The 2006 Q Awards took place earlier today in London and Oasis walked off with the 'Best Act In The World' award. Noel also got presented with the 'Classic Songwriter' gong.
Noel later gave an interview to BBC Radio 1. Which you can download here. Any more interviews will get added to this article if and when I find them so keep checking back for more.
Right, a bit of good and bad news regarding this show on the 2nd November.
The bad news is that Noel's record company won't let BBC 6 Music broadcast any of Noel's set during their highlights broadcast on Thursday night. Obviously someone in the Oasis camp still has their head firmly shoved up their arse. God, it's like the Be Here Now promotional campaign all over again.
The good news is that this hints at some new material being played, as a broadcast ban has been in place before when Oasis perform new material (starting with Radio 1 not being allowed to brodcast 'It's Gettin' Better (Man!!)' and 'My Big Mough' at the August 1996 Knebworth show, Sky being banned from broadcasting 'The Hindu Times' and 'Hung In A Bad Place' during their October 2001 Glasgow broadcast, and with the BBC being refused permission to broadcast 'A Bell Will Ring' and 'The Meaning Of Soul' during Oasis' Glastonbury 2004).
Brand also mentioned that Noel's set will be "an hour long", which should lead to at least a dozen songs being played, barring any crappy collaborations.
Just a few small bits of news here not really worthwhile creating a new post over for each one.
First of all, the live version of 'Some Might Say' which will be released on the 'Stop The Clocks' EP, which Oasisinet refers to as "venue unknown", was in fact recorded live at the Club Citta, Kawasaki, Japan on the 22nd August 1995.
Liam was on Virgin Radio's breakfast show on Friday morning, slightly the worse for wear. Here's the story from The Sun. And when you've finished reading that, you can listen to Liam by going to the Virgin Radio website.
LIAM GALLAGHER caused havoc at Virgin Radio yesterday as he phoned in drunk about a dozen times — desperate to get on air.
Liam and pal Scully wanted to take part in the Who’s Calling Christian? spot on CHRISTIAN O’CONNELL’s breakfast show where listeners get celebs to ring in with the prospect of winning £10,000 for a charity of their choice.
But Liam was so hammered station bosses were unsure it was him — until he and Scully sent a cheeky mobile phone snap of themselves.
A Virgin source said: “Liam went berserk when asked to prove his identity. He swore, hung up, then kept ringing back every few minutes and cursing some more.
“He jokingly barked at Christian: ‘I’m gonna come down there and rip yer f***ing head off.’” When Liam did get on air, he also treated listeners to four-letter words.
Christian told me: “Liam said he’d been drinking all night.”
As mentioned by this site a few days ago, Noel made a small contribution to the BBC Radio 2 Burt Bacharach documentary, that aired on Friday night. You can listen to the documentary again at the BBC Radio 2 website for the next 7 days.
The Sun are giving away tickets to exclusive UK screenings of 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down'. To enter, all you have to do is send in a question to the band for a forthcoming interview. To enter the competition, go to The Sun's website.
OK, first, and most importantly of all, On the 19th September in New York, Noel done an interview and an acoustic set for AOL. He played '(It's Good) To Be Free', 'Whatever' and 'Slide Away'.
After 12 years of rock 'n' roll stardom, Oasis have officially announced that, after compiling their Stop The Clocks greatest hits album (due out November 21), they're taking a break.
Since emerging in 1994 with the release of their Definitely Maybe debut, the band have maintained a profile unmatched by any of their former Brit-pop rivals. Guitarist Noel Gallagher says that Oasis' longevity has more to do with the universal quality of the band's music than their ambition or tenacity.
"I think a lot of bands from 1994, particularly the English bands, were so British that you couldn't get it if you weren't British, you know what I mean?" Gallagher says. "The irony and the painful fucking trendiness of it all.
"Whereas Oasis, it's universal, man. Like 'Cigarettes And Alcohol' means the same to people in Brooklyn as it does in Burnage. The sentiments of those songs are the kind of feelings that young kids get every day. I guess all those bands from 1994 were just trying too hard. And I don't ever attempt anything unless I can make it look effortless."
So, what will Gallagher do while Oasis take their much-needed break? Don't expect any animated side-projects or self-indulgent solo albums. Gallagher plans to spend his time just hanging out and not doing much of anything at all.
"I have to get coaxed back into doing work," he says. "I don't aggressively pursue my muse.
"I'm not one that always has to be creating — if I'm not writing songs, I'm painting, and if I'm not painting I'm fucking trying to make a bottle out of a fucking table leg. I'm not into all of that. In that sense, I'm not very creative at all. You get some idiots that if they have more than a day off they start throwing fucking paint around the living room. I don't give a fuck about the creative process. I'll do it when I get around to it."
When Gallagher will "get around to it" remains to be seen. To most savvy music fans, "hiatus" can usually be translated as "we're breaking up, but we want to keep our options open just in case there's some money to be made in the future." In typical Gallagher style, Noel is staying cunningly cryptic about Oasis' future. While he consistently speaks of Oasis in the present tense, he won't speculate when — or even if — there will be another album of new Oasis songs.
"It would be wrong for me to say yes," he says when asked if the band will ever go into the studio again. "But I'd be lying if I said no.
"It could be a long time. To be honest, we've got 11 songs left over from the last album and, of that 11, seven are really good. And of that seven, four are really great. We've really got the starting point for a new album, so we could go and start a record and get half it done next week. So, there's not really any rush."
Gallagher pauses. "And if you believe that, you'll believe quite literally anything."
26th October Oasisinet Stopclock update / More Noel solo shows / Noel UK TV + Radio appearances
New content of the Stopclock today includes a clip of the live version of Some Might Say from 1995 that will be released on the 'Stop The Clocks' EP. There is also a live video of 'Fade Away' from the Chicago Metro on the 15th October 1994 which will be included on the bonus DVD available with the Special Edition of the 'Stop The Clocks' album. Last of all is a clip of Noel and Liam talking about 'Wonderwall' taken from the 'Lock The Box' EPK which will also be included on the 'STC' Special Edition.
In other news, Noel is confirmed to be doing an acoustic set (along with "Friends" - Gem is to be one) at The Music Hall in Toronto on the 7th November. The show also includes a screening of 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down'. Tickets are available from Saturday 28th October. See http://danforthmusichall.ca/ for more details. A similar Los Angeles show is also set for the 9th, with tickets being given away exclusively to members of the Oasisinet mailing list.
Noel's going be on TV and Radio in the UK over the next couple of weeks, but in things unconnected with the new Oasis stuff. He'll be talking about the hit British sitcom 'The Royle Family', which returns with a new episode earlier that evening, in a programme entitled 'We Love The Royle Family' on BBC1 on Sunday 29th October at 10:15pm. As you will know, the theme song of the show is 'Half The World Away' and Noel also recorded a special version of Slade's 1973 classic 'Merry Xmas Everybody' for the 2000 Christmas Special of the show. Noel's also going to be contributing to the 4-part BBC Radio 2 documentary series 'What The World Needs Now - The Burt Bacharach Story', starting on Friday 27th October at 7:00pm. Although when BBC Radio 2 broadcast a similar programme a few weeks back, the clip of Noel talking was no more than 5 seconds long, so it won't necessarily be a lengthy contribution by Noel. Finally, Noel will contribute to a Paul Weller documentary on BBC2 on Sunday 9th November at 9:00pm.
Finally, the Japanese release date for the 'Stop The Clocks' EP has been put back from the 25th October to the 8th November.
Sunday action with Noel Gallagher and Russell Brand
The latest episode in this long running series was on today with Noel talking about his appearance on Parkinson earlier in the week. The programme is due to air on the 26th November on ITV1.
'The Masterplan' TV debut / Creators' interview / Oasis forthcoming Bee Gees cover
Just a reminder to UK readers that the network premiere of the new 'The Masterplan' promo video is on at 9:05pm tonight on TOTP2 on BBC2. This is a change to the original schedule of 8pm so check your settings. Ben Jones, one of the creators of the video, gave an interview to BBC Radio Manchester recently, and you can read that below where he talks about the making of the video.
Former Bee Gee Robin Gibb gave an interview to BBC Radio Oxford recently, saying that a tribute album to his brother Maurice is in the works at the moment. He revealed that along with covers by Paul McCartney, Elton John, Sheryl Crow and Eric Clapton, Oasis would be contributing to it with a cover of 'Lonely Days' from their 1970 album '2 Years On'. No release date is known at the moment.
Q: What do LS Lowry and Oasis have in common? A: They cast no shadow (Take a look at a Lowry). Here’s another: a cartoon Gallagher pair are the new matchstick figures in Lowry's paintings. The result could be a music video classic:
Ben Jones can't wait to see Top of the Pops this Saturday. Why? Because the new video he has created for Oasis’ The Masterplan is getting its first TV airing.
"It’s just great!" he says. "I mean, to have a video on Top of the Pops, it’s just one of things you think: ‘that would be fantastic!"
Working with his partner Greg for production company Partizan, Ben has created a fascinating film in which a cartoon version of the Gallaghers wander through Lowry’s paintings of industrial Manchester and, along the way, tell the true story of Oasis.
Oasis fans, look out for: the house on Sandicroft Street where they were born; Noel’s first ever Man City game; Liam’s much-talked about swagger; the gasworks where Noel wrote the songs for Definitely Maybe after breaking his leg; Johnny Roadhouse Music (where they bought their first guitars) and Sifters, where the Burnage boys used to buy their records.
While lovers of LS Lowry can enjoy paintings and characters including Man Lying on A Wall, Fairground in Daisy Nook and Going to the Match - all given a modern twist. Ben Jones explains all:
It’s a great idea. What was the plan for The Masterplan? "Well, we were told that we couldn’t actually use the band themselves because they were in the middle of recording so we’d have to come up with another idea. eg use old footage, because they’ve done Masterplan a number of times; do a film that didn’t include them in it (which they’ve done in the past); or something else. Basically, we didn’t like any of the other routes, so we thought: how about animation? So particularly given the Yellow Submarine that was done for the Beatles, we thought: maybe there’s something in this."
Why set it in a Lowry landscape? "To me the song is very much about Oasis’ past and the soul of the band. And to us, the soul of the band is Manchester. Lowry is the obvious connection back to Manchester for us. We had no idea how it would animate but we thought it could look really good. So we went away, bought lots of books, and built up a narrative story of the band based on Lowry paintings. And that was all within a 24-hour period because we only got 24 hours to come up with an idea! Then we approached the band with it .. and they came back and said: 'We love it. Can you make it work?' "
How much help did you have from the Lowry? "To be perfectly honest, we couldn’t have done this without them. They have been fantastic! They’ve been very open-minded about the use of Lowry imagery, very forward thinking, I would say, because they realised that: here was a chance for a lot of the Lowry work to go to a completely new audience. And huge exposure really because a video by Oasis was always going to be on in a lot of places. And I think because it was Oasis, and because it was Manchester, it just fitted really really well."
Who came up with the references to Oasis and Lowry? "It was always our idea to layer the video with lots and lots of Lowry references, Oasis references and Manchester references. Because there’s no official biography of the band, we ended up with a huge list of stuff which we went to Noel with and said: here’s a list of facts which we could potentially put into the video. Things like Sandicroft Street, which you see in the video, which is a street where they were born; you’ve got Hacienda in there, the G-Mex and so on…. We always said to them is, what we want to do is to use huge chunks of Lowry paintings but add little bits on to give it a modern twist."
Was it difficult animating Lowry figures? "We had to really try and interpret exactly how Lowry characters would move because we had no idea. But I think we tried to keep all the figures as basic as we possibly could in that fantastic Lowry style. If you look at it, there’s not a lot in there that have shadows. We purposely did that. Some things needed it like moving vehicles.. But a lot of the characters and the band don’t have shadows when they’re walking along the street. I think if we had done it would have probably looked very different. Lowry never painted in that way."
And what did Liam and Noel say when they saw it? "Well, it’s interesting. The first thing we did was to animate Liam and Noel - and in particular Liam’s swagger! So we did a lot of drawings and showed them and said: look this is how you’ll walk, this is what you’ll look like on stage. And then we did the backgrounds, and moved them from one scene to another. So they kind of saw it bit by bit. Eventually we showed them what was nearly a finished version.. and they absolutely loved it. They just said: ‘This is fantastic! This is exactly what we wanted.’ And we were over the moon."
More content added today to the Oasisinet Stopclock. First, two video files, one of Liam meeting Girls Aloud (as previously seen on the 'Let There Be Love' DVD single) and the second is the new promo video for 'The Masterplan'. The other, intriguing thing there is what looks to be an embedded audio file (1 of 2). At the moment, the link doesn't seem to be working. It could be one of the tracksfrom 'Stop The Clocks' or it's EP, a live track from the 'Don't Believe The Truth' world tour, as found on the 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' film or, at best, the new song that's on the 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' trailer.
As soon as the audio file is up and running, I'll have details of it here.
In addition to Noel's interview for insidebayarea.com, published here on the 13th, The Wave Magazine (also based in California) today published more bits from what looks to be the same interview.
On the surface, all might seem quiet on the usually blustery Oasis front. The multi-platinum English outfit hasn’t recorded any new material since last year’s Don’t Believe The Truth, and has no plans to re-enter the studio any time soon. Dig deeper, however, and you’ll find their hive is actually buzzing with activity. Band Svengali Noel Gallagher just left London for rustic Buckinghamshire; joined his pals Kasabian onstage for a couple of numbers at an NME-sponsored bash; tracked two Beatles covers for an upcoming John Lennon tribute program (one with the Stereophonics, another with Johnny Marr and Cornershop); and just viewed the final cut of Lord Don’t Slow Me Down, an Oasis tour documentary hitting overseas theaters this fall. Somehow, he and his frontman/kid brother, Liam, also found the time to hand-pick 18 Oasis classics for upcoming Stop The Clocks anthology for Columbia, which kicks off with the long overdue release of early B-side single “Acquiesce,” one of the band’s best-loved standards. It also includes the recent Noel-sung smash, “The Importance of Being Idle,” although its composer is anything but these days.
Sipping afternoon tea in his new countryside mansion, Gallagher paused long enough to chat.
The Wave: So what’s the film’s story? Noel Gallagher: I don’t know whether there is a story. I think that the guy who was making the film, Baillie Walsh, thought that his story would unfold across the nine months he filmed us. But I don’t think one ever did. The bulk of it is the American tour with us, Kasabian, and Jet, and then there are bits in England, bits in Japan, so it’s kinda broadly based all around the world. We weren’t in any hurry to let the cameras in to see what actually goes on backstage, and I think a bit of mystery in a band’s life is pretty much a good thing. But everybody was kinda on their best behavior. I think Baillie was expecting the drinking-champagne-out-of-cowboy-boots-at-seven-o’clock-in-the-morning-while-swinging-from-a-chandelier kinda thing. But he got onboard 10 years too late for that. So it’s the story of a band who are... errr... just kinda comfortable with where they are. I’ve seen the film once, and I thought it was great, beautifully shot. But, as for what it all means? Who the fuck knows? I don’t.
TW: Oddly enough, “All Around The World” is not on the collection. And thanks to those endless AT&T commercials, it’s probably now your most famous song – at least, in the States, where you hear it every five minutes. NG: The reason it’s not on the anthology is that it’s just too fucking long – we couldn’t really find a place for it anywhere. But the reason that that came about for the advert was, we got an offer, and blah, blah, blah, my manager’s going on about it, and it was something that I’ve never kinda considered before, and there was a lot of cash involved. But I was like, “Nah, it’s not really my bag.” But Liam, bless him, said, “Look – that song’s 10 years old, right? We never fucking play it. It’s not one of the big famous songs, so why don’t you just fucking cash in on it?” And I was like, “Well, fine. Fair enough.”
And I said, “How much is it again?” [when] the figure came back, it wasn’t a very difficult decision after that. And, of course, living here, we don’t get to see the advert ’cause it wasn’t shown in England. But I was in Mexico and I’ve been in New York quite recently, and I hear it twice a day, every day, when I’m in the States.
TW: It’s great that “Acquiesce” is finally getting a shot at the charts. It never really got a fair shake. NG: It was the same as “The Masterplan.” I was kinda sent into the studio to write a B-side, and that’s what I wrote. And when I wrote ’em, people were going, “Oooh – they’re a bit too good for B-sides!” And I was like, “Look – you fucking put me in the studio; that’s what I’ve written. And if you don’t fucking like it, don’t put me in the studio.” There was a two- or three-year period where everything I wrote was just fantastic. And, of course, if all the B-sides for the singles off Morning Glory would’ve been what became the Be Here Now album, I think we would’ve gone on to be possibly one of the biggest bands of all time. Not that we’re not anyway. But I think we would’ve been as big as U2, because I had an idea in my head for Be Here Now – it was to be the most bombastic, fucking hugest-sounding record of all time. And I didn’t worry too much about the words or the arrangements. But the really interesting stuff from around that period is the B-sides – there’s a lot more inspired music on the B-sides than there is on Be Here Now itself, I think.
TW: You and your ex, Meg Matthews, were just in the news, denying custody-battle rumors about your daughter, Anais. How is Anais holding up under all this press scrutiny? NG: Ah, she’s alright. She’s like any normal six-year-old – she’s a little too cheeky for her own good, but she’s alright. I see her on a regular basis. And she’s only six, but unfortunately she already likes Kylie Minogue, which is something that I’m not too pleased about. And actually, my girlfriend took her to see Kylie Minogue last year, before Kylie got ill. But Anais is into animals now – she’s obsessed with dogs, cats, sheep, horses, spiders, and all sorts.
TW: It seems like you got into being a dad much more than you ever imagined you would. NG: Well, I never had any dreams to be. I mean, I love kids, but I don’t really dig being a parent, so I’m kinda learning as I go along about parenthood. Especially for a guy. It’s different for women, because they carry the child for nine months and all that. So they have nine months to prepare for a child being born, whereas guys get about 10 minutes. For the eight months, 20-some days, you’re thinking, “This is all gonna be some horrible mistake, and I’m gonna wake up in a minute, and I’m still gonna be a single guy, and there’s gonna be no kids involved!” So you get about 10 minutes to prepare for it. But I think it’s a challenge to be a cool parent. But I don’t know – my parents split when I was young and all that, so Anais is following in my footsteps in that respect. But I have good days and bad days, being a dad. But it’s one of those things – you’ve just gotta get on with it and take it day by day, week by week. And I do my best.
Liam was on BBC Radio 1 on Thursday evening, chatting away to Colin Murray in a pre-recorded interview. It's a rare, lengthy interview by the man, around 30 minutes after editing out the songs, so download it.
Oasisinet have announced a series of 'Stop The Clocks' launch nights at venues across the UK in November. Events have been confirmed in Leeds, Brighton, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Exeter, Sheffield, Liverpool, Norwich, Portsmouth and Glasgow. The launch nights include playbacks of the album, competitions to win exclusive Oasis merchandise and lots more. More information is available at Oasisinet.
Liam on Radio 1 / Cigs & Alc demo / Noel interview / 2007 BRIT Awards
Just a reminder that Liam will be on BBC Radio 1 tonight, talking to Colin Murray. The show starts at 10pm in the UK. Hopefully the interview will be live as, Liam being Liam, anything could happen. You can listen to Radio 1 live online by clicking the following link. A Real Audio player is required.
Also on BBC Radio 1 earlier today, Jo Whiley played the demo of 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' that's going to be released on the 'Stop The Clocks' EP. Unfortunately, it's the same demo version that was released on an NME cover tape in February 1994 and which has been easily available on bootlegs since then.
Whiley also announced that Oasis will be given the Outstanding Contribution To Music award at the 2007 BRIT Awards on Wednesday 14th February, 2007. The band will be there in person to pick up the award and perform live. BPI Chairman Peter Jamieson said, “Oasis set the standard for many of the young rock bands who are currently enjoying success in the UK charts. As the BRIT Awards goes live for the first time in nearly two decades, it is appropriate that we should honour one of the most exciting live acts the UK has produced.”
Finallly, excerpts of a Noel interview have been appearing in the Australian press today, mainly because Noel's been slagging off the Australian football team. You can read these excerpts of the interview at the link below. If I can get hold of the full interview, done for the Australian Associated Press, then I'll put it all on this site.
The official Oasis store, along with a few other online retailers, have the cover for the new EP up. As you can see, it's virtually the same as the promos, but with the Oasis logo on the other side of the picture.
We'll hopefully be getting information on whether the Cigarettes & Alcohol demo is the same as the one released on an NME cover tape in February 1994 and perhaps of the location of the live version of Some Might Say, when the EP is first released in Japan next Thursday.
Meanwhile, The Diary couldn't resist asking Bonehead his thoughts on the release of the Oasis "Best of" album next month. It has caused some debate among fans about the tracks selected - including early B-sides and album tracks at the expense of more recent hit singles.
Bonehead said: "It's something we said we'd never do, but good luck to them.
"I'm on 14 out of the 18 tracks they've put on the compilation, so I'm happy. I think it's a pretty good selection."
But he added: "I got a bit worried when I heard they'd re-recorded Acquiesce as a single, and thought 'oh no they're going to re-record the whole lot', but thankfully that hasn't happened."
'The Masterplan' new promo video / New Stop Clock content
Two updates on Oasisinet today. The first was a surprise announcement of a new promo video for 'The Masterplan'. This is the "LS Lowry-style video exclusive" that the TOTP2 synopsis alluded to, and Oasisinet have confirmed that the TV premiere will be on TOTP2 on BBC2 on Saturday 21st October at 8pm. You can also view the video below.
Also on Oasisinet was new content added to the Stop Clock. The new promo video for 'Acquiesce' is now on there, as is another clip from 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down', although people who saw the preview on the 'Let There Be Love' single will have seen the clip before. Also included is an online game of 'Frustration' (also known as 'Trouble') which some of the band were seen playing in an earlier clip. Finally, another part of the 'Lock The Box' EPK, this time focusing on 'Champagne Supernova' with Liam and Noel giving their thoughts on the song.
Amongst other things is the revelation that Noel has recorded two Beatles covers for a forthcoming BBC John Lennon tribute programme with Cornershop & Johnny Marr and Stereophonics. Oddly enough, Noel and those artists also featured in a Channel 4 John Lennon tribute programme in 2000, so it's either a big coincidence, or the author of the article has got confused with something Noel had said about that 2000 performance.
IF YOU PAID close attention to "Don't Believe the Truth" — last year's subtly scathing effort from Mancunian supergroup Oasis — the truth itself was obvious: Bandleader Noel Gallagher had had enough of his adopted hometown of London.
If one more obsessive fan approached him with a camera phone begging for a quick snapshot, he grumbled at the time, he would gladly dropkick said cellular straight up the street. So it's no surprise that the star has finally made his disdain official. "I've just moved out of London and back into the English countryside," Gallagher reveals. "I just moved into my new Buckinghamshire mansion."
The guitarist's bratty kid brother, Oasis frontman Liam, has just ditched his old digs, as well. "So he's living in a flat full of cardboard boxes at the moment," Noel chuckles, phoning from home. "Right now, he's in the pub'round the corner from my house, just drinking on his own. How sad is that?"
In reality, the Gallaghers were merely enjoying their post-world-tour down time, with no plans whatsoever of entering a recording studio in the near future.
But Oasis is still maintaining a high profile this fall. There's the long-overdue single release of its early B-side "Acquiesce" (which ships to radio this week), a new best-of anthology "Stop the Clocks" on Columbia and a full-length concert documentary hitting theaters, the aptly-titled "Lord Don't Slow Me Down."
Not to mention, of course, the current heavy TV/radio rotation of early chestnut "All Around the World," as heard in that steady stream of AT&T ads.
So how, exactly, does an artist of Noel Gallagher's stature suddenly change residence? Yard sales are simply out of the question when you want to jettison your belongings, he sighs.
But he hit on a unique solution. Over a laborious three-day period, he says, "I actually put all my junk and clothes and stuff I didn't need into black bin bags, we call'em, or refuse sacks. And then I called the local Oxfam, a charity shop, and I got someone else to be here when they arrived. Because if the guys had seen it was me, it would've all ended up in Sotheby's. So I gave it all to charity and nobody knows," he laughs.
"It's all out there somewhere — people are walking around in my old clothes, eating off my old plates, enjoying all the old bits that I don't need."
As he cleaned house, Gallagher stumbled on a few items he just couldn't part with. "Like loads of unmarked cassettes and CDs that didn't have any writing on'em. I'd stick them in, and a couple of'em were just me, sitting in my front room, playing acoustic guitar, just working out songs. And some of'em were songs that I've yet to record which I'd forgotten about, and that was quite special, just listening to all of those one night."
Gallagher wasn't finished rummaging. Carefully, he and his sibling combed the Oasis catalog to select the 18 classics for "Stop the Clocks."
They arrived at an interesting mix of U.S. hits ("Wonderwall," "Live Forever"), U.K. smashes ("Lyla," "Some Might Say," "Don't Look Back in Anger") and pet B-sides ("Talk Tonight," "The Masterplan," alongside the crowd-pleasing show staple "Acquiesce").
"All the choices for the album are quite obvious, so it's put together for the fans," says Gallagher. As a composer, he's most proud of his vintage "Slide Away" and "Truth's" recent "The Importance Being Idle," he says. "Simply because nobody writes songs like that anymore. I mean, 'Idle' is a song about being lazy, but it's very Kinks, very swinging'60s. And I love 'Slide Away,' because it should've been a single and never was, so it's the one song that hasn't been overplayed to death. I find big hit singles these days are all incredibly commercial. Even bands who claim to be punk like Green Day are anything but."
As Gallagher tells it, there was a three-year period shortly after the band's "Definitely Maybe" 1994 debut "where everything I wrote was fantastic."
"Acquiesce" and "The Masterplan" hail from that productive period. But if Oasis had saved those precious B-sides to release instead of its third coolly received "Be Here Now" album, he reckons, "We would've gone on to be possibly one of the biggest bands of all time. Uhhh, not that we're not anyway. But I think we would've been as big as U2."
Oasis — thanks to its media-fueled rivalry with fellow English outfit Blur — went on to launch, then practically define, the Britpop movement. Unlike Blur's chameleonesque Damon Albarn, though, Noel Gallagher never altered his trademark sound — pealing cathedral guitars propped by huge flying-buttress riffs and Liam's snippy, Lennon-inspired sneer. And persistence paid off.
The group would suffer several lineup changes, but go on to sell over 50 million records.
"All Around the World" was one of the few career coups that failed to make the "Clocks" cut. "Only because it was just too damned long and we couldn't find a place for it anywhere," Gallagher says. But thanks to AT&T, the track now receives more airplay than any other Oasis standard.
When he first heard of the offer, Gallagher quickly nixed the idea. "But Liam, bless him, said, 'Look — that song's 10 years old, we never play it, so why don't you just cash in on it?' And I said, 'How much is it again?' and the figure came back, and it wasn't a very difficult decision after that. But the advert has no presence in England at all. It's not shown anywhere. But you go to the States, and you're bombarded with our song, or the 10 seconds of it that comes on."
Oasis might be resting on its laurels this holiday season, but Gallagher himself is far from idle.
He just joined his pals Kasabian (also featured in Baillie Walsh's "Lord" flick, which follows the groups, plus Aussie upstarts Jet, on a nine-month tour) onstage at an NME-sponsored bash.
He also taped two Beatles covers for an upcoming BBC tribute to John Lennon, one with Stereophonics, another with Cornershop and Johnny Marr; as well as tracked a few new home demos, with 6-year-old daughter Anais singing along on a few. "She's got a fantastic voice — seriously!" dad enthuses. "But unfortunately, she does like Kylie Minogue, which is something that I'm not too pleased about."
Rich is the examined life, as they say. And reflecting on his illustrious career, Gallagher says, has been a quite pleasant experience indeed.
With, of course, a few minor glitches in the memory circuit.
For example, one time in Thailand in 1998. Gallagher laughs, "When we were out at some bar, and there was this incessant HI-NRG dance music playing in a bar across the street. And I was thinking 'Wait a minute! I'm sure that's a version of "Some Might Say"! So we went across the street and up to the DJ, and it was a HI-NRG disco version of our song, completely illegal, recorded by some Thai person.
"The DJ had no idea who I was. But I said 'Gimme that CD!' even though there were lots of British people in the bar going mad when he played it. And Liam and I were like, that doesn't sound like Oasis, that sounds atrocious! And that — not AT & T — is easily the weirdest place I've ever heard one of our songs."
HMV UK have revealed on their website that a "special, limited edition Oasis DVD, which includes rare live footage of the band in action", exclusive to HMV, will be available with the first batch of copies of the 'Stop The Clocks' album. This is not to be confused with the official bonus DVD, also available in a limited edition form. It's as yet unknown as to whether this HMV bonus DVD will be available with copies purchased in store, so to guarantee one, you can pre-order your 'Stop The Clocks' album from www.hmv.co.uk
Noel is due to appear on Russell Brand's BBC 6 Music show this Sunday the 15th at 10am, to present him with some toys that he brought for him. Regular listeners to that show will know that Noel phoned in from the toy shop as he was deciding what to buy at the time.
Liam has been confirmed as appearing on Colin Murray's evening show on BBC Radio 1 on Thursday 19th October at 10pm.
The synopsis for Top Of The Pops 2 on BBC2 at 9:05pm on Saturday 21st October mentions a "RS Lowry-style video exclusive from Oasis." It's unknown as yet as to what this could be.
Some (hopefully all) of Noel's appearance at the KOKO club in Camden as part of the Focus charity show will be broadcast on BBC 6 Music. Forthcoming schedules show a 2-hour highlights programme starting at 10pm on the night of the show, Thursday 2nd November.
Sony Japan have announced final details on their 'Stop The Clocks' releases. Both the standard 2-disc and limited edition 3-disc versions will have 2 bonus tracks, 'Roll With It' and 'Let There Be Love', at the end of Disc 2, after 'Don't Look Back In Anger'. The bonus DVD content has also been confirmed with something called 'Lock The Box' (which is most probably the 40-minute EPK containing an interview with Liam and Noel), 'Champagne Supernova' from Knebworth in August 1996, 'Fade Away' live at the Chicago Metro in October 1994, and a picture gallery.
Sony Japan also confirmed that the 'Stop The Clocks' EP will have the same tracklisting as the UK release.
Here are pictures of a couple more 'Stop The Clocks' promotional material. These are available to purchase from www.mistersifter.com.
'The Masterplan' / 'Acquiesce' (RKIDSCD37P2)
There is also another very similar promo in a slightly different colour then the above promo CD with the tracks the other way around – this version is more limited. (RKIDSCD37P1)
'Stop The Clocks' interview CD
If anyone could furnish me with an mp3 of the interview to put up on this site, then I would be very gratetful.
Another appearance from Noel on Brand's show earlier today. The usual nonsense talked. Noel revealed that Kasabian will be appearing at the benefit show at KOKO on 2nd November. Paul Weller is also a possibility.
Also, Noel should be appearing on the same show again next week, this time in the studio to give Brand some toys he brought for him in a previous appearance weeks ago.
From the 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' film, part of a live version of 'Rock 'n' Roll Star' was added to the Oasisinet Stopclock today. The performance features random images of the band on tour. The full length trailer (which can be seen elsewhere on this site) was also added.
Oasis have made a brand new promo video to accompany 'Acquiesce', and the video had its worldwide online premiere on Yahoo.com today. The video was shot on location in London and Japan and features a range of Oasis look-a-likes. The video also got its first UK TV showing today at 11pm on ITV2.
Radio 1 DJ Colin Murray, who amongst other things wrote the official promotional blurb for 'Don't Believe The Truth' as well as interviewing the band for the 'DBTT' and 'Stop The Clocks' EPK's, revealed on his show on Monday evening that Liam will appear on the show on Thursday 19th October at 10pm. Of course, Liam being Liam, this appearance is subject to cancellation at any time (like his last scheduled Radio 1 appearance).
The new (November 2006) issue of UNCUT features an 11-page feature and interview with the band about the songs on 'Stop The Clocks'. Noel gives the bulk of the answers, Liam chips in with bits and bobs, and Andy and Gem have their own mini-interviews.
Highlights include Liam revealing he's got a new song called 'Guess I'm Out Of Time', and Noel revealing the original title of 'Wonderwall' was 'Wishing Stone'.
Noel was on Russell Brand's BBC 6 Music show today (for about the 10th time), talking about the usual random things, revealing that he done a very drunken interview last week with Paul Weller for Esquire Magazine and talking about the inspiration behind 'The Masterplan'.
This page will collate as much promo that the band do to promote 'Stop The Clocks' and 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' as I can find. It will also include any other bits of interesting news and info I think will benefit the page. Feel free to use this content (as if it's mine anyway) to spark off fresh debate on your favourite forum. Give a link though, eh? ;-)
