|
Post by beentherenow on Apr 24, 2015 10:14:20 GMT -5
www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2015/apr/24/living-forever-why-the-world-still-seems-obsessed-by-oasis-20-years
Last week, the Daily Mirror ran a story on a supposed (read: 100% not happening) Oasis reunion. It arrived almost exactly one year on from a Daily Star front page that claimed the “chart-topping Manchester band” were “set to headline Glastonbury in a £500m comeback deal”. Coincidence? Maybe. Although perhaps it isn’t coincidence. Maybe the tabloids take turns. Maybe the Sun is readying its own Gallagher-brothers-reunite exclusive for this time next year.
Also likely coincidence, but the Daily Mirror story arrives close to the 20th anniversary of the landmark event that kickstarted the red tops’ obsession with Oasis: Some Might Say, the band’s first No 1 single, was released exactly 20 years ago, on 24 April 1995. The single entered the charts at No 1, a landmark event not just for Oasis, but for what was then “indie” music, and for British music in general. Up until then, the idea of a band like Oasis reaching the top of the charts, as much as Echo & the Bunnymen or the Stone Roses might have boasted it was their aim, seemed like a romantic, nebulous concept. But Oasis actually did it. When Noel Gallagher raised his guitar above his head during a celebratory appearance on Top of the Pops that week (guest presenter – of course – Chris Evans), the alternative, music press-consuming nation felt a collective pang of triumph. At that precise moment, their world became the mainstream.
Within a year, genuine disappointment would greet Bluetones singles “only” entering the charts at No 2. Oasis, meanwhile, graduated from having indie centrefold Evan Dando trail them around on tour and play tambourine badly with them at instore appearances to having Robbie Williams – the Zayn Malik of his day, only with more cocaine – trail them around on tour and dance onstage badly with them during a Glastonbury headline set. Some Might Say was followed by Roll With It, the release of which – for reasons you’ll be aware of – was a lead item on the national news. Enter the tabloid press, bearing daily stories on Liam and/or Noel for at least the next two years. In August 1997, a picture Of Noel Gallagher mooning in Ibiza was the lead story on a Daily Record front page. The second lead was the death of Princess Diana.
In April 2015, pictures of Liam getting pissed would be unlikely to trump the arrival of Kate Middleton’s baby, but the regularity with which reliably spurious Oasis stories are deemed of greater interest to readers of a national newspaper than, say, the general election is testament to a continuing, insatiable public appetite for all things Gallagher. At the more specialist end of the media scale, consider also that NME – a magazine that is in theory primarily for teenagers keen to discover the hottest new bands – has published three Noel Gallagher covers already this year, and 21 Oasis-related covers in the six or so years since they ceased to exist. Even given there have been two Noel solo albums and two Beady Eye albums to contend with in that time, that’s a lot. And it can’t solely be down to the fact Noel is consistently the sharpest, most entertaining interview in town. It is because a lot of people still care, a lot.
There is a tendency to scoff that these people are all nostalgic football-loving British lads in their mid-30s, but that is easily disproved. Noel Gallagher recently expressed frustration that neither Arctic Monkeys nor Kasabian have succeeded in inspiring a next generation of bands. There’s a reason for that. If you look to Catfish & The Bottlemen – easily the fastest rising guitar band of the moment – they’re still going back to Oasis. Their leader Van McCann had his “I must do this” epiphany at their gigs at Heaton Park in 2009. “It was as if Jesus had come back,” he said recently of the occasion. It’s worth noting at this point that McCann was not even two years old when Definitely Maybe was released.
Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian themselves, of course, are both direct, self-confessed descendants of Oasis. And if you want to look beyond white, male British guitar bands, you could pan out to Frances Bean Cobain – born the same week as Van McCann – who continues to be a vocal, B-side referencing obsessive on Twitter (quizzed as to who she preferred out of Nirvana and Hole, she answered “Oasis”). Or to Jessica Alba, who celebrated her 21st birthday at an Oasis gig in Las Vegas. Or further afield to Mish Way, singer with Canadian feminist punks White Lung, who recently wrote an article entitled “It’s literally impossible to hate Oasis”. These are just a few. Marilyn Manson adores them (‘Be Here Now’ is his favourite album). Quite brilliantly, Tupac Shakur once said that they were “true thug life”.
What Oasis still represent to this wide spectrum of people is that idea of a band doing things completely on their own terms and triumphing over ”manufactured” music. Oasis didn’t even make a dedicated video for Some Might Say (Liam didn’t turn up to the shoot, and a clip had to be cobbled together from footage shot for Cigarettes and Alcohol). Nor did they, unlike the supposedly more alternative-minded likes of Blur and Pulp, utilise that most execrable of 90s fan-extortion tactics – the multi-edition CD single – to pump up its chart position. They didn’t, it turned out, need to play either of these games. Their songs and their attitude was enough.
“We’re here to get lids like you out of the charts and bands in,” Van McCann said recently in response to fawning adoration from Louis Tomlinson of One Direction. A fantastically correct attitude for a young would-be rock’n’roll star to have. And one that comes directly from Oasis, a band who will likely still be the template for kids with or without guitars to do the same in even another 20 years’ time.
|
|
|
Post by XTRMNTRSCREAM on Apr 24, 2015 11:35:18 GMT -5
They might be bigger than they were in 2008, it is outrageous.
|
|
|
Post by uǝɥʇɐǝɥ on Apr 24, 2015 11:48:53 GMT -5
They might be bigger than they were in 2008, it is outrageous. Yeah, what a shame...
|
|
|
Post by Beady’s Here Now on Apr 24, 2015 12:00:34 GMT -5
They might be bigger than they were in 2008, it is outrageous. That's what a breakup does - makes people crave them more. You don't know what you've got until it's gone, aye.
|
|
|
Post by Manualex on Apr 24, 2015 12:05:12 GMT -5
They might be bigger than they were in 2008, it is outrageous. Yeah, what a shame... Why the world dont remember the outrageous first Noel gig in Milwaukee? I dont know...
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2015 12:08:19 GMT -5
They might be bigger than they were in 2008, it is outrageous. That's what a breakup does - makes people crave them more. You don't know what you've got until it's gone, aye. Strange but it's true. I always knew of Oasis with tracks like Wonderwall and DLBIA but I remember back to 2008 and didn't seem to care about the release of DOYS or any other post 1995 album for that matter. It's only once they split up that I really started listening to more and more of their back catalogue and started appreciating them more and now in 2015, myself and by the sound of things a lot of other fans, want to rediscover the Oasis hype.
|
|
|
Post by Headmaster on Apr 24, 2015 12:12:43 GMT -5
Nice article.
I think this article is trying to say is that Oasis was more than music and they were.
|
|
|
Post by freddy838 on Apr 24, 2015 12:15:40 GMT -5
It's a nice blog considering it's the guardian. A lot of it's true, but the reason why the world is still obsessed with Oasis is that they're one of the best bands ever.
|
|
|
Post by joladella on Apr 24, 2015 12:19:45 GMT -5
It's a nice blog considering it's the guardian. A lot of it's true, but the reason why the world is still obsessed with Oasis is that they're one of the best bands ever. Just don't read the comments. No, really, don't! The funny thing is when 400+ people make the effort to type that no, nobody cares.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2015 12:47:12 GMT -5
its partly because of the break up (absense makes the heart grow fonder and such )
and also a indictment on the state of music today , its so vanillia its disgusting , and people miss ans even CRAVE the madness that was OASIS and want that again .
when the roses split OASIS filled that void , and While everyone wanted the roses to reunite they had OASIS and the press didnt miss them as much
but today with everyone so p[olitically correct or righteous , not only do the fans crave the madness , so does the media ...hence the clamour
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2015 12:51:40 GMT -5
also lets be fair ,,,the world isnt obsessed , the uk is , and we are , but in the states and in alot of other places , music has moved on dont like saying that but its true
|
|
|
Post by The-Ghost-Dancer on Apr 24, 2015 14:22:44 GMT -5
im as obsessed with oasis as i was in 1994 and that will never change imo best band ever
|
|
|
Post by Mean Mrs. Mustard on Apr 24, 2015 15:07:59 GMT -5
Great article, considering where it came from
|
|
|
Post by spud on Apr 24, 2015 20:00:34 GMT -5
Just imagine if Liam still had his voice The death of Liam's voice is one of rock 'n' roll's great tragedies, file it alongside the deaths of Sirs Curtis and Kobain.
|
|
|
Post by glider on Apr 24, 2015 20:03:06 GMT -5
Just imagine if Liam still had his voice The death of Liam's voice is one of rock 'n' roll's great tragedies, file it alongside the deaths of Sirs Curtis and Kobain. "HE STILL HAS IT YOU NOEL FANBOY!" Just saved the thread from a Noel vs. Liam standoff.
|
|
|
Post by paperbackwriter on Apr 24, 2015 20:50:25 GMT -5
Just had this argument with my girlfriend. So Oasis was considered an indie band?
|
|
|
Post by Manualex on Apr 24, 2015 20:59:23 GMT -5
Just had this argument with my girlfriend. So Oasis was considered an indie band? From 1994 to 1998 yeah(if we go from label stuff only in the UK they were indie but after Creation was broke they went with sony).
|
|
|
Post by Headmaster on Apr 24, 2015 22:36:42 GMT -5
Just had this argument with my girlfriend. So Oasis was considered an indie band? At that time the term indie was applied for bands coming from independent record companies, and Oasis were from Creation. Nowadays the term indie is used for everything, The Kooks are labeled with the term indie, but they are from the huge record company Virgin Records.
|
|
|
Post by paperbackwriter on Apr 24, 2015 23:32:45 GMT -5
Ok, so when did the term indie start referring to a musical genre?
|
|
|
Post by zatine87 on Apr 25, 2015 3:27:57 GMT -5
Great article, considering where it came from It's written by Hamish McBain who is an Oasis fan. He was talking to Noel on XFM (An Evening In Conversation With Noel Gallagher).
|
|
|
Post by Mean Mrs. Mustard on Apr 25, 2015 3:51:27 GMT -5
Great article, considering where it came from It's written by Hamish McBain who is an Oasis fan. He was talking to Noel on XFM (An Evening In Conversation With Noel Gallagher). Oh, well that explains a lot. Objectivity and all.
|
|
|
Post by jakob61907 on Apr 25, 2015 5:24:39 GMT -5
It's true here in Australia. Back in 2008 people didn't give a crap about Oasis and now all the music press and even news websites print Noels quotes and interviews like its 1995. Loads of people really like Oasis down here or are at least interested. The most I dare say since the late 90's.
|
|
|
Post by jakob61907 on Apr 25, 2015 5:25:05 GMT -5
It's true here in Australia. Back in 2008 people didn't give a crap about Oasis and now all the music press and even news websites print Noels quotes and interviews like its 1995. Loads of people really like Oasis down here or are at least interested. The most I dare say since the late 90's.
|
|
|
Post by matt on Apr 25, 2015 8:10:40 GMT -5
At the end, ALWAYS LEAVE PEOPLE WANTING MORE!!
That is how to sustain a bands legacy, not some money grabbing shoddy reunion.
|
|
|
Post by theyknowwhatimean on Apr 25, 2015 8:16:37 GMT -5
Just imagine if Liam still had his voice The death of Liam's voice is one of rock 'n' roll's great tragedies, file it alongside the deaths of Sirs Curtis and Kobain. *Cobain
|
|