Oasis- What's the Story?

By Jamie Rivera

Info On The Band:

Full Name: William John Paul Gallagher
Nickname: "Our Kid"
Birthdate: 21 September, 1972
Role In Oasis: Liam is Oasis' lead singer and the meanest tambourinist to come out of Great Britain. Liam has a very unusual voice, and his musical interpretation of Noel's lyrics is so spot-on that it seems as if Liam is spouting them off the top of his head. Unlike many other rock stars, Liam prefers to stand in one position when singing: head tilted slightly upwards, with his hands clasped behind his back. He claims that it helps him to project his voice. However, Liam's static stage presence does not make his performance in concert any less exciting. He will stare blankly
into the audience at anyone who annoys him, and between songs he will shout incoherent phrases at the audience. Noel claims that the biggest problem in Oasis concerts is "trying to get Our Kid to shut up between songs!" Liam is the most volatile member of Oasis, and is ready, willing, and able to give a lackluster performance if he does not feel like singing. He is not afraid to curse off anyone who disrespects the band during a concert, and he has walked off stage in the middle of gigs a number of times, particularly when fans begin their game of "Try To Hit Liam"; that is, people will attempt to hit Liam with coins, stones, and even shoes. Not that anyone can blame him for walking off stage, of course. Liam is one of the best lead singers around today, and certainly one of the most exciting and unpredictable.
Instruments Liam Plays: Liam does not play any instruments for Oasis, except for his star-shaped tambourine. However, when he was younger he attempted to play the violin. For Christmas, Alan McGee gave Liam a replica of the guitar John Lennon played, because Liam had recently begun to learn how to play guitar. Liam has also been seen picking up the bass guitar while Guigsy takes a break during rehearsals. He also plays piano on a new collaboration with Primal Scream.

Full Name: Noel David Thomas Gallagher
Nickname: "The Chief"
Birthdate: 29 May, 1967
Role In Oasis: Of all the members of Oasis, Noel has been the most crucial to the band's success. Noel writes all of the lyrics (with the exception of the chorus in Columbia, which Liam penned) and all of the music. He writes between five and eight songs a week, every week. He plays lead guitar, and his lyrical guitar-playing style has been likened to George Harrison's. Other instruments Noel play include the piano, mellotron, and E-bow. Noel is considered one of the greatest songwriters (if not the greatest songwriter) of the '90s, because of his musical versatility. Noel has penned everything from romantic ballads (ie, Wonderwall and Live Forever) to hard-rocking arse-kicking songs (ie, Cigarettes & Alcohol and Acquiesce), from techno triphop (ie, Setting Sun) to tunes that show off his wonderful sense of humor (ie, Digsy's Dinner and She's Electric).
Favorite Movies: Star Wars: Noel loves Darth Vader, and said that he's the ultimate villain.The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Noel loves this movie because of its western action and humor. Pulp Fiction: Noel claims to have seen Pulp Fiction over eleven times!
Favorite Beatles Song: Ticket To Ride
Noel's Ten Favorite Albums of 1996:
(1) The Beatles: Anthology III
(2) The Beatles: Anthology II
(3) The Beatles: Anthology I
(4) Beck: Odelay
(5) Kula Shaker: K
(6) Nirvana: From The Muddy Banks of the Wishkah
(7) Ocean Colour Scene: Moseley Shoals
(8) The Fugees: The Score
(9) Manic Street Preachers: Everything Must Go
(10) Heavy Stereo: Deja Voodoo

Name: Paul Arthurs
Nickname: "Bonehead," which he acquired since he is...err...shall we say somewhat "folically challenged"? Actually, he earned the nickname as a youngster. His father made him get a military crew cut, even though the style at the time was long Beatle-esque haircuts. Hence, his mates called him "Bonehead," and the name has stuck.
Birthdate: 23 June, 1965
Role In Oasis: Bonehead is one of the most amazing rhythm guitarists of the '90s. Until Bonehead, rhythm guitarists were seen as "extras" who just tried to fill in spots with guitar riffs. However, Bonehead has redefined the term. His wonderful guitar-playing has made the role of "rhythm guitarist" a respectable one, because he adds a complexity to Oasis' sound. Bonehead is also the person who brought Oasis together in the first place. He met bassist Paul McGuigan in a pub, and they decided to form a band. Bonehead recommended that they listen to Liam Gallagher sing, because he had a reputation for being a great singer. Finally, drummer (who would be "ex-drummer" in the April of 1995) Tony McCarroll was added to the line-up. They formed a band that had the name "The Rain" for a short time, until Liam re-named it "Oasis". Bonehead has only written two acknowledgable songs for Oasis. These are Take Me, which he penned with Liam and was never released (although Noel wants Oasis to record it properly, Liam and Bonehead don't want him to), and Bonehead's Bank Holiday, which can be found on the vinyl version of (What's The Story) Morning Glory?.
Other Instruments: Aside from rhythm guitar, Bonehead plays piano and mellotron.
Family Life: Bonehead is married and has a daughter, named Lucy Oasis Arthurs. Noel Gallagher is her godfather.

Name: Paul McGuigan
Nickname: "Guigsy" or "Guigs"
Birthdate: 9 May, 1971
Role In Oasis: Guigsy is the only other remaining original member of "The Rain," other than Bonehead. (Remember, Liam was never part of The Rain...he changed the name to Oasis). Guigsy is Oasis' bassist, and is always improving. I heard that before Guigsy even decided to form The Rain with Bonehead, he had never played an instrument before and just decided to play bass. Whether or not that's true is questionable, because if it is true....WOW! Guigsy is an incredible bassist, and his musical competence has grown to include McCartney-esque bass runs. To think that he might have only been playing bass for 6 years is truly amazing, when compared to his musical skill.
Guigsy's Breakdown: In 1995, Oasis had been touring virtually non-stop in order to raise support for the band before releasing their sophomore album (What's The Story) Morning Glory?. In September of 1995, Guigsy had to retire from Oasis due to nervous exhaustion. It was like a wake-up call to the rest of the band, and it truly frightened them. The band members gave Guigsy hugs and told him to eat more vegetables, and then attempted to tackle the problem of finding a temporary replacement bassist. Alan White said that he only wanted Guigsy to do the
job, since he is one of the original members of Oasis; however, since Guigsy obviously was not up to the touring, Alan told the band that he knew a bassist in London that could serve as a replacement until Guigsy recovered. Well, Liam being Liam, objected on the grounds that Oasis were "becoming a cockney group!!" Noel humorously responded, "What are you talking about, governor?" So, Alan's idea was thrown out, and Guigsy was instead replaced by bassist Scott McLeod from a local band called the Ya-Yas. Scott even appeared in the Wonderwall video instead of Guigsy. Scott eventually quit the group because he couldn't get along with them. Guigsy finally recovered in time to play at the record-breaking Earls Court gig, his first concert after the breakdown.

Name: Alan White
Nickname: sometimes he's referred to as "Whitey" by the Oasis lads
Birthdate: 26 May, 1972
Role In Oasis: Alan is the drummer and percussionist.
Replacing Tony: Alan is Oasis' second drummer, replacing original drummer Tony McCarroll. Tony was sacked the day that Oasis' first single from (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, Some Might Say, was released. There were numerous reasons for Tony's sacking, with the two main ones being his relative musical incompetence and a fist-fight he got into with Liam. Alan once saw Oasis in concert when Tony was the drummer, but he walked out in the middle of the show because he was unhappy with Tony's drumming. Noel knew of Alan White since he is the younger brother of Steve White, Paul Weller's drummer. The story is that Noel called Alan and said that he heard Alan's playing before and it was good, so he could be in the band, provided that Alan doesn't "weigh 30 stone". Alan learned the drumming to Some Might Say overnight, and appeared on Top of the Pops the following day. Noel has admitted that Alan is a better musician than he is.

History of Oasis:

Oasis is the best band to hit England since the Beatles. Oasis has been around for the past three years and have brought an entire new meaning to music. Their first album Definitely Maybe was released on 29 August,1994 and it included eleven tracks of music written by Noel Gallgher. The sound of Oasis invaded the world and left listeners mezmorized by Noel's brilliant lyrics and Liam's talanted voice. The album went quadruple platinium so they decided to start on other album and try to take off with a steady music career.

But as they got started on their secong album the drummer Tony McCarrol was having difficulty with the other band members(especially Liam Gallagher). Tony and Liam had gotten into a fist fight and Liam had kicked Tony out of Oasis. Noel had heard of Alan White's talants and decided to give him a shot at being the new Oasis drummer. I must say Noel made a smart choice. Alan is so much better than Tony could ever be.

They had put out a second album the following year on 2 October, 1995 titled (What's The Story)Morning Glory?. This album was even bigger than their first album Definately Maybe. This album included ten songs and two instrumantal tracks. As well as Definitely Maybe, (What's The Story)Morning Glory? also hit quadruple platitnum. And once again the sounds of Oasis stormed the world.

That following summer Oasis had planned a North American tour to promote both albums. I had attended the concert at Jones Beach Theatre in Wantagh, New York on 7 September, 1996.The concert was sponsered by Coca~Cola and Z100. I must say it was the greatest concert I have ever seen. The concert was absolutely sensational! Liam sang his hear t out and Noel, Bonehead, Guigsy, and Alan played an awesome concert. They out lots of feeling in the concert which made it fun to watch.
Oasis has rocked the world with it's great sound. Now with their new album Be Here Now released their unique sound will prevail once more and take over our radios.

Oasis is being now noticed by many radio stations and the televsion media since their third breakthrough album Be Here Now. They had just featured on MTV's Rockumentary Tuesday 26 August, 1997. Following that there was last years Liamless Oasis Unplugged. I had watched and taped this rockumentary and in my opinion it was GREAT!!! I loved every last second of it. Liam got his act together and is well-dressed and well-groomed. He was so funny when being interviewed. And Noel was sweet enough to apologize for cursing out Parliament in his interview. I happen to think that this rockumentary was ten times better than last year's.

Over the years Oasis has built up tons of controversy dealing with their fetish over the Beatles. Noel Gallagher has been a Beatles fan ever since he heard them for the first time. Ever since then he was Beatles inspired. He had a dream to be in a band just as good as the Beatles and write music just as good as the Beatles. When Noel was a child he would be asked what he wanted to do when he grew up. He would answer,"I wanna be a songwriter." His family would smile and laugh replying," A songwriter? Why can't you be a drugdealer like the rest of us?"

Despite his family's remarks, Noel continued to write music with the inspiration of the Beatles. Now Noel will not deny the fact that he was inspired by the Beatles. But he thinks music is music. His younger brother, Liam Gallagher, agrees with Noel's statement." We've got guitars. The Beatles got guitars. We've got hair . The Beatles got hair. We've got arms. The Beatles got arms. Does that make me the Beatles?" says Liam. No matter what they are still a wonderful band no matter who inspires them.

Review Of The New Album:

The new album Be Here Now was just released Tuesday 26 August, 1997 (UK Thursday 21 August). This album has eleven tracks sung by Liam Gallgher with the exception of Magic Pie which is sung by Noel Gallagher. Plus the All Round The World Reprise which is a two minute instrumental track. In the song Fade In-Out it a guest appearence by Johnny Depp who plays the slide guitar.

I must say that this album shows the true talant in this rising band. The album has so much energy and emotion from the band. Plus it even sounds like they enjoy what they sing and play. All of the songs are of great quality but my favorites are D'You Know What I Mean, Don't Go Away, Magic Pie, My Big Mouth, Stand By Me, and All Around The World. The American tour for Be Here Now is definite but the actual dates are not yet being revealed. On 14 July, 1997 the premeire of the video for their single D'You Know What I Mean was aired for the first time. The song The Girl In The Dirty Shirt was one of Noel Gallagher's love ballads dedicated to his wife Meg Gallagher.