Liam Gallagher On Ray Davies, Noel, Kasabian, Paul Weller And More

The interviewer from Q told Liam Gallagher that Ray Davies from 'The Kinks' walked out of them at the 'Cafe Rouge' in London were this part of the interview is taking place

Liam "I see Ray Davies around sometimes, sometimes he says hello, sometimes he blanks me, I don't mind being blanked by Ray Davies."

Liam Gallagher puts the warmth his comeback received down to two main things: being out of the limelight for four years and returning with a strong collection of songs.

On working with songwriters and quotes he's interpreted as digs from Paul Weller and Serge Pizzorno as digs. 

Liam: "I've been singing other people's lyrics my whole life and I own them. Once I get hold of them, I make them something else, like Elvis."

Liam thinks Noel, Weller and Kasabian are unnerved by him invading their space and taking money off their plate.

He said "There's been a smoke bomb gone off, and everyone's been blinded by what's gone down and the smoke's cleared and yours fucking truly is in the middle going, 'Come on, you cunts.'

At the day after the Q Interview when asked if Liam Gallagher's tweet about a truce with Noel was true.

His Girlfriend Debbie Gwyther is quoted by Q via email saying "It was Liam having too many Guinnesses, I'm holding you* responsible for the mayhem it caused".

*You as in the reporter for Q as they had been drinking for seven hours after Liam Gallagher had suggested a quick one.

The Kinks Ray Davies Urges Liam Gallagher To Patch Things Up With Noel

The Kinks star Ray Davies has urged Liam Gallagher to patch things up with his brother Noel.

The Come Dancing singer, who is a neighbour of the former Oasis frontman in North London, has famously feuded with his own sibling and ex-bandmate Dave for years, and he doesn't want the Gallaghers' rivalry to fester any longer.

Liam and Noel haven't been on speaking terms since the guitarist quit the group during a tour in 2009.

The Live Forever singer tells Q Magazine, "He (Davies) told me to patch it up with my brother. I said, 'I will if you do!'"

In the rare interview, Gallagher reveals he also lives close to George Michael, who once sent him flowers, and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, adding, "I got told off for throwing stones at his windows p**sed-up (drunk), asking him to chuck down some bacon rolls."

And Liam tells the publication he has embarked on a new fitness regime, running seven miles every day.

"(I'm) leaving about 5am unless I've been out on the sauce (drinking), then I'm getting in at 5am," he smiles.

The singer concludes the interview by insisting Oasis will reform one day.

"I believe Oasis will sail again and it'll be glorious," he says. "If it's really about the fans, Noel, let's do it - because they want it. One year. Tour for a year. We'd smash it. My bags are still packed from my last tour, so I'm ready."

Noel has previously refused any and all attempts to reform Oasis.

Source: www.tv3.ie

Noel Gallagher: I Saw The End Of Brit Pop

Noel Gallagher revealed he saw the end up Brit Pop before it fizzled out.

The songwriter's former group Oasis were the biggest band to emerge from the rock sub genre than came from the UK in the 90s and although it was a very special time for music he knew it was the end era.

He said: ''It was an anniversary of something recently and somebody showed me a list of the album chart back them and in one week, it was Oasis, The Verve The Manics, Pulp and Blur, were like at least five of the top ten, and had been for most of that year. And I felt, I remember saying at the time that that era was the end of something, that that would be the last time that something like that would happen. There just isn't that culture any more. I have a 15-year-old daughter who is like, 'Albums? They take too much time just give me the track man.'

''I guess it was the end of pop music as we knew it and then the internet came along and bingo.''

Meanwhile, the 48-year-old musician added that he was inspired to write albums with B sides by the soul and rock groups of the '60s, such as The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys.

He told Steve Lamaq on BBC Radio Six: ''We were all derived from, maybe not so much The Manics, but we certainly were derived from those pop records and The Verve were the same and Blur probably.''

Source: www.tv3.ie

No Takers For Oasis Demo Tape Or Band's NME Award Thrown Away By Noel Gallagher

But blackboard from cover of classic B-sides album The Masterplan fetches £1,400

The first demo tape ever recorded by Oasis has failed to sell at auction.

The cassette recording went under the hammer in Cheshire this week alongside an NME award which Noel Gallagher famously threw away.

But punters did not match the £1,000 reserve price for the historic tape, or the £5,000 tag for the award.

There was far more interest in another piece of the band’s history, however. The original blackboard that features in the classroom cover of the classic B-sides album The Masterplan was sold for £1,400 - far more than the £800 reserve.

The auctioneers say that since the sale on Wednesday, there’s been fresh interest in the demo tape and award from new potential buyers.

The collection of Oasis memorabilia went under the hammer at Omega Auctions in Warrington on Wednesday.

The sale featured the band’s first ever demo cassette recorded in late 1991 and Jan 1992 with Noel’s handwriting on the labels.

It was given to Terry Christian by Noel in 1992 while he was having dinner in Don Giovanni’s in Manchester.

The cassette features early studio demos on one side and an early gig on the B-side from The Boardwalk.

Noel Gallagher famously threw away the NME award in 1995/96 in response to the magazine’s editor failing to acknowledge the death of Rob Collins, keyboard player with The Charlatans.

Karen Fairweather, auctioneer at Omega Auctions, said that neither item reached its reserve price, but the Masterplan blackboard sold for £1,400.

The biggest seller of the day was a piano played by White Stripes frontman Jack White, which was picked up for £5,000.

A collection of framed 1960s promo photographs featuring The Kinks and other icons sold for £700.

For more information on the remaining lots, see www.omegaauctions.co.uk.

Source: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Check out the current collection and offers from Pretty Green here.

Noel Gallagher On Pink Floyd, David Bowie, The Sex Pistols, The Who, The Jam And More

Below are Noel Gallagher's top iTunes album recommendations, check out his favourite songs, movies and TV shows here.

The Sex Pistols: Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols
"Probably the single most important important album of all time. Why? Because it reignited youth culture."

Pink Floyd: The Wall
"The scope, the vision, the story, the iconic guitar playing - not to mention the songs! I know every single word of it... staggering."

The Beatles: Revolver
"The '90's would never have happened without this album."

The Kinks: We Are The Village Green Preservation Society
"Probably the most underappreciated album of all time. Ray Davies was the unsung hero of the '60's... Storytelling of THE

The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses
"It doesn't sound like it now but at the time this really did seem like it came from another universe... at that moment they were the greatest band of all time."

The Who: The Ultimate Collection
"Undoubtedly the greatest singles band of all time... laughable how many truly great youth anthems Pete Townshend wrote."

Various Artists: The Hacienda Classics
"You really should've been there. One of my most treasured musical possessions... the sound of my youth. When it came out, it transported me right back to some of the greatest nights of my life. It never EVER lets you down."

The Velvet Underground: The Very Best Of The Velvet Underground
"Without The Velvet Underground no David Bowie. No David Bowie, no point getting up in the morning."

David Bowie: The Next Day
"No matter how hard they try (and they will try!) they'll never beat the jaw dropping moment when 'Where Are We Now?' was aired... the whole thing was mind blowing... properly mind blowing. A masterpiece."

The Soundtrack Of Our Lives: Behind The Music
"It changed the way I wrote music. Probably the biggest influence on my thing (whatever that is?!) since The Beatles."

The Jam: Snap!
"Weller the teenager writing teenage anthems... Rare as a decent B-side these days! No point in listing them, there's too many. Intense and unrelenting and he was only 23 when they split up!"

Check out the current collection and offers from Pretty Green here.

No Oasis Or Rolling Stones - For The Queen's 12 Minutes Of British Pop

The Beatles and Blur make the cut but there’s no room for Oasis and the Rolling Stones. A 12-minute medley of British rock’s greatest achievements will be performed at Buckingham Palace after the Queen requested a potted history of Britpop.

A four-day festival, with a “Best of British” theme, opens to the public on Friday in Buckingham Palace's gardens, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation.

The event will showcase British fashion, food, technological innovation and the arts. For the musical contribution, the Palace has chosen the chart-topping band The Feeling, to play a tightly-constructed medley featuring the most essential music of the Queen’s reign, which neatly encompasses the popular music era.

The Feeling, whose set list was approved “at the very heighest levels” by the Palace, have boiled down 60 years of artistic innovation and cultural reinvention into just seven songs.

The medley begins with The Beatles and revives the sonic crunch of The Kinks. It singles out the 70s rock operatics of The Who, the flamboyant showmanship of Queen with David Bowie and the artful state-of-the-nation addresses delivered by Pink Floyd and Blur.

There are unavoidable omissions, said Dan Gillespie Sells, frontman of The Feeling. “We had to leave out the Rolling Stones and we chose Blur over Oasis because they were the band who most influenced us,” he said. “We could have chosen from a million songs but we went for artists we liked and tried to cover all the bases inside 12 minutes. We didn’t want the medley to be too quickfire either, we restricted it to seven songs.”

The Queen was spared some controversial choices. “We couldn’t have the Sex Pistols’ God Save The Queen. I’d have liked to do an Elvis Costello song but it would have been too political,” said the singer.

“We had to send the set-list to the Palace for approval but that’s fair enough – the event is in her house.”

However some may wish to send The Feeling to the Tower for including their own hit, Love It When You Call as the climax of their Britpop history. “The palace asked us to include one of ours. It was the most played song on the radio so I think it’s fair enough,” explained Gillespie Sells.

The band debated whether Pink Floyd’s “We don’t need no education” lyric was appropriate for the Palace. “We wanted some Floyd but they don’t really do pop songs,” said Gillespie Sells. “This one clips along and helps with the pace of the medley.”

At least The Feeling, soon to release a new album called Boy Cried Wolf, did not use their valuable minutes to try out some new material. “We could have included a noughties song from Coldplay,” Gillespie Sells said. “But it’s a bit weird to cover a song by your contemporaries who are your friends.”

The Feeling will perform their medley each day during the festival and hope the Queen will attend one of the performances.

Katherine Jenkins, Russell Watson, Katie Melua and Laura Wright will also perform at the festival of “innovation, excellence and industry”. Each day more than 6,000 ticket holders will attend the palace gardens which will be filled with more than 200 display stands exhibiting products and services.

Tickets for the Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace at: https://www.coronationfestival.com/

The Best of Britpop?
Day Tripper – The Beatles (1965 UK chart peak - No 1)
You Really Got Me – The Kinks (1964 No 1)
Pinball Wizard – The Who/Elton John (1969 No 4)
Under Pressure – Queen & David Bowie (1981 No1)
Another Brick In the Wall (Part 2) – Pink Floyd (1979 No 1)
Parklife – Blur (2004 No 10)
Love It When You Call – The Feeling (2006 No 18)

Source: www.independent.co.uk

#Liam6Music - The Ultimate Liam Gallagher Playlist

Liam Gallagher isn’t exactly known for keeping a low profile, and with the sophomore album by his band Beady Eye now streaming via iTunes (and this review by Drowned in Sound causing a large twitter storm) alongside a glaring front page spead in the NME, this week is no exception. He even told them he’d “bury the hatchet” with brother Noel for “a quick lap of honour" touring Oasis’ Definitely Maybe when it turns 20 next year.

So, what better time to salute the genuine living legend of rock that is Liam G? That’s why this week we want you to pick the ULTIMATE Liam Gallagher playlist: It could be:  

*Influences – The Beatles obviously, but also The Rolling Stones, The Jam, The Stones Roses and The Kinks amongst others

*Collaborators – Ride’s Andy Bell, Dave Sitek, The Bunnymen, any other artists from the Creation Records era...or how about a bit of Heavy Stereo featuring Beady Eye’s Gem Archer?

*People he’s influenced – Tom from Kasabian, Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys, Richard Ashcroft…and that’s just for starters.    

*Anything from the Oasis and Beady Eye back catalogue

You choose the music so let us know what you want us to play by commenting on Facebook, on the blog, tweet #Liam6Music, email us at nowplaying@bbc.co.uk or add a track onto our collaborative Spotity playlist.

And if you're a Liam fan, don't forget to tune into BBC 6 Music from 6pm on Sunday for a two hour treat. COME ON!

More details can be found here.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Noel Gallagher Would Never "Stoop" To Co-Write A Song With Another Artist

The former Oasis star and High Flying Birds frontman - who was awarded an Ivor Novello award recognising his outstanding song collection - admitted he didn't always find songwriting easy.

Noel said: "It can be frustrating. I start a lot of songs and finish just about enough to make an album every now and again. So it can be frustrating. The words for me are frustrating.

"But I don't think I'd ever stoop to being that much of a scoundrel to be a co-writer with anyone. I hate that. They should write their own songs."

Noel was given a standing ovation as he accepted his award and thanked "everyone who has ever played on one of my songs".

And dedicating the award award to his wife Sarah, he described a recent conversation they had in which he said he wanted to turn the garage of their new home into a "creative space" to write songs.

"And she said to me 'I've never seen you writing songs'."

Holding the trophy he said: "If any more proof were needed."

He accepted the award from Kinks star Ray Davies, who joked: "I don't know why I'm here. I haven't done anything to help this man's career at all."

Source: www.expressandstar.com

Beady Eye's Performance Of 'Wonderwall' At The Olympics Is Now Available On DVD And Blu-Ray

Beady Eye's performance of Wonderwall is now available on the official DVD of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

It was the Olympic Games we will never forget; an extraordinary event in Britain’s history with intense drama, sporting brilliance and heart-wrenching emotion. Capturing the key moments of the Games, including a specially-edited version of the entire Opening Ceremony from Director Danny Boyle, over seven hours of sporting highlights and the full Closing Ceremony, these day-by-day highlights relive the triumphs, moving stories and memories that will live on forever.

Experience once again the magnificent performances from outstanding athletes such as Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Chris Hoy and Jessica Ennis. Marvel at the many amazing achievements, including Mo Farah’s double gold, Oscar Pistorius’ Olympic Games debut and Nicola Adams’ gold in the boxing ring. Relive Team GB’s 29 gold medal triumphs and recapture the moments which made these Olympic Games so special; from the electrifying atmosphere in the stadium on ‘Super Saturday’ to judo’s Gemma Gibbons’ tearful dedication and the pure emotion of swimmer Chad le Clos’ father.

5 DISC BOX SET INCLUDES:

DISC 1: The Opening Ceremony: Part One
DISC 2: The Opening Ceremony: Part Two
DISC 3: Sporting Highlights (Days 7 – 10)
DISC 4: Sporting Highlights (Days 11 – 16)
DISC 5: Closing Ceremony

The London 2012 Olympic Games ended in style with a celebration of music and sporting achievement, created by Kim Gavin. It marked the end of an amazing chapter in London’s life and featured an array of British artists from the last 50 years including Beady Eye, Russell Brand, Eric Idle, The Kinks, The Spice Girls and Jessie J.

For more details visit the BBC website here.

Noel Gallagher Fan Helps Out Folks

Folks have Noel Gallagher’s “stalker” to thank after they were left stranded at a service station in Germany.

The Manchester band were supporting the former Oasis man when they suffered a freak incident on the road.

But they were rescued by a Noel obsessive before launching into an impromptu booze-fuelled car park set of Oasis covers.

Speaking after Folks’ Biz Session, guitarist Michael Beasley said: “Our van driver snapped the key in the ignition and we got stuck at a service station for 12 hours.

“Luckily they sell beer so everybody was getting f*****-up. Then one of Noel Gallagher’s stalkers turned up in this Oasis-emblazoned car.

“He offered to assist us. He got all these guitars out of his car and we ended up doing an Oasis tribute gig in this car park for three hours.

“He was more than helpful to the point where you think, ‘This is a bit weird.’

“But we took him back to our hotel and allowed him into the soundcheck for Noel’s show in Munich. Noel was alright about it.”

Singer Scott Anderson added: “We spent 11 hours with him. He was very nice. He’s coming on holiday every year with us now.”

Folks have supported such acts as The View and Miles Kane on tour so far – but the banter they shared with Noel is still fresh in the memory.

Not least because of their Manchester footie rivalry.

Michael recalled: “We’re all Manchester United fans so there’s a bit of a rivalry because he’s a City fan, of course.

“The first time we played with Noel was at the Roundhouse in London just before Christmas.

“City had just beaten us 6-1 so he was giving all the lads grief. Then he came up to me and said, ‘What about that? F****** 6-1!’

“I said, ‘Dude, I’ve had f****** 20 years of success with United. Feels good doesn’t it?’”

However, the songwriter/guitarist left Noel scratching his head one drunken post-gig night in Paris.

“There was a band playing that would perform any song that you asked for,” he said.

“As is customary, Noel had the first choice of song and he chose the Kinks. Then he looked at me and said, ‘You choose now.’ I was a bit p*****. I’m like, ‘Can you play Mother by John Lennon?’

“He came up to me and said, ‘It’s a f****** party – and you’re asking for a song about your dead mother!’”

Watch two exclusive acoustic tracks performed live here.

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Liam Gallagher On Sking, Italy, Argentina And More

Taken from the British Airways Magazine, thanks to site visitor James.

Notes From A Traveller: Liam Gallagher

When I was younger, we were always dragged to Ireland kicking and screaming for our holidays as me is from County Mayo. It was good hanging out with my cousins on tractors in the countryside. There wasn't much else to do.

At heart I'm a big kid and visit Disneyland every year. I'm not into roller coasters - they freak me out. My favourite ride is Soarin', which has a huge screen and movies are projected round you as if you're hang-gliding over the San Francisco bridge.

La Bombonera, the football stadium of the Boca Juniors in Argentina, has to be one of the most atmospheric places I've ever played a gig. It was just mental. There were 60,000 kids screaming, dancing and singing along.

Villa d'Este in Lake Como, Italy is one of my favourite places to visit with the misses - we just mess about on boats. The food is mega: pizza and spaghetti bolognese, which is out of this world. The Black Cat (ll Gatto Nero) has great views other looking the lake.

Henley-on-Thames has a good little vibe to it - it's picturesque and there are lots of young people there. Oasis used to record round the corner so we'd go out for a beer after recording, head through Marlow and think, 'This is nice'. I've got a place for Henley by the river and every time I visit it's like going on holiday.

If I had to choose between sun and snow it would be snow. I like the cold seasons and could never spend Christmas in a hot country. Extreme weather sports are not for me. Once someone convinced me to go on skis in Switzerland. Going downhill was a nightmare and I may have fallen over a few times. Afterwards, I couldn't walk for a month.

Carnaby Street in the 1960's is the inspiration for my clothing range Pretty Green. All the bands who've records I bought over the years - the Beatles, the Stones and the Kinks - would pick up their clothes in that part of London and mooch about there. Ive tried to capture that personality and rock 'n' roll vibe while at the same time offering something that feels modern and cool.

Pictures of the interview can be found on our Twitter page here.

Noel Gallagher: Oasis Not Reforming Before The Smiths Or The Kinks

Noel Gallagher’s new band is doing well, though not quite as well as his old one. He explains why Oasis won’t be getting back together before The Smiths, or The Kinks

It's early evening in Adelaide and “bloody boiling”, according to Noel Gallagher, who’s taking advantage of the air-conditioning in his hotel room before an appearance at the city’s Big Day Out festival. You could say he’s in hog heaven, but Boss Hog heaven would be more accurate. “How about this for an afternoon of telly: The Dukes of Hazzard – Boss is a legend – Magnum, Nightrider, The A-Team. I’ve been texting all my mates back home because that’s bloody fantastic.”

I was mildly surprised to discover that Gallagher had checked in under his own name. Not for him a silly rock-star alias like Harry Bollocks (Ozzy Osbourne), Sir Humphrey Handbag (Elton John), Bobo Latrine (Elt again) or Brian Bigbun (you-know-who). But then I remembered how often I’d seen him with Sara MacDonald, then his girlfriend and now his wife, walking round her home city of Edinburgh, hand-in-hand, maybe a Harvey Nicks bag or two, just being normal.

Gallagher, when he was in Oasis with his kid brother Liam, used to rule the world. Well, apart from America, which they never quite cracked. The What’s the Story (Morning Glory)? album shifted 22 million copies and the band helped found a music movement (Britpop), a cultural one (Cool Britannia) and an ideological one (Laddism). Everyone, not just northern working-class tykes, wanted to talk like them (lots of swearing) and walk like them (the way carpetfitters do, as if lugging heavy rolls under each arm). With the cigarette-lighter anthems Wonderwall and Don’t Look Back in Anger, they encouraged men to show their emotions, or at least to indulge in beery hugging-wrestling at the end of yet another Binge Britain night. Even Tony Blair, after receiving Noel at Number 10 and reflecting on the historical significance of the cheese-and-wine, slurred into Gordon Brown’s ear, “You’re my best mate, you are.” (Well, almost).

The man who wrote the songs, Gallagher was a big, big star and always acted like it, but at 44 this is how normal his life is now: “I do the supermarket shop. In fact, I do it so often that when my trolley is full of Guinness and crisps the whole store knows Sara must be back in Edinburgh with our kids. Ask me what are the best-value nappies and I could tell you.

“People seeing me there for the first time are always surprised. They’re like, ‘Mate, what the f*** are you doing here?’ They watch me with my Pampers and six-packs of yoghurt, and their faces are a mixture of sympathy for me and their own personal disappointment. They want me in a top hat and a cape with a syringe hanging out one eye. It’s what’s expected, even on a Tuesday afternoon.”

He tells his stories well. A born comedian with his own catchphrase, the incredulous response, “I’m not having that.” There’s just the right amount of pause and local colour in the yarns and the throwaways that are actually crucial to the build-up of the drama. For instance, this is Gallagher on how he and Sara finally decided to get married after 11 years together. “I was watching TV one Sunday night … Coast, I think, with that Scottish bloke with the hair [Neil Oliver]. I remember there was this interesting item about a silted-up bit of the Humber, and Sara came and stood in front of the screen and said, ‘Just so you know, I’m not getting married when I’m 40.’ I had to ask how old she was – 39. Then I said, ‘So are you asking me to ask you to marry me?’ We’d talked about it before but no one wanted to organise it. She’d say, ‘But I’ve got the kids to look after’ and I was like, ‘But I’ve got the band to look after’.”

Who had the tougher job, the one involving the most wailing? It would be a close-run thing. The sibling relationship at the heart of Oasis was never less than highly flammable, fascinating psychologists and tabloid editors alike. When I worked for a more excitable journal, one Liam walk-out triggered the setting up of a special investigative unit. Each morning we would be asked, “What’s the Oasis follow-up today?” Anyone with a point of view was interviewed, including Hue & Cry’s equally combustible Pat and Greg Kane. We lasted a week before the subject was exhausted. In the new century, the band became much less vital, but in 2009 the Gallaghers squared up for one last ding-dong involving smashed guitars and a flying prune. Oasis were no more. Well, until that big reunion tour, obviously.

This seems the right moment to ask: how are things with Liam? “I’d better not talk about him,” says big brother. Last year there were assorted spats played out across the front pages of the NME, culminating in threats of legal action. Are they speaking? “Well he has been round the world [with new band Beady Eye] and now I’m doing it. Through the wonders of modern technology, it’s possible to speak without actually speaking. Other than that, we communicate through our mum.”

Gallagher is Down Under with his High Flying Birds, less a group than a bunch of musicianly mates. Last year’s self-titled album, while not a giant leap for him, was well received and is still selling well. And yet he says he only made it because Sara was fed up of him hanging around the house. “That’s not a joke, by the way. I’ve never wanted my music to be like a real job; if you put out too much stuff, people get bored. After Oasis, I think they were definitely fed up with us, and I was very happy doing nothing for a year, no interviews for two years, because I’ve got a young family and as much as possible I want to see them grow up. But after a while I was like, ‘This shit ain’t going to pay for itself.’”

His remark about needing to earn some money sounds like a joke; surely not even Oasis could have blown the proceeds from, all told, 55 million albums on mansions, cars and cocaine? Nevertheless, is he surprised by the success of High Flying Birds? “Well, part of me is like, ‘Wow, this is incredible’ but there has always been this voice which goes, ‘F*** off, you’re the bollocks.’ Apart from the first two albums, Oasis were never a critics’ band – they loathed us. But the people’s faith never wavered.” Still flaunting his bollocks then, but now with added humility – this seems to be Gallagher in 2012. Yes, he lived the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle to the fullest, and why not? There’s a lock-up in Buckinghamshire that houses, “without guilt”, half a million quid’s worth of art. This isn’t the spoils from some lottery splash – he wrote those songs and played those shows. But then he tells you about the Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed on him by Q magazine. “I found that slightly embarrassing, to be honest – but in a good way.” Suddenly, after all that sneering about being too obviously influenced by the Beatles, he had the respect of his peers. “The guys from U2 and Queen gave me a standing ovation. I’d never had one before, not even at my own wedding.”

Gallagher grew up in Burnage, Manchester, the middle son of Irish immigrants, and his violent and abusive father told him he’d never amount to anything. Of the journey from obscurity to omnipotence, he says, “You start off as a kid in an Adidas top and you end this guy in a fur coat and two pairs of f***in’ sunglasses.”

He insists he was at his happiest before fame, as a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets, earning £300 a week to set up the drums, a “normal lad” in a great city pulsating with the fab new sounds of Madchester. And he also talks wistfully about his decade on the dole. “My mate Paul Kelly did such a noble thing: he was the first of our gang to get his own flat and he set it up to be a drugs den where we could smoke weed, watch the kind of telly that’s been on today and listen to Simon & Garfunkel. I’m forever indebted.”

But it doesn’t take a genius to work out he has never been more content than right now. “I’m glad I lived through the madness – the fur coats and the crocodile-skin shoes and the women.” Here he’s talking about Supernova Heights, the house in London’s Primrose Hill he shared with Meg Matthews, and to which he returned from tour in 1988 to find it full of people who’d transformed his home into a nightclub.

He resolved, “I’m not having that – I need to get a f***in’ life” and never touched cocaine again. “The day I left Oasis I was offered the chance to write my memoirs. but I’ll never do a ‘My drugs hell’,” he adds. “I absolutely loved being famous. It was all great, up until the point when it wasn’t.”

But contrast Supernova Heights with his present abode in Maida Vale. The big attraction for him and Sara moving there was a garden for their sons, Donovan, four, and Sonny, 16 months, although Paul Weller has just bought a flat across the road – “He can see right into our kitchen and he’ll often text: ‘Milk and two, mate’” – and he likes this connection to his old life.

He’s a full-on dad – nappies, bedtime stories, trips to the park. No qualms about private schooling – he wants his boys to have a better education than he had. And this is his parenting philosophy: “You have to make the effort with children. You can’t have them thinking that I reckon I’m special otherwise they’ll start thinking they’re special. I want them to feel normal for as long as possible because God knows they’ll reach an age when they’ll be told they’re not.”

Normal Noel and his normal boys, and he was “playing at pirates” with them – that attention to story detail again – when Simon Cowell phoned up to offer Gallagher a job as a judge on The X Factor. “I love the show but could you have imagined the ‘judges’ houses’ week: all those checkout girls from Rochdale trampling on my daffs and scaring the cat? I wasn’t having that.” At least one girl was devastated that the gig went to Gary Barlow: Anais, his 12-year-old daughter by Matthews. “She was raging when I turned it down and still hasn’t forgiven me.”

He met Sara in a nightclub on Ibiza, not believing in love at first sight – but that was what it was. He loves visiting Edinburgh, her favourite restaurants, can’t remember their names, but is just happy being part of someone else’s world. His all-time favourite night out – “Imagine how many I’ve had” – was in the city on Hogmanay, when he and his friends in Kasabian started a conga outside the Balmoral Hotel. “I turned round and there must have been 300 people tagged on the end.”

And Sara’s parents, did they want to lock up their daughter after finding out who she was dating? “I think they had enough faith in her judgment to realise I wasn’t Pete Doherty. If you meet me, I’m obviously not a dickhead. I mean I was once, and quite proud of it too. But, you know, they were smitten with me right away.”

You’ll have noticed by now that Gallagher has mellowed. Once a firebrand on politics and class, it’s difficult to get him going now. He says he has lost faith in politics since the MPs’ expenses scandal, is mildly dischuffed to find himself governed by a coalition when that wasn’t on the last election’s voting slips, but in any case had put his cross next to “this guy standing as a pirate”.

Meanwhile, about posh rockers and the charts being 60 per cent privately educated, his response is considered rather than angry. “There doesn’t seem to be any working-class heroes now – guys like Ian Brown, Shaun Ryder, Richard Ashcroft, Bobby Gillespie and Liam who were knowledgable, proud, looked good and made something of themselves. Instead of being a way out, music is now a career move. A lot of the stuff I hear is utterly forgettable. You wouldn’t stand in the rain to hear these guys. You don’t want to dress like them and you don’t want to be them – they’re squares.”

He used to say he could never imagine Oasis splitting up because his little brother was the one who could always make him laugh. “My wife can do that now,” he says, “and so can our four-year-old.”

But surely Oasis will get back together one day? “We’re not reforming before The Smiths – or The Kinks. If I thought getting back with our kid would make me happy then I’d do it. But until that day, I don’t even think about it.” He’s just not having it.

Source: www.scotsman.com

Ray Davies Thinks It'll Be Sad If Oasis Don't Get Back Together

Ray Davies has confirmed to Sky News that he has set the wheels in motion to get back with the group he split from 13 years ago.

"I've done some demos with the original rhythm line up," says Davies, "and it's good."

Ray's brother Dave suffered a stroke five years ago, but now he has recovered sufficiently to play some solo gigs next year.

Ray says the success of them will decide the fate of the reunion shows.

"The important thing for me is whether or not my brother comes on board," Ray says, "but if it does happen it's got to have new material. I don't just want to do the oldies because that would not be interesting to me.

"You've got to feel you can make new product and new music."

Davies has filmed two episodes of the Sky Arts music show Songbook, where he explains the genesis of his classic songs, and performs them acoustically.

He's also backed by the choir that appears on his latest album, Kinks Choral Collection.

"With this record I've moved forward and backwards at the same time," laughs Davies.

"What's surprised me is the impact the choir has made on a lot of these songs. I didn't want it to be just simply a remake of the records so I had to re-examine them."

Davies also has some advice for the more recent set of famous bickering rock brothers, the Gallaghers from Oasis.

"It's inevitable that sibling rivalry emerges and people fall out," says Ray. "I've been falling out with Dave for years, and since we haven't been playing together we haven't fallen out at all, which is a good sign."

"Records like 'All Day and All Of The Night' couldn't have been made without an element of tension.

"I think it'll be sad if Oasis don't get back together, I only know the guys roughly, but we've met, and I get the feeling they will realise it'll be worth doing some more stuff together."

Source: Sky News