voted for me as the ultimate singer. But no Keith Moon, Reni, Macca or Mani – are you sure?" Liam says in this week's NME.

Others included in the line-up of NME.COM users' ultimate band are Morrissey, Alex Turner, David Bowie, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Kim Deal, Jimi Hendrix, Matt Helders and Keith Moon. Pick up a copy of this week's NME on newsstands now or available digitally to find out the full line-up.

Source: www.nme.com

Bid For A Signed Guitar From Members Of Oasis, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays And More

A guitar signed by the biggest names in Manchester's music scene is being auctioned off for charity.

Oasis, The Stone Roses, The Charlatans, New Order, Happy Mondays, The Smiths and Elbow are some of the bands who have autographed it.

Named the Madchester Guitar, it is the brainchild of Adam Masters, who owns South City Music shop.

Click here to bid on the guitar or for more details.

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds have released International Magic Live At The O2 DVD through Sour Mash Records.

They are currently playing the US and Canada alongside Snow Patrol and Jake Bugg.

 For details on the above and more click here.

Videos: Madchester Guitar Signed By Manchester Bands Auctioned

A guitar signed by the biggest names in Manchester's music scene is to be auctioned off for charity.

The Stone Roses, Oasis, The Charlatans, New Order, Happy Mondays, The Smiths and Elbow are some of the bands who have autographed it.

Named the Madchester Guitar, it is the brainchild of Adam Masters, who owns South City Music shop.

Click here to watch a video from the BBC.



Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds have released International Magic Live At The O2 DVD through Sour Mash Records.

They are currently playing the US and Canada alongside Snow Patrol and Jake Bugg.

For details on the above and more click here.

Noel Gallagher Endorses Manchester Music 'Hall Of Fame'

Smiths, Oasis, New Order and Happy Mondays are expected to feature.

Noel Gallagher and New Order's Peter Hook are among the musicians giving their support to a new hall of fame-style venue celebrating Manchester's musical history.

The hall is being set up by London-based firm 3DTwin. It will feature memorabilia from Manchester's music scene and will honour the city's most famous artists, reports the Manchester Evening News.

The Smiths, The Bee Gees, Oasis, New Order, Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses and Take That are all expected to feature.

Speaking in support of it, Gallagher said: "Manchester has always punched above its weight musically and it's high time this was celebrated in a way that will act as an inspiration to the next generation of artists."

3DTwin founder Richard Abbot added that the building, which he hopes will be around the size of a football pitch, will include a live venue, restaurant, screenings room and mega-store. The company is currently vetting suitable venues in the city.

Source: www.nme.com

Fans Think I'm Bez!

Former Oasis guitarist Bonehead has revealed that a fan recently mistook him for Bez from Happy Mondays. Speaking at the Authentic club night in London, he explained: "I stopped off at Crawley service station for a coffee, this girl was checking me out…

I'm Bonehead, I used to be in Oasis! She walks over and says, 'Alright Bez? I'm a really big fan of Happy Mondays, can I have your autograph? So I signed it, 'To Lisa, best wishes, Mike Skinner.'

Source: www.nme.com

Noel's TCT gig 'The Dreams We Have As Children (Live For Teenage Cancer Trust)’ is available to download now, click here for more details.