August 14, 2025 • 35 mins
For 15 years, (and up until recently) Oasis were officially not a band.
In 2009, Noel quit just hours before they were set to play a festival in France. But back then, everyone just assumed Oasis would return the next week, hatchet buried, ready to pick up where they left off; If there’s one thing Oasis were known for it was regularly being on the brink of imploding.
From the very start, Liam and Noel were always squabbling over something. Very public spats were just something they did.
Fast forward to 2025, Oasis are back playing live shows again, heading across the world on a reunion tour that includes two shows in Toronto.
Of course, Oasis were known for writing big rock anthems in the ‘90s and 2000s - but there is one song of theirs that was bigger than the rest: A ballad that has become customary to learn for everyone that owns an acoustic guitar. I’m talking about “Wonderwall,” a song Noel Gallagher wrote about his imaginary friend.
This is the true story of Oasis's Wonderwall with newly unearthed audio from Noel and Liam Gallagher themselves.
Written by Cam Lindsay for iHeartRadio.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're never gonna spill.
We just call it a day psychy his hands go
to the pub.
The campfire has started. Grab your acoustic guitar. I'm Ruby
Carr and this is the story of Oasis Wonderwall.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
You know the songs just making people feel something. It's
been a pleasure to work on this song with her,
but do you know the history to struggle making any
kind of record? I don't always have the direction or concept.
This is Encore, an in-depth look at the stories behind
the music. Here's Iart Radio's Ruby Carr.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
This is not a band in the in its traditional
sense that, you know, this is our lives with what
we're talking about and I'm not, you know, we're not.
We get into fights and arguments, and it's not just
me and him, it's everyone in the group, we get
into fights and arguments and sometimes we don't want to
do it, but.
You know, then you sit down and you think, well,
what else am I gonna do with my life. My
life is music, my life has been an oasis, I
wouldn't never been in another band and I've never been
(00:54):
in another band.
The voices you just heard belong to Liam and Noel Gallagher,
or as they're better known, Oasis. Now those interviews in
which they said their band would never split up were
tens of years ago, but for 15 years and up
until recently, Oasis were officially not a band. In 2009,
Noel quit just hours before they were set to play
(01:16):
a festival in France, but back then everyone just assumed
Oasis would return the next week, catch it buried, ready
to pick up where they left off.
Because that's just what they did. If there's one thing
Oasis were known for, it was regularly being on the
brink of imploding. From the very start, Liam and Noel
were always squabbling over something very public spats were just
(01:39):
something that they did. Um, I guess you could say
it was their way of showing brotherly love, and it
almost overshadowed what they did on stage, what they did
in the studio, and what they said during interviews and seriously,
these two were made to give interviews.
You'll hear plenty of evidence supporting that throughout this episode.
But Oasis are back playing live shows again heading across
(02:01):
the world on a reunion tour that includes two shows
in Toronto. Of course, Oasis were known for writing big
rock anthems in the 90s and 2000s, but there is
one song of theirs that was bigger than the rest,
a ballad that has become customary to learn for everyone
that owns an acoustic guitar. I'm pretty sure they test
you and make sure that you can play it when
(02:23):
you go to buy one.
I'm talking about Wonderwall, a song Noel Gallagher wrote about
his imaginary friend. Despite the fact that Noel wrote the
majority of the music of Oasis, he didn't actually form
the band. In fact, neither did Liam, and originally they
weren't called Oasis. They were called Rain. Are you still
with me? Rain was formed in Manchester, England in April
(02:44):
1990 by a guy named Chris Hutton, along with guitarist
Paul Bonehead Arthurs and drummer Tony McCarroll and bassist Paul
Quigsy McGuigan.
They played a few gigs together, but Bonehead Tony and
Giggsy weren't too keen on Chris's voice, so they gave
him the boot and auditioned new singers. Tony knew a
cocky teenager named Liam Gallagher who had been following the
(03:06):
band around. They gave Liam a chance to sing, and
wouldn't you know it, he was good. Liam joined Rain
in April 1991, but almost immediately he suggested they change
their name to Oasis after the Oasis Leisure Center, a
sports and entertainment complex in Swindon.
Liam got the name from a list of dates on
a tour poster for the indie band In Spiral Carpets
(03:28):
that was hanging up in his bedroom. The thing about
the band In Spiral Carpets is that Liam's brother Noel
was actually their guitar tech and had been since 1988.
Noel originally auditioned to become Inspiral Carpet's singer, but he
didn't get the gig. Instead, he was hired to join
their road crew and look after the guitars.
Noel was quite intrigued when he heard that his little
(03:49):
brother had started a band, and after returning from a
tour with In Spiral Carpets, he managed to catch the
band's first official gig as Oasis at the boardwalk in
their hometown of Manchester. Noel would tell Q magazine about
the gig, saying, I get back from Frankfurt with the
In Spirals and Liam's band have their first ever gig
at the boardwalk. I go down about 30 people there.
Did 4 of their own songs. I know I've said
(04:11):
they were atrocious, but they weren't that bad, right? I
thought our kids got some about him. They came off
stage and he went, What did you think? You're all right,
but you've got no tunes. And he comes back with, Well,
it's more than you ever fucking did. You've got loads
of songs and you're sat on your arse being a roadie.
Don't you slag my band off. This quote just doesn't
read the same without the accent.
(04:32):
The Manchester Evening News, however, were very impressed with the
new ban and its review titled Oasis Will Go Places.
In the write up they wrote that Oasis sound different
from all the rest. They're much harder, rougher, and madder,
but not so much as to preclude commercial success. While
he may not have appreciated his brother's comments, Liam still
invited Noel to join the band as their manager though.
(04:55):
During a band rehearsal, Noel turned down the offer, instead
suggesting or.
Demanding to take over the duties of lead guitar and songwriter,
what could the band say? Even though he'd never been
in a band before, the four members of Oasis welcomed
Noel into the band, but he had one condition. They
had to ditch Liam's songs and only play his. Speaking
(05:16):
to VH1's behind the music, Noel admitted the stuff that
Liam was writing was just awful, shocking. I mean, seriously,
if you think right that some of my stuff is bad,
you really.
Won't want to hear the stuff they were coming up
with before I joined the band, you know, it's so
weird that they ever had any issues. You'd never know
(05:37):
from lovely quotes like that. Noel already had a bunch
of tunes ready to go, which he had written in
his time touring with In Spiral Carpets, but one thing
is for sure, he didn't pick up any pointers in
his time as their guitar tech. Here he is recalling
his experience to Much Music's gentle and White. I don't
they didn't teach me anything. Not one.
(05:57):
Single thing, they taught me that um.
There was no lessons to be learned from that one, yeah.
I was writing music anyway, it was nothing to do
with what they were doing.
The only thing that was to make sure all the
equipment worked so you didn't get paid.
So you set it up and it works and you
got paid and that was it and.
(06:17):
And one thing he told me was not to take
anything too seriously in this.
Business.
There's nothing that lasts forever, you know, it's very fickle
and all the rest of it, it's just enjoy it
while you can.
Um, we didn't learn anything, I think.
I learned how not to do things.
Because um
Yeah, because they're not very good, are they? Yikes, I
(06:39):
wonder what his exit interview was like. Oasis began playing
gigs as a five piece in January 1992, debuting some
of Noel's songs, including an early version of a song
called Columbia. The band would continue rehearsing, playing gigs in
Manchester and Liverpool, and recording.
Demos of the songs that Noel had written, but on
May 31st, 1993, everything changed. Oasis were invited up to Glasgow,
(07:03):
Scotland to play a show at King Tut's Wawahut alongside
the band Sister Lovers. They rented an old tour bus
and drove up north with some of their friends who
tagged along for some fun.
It seemed like just another gig to the band until
they got to the venue and learned they weren't actually
scheduled to play. Naturally, the band stood their ground and
refused to leave until they were allowed to perform. Worried
(07:27):
about a potential dust up, the venue's management let Oasis
play a four song set. Luckily for them, Allan McGee,
owner of the influential Creation Records, was in the room
to see one of his other bands, 18 Wheeler, who
were also playing that night.
Going to King Tut's that night would prove to be
the smartest decision he ever made. Three songs in and
(07:48):
McGee was convinced. He thought they were brilliant and he
had seen enough to offer Oasis a record deal. He
would tell author David Kavanaugh, when I say it was brilliant,
I mean it was pretty flawless, but at the same
time I thought I can have this and I can
maybe sell half a million around the world. That's what
I thought the maximum life expectancy was of this band.
(08:09):
After their set, McGee found the band at the bar
and immediately offered to sign them. He said he didn't
even need to hear their demo tape. A confident Noel
Gallagher would lie to McGee, saying he already had 50
songs written when in truth he only had about 6,
but Oasis didn't sign on the dotted line. They felt
if Creation Records was interested, maybe other labels.
(08:29):
Instead they hired a manager, Marcus Russell, who was recommended
by Manchester music legend Johnny Marr of the Smiths. While
Buzz was building for Oasis, Russell began talking to other
labels including U2's own imprint Mother Records. In the meantime,
Oasis continued to write and record new material. They received
their first mention in the weekly.
(08:51):
NME and their first live radio session for the BBC.
After 5 months of making Allan McGee sweat, Oasis finally
signed a six album deal with Creation Records once a
licensing deal with Sony was sorted out for the rest
of the world. The first release on the label was
a promo single called Columbia, which they played when they
debuted with Noel.
(09:12):
Anxious to record their debut album, Oasis hired sound engineer
Dave Batchelor, who Noel had worked with on an inspiral
Carpets tour. They recorded a number of tracks at Mono
Valley Studio in January 1994, but the results weren't meeting
their expectations. The band felt Bachelor's recordings were too weak
and too clean. According to the label, it didn't have
(09:33):
the attack. They wanted a record that was loud with
raw power that would make the speakers blow up. It
didn't help.
The studio cost £800 a day and it was reportedly haunted. Well,
maybe a studio does seem like a place that would
be haunted. Liam was told his room was haunted by
a dark figure, and while he did wake up in
the morning to find the furniture completely moved around, the
(09:54):
only real haunting came from his bandmate Bonehead, who played
a series of tricks on him moving objects around with
a fishing rod. In the end, only one song would
survive and the rest of the sessions were scrapped. It
would cost them.
Nearly 50,000 pounds and a new pair of underwear for Liam.
In between recording sessions, Oasis booked their first show outside
(10:16):
of the UK in Amsterdam to support the Verve, but
they got into some trouble on the ferry ride over.
Members of the band spent the trip getting wasted on
champagne and Jack Daniel's before clashing with a group of
drunken Chelsea FC supporters. Now remember, Oasis have always supported
Manchester City, so it was in their blood. The two sides.
(10:36):
Got into a massive punch up. Liam Bonehead Quigsy and
Tony were arrested and deported back to the UK upon docking.
In the documentary Supersonic, Liam admits as the fight broke out,
all I remember was it was a bit Benny Hill.
It was fucking mayhem, man. I loved it. It was
punk rock, man. While all of that was going on,
Noel meanwhile was asleep for the whole ferry ride. He
(10:59):
was the only member not sent back home, so he
ended up hanging out with the Verve in Amsterdam.
The incident would be revisited two months later when Liam
and Noel were asked about it in an interview with NME.
The conversation quickly turned into a heated argument between the
brothers who basically just yelled at each other for 10
minutes straight. Here's a clip. That's the way we are
(11:20):
or the way I am. I always go out and
I meet some monkey fucker or or whatever bullshit bullshit
bullshit in your world. It's bullshit in my world.
He's bullshit. No, you've been bullshit. Well, you've been on
about right for you and rolls and roll, if you
think rock and roll, if you think rock and roll,
rock and roll, that's about being yourself and I'm a
(11:41):
fucking rock and roll's about music, music, it's not about you,
it's not about me. It's not about Oasis, it's about
the songs.
No, it isn't. It's not, it's not about the fuck
are the pistols at? Who's talking about the Pistols. They're
the best rock and roll band that ever fucking come out.
They're not, they're not. They're not one of them. They
made one album. So a funny thing about that interview
(12:06):
is that a recording of it went viral in the
music industry. Journalist John Harris allowed fledgling indie label Fierce pan.
To actually release it under the name Whibbling Rivalry, and
guess what? It sold lots of copies and became the
highest charting interview ever in the UK. Here is Noel
Gallagher telling Much Music's Terry David Mulligan all about it.
(12:29):
Have you at the famous Oasis fighting studio. It's very
great actually, it's um we done um it wasn't in
the studio, it was an interview that we done for
the MMA in England and uh.
The interviewer, God bless him, he, he, he kept the
tape and uh he asked me would it be alright
if we put it out as a, as a seven inch.
So I said, yeah, and it was, it was me
and Ali arguing over what was the essence of a
(12:50):
rock and roll band, uh, behaving like a rock and
roll band or, or actually, uh, well, basically the was
Liam was saying that the Rolling Stones were a great
rock and roll band because they got arrested and because
of the lifestyle. Yeah, and I said that the Rolling
Stones was a great rock and roll band because they
won't jump in Jack Flash. And anyway, this argument ensued
and it ended up in a fight.
So this this chap put it out as a as
(13:11):
a seven inch and it and it actually got in
the charts in England, believe it or not. And it's
called a uh wibbling rivalry.
And it's 15 minutes of swearing. That's what it is.
It's 15 minutes of me and I swear. When they
resumed recording, the band relocated to Saw Mill's studio in
Cornwall to keep working on their album with engineer Mark Coyle.
The initial idea was to record it live off the
(13:33):
floor and have Noel do overdubs afterwards, but it still
didn't sound the way they wanted. After a plea from
manager Marcus Russell, they managed to bring in producer Owen
Morris to try and salvage what they had done so far.
Morris would tell Mojo it was all a bit of
a mess really. I was just doing my own thing
in the studio, to be honest. I was just ripping
(13:53):
off a load of Phil Spector and Tony Visconti moves.
As it turned out, it fitted in, but the wall
of sound was hiding what was there. The drums and
the bass were all over the shop, so I had
to try to make a record out of it. Liam
was forced to re-record his vocals, but Morris mixed and
mastered the album in record time.
Achieving the sound the band and their team were looking for,
(14:16):
the debut album by Oasis was done. Written in about
as much time as it takes to listen to it,
Supersonic became the first official single by Oasis when it
was released on April 11th, 1994. While it didn't get
any higher than number 31 in the UK charts, the
song would enter various charts across the world, including the US,
quickly establishing Oasis as the next big thing. Their next single.
(14:40):
Shaker Maker, which came out two months later, would do
even better in the charts, but it also caused a
bit of a stir. The band were accused of ripping
off the melody from the new Seekers 1971 hit I'd
Like to Teach the World to Sing, which is best
known for its use in a Coca-Cola ad. It would
cost the band dearly, and by that I mean $500,000.
(15:02):
When he was asked by the press about it, Noel
simply replied, We only drink Pepsi from now on.
Controversy would start to follow Oasis everywhere while recording in London,
they trashed the Columbia Hotel, tossing furniture from their room
onto a luxury car owned by the hotel's manager. Needless
to say, they were banned forever. Not long after that,
(15:23):
Oasis played the Holtzford's Festival in Sweden and got drunk
at the hotel bar with members of the Verve and.
Scream. They caused a reported 1000 pounds worth of damage
and according to Liam were banned from Sweden too. They
weren't actually, but one Swedish newspaper described Oasis as English scum.
Trouble was following them around everywhere they went, or at
(15:45):
least that's how I imagined they would put it. The
trouble just follows them. They have nothing to do with it.
The band's next single Live Forever would be the band's
big breakthrough, however, and prove that they weren't just a
bunch of hooligans. Originally Noel began writing it in 1991
after suffering an incident working for a building company. It
would take another couple of years to finish, but the
(16:06):
song would go on to become their signature tune and
biggest hit to date at the time. Allan McGee called
it probably the single greatest moment I've ever experienced with them.
But Oasis didn't have long to celebrate their new hit.
The day after its release, Noel was attacked on stage
in Newcastle after a riot broke out. He claimed he
was hit in the face and nearly lost his eye,
(16:28):
and his guitar, a 1960s Gibson Les Paul custom on
loan from Johnny Marr, was damaged in the process. When
the album Definitely Maybe finally saw its release on August 29th,
everyone in the UK seemed to lose their minds over.
The UK press basically raved about it for months, and
copies of it flew out the door. Definitely maybe went
(16:50):
straight to number one in the UK albums chart and
became the fastest selling debut album in British music history.
During the band's first trip to Toronto, Much Music's Janni
and White asked Noel why so many people bought his record.
Why do you think that definitely maybe is the fastest
selling indie release in UK history? Is it good?
(17:10):
Basically it's just as simple as that. Plus the fact
that there's nothing else about it anyway.
Um,
A lot of the bands who released records in England
at the moment don't really say anything to anyone.
Um, I'm not even sure what it is that we
say to people, but it must be something. Oh. And
there you have it, good music sells. Definitely maybe would
go on to sell more than 15 million copies, by
(17:31):
the way. The album's success also saved their label from
going under as Creation Records was apparently 2 million pounds
in debt. Oasis were the hottest band in the world,
but a lot of the talk was as much about
how the two Gallagher brothers didn't get along as it
was about the music.
During their first North American tour, Liam was drunk and
(17:52):
messing around on stage at the Whiskey a Go Go
in Los Angeles. He changed the lyrics of Live Forever
to Maybe I don't really want to Know Why You
pick your nose. And then he hit Noel in the
head with his tambourine. Noel didn't take too kindly to
that and walked off the stage, out the door, and
actually quit the band. He then fled to San Francisco,
followed by Las Vegas, where he was tracked down and
(18:14):
persuaded to rejoin the band.
That was the first time Oasis would break up and
not the last time one of them would hit the
other over the head with an object.
A few months later, while they were working in the
studio on their next album, Liam went down to the
pub for a pint with another band. When he returned
with some friends, Liam caused a bit of a ruckus
inside the studio where Noel was still working. Things kicked
(18:37):
off and a drunken Liam began fighting with Bonehead, then
attacked Noel and his guitars, fending for himself, Noel grabbed
the closest thing to him, a cricket bat, and whopped
Liam over the head with it. A funny note about
the cricket.
Noel ended up gifting it to music journalist Paolo Hewitt,
(18:57):
who authored a book called Getting High The Adventures of Oasis.
The bat was eventually auctioned off years later, so some
lucky Oasis fan has it on their wall. While I
don't condone this sort of violent behavior even between siblings,
I would like to point out that my favorite story
about the Gallagher brothers is essentially what led the band
to break up in 2009. Backstage at a festival in
(19:20):
Paris just hours before they were about to go.
On stage, the Gallagher brothers had an argument about Liam
wanting to plug his clothing brand Pretty Green. Noel wasn't interested,
so Liam grabbed a plum from the catering table and
hurled it at his brother. Of course it didn't end there.
Liam grabbed a guitar and started swinging it at Noel
and nearly took his face off with it, his words.
(19:42):
But as Noel would tell the Manchester Evening News, part
of me wishes the band did end like that. That
would have been a great headline. Plum throws plumb and
Finishes Oasis. Now it's important to point out that while
Oasis was becoming one of the biggest bands in Britain,
there was something going on in the music industry. All
of a sudden, British indie music was bigger than ever.
(20:05):
The UK press called it Britpop on account of all
these young bands embracing and celebrating their culture and identity
with very catchy guitar pop. Liam would tell MuchMusic's Simon
Evans that this Britishness was mostly a response to American
music at the time being.
Dreadful. I'm not being, you know what I mean, I'm
not being arrogant or anything, I think the music that
comes out of this place in America, it's dreadful, dreadful.
(20:30):
But that's just the way it is and I'm not
saying I'm not being like hurrah, dear old blighty, you
know what I mean, or anything like that. Just that
is just the fact that the best bands with the
right songs come from England.
And that is it, and I'd like for other bands
to come from America and all that, Japan and all
that place with a good song, cos that'll change the
whole thing of music. You know what I mean, but
it only just come out with grunge noise and that's it.
(20:52):
None of the bands involved in this scene really cozied
up to the idea of being a part of a
nationalistic movement, especially the Gallagher brothers. However, Brit.
It was in fact a big deal. It was all
the music magazines and newspapers were writing about. The tabloids
were reporting on who was dating who or who got
a little too wasted the night before, and even the
(21:12):
nightly news on TV was reporting on it. Brit pop
was big business, and Oasis were widely considered the poster
boys for it, along with another band.
Basically the antithesis of Oasis, a band named Blur. It
was following Blur's triumph at the 1995 Brit Awards that
the two bands were being linked together, and it all
(21:33):
seemed to start when Blur accepted the award for Best
British Group, and they said this, I think this should
have been shared with Oasis. Yeah, much love and respect
to them.
What seemed like a nice gesture on behalf of one
band to another would quickly turn into something else entirely.
While Oasis had previously made some unfriendly remarks about Blur
(21:53):
during interviews, the press took notice of how these two
bands were gaining popularity at the same time and instigated
a full-blown rivalry. Both bands were coming off huge albums,
but also working on new albums, and every week there
would be news stories spreading gossip about who was doing what.
It wasn't until Oasis' song, some might say, that the
(22:15):
Battle of Britpop officially kicked off at a party in
Covent Garden to celebrate the song becoming the band's first
ever number one single, Liam got right up in Damon's
face and yelled, We're number one. You're not, you're not.
According to Oasis manager Allan McGee, Damon got on one
about it and decided to take Oasis on. Oasis being
Oasis decided to hate them, and Blur being Blur.
(22:38):
Thought it was a game, but Oasis actually hated them
at the time and so it was on amongst all
of the partying, celebrating and insulting, Oasis were actually hard
at work on their next album, recording again with Owen
Morris at Rockfield Studio in Wales, but a change in
drummer was needed because Tony couldn't keep up with the
complex time signatures and dynamic shifts in the new songs.
(23:00):
They fired Tony and brought in Allan White on recommendation
of Paul Weller.
One of the band's heroes who was making a guest
appearance on a song, and Allen made them better than ever.
The experience of making the album, according to the producer,
was a lucky once in a lifetime experience where every element,
everyone and everything came together just right. But as Noel
(23:20):
would tell Much Music's Terry David Mulligan, he wasn't the
easiest person to be around while they were recording. So
do you have to get ironed in there? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
I'm not very happy to be around when I'm in
the studio.
You're a shit. I'm a shit, yeah, yeah, I'm an asshole.
Are you consistent? I'm consistently an asshole like you're a
nice guy. No, no, I'm all the time. As they
(23:45):
were wrapping up the album, Oasis were in the thick
of a media blitz focused on their battle with Blur.
It reached a head when Blur decided to move up
the release date of their new single Country Horse to
August 14th, 1995, the same day as Oasis' new single
Roll with it.
This set in motion a highly publicized competition between the
(24:05):
two bands that caught the attention of the entire world.
The UK press nearly lost their minds covering it, with
NME calling the chart showdown a British heavyweight championship. In
the end, Blur sold more copies of their single by
nearly 60,000 copies.
Unfortunately, the feud kept going and would for years. However,
(24:26):
Noel certainly took things up a notch during an interview
with The Observer in September 1995 when he was asked
about Blur, he said, The guitarist I've got a lot
of time for the drummer I've never met. I hear
he's a nice guy. The bass player and the singer,
I hope the pair of them.
Catch AIDS and die because I hate them too. He
also added that he was doing a line of coke
(24:48):
every 40 minutes at the time, but nonetheless, the damage
was done. Once the quote was published, Noel immediately issued
a public apology, I mean, as he should. Here he
is explaining himself to Much Music's Kim Clark Champness. I'm
not giving excuses for that or anything like saying, well,
I've done it because of this or because of that,
I've done it because I was big mouth and I
was drunk, you know what I mean? But um, you know.
(25:12):
I suppose in that particular interview that they were just,
they kept throwing this thing in about Oasis and Blur
and when you asked like 15 times in the space
of 5 minutes.
You're getting pissed off with it, do you know what
I mean, so I just said what I said and
you know, there you go. I mean it it was,
it was a stupid thing to say, but, you know,
I've said it now and I've apologized and.
To me, that should be the end of it, but
I mean people are just gonna, people in the British
(25:33):
media are just gonna keep digging it up and digging
it up anyway because they don't like Oasis for a
start because we don't play the game. Oasis would release
the song Morning Glory as the album's lead single, but
only in regions like the US, Canada, Japan, and Australia
to better suit the modern rock radio landscape. The album,
Let's the Story Morning Glory followed on October 2nd, and
(25:53):
as much as
The fans liked it. Critics were a little less enthused.
It often paled in comparison to definitely maybe in most
reviews with Q magazine writing, This is a disappointing turnaround,
a wasted opportunity if you're being generous, a shot in
the foot if you want to be more melodramatic. Even
Noel would badmouth his work, admitting he likes some tracks,
(26:13):
but when I listen back to the album as a whole,
I can't fucking stand it, to be honest with you.
Essentially, the reviews didn't really matter. The public loved it
and bought so many copies of it. The album broke
the UK record for most copies sold in its first week,
and that was before Oasis had even released what would
become their biggest song of all time. The, the most
(26:33):
important thing I think for us, when we started was
we always, we always set out to be the best
band in the world and uh.
And we always, we always said that we were, we
were quite big-headed when we were when we were when
we were a little band, and we always said we
were going to be big and massive and um.
It's, it's a justification for us just to make, make
records that people are into. And for me as a songwriter,
(26:54):
it's a justification that people think that I'm a good
songwriter and think that we're a good band, you know, and.
And that's just studio wise, it's and it's it's a
justification for.
So when we do shows that, you know, we get
awarded for being.
The best live band in England and that and that's
not just down to the group, that's down to the
people who work for us and people who work behind
the scenes and stuff like that. So it's a justification
(27:16):
for everyone really, and the money helps. And there was
lots of money. What's the story Morning Glory would go
on to sell more than 22 million copies. Once it
was released, the album had made Oasis the biggest band
in Britain, but they were still convinced they could become
the biggest band in the world. The next single from
the album was a ballad.
Called Wonderwall, which Noel had admitted he wrote for his
(27:39):
girlfriend and eventual ex-wife Meg Matthews. He told NME, people
ask me why we had Roll with it instead of
Wonderwall as the single. It seems to be everybody's favorite.
It's about my girlfriend Meg Matthews. She had a company
which folded, and she was feeling a bit sorry for herself.
The sentiment is that there was no point in her
feeling down. She has to sort out my life for
(28:00):
me because I'm in bits at the time.
Years later, Noel would tell the BBC radio too that
he was lying at the time and that it wasn't
about Meg admitting the meaning of the song was taken
away from me by the media who jumped on it
and how do you tell your missus it's not about
her once she's read it is? It's a song about
an imaginary friend who's gonna come and save you from yourself.
(28:22):
Wonderwall was surprisingly quick to put together. Noel told the
media that he doesn't really remember the process of writing
the song, but he thinks he probably wrote it down
on scraps of paper and finished it off at the studio.
And when he got in there, it only took him
and Owen Morris a half a day to record the instruments.
Noel played everything himself but the drums and Mellotron.
The next day Liam nailed the vocal in just 4 tanks.
(28:46):
Liam would tell Rolling Stone, I was always desperate to
get to the pub. As soon as I got my
singing done, I went to the nearest pub. I didn't
want to sit around and watch people around with guitars
and amps. Originally called Wishing Stone, Noel got the title
Wonderwall from.
George Harrison's debut solo album Wonderwall Music. Here is Noel
admitting to Much Music's Kim Clark champness that yes, he
(29:08):
did steal that idea from the late Beatle. Well, with Wonderwall,
is it a coincidence that George Harrison has the Wonder? No,
not at all, Nick. Yeah, well, when.
It is, it is. When I was writing the song,
it went, um, and I had the melody and that and.
(29:28):
The lyrics and he went and he went, and, and
after all you're my.
And there was this, there was this, I don't know
whether it was gonna be three words or one word,
and it was, you know, there was like missing.
And um I was down at our house one night
and I was playing the album Wonderwall, and someone said
what's that album called? I went Wonderwall, and I went
and just give us a minute while I just look
into the back room here and after all, you're like what,
(29:50):
there you go. And that was that, you know, to
stole it.
Sue me.
Released on October 30, 1995, Wonderwall provided Oasis with a
song that could appeal to everyone, a song that everyone
could sing along to, and a song that could actually
make them the biggest band in the world. It was
a song that made these northern rock star lads seem relatable,
(30:14):
even vulnerable. It's no wonder Oasis had to convince themselves
that it was any good. Liam couldn't stand it when
Noel first played it for him. In an interview with Mojo,
Noel said.
When we were first playing Wonderwall, Liam said he thought
it was shit. We were doing the backing track and
Liam goes, I'm not singing on that. It's stupid, man.
It's fucking reggae music. I said, Why don't you go
(30:36):
off to the chippy then and we'll see you in
a bit now that he sang on it, of course
it's the greatest song ever written. Actually, Wonderwall was originally
supposed to be sung by Noel, but he gave Liam
a choice sing either Wonderwall or Don't Look Back in anger.
Despite hating.
And thinking it was a funk song, Liam agreed to
sing Wonderwall, and a good thing he did because it
(30:58):
became Oasis's most successful song around the world. Shockingly, it
only reached number 2 in the UK despite other songs
by Oasis topping the chart, but Wonderwall went top 5
in Canada and top 10 in the US and a
number of countries. The song was all over the radio,
everywhere on MTV and much music around the clock and
within no time coming from the acoustic.
(31:20):
of every single busker in the UK and it wasn't
just buskers covering the song. A lounge singer by the
name of Mike Flowers covered Wonderwall in sort of an
easy listening style, throwing it back to the 60s. The
cover or parody version was a huge hit in the UK,
making Oasis's achievement of reaching number 2 on the singles chart.
(31:42):
Here is Noel sharing his opinion of the song to
Much Music's Terry David Mulligan. It was funny when I
first heard it.
And so we gave permission for the guy to do it.
We didn't know it was gonna be like this massive,
massive hit single in England. It was OK for the
bank balance, I must say, I must say I got
a lot of money out of it, but anyway, it
was all right. I mean, good luck to the guy,
you know. Wonderwall became an inescapable sensation, played across multiple
(32:02):
radio formats in supermarkets, at weddings, and some.
Drunken punters in pubs. It was a bona fide global
hit that helped Oasis achieve the unimaginable. Unlike any other
British band for the past 15 years or so, Oasis
won over the fickle American audience. With this ballad they
had officially conquered America. I think, I think undeniably we'll
(32:27):
go down as one of the greatest British bands of
all time. If we don't, then it's an absolute outrage.
Uh, as for how we perceived on the world stage,
I don't know, you know, I don't know, I think.
I think we'll probably be remembered unfortunately for that one song,
you know.
Which was uh no she's electric, of course. Judging by
the overwhelming response to Oasis' long awaited reunion this year,
(32:50):
it's safe to say Noel, Liam, and the band are
remembered for more than just Wonderwall, but that song has
proven to be one of the biggest anthems of the
last 30 years, covered by everyone from One Direction.
To Paul Anka, to Bring Me the Horizon, to K-pop
star Hong Jun from the group 80s, to even Jay-Z,
who jokingly played a bit of it when he headlined
(33:13):
Glastonbury in 2008 as a dig to Noel, who said
the festival was for guitar music only.
The song is so popular today that when Green Day
invited a young fan to come up on stage during
a concert in Luxembourg to play their hit Good Riddance
Time of Your Life, the kid instead started strumming the
chords to Wonderwall. Always one to chirp on Twitter, Liam
(33:36):
Gallagher wrote, Best song of the night in response. Oasis
are set to play to around 1.5 million people.
The reunion tour, and many of those fans would agree
that Wonderwall will be the best song of the night.
But even Noel is perplexed by that and why the
song has resonated with so many people over the years.
(33:56):
Here he is explaining that to Sirius XM. My daughter
is now 2 years of age, and she gets people
coming up to her saying, no way.
Did your dad actually write the song Wonderwall? And she'll say, yeah,
and she gets mobbed over it. She wasn't even fucking there.
(34:17):
It's a strange it's it's a strange thing because we didn't,
we didn't perform that song for a long time because
we could never get it right. And uh like I say,
Liam hated it, so the rest of the band were
too keen on it. You know why that song took
hold on the planet the way that it did.
It is crazy. There's there's no rhyme or reason for it.
It just is. It's mad when you think of it,
(34:39):
and I try not to think of it, you know,
it's just one of my songs. Maybe Noel can't put
into words as to why the world loves Wonderwall so much,
but let me leave you with this quote from Mike Flowers, who,
as I mentioned earlier, had a big hit with his
lounge cover of the song in 1995. In a 2025
article published by GQ called How Oasis Is Wonderwall Became
(34:59):
and Remained an.
National anthem. Flowers was asked why the song is so beloved,
and he said this It's very singsongy. The long drawn
out vowels lend it well to being an anthem because
it doesn't rush. You don't have to sing it quickly.
You can stretch out the words for a football crowd.
It's studiously classic songwriting. I think even Noel can agree
(35:21):
with that. So let me just grab my guitar and today, uh, what? Oh,
we can't afford to include it in the episode.
00, you just don't want me to sing it. Oh, OK, no,
that's fine.
I'm Ruby Carr. Thank you for listening to Encore. We
are back with new episodes
Speaker 2 (35:39):
every
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Thursday.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Encore is an iHeart Radio Canada podcast. Download the free
iHeart Radio app and subscribe. Thank
you.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Thank you so much for
Speaker 2 (35:49):
coming.
We're never gonna spill.
We just call it a day psychy his hands go
to the pub.
The campfire has started. Grab your acoustic guitar. I'm Ruby
Carr and this is the story of Oasis Wonderwall.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
You know the songs just making people feel something. It's
been a pleasure to work on this song with her,
but do you know the history to struggle making any
kind of record? I don't always have the direction or concept.
This is Encore, an in-depth look at the stories behind
the music. Here's Iart Radio's Ruby Carr.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
This is not a band in the in its traditional
sense that, you know, this is our lives with what
we're talking about and I'm not, you know, we're not.
We get into fights and arguments, and it's not just
me and him, it's everyone in the group, we get
into fights and arguments and sometimes we don't want to
do it, but.
You know, then you sit down and you think, well,
what else am I gonna do with my life. My
life is music, my life has been an oasis, I
wouldn't never been in another band and I've never been
(00:54):
in another band.
The voices you just heard belong to Liam and Noel Gallagher,
or as they're better known, Oasis. Now those interviews in
which they said their band would never split up were
tens of years ago, but for 15 years and up
until recently, Oasis were officially not a band. In 2009,
Noel quit just hours before they were set to play
(01:16):
a festival in France, but back then everyone just assumed
Oasis would return the next week, catch it buried, ready
to pick up where they left off.
Because that's just what they did. If there's one thing
Oasis were known for, it was regularly being on the
brink of imploding. From the very start, Liam and Noel
were always squabbling over something very public spats were just
(01:39):
something that they did. Um, I guess you could say
it was their way of showing brotherly love, and it
almost overshadowed what they did on stage, what they did
in the studio, and what they said during interviews and seriously,
these two were made to give interviews.
You'll hear plenty of evidence supporting that throughout this episode.
But Oasis are back playing live shows again heading across
(02:01):
the world on a reunion tour that includes two shows
in Toronto. Of course, Oasis were known for writing big
rock anthems in the 90s and 2000s, but there is
one song of theirs that was bigger than the rest,
a ballad that has become customary to learn for everyone
that owns an acoustic guitar. I'm pretty sure they test
you and make sure that you can play it when
(02:23):
you go to buy one.
I'm talking about Wonderwall, a song Noel Gallagher wrote about
his imaginary friend. Despite the fact that Noel wrote the
majority of the music of Oasis, he didn't actually form
the band. In fact, neither did Liam, and originally they
weren't called Oasis. They were called Rain. Are you still
with me? Rain was formed in Manchester, England in April
(02:44):
1990 by a guy named Chris Hutton, along with guitarist
Paul Bonehead Arthurs and drummer Tony McCarroll and bassist Paul
Quigsy McGuigan.
They played a few gigs together, but Bonehead Tony and
Giggsy weren't too keen on Chris's voice, so they gave
him the boot and auditioned new singers. Tony knew a
cocky teenager named Liam Gallagher who had been following the
(03:06):
band around. They gave Liam a chance to sing, and
wouldn't you know it, he was good. Liam joined Rain
in April 1991, but almost immediately he suggested they change
their name to Oasis after the Oasis Leisure Center, a
sports and entertainment complex in Swindon.
Liam got the name from a list of dates on
a tour poster for the indie band In Spiral Carpets
(03:28):
that was hanging up in his bedroom. The thing about
the band In Spiral Carpets is that Liam's brother Noel
was actually their guitar tech and had been since 1988.
Noel originally auditioned to become Inspiral Carpet's singer, but he
didn't get the gig. Instead, he was hired to join
their road crew and look after the guitars.
Noel was quite intrigued when he heard that his little
(03:49):
brother had started a band, and after returning from a
tour with In Spiral Carpets, he managed to catch the
band's first official gig as Oasis at the boardwalk in
their hometown of Manchester. Noel would tell Q magazine about
the gig, saying, I get back from Frankfurt with the
In Spirals and Liam's band have their first ever gig
at the boardwalk. I go down about 30 people there.
Did 4 of their own songs. I know I've said
(04:11):
they were atrocious, but they weren't that bad, right? I
thought our kids got some about him. They came off
stage and he went, What did you think? You're all right,
but you've got no tunes. And he comes back with, Well,
it's more than you ever fucking did. You've got loads
of songs and you're sat on your arse being a roadie.
Don't you slag my band off. This quote just doesn't
read the same without the accent.
(04:32):
The Manchester Evening News, however, were very impressed with the
new ban and its review titled Oasis Will Go Places.
In the write up they wrote that Oasis sound different
from all the rest. They're much harder, rougher, and madder,
but not so much as to preclude commercial success. While
he may not have appreciated his brother's comments, Liam still
invited Noel to join the band as their manager though.
(04:55):
During a band rehearsal, Noel turned down the offer, instead
suggesting or.
Demanding to take over the duties of lead guitar and songwriter,
what could the band say? Even though he'd never been
in a band before, the four members of Oasis welcomed
Noel into the band, but he had one condition. They
had to ditch Liam's songs and only play his. Speaking
(05:16):
to VH1's behind the music, Noel admitted the stuff that
Liam was writing was just awful, shocking. I mean, seriously,
if you think right that some of my stuff is bad,
you really.
Won't want to hear the stuff they were coming up
with before I joined the band, you know, it's so
weird that they ever had any issues. You'd never know
(05:37):
from lovely quotes like that. Noel already had a bunch
of tunes ready to go, which he had written in
his time touring with In Spiral Carpets, but one thing
is for sure, he didn't pick up any pointers in
his time as their guitar tech. Here he is recalling
his experience to Much Music's gentle and White. I don't
they didn't teach me anything. Not one.
(05:57):
Single thing, they taught me that um.
There was no lessons to be learned from that one, yeah.
I was writing music anyway, it was nothing to do
with what they were doing.
The only thing that was to make sure all the
equipment worked so you didn't get paid.
So you set it up and it works and you
got paid and that was it and.
(06:17):
And one thing he told me was not to take
anything too seriously in this.
Business.
There's nothing that lasts forever, you know, it's very fickle
and all the rest of it, it's just enjoy it
while you can.
Um, we didn't learn anything, I think.
I learned how not to do things.
Because um
Yeah, because they're not very good, are they? Yikes, I
(06:39):
wonder what his exit interview was like. Oasis began playing
gigs as a five piece in January 1992, debuting some
of Noel's songs, including an early version of a song
called Columbia. The band would continue rehearsing, playing gigs in
Manchester and Liverpool, and recording.
Demos of the songs that Noel had written, but on
May 31st, 1993, everything changed. Oasis were invited up to Glasgow,
(07:03):
Scotland to play a show at King Tut's Wawahut alongside
the band Sister Lovers. They rented an old tour bus
and drove up north with some of their friends who
tagged along for some fun.
It seemed like just another gig to the band until
they got to the venue and learned they weren't actually
scheduled to play. Naturally, the band stood their ground and
refused to leave until they were allowed to perform. Worried
(07:27):
about a potential dust up, the venue's management let Oasis
play a four song set. Luckily for them, Allan McGee,
owner of the influential Creation Records, was in the room
to see one of his other bands, 18 Wheeler, who
were also playing that night.
Going to King Tut's that night would prove to be
the smartest decision he ever made. Three songs in and
(07:48):
McGee was convinced. He thought they were brilliant and he
had seen enough to offer Oasis a record deal. He
would tell author David Kavanaugh, when I say it was brilliant,
I mean it was pretty flawless, but at the same
time I thought I can have this and I can
maybe sell half a million around the world. That's what
I thought the maximum life expectancy was of this band.
(08:09):
After their set, McGee found the band at the bar
and immediately offered to sign them. He said he didn't
even need to hear their demo tape. A confident Noel
Gallagher would lie to McGee, saying he already had 50
songs written when in truth he only had about 6,
but Oasis didn't sign on the dotted line. They felt
if Creation Records was interested, maybe other labels.
(08:29):
Instead they hired a manager, Marcus Russell, who was recommended
by Manchester music legend Johnny Marr of the Smiths. While
Buzz was building for Oasis, Russell began talking to other
labels including U2's own imprint Mother Records. In the meantime,
Oasis continued to write and record new material. They received
their first mention in the weekly.
(08:51):
NME and their first live radio session for the BBC.
After 5 months of making Allan McGee sweat, Oasis finally
signed a six album deal with Creation Records once a
licensing deal with Sony was sorted out for the rest
of the world. The first release on the label was
a promo single called Columbia, which they played when they
debuted with Noel.
(09:12):
Anxious to record their debut album, Oasis hired sound engineer
Dave Batchelor, who Noel had worked with on an inspiral
Carpets tour. They recorded a number of tracks at Mono
Valley Studio in January 1994, but the results weren't meeting
their expectations. The band felt Bachelor's recordings were too weak
and too clean. According to the label, it didn't have
(09:33):
the attack. They wanted a record that was loud with
raw power that would make the speakers blow up. It
didn't help.
The studio cost £800 a day and it was reportedly haunted. Well,
maybe a studio does seem like a place that would
be haunted. Liam was told his room was haunted by
a dark figure, and while he did wake up in
the morning to find the furniture completely moved around, the
(09:54):
only real haunting came from his bandmate Bonehead, who played
a series of tricks on him moving objects around with
a fishing rod. In the end, only one song would
survive and the rest of the sessions were scrapped. It
would cost them.
Nearly 50,000 pounds and a new pair of underwear for Liam.
In between recording sessions, Oasis booked their first show outside
(10:16):
of the UK in Amsterdam to support the Verve, but
they got into some trouble on the ferry ride over.
Members of the band spent the trip getting wasted on
champagne and Jack Daniel's before clashing with a group of
drunken Chelsea FC supporters. Now remember, Oasis have always supported
Manchester City, so it was in their blood. The two sides.
(10:36):
Got into a massive punch up. Liam Bonehead Quigsy and
Tony were arrested and deported back to the UK upon docking.
In the documentary Supersonic, Liam admits as the fight broke out,
all I remember was it was a bit Benny Hill.
It was fucking mayhem, man. I loved it. It was
punk rock, man. While all of that was going on,
Noel meanwhile was asleep for the whole ferry ride. He
(10:59):
was the only member not sent back home, so he
ended up hanging out with the Verve in Amsterdam.
The incident would be revisited two months later when Liam
and Noel were asked about it in an interview with NME.
The conversation quickly turned into a heated argument between the
brothers who basically just yelled at each other for 10
minutes straight. Here's a clip. That's the way we are
(11:20):
or the way I am. I always go out and
I meet some monkey fucker or or whatever bullshit bullshit
bullshit in your world. It's bullshit in my world.
He's bullshit. No, you've been bullshit. Well, you've been on
about right for you and rolls and roll, if you
think rock and roll, if you think rock and roll,
rock and roll, that's about being yourself and I'm a
(11:41):
fucking rock and roll's about music, music, it's not about you,
it's not about me. It's not about Oasis, it's about
the songs.
No, it isn't. It's not, it's not about the fuck
are the pistols at? Who's talking about the Pistols. They're
the best rock and roll band that ever fucking come out.
They're not, they're not. They're not one of them. They
made one album. So a funny thing about that interview
(12:06):
is that a recording of it went viral in the
music industry. Journalist John Harris allowed fledgling indie label Fierce pan.
To actually release it under the name Whibbling Rivalry, and
guess what? It sold lots of copies and became the
highest charting interview ever in the UK. Here is Noel
Gallagher telling Much Music's Terry David Mulligan all about it.
(12:29):
Have you at the famous Oasis fighting studio. It's very
great actually, it's um we done um it wasn't in
the studio, it was an interview that we done for
the MMA in England and uh.
The interviewer, God bless him, he, he, he kept the
tape and uh he asked me would it be alright
if we put it out as a, as a seven inch.
So I said, yeah, and it was, it was me
and Ali arguing over what was the essence of a
(12:50):
rock and roll band, uh, behaving like a rock and
roll band or, or actually, uh, well, basically the was
Liam was saying that the Rolling Stones were a great
rock and roll band because they got arrested and because
of the lifestyle. Yeah, and I said that the Rolling
Stones was a great rock and roll band because they
won't jump in Jack Flash. And anyway, this argument ensued
and it ended up in a fight.
So this this chap put it out as a as
(13:11):
a seven inch and it and it actually got in
the charts in England, believe it or not. And it's
called a uh wibbling rivalry.
And it's 15 minutes of swearing. That's what it is.
It's 15 minutes of me and I swear. When they
resumed recording, the band relocated to Saw Mill's studio in
Cornwall to keep working on their album with engineer Mark Coyle.
The initial idea was to record it live off the
(13:33):
floor and have Noel do overdubs afterwards, but it still
didn't sound the way they wanted. After a plea from
manager Marcus Russell, they managed to bring in producer Owen
Morris to try and salvage what they had done so far.
Morris would tell Mojo it was all a bit of
a mess really. I was just doing my own thing
in the studio, to be honest. I was just ripping
(13:53):
off a load of Phil Spector and Tony Visconti moves.
As it turned out, it fitted in, but the wall
of sound was hiding what was there. The drums and
the bass were all over the shop, so I had
to try to make a record out of it. Liam
was forced to re-record his vocals, but Morris mixed and
mastered the album in record time.
Achieving the sound the band and their team were looking for,
(14:16):
the debut album by Oasis was done. Written in about
as much time as it takes to listen to it,
Supersonic became the first official single by Oasis when it
was released on April 11th, 1994. While it didn't get
any higher than number 31 in the UK charts, the
song would enter various charts across the world, including the US,
quickly establishing Oasis as the next big thing. Their next single.
(14:40):
Shaker Maker, which came out two months later, would do
even better in the charts, but it also caused a
bit of a stir. The band were accused of ripping
off the melody from the new Seekers 1971 hit I'd
Like to Teach the World to Sing, which is best
known for its use in a Coca-Cola ad. It would
cost the band dearly, and by that I mean $500,000.
(15:02):
When he was asked by the press about it, Noel
simply replied, We only drink Pepsi from now on.
Controversy would start to follow Oasis everywhere while recording in London,
they trashed the Columbia Hotel, tossing furniture from their room
onto a luxury car owned by the hotel's manager. Needless
to say, they were banned forever. Not long after that,
(15:23):
Oasis played the Holtzford's Festival in Sweden and got drunk
at the hotel bar with members of the Verve and.
Scream. They caused a reported 1000 pounds worth of damage
and according to Liam were banned from Sweden too. They
weren't actually, but one Swedish newspaper described Oasis as English scum.
Trouble was following them around everywhere they went, or at
(15:45):
least that's how I imagined they would put it. The
trouble just follows them. They have nothing to do with it.
The band's next single Live Forever would be the band's
big breakthrough, however, and prove that they weren't just a
bunch of hooligans. Originally Noel began writing it in 1991
after suffering an incident working for a building company. It
would take another couple of years to finish, but the
(16:06):
song would go on to become their signature tune and
biggest hit to date at the time. Allan McGee called
it probably the single greatest moment I've ever experienced with them.
But Oasis didn't have long to celebrate their new hit.
The day after its release, Noel was attacked on stage
in Newcastle after a riot broke out. He claimed he
was hit in the face and nearly lost his eye,
(16:28):
and his guitar, a 1960s Gibson Les Paul custom on
loan from Johnny Marr, was damaged in the process. When
the album Definitely Maybe finally saw its release on August 29th,
everyone in the UK seemed to lose their minds over.
The UK press basically raved about it for months, and
copies of it flew out the door. Definitely maybe went
(16:50):
straight to number one in the UK albums chart and
became the fastest selling debut album in British music history.
During the band's first trip to Toronto, Much Music's Janni
and White asked Noel why so many people bought his record.
Why do you think that definitely maybe is the fastest
selling indie release in UK history? Is it good?
(17:10):
Basically it's just as simple as that. Plus the fact
that there's nothing else about it anyway.
Um,
A lot of the bands who released records in England
at the moment don't really say anything to anyone.
Um, I'm not even sure what it is that we
say to people, but it must be something. Oh. And
there you have it, good music sells. Definitely maybe would
go on to sell more than 15 million copies, by
(17:31):
the way. The album's success also saved their label from
going under as Creation Records was apparently 2 million pounds
in debt. Oasis were the hottest band in the world,
but a lot of the talk was as much about
how the two Gallagher brothers didn't get along as it
was about the music.
During their first North American tour, Liam was drunk and
(17:52):
messing around on stage at the Whiskey a Go Go
in Los Angeles. He changed the lyrics of Live Forever
to Maybe I don't really want to Know Why You
pick your nose. And then he hit Noel in the
head with his tambourine. Noel didn't take too kindly to
that and walked off the stage, out the door, and
actually quit the band. He then fled to San Francisco,
followed by Las Vegas, where he was tracked down and
(18:14):
persuaded to rejoin the band.
That was the first time Oasis would break up and
not the last time one of them would hit the
other over the head with an object.
A few months later, while they were working in the
studio on their next album, Liam went down to the
pub for a pint with another band. When he returned
with some friends, Liam caused a bit of a ruckus
inside the studio where Noel was still working. Things kicked
(18:37):
off and a drunken Liam began fighting with Bonehead, then
attacked Noel and his guitars, fending for himself, Noel grabbed
the closest thing to him, a cricket bat, and whopped
Liam over the head with it. A funny note about
the cricket.
Noel ended up gifting it to music journalist Paolo Hewitt,
(18:57):
who authored a book called Getting High The Adventures of Oasis.
The bat was eventually auctioned off years later, so some
lucky Oasis fan has it on their wall. While I
don't condone this sort of violent behavior even between siblings,
I would like to point out that my favorite story
about the Gallagher brothers is essentially what led the band
to break up in 2009. Backstage at a festival in
(19:20):
Paris just hours before they were about to go.
On stage, the Gallagher brothers had an argument about Liam
wanting to plug his clothing brand Pretty Green. Noel wasn't interested,
so Liam grabbed a plum from the catering table and
hurled it at his brother. Of course it didn't end there.
Liam grabbed a guitar and started swinging it at Noel
and nearly took his face off with it, his words.
(19:42):
But as Noel would tell the Manchester Evening News, part
of me wishes the band did end like that. That
would have been a great headline. Plum throws plumb and
Finishes Oasis. Now it's important to point out that while
Oasis was becoming one of the biggest bands in Britain,
there was something going on in the music industry. All
of a sudden, British indie music was bigger than ever.
(20:05):
The UK press called it Britpop on account of all
these young bands embracing and celebrating their culture and identity
with very catchy guitar pop. Liam would tell MuchMusic's Simon
Evans that this Britishness was mostly a response to American
music at the time being.
Dreadful. I'm not being, you know what I mean, I'm
not being arrogant or anything, I think the music that
comes out of this place in America, it's dreadful, dreadful.
(20:30):
But that's just the way it is and I'm not
saying I'm not being like hurrah, dear old blighty, you
know what I mean, or anything like that. Just that
is just the fact that the best bands with the
right songs come from England.
And that is it, and I'd like for other bands
to come from America and all that, Japan and all
that place with a good song, cos that'll change the
whole thing of music. You know what I mean, but
it only just come out with grunge noise and that's it.
(20:52):
None of the bands involved in this scene really cozied
up to the idea of being a part of a
nationalistic movement, especially the Gallagher brothers. However, Brit.
It was in fact a big deal. It was all
the music magazines and newspapers were writing about. The tabloids
were reporting on who was dating who or who got
a little too wasted the night before, and even the
(21:12):
nightly news on TV was reporting on it. Brit pop
was big business, and Oasis were widely considered the poster
boys for it, along with another band.
Basically the antithesis of Oasis, a band named Blur. It
was following Blur's triumph at the 1995 Brit Awards that
the two bands were being linked together, and it all
(21:33):
seemed to start when Blur accepted the award for Best
British Group, and they said this, I think this should
have been shared with Oasis. Yeah, much love and respect
to them.
What seemed like a nice gesture on behalf of one
band to another would quickly turn into something else entirely.
While Oasis had previously made some unfriendly remarks about Blur
(21:53):
during interviews, the press took notice of how these two
bands were gaining popularity at the same time and instigated
a full-blown rivalry. Both bands were coming off huge albums,
but also working on new albums, and every week there
would be news stories spreading gossip about who was doing what.
It wasn't until Oasis' song, some might say, that the
(22:15):
Battle of Britpop officially kicked off at a party in
Covent Garden to celebrate the song becoming the band's first
ever number one single, Liam got right up in Damon's
face and yelled, We're number one. You're not, you're not.
According to Oasis manager Allan McGee, Damon got on one
about it and decided to take Oasis on. Oasis being
Oasis decided to hate them, and Blur being Blur.
(22:38):
Thought it was a game, but Oasis actually hated them
at the time and so it was on amongst all
of the partying, celebrating and insulting, Oasis were actually hard
at work on their next album, recording again with Owen
Morris at Rockfield Studio in Wales, but a change in
drummer was needed because Tony couldn't keep up with the
complex time signatures and dynamic shifts in the new songs.
(23:00):
They fired Tony and brought in Allan White on recommendation
of Paul Weller.
One of the band's heroes who was making a guest
appearance on a song, and Allen made them better than ever.
The experience of making the album, according to the producer,
was a lucky once in a lifetime experience where every element,
everyone and everything came together just right. But as Noel
(23:20):
would tell Much Music's Terry David Mulligan, he wasn't the
easiest person to be around while they were recording. So
do you have to get ironed in there? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
I'm not very happy to be around when I'm in
the studio.
You're a shit. I'm a shit, yeah, yeah, I'm an asshole.
Are you consistent? I'm consistently an asshole like you're a
nice guy. No, no, I'm all the time. As they
(23:45):
were wrapping up the album, Oasis were in the thick
of a media blitz focused on their battle with Blur.
It reached a head when Blur decided to move up
the release date of their new single Country Horse to
August 14th, 1995, the same day as Oasis' new single
Roll with it.
This set in motion a highly publicized competition between the
(24:05):
two bands that caught the attention of the entire world.
The UK press nearly lost their minds covering it, with
NME calling the chart showdown a British heavyweight championship. In
the end, Blur sold more copies of their single by
nearly 60,000 copies.
Unfortunately, the feud kept going and would for years. However,
(24:26):
Noel certainly took things up a notch during an interview
with The Observer in September 1995 when he was asked
about Blur, he said, The guitarist I've got a lot
of time for the drummer I've never met. I hear
he's a nice guy. The bass player and the singer,
I hope the pair of them.
Catch AIDS and die because I hate them too. He
also added that he was doing a line of coke
(24:48):
every 40 minutes at the time, but nonetheless, the damage
was done. Once the quote was published, Noel immediately issued
a public apology, I mean, as he should. Here he
is explaining himself to Much Music's Kim Clark Champness. I'm
not giving excuses for that or anything like saying, well,
I've done it because of this or because of that,
I've done it because I was big mouth and I
was drunk, you know what I mean? But um, you know.
(25:12):
I suppose in that particular interview that they were just,
they kept throwing this thing in about Oasis and Blur
and when you asked like 15 times in the space
of 5 minutes.
You're getting pissed off with it, do you know what
I mean, so I just said what I said and
you know, there you go. I mean it it was,
it was a stupid thing to say, but, you know,
I've said it now and I've apologized and.
To me, that should be the end of it, but
I mean people are just gonna, people in the British
(25:33):
media are just gonna keep digging it up and digging
it up anyway because they don't like Oasis for a
start because we don't play the game. Oasis would release
the song Morning Glory as the album's lead single, but
only in regions like the US, Canada, Japan, and Australia
to better suit the modern rock radio landscape. The album,
Let's the Story Morning Glory followed on October 2nd, and
(25:53):
as much as
The fans liked it. Critics were a little less enthused.
It often paled in comparison to definitely maybe in most
reviews with Q magazine writing, This is a disappointing turnaround,
a wasted opportunity if you're being generous, a shot in
the foot if you want to be more melodramatic. Even
Noel would badmouth his work, admitting he likes some tracks,
(26:13):
but when I listen back to the album as a whole,
I can't fucking stand it, to be honest with you.
Essentially, the reviews didn't really matter. The public loved it
and bought so many copies of it. The album broke
the UK record for most copies sold in its first week,
and that was before Oasis had even released what would
become their biggest song of all time. The, the most
(26:33):
important thing I think for us, when we started was
we always, we always set out to be the best
band in the world and uh.
And we always, we always said that we were, we
were quite big-headed when we were when we were when
we were a little band, and we always said we
were going to be big and massive and um.
It's, it's a justification for us just to make, make
records that people are into. And for me as a songwriter,
(26:54):
it's a justification that people think that I'm a good
songwriter and think that we're a good band, you know, and.
And that's just studio wise, it's and it's it's a
justification for.
So when we do shows that, you know, we get
awarded for being.
The best live band in England and that and that's
not just down to the group, that's down to the
people who work for us and people who work behind
the scenes and stuff like that. So it's a justification
(27:16):
for everyone really, and the money helps. And there was
lots of money. What's the story Morning Glory would go
on to sell more than 22 million copies. Once it
was released, the album had made Oasis the biggest band
in Britain, but they were still convinced they could become
the biggest band in the world. The next single from
the album was a ballad.
Called Wonderwall, which Noel had admitted he wrote for his
(27:39):
girlfriend and eventual ex-wife Meg Matthews. He told NME, people
ask me why we had Roll with it instead of
Wonderwall as the single. It seems to be everybody's favorite.
It's about my girlfriend Meg Matthews. She had a company
which folded, and she was feeling a bit sorry for herself.
The sentiment is that there was no point in her
feeling down. She has to sort out my life for
(28:00):
me because I'm in bits at the time.
Years later, Noel would tell the BBC radio too that
he was lying at the time and that it wasn't
about Meg admitting the meaning of the song was taken
away from me by the media who jumped on it
and how do you tell your missus it's not about
her once she's read it is? It's a song about
an imaginary friend who's gonna come and save you from yourself.
(28:22):
Wonderwall was surprisingly quick to put together. Noel told the
media that he doesn't really remember the process of writing
the song, but he thinks he probably wrote it down
on scraps of paper and finished it off at the studio.
And when he got in there, it only took him
and Owen Morris a half a day to record the instruments.
Noel played everything himself but the drums and Mellotron.
The next day Liam nailed the vocal in just 4 tanks.
(28:46):
Liam would tell Rolling Stone, I was always desperate to
get to the pub. As soon as I got my
singing done, I went to the nearest pub. I didn't
want to sit around and watch people around with guitars
and amps. Originally called Wishing Stone, Noel got the title
Wonderwall from.
George Harrison's debut solo album Wonderwall Music. Here is Noel
admitting to Much Music's Kim Clark champness that yes, he
(29:08):
did steal that idea from the late Beatle. Well, with Wonderwall,
is it a coincidence that George Harrison has the Wonder? No,
not at all, Nick. Yeah, well, when.
It is, it is. When I was writing the song,
it went, um, and I had the melody and that and.
(29:28):
The lyrics and he went and he went, and, and
after all you're my.
And there was this, there was this, I don't know
whether it was gonna be three words or one word,
and it was, you know, there was like missing.
And um I was down at our house one night
and I was playing the album Wonderwall, and someone said
what's that album called? I went Wonderwall, and I went
and just give us a minute while I just look
into the back room here and after all, you're like what,
(29:50):
there you go. And that was that, you know, to
stole it.
Sue me.
Released on October 30, 1995, Wonderwall provided Oasis with a
song that could appeal to everyone, a song that everyone
could sing along to, and a song that could actually
make them the biggest band in the world. It was
a song that made these northern rock star lads seem relatable,
(30:14):
even vulnerable. It's no wonder Oasis had to convince themselves
that it was any good. Liam couldn't stand it when
Noel first played it for him. In an interview with Mojo,
Noel said.
When we were first playing Wonderwall, Liam said he thought
it was shit. We were doing the backing track and
Liam goes, I'm not singing on that. It's stupid, man.
It's fucking reggae music. I said, Why don't you go
(30:36):
off to the chippy then and we'll see you in
a bit now that he sang on it, of course
it's the greatest song ever written. Actually, Wonderwall was originally
supposed to be sung by Noel, but he gave Liam
a choice sing either Wonderwall or Don't Look Back in anger.
Despite hating.
And thinking it was a funk song, Liam agreed to
sing Wonderwall, and a good thing he did because it
(30:58):
became Oasis's most successful song around the world. Shockingly, it
only reached number 2 in the UK despite other songs
by Oasis topping the chart, but Wonderwall went top 5
in Canada and top 10 in the US and a
number of countries. The song was all over the radio,
everywhere on MTV and much music around the clock and
within no time coming from the acoustic.
(31:20):
of every single busker in the UK and it wasn't
just buskers covering the song. A lounge singer by the
name of Mike Flowers covered Wonderwall in sort of an
easy listening style, throwing it back to the 60s. The
cover or parody version was a huge hit in the UK,
making Oasis's achievement of reaching number 2 on the singles chart.
(31:42):
Here is Noel sharing his opinion of the song to
Much Music's Terry David Mulligan. It was funny when I
first heard it.
And so we gave permission for the guy to do it.
We didn't know it was gonna be like this massive,
massive hit single in England. It was OK for the
bank balance, I must say, I must say I got
a lot of money out of it, but anyway, it
was all right. I mean, good luck to the guy,
you know. Wonderwall became an inescapable sensation, played across multiple
(32:02):
radio formats in supermarkets, at weddings, and some.
Drunken punters in pubs. It was a bona fide global
hit that helped Oasis achieve the unimaginable. Unlike any other
British band for the past 15 years or so, Oasis
won over the fickle American audience. With this ballad they
had officially conquered America. I think, I think undeniably we'll
(32:27):
go down as one of the greatest British bands of
all time. If we don't, then it's an absolute outrage.
Uh, as for how we perceived on the world stage,
I don't know, you know, I don't know, I think.
I think we'll probably be remembered unfortunately for that one song,
you know.
Which was uh no she's electric, of course. Judging by
the overwhelming response to Oasis' long awaited reunion this year,
(32:50):
it's safe to say Noel, Liam, and the band are
remembered for more than just Wonderwall, but that song has
proven to be one of the biggest anthems of the
last 30 years, covered by everyone from One Direction.
To Paul Anka, to Bring Me the Horizon, to K-pop
star Hong Jun from the group 80s, to even Jay-Z,
who jokingly played a bit of it when he headlined
(33:13):
Glastonbury in 2008 as a dig to Noel, who said
the festival was for guitar music only.
The song is so popular today that when Green Day
invited a young fan to come up on stage during
a concert in Luxembourg to play their hit Good Riddance
Time of Your Life, the kid instead started strumming the
chords to Wonderwall. Always one to chirp on Twitter, Liam
(33:36):
Gallagher wrote, Best song of the night in response. Oasis
are set to play to around 1.5 million people.
The reunion tour, and many of those fans would agree
that Wonderwall will be the best song of the night.
But even Noel is perplexed by that and why the
song has resonated with so many people over the years.
(33:56):
Here he is explaining that to Sirius XM. My daughter
is now 2 years of age, and she gets people
coming up to her saying, no way.
Did your dad actually write the song Wonderwall? And she'll say, yeah,
and she gets mobbed over it. She wasn't even fucking there.
(34:17):
It's a strange it's it's a strange thing because we didn't,
we didn't perform that song for a long time because
we could never get it right. And uh like I say,
Liam hated it, so the rest of the band were
too keen on it. You know why that song took
hold on the planet the way that it did.
It is crazy. There's there's no rhyme or reason for it.
It just is. It's mad when you think of it,
(34:39):
and I try not to think of it, you know,
it's just one of my songs. Maybe Noel can't put
into words as to why the world loves Wonderwall so much,
but let me leave you with this quote from Mike Flowers, who,
as I mentioned earlier, had a big hit with his
lounge cover of the song in 1995. In a 2025
article published by GQ called How Oasis Is Wonderwall Became
(34:59):
and Remained an.
National anthem. Flowers was asked why the song is so beloved,
and he said this It's very singsongy. The long drawn
out vowels lend it well to being an anthem because
it doesn't rush. You don't have to sing it quickly.
You can stretch out the words for a football crowd.
It's studiously classic songwriting. I think even Noel can agree
(35:21):
with that. So let me just grab my guitar and today, uh, what? Oh,
we can't afford to include it in the episode.
00, you just don't want me to sing it. Oh, OK, no,
that's fine.
I'm Ruby Carr. Thank you for listening to Encore. We
are back with new episodes
Speaker 2 (35:39):
every
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Thursday.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Encore is an iHeart Radio Canada podcast. Download the free
iHeart Radio app and subscribe. Thank
you.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Thank you so much for
Speaker 2 (35:49):
coming.
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