Oasis 'The Sun' interview + News round-up
WE asked you to send in YOUR questions for OASIS, and you did – in your thousands.
In an exclusive interview with SFTW, Liam, Noel, Gem and Andy answer what you wanted to know.
In the first part of our chat with the band (the second follows next week) read what they have to say about Oasis members past and present, why they will never tour when they are as old as the Stones and whether Noel will ever make a solo album.
A FEW years ago Noel said Oasis would never release a greatest hits album unless it was the end of the road for the band.MALCOLM WEARING, Dumfries
Liam: I think you say that when you’re just starting out. We haven’t made the greatest hits — they’re all songs that we made ages ago.I’m proud of it. It’s got some of our best tunes and I wouldn’t have done it unless the record company forced us to do it. I’d rather be involved in it rather than not involved. But I prefer to be doing the new record, to tell the truth.
Noel: We didn’t have to get involved with any of it but we’re never going to do another “best of”. I was trying to be as hardcore as possible but there are about 10 more songs that should have been on there.
Andy: A lot of tunes were left off. My personal favourite would have been Whatever but it was Noel who picked the tunes. This is his baby.
Gem: I would have had Listen Up, D’You Know What I Mean? and Let There Be Love on there. But there you go. I totally understand the way Noel’s done it. It’s not meant to be the box set, it’s meant to run like a good gig — and everyone knows about all the other tunes not on there anyway.
WHY are there no tracks from Be Here Now? Has Noel missed off any tracks, do you think?TINA HALLADAY, Liverpool
Liam: Yes, I think he’s missed a few. I’d have put on Rockin’ Chair, D’You Know What I Mean? I would have put some off Be Here Now. If he didn’t like the record that much, he shouldn’t have put the f***ing record out in the first place. I don’t know what’s up with him but it’s a top record, man, and I’m proud of it — it’s just a little bit long.
Andy: Noel has purged Be Here Now from his mind — I don’t think he even remembers it. I’d like to play some of the songs live. I tried to get us to rehearse My Big Mouth but Noel doesn’t like these songs as they are all too long and take up two tracks in the set and the same for the “best of”. He probably associates it with a time he doesn’t want to go back to.
Noel: D’You Know What I Mean? was on it right up to the day before it was mastered. But it’s just too long. It upset the flow of the album. When we recorded Be Here Now I thought it was the greatest thing ever but the novelty of that record wore off pretty soon. Andy’s wrong. It was a great period. The money had just come in from Morning Glory so we had become very, very wealthy overnight. Sony had given us a private jet, I was given a Rolls-Royce but, unfortunately, the music suffered. I don’t know why Liam is saying that because, when it comes to playing them live, he won’t sing them!
LIAM, if John Lennon was still alive and you had 24 hours with him, what would you do?TRACY WHINNETT, St Albans, Herts
Liam: Good f***ing question, man, but I haven’t a clue. I’d freak him out by looking at him, stare him out — but I don’t know. I’d probably b*m him.
ACQUIESCE is a great record. Is it true it was written while the band were on a train – and that the title totally confused Liam?TANJA BENDER, by email
Liam: I can’t remember, man, I don’t know when it was written as I was too busy having a f***ing good time. Yes, the title did confuse me. It still confuses me — I haven’t got a clue what it means. I’ve never asked Noel what it means either. The less I have to talk to him, the better.
Noel: It was written going to a studio in Wales to record Some Might Say. The train broke down and I was stuck for four hours and I wrote that song. Someone had said “Acquiesce” on the phone and I’d written it down. Liam still doesn’t know what it means. People have the misconception that song is about me and Liam, which annoys me to f***, as the lyrics in the second verse are, “To sing my soul to sleep, And take me back to bed.” It’s absolutely not about me and Our Kid and we’ve never shared a bed — and if I was looking for someone to take me to bed it wouldn’t be Liam!
HOW close did the band ever come to breaking up? MARTIN MACDONALD, KidderminsterLiam: Never. We just needed a couple of days off instead of going into another country. I don’t think it’s ever come close really. We’ve had some serious arguments but as you get older you think, nah, f***. Ask Noel.
Noel: The real low point was Barcelona for the Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants tour. In that period we were all drinking a lot and taking drugs.
IS it true Noel wants to make a solo album but never seems to have time. Would Liam let him?MICHELLE GEMMELL, Ayr
Noel: I’ll do one eventually as life’s too short and none of us is getting any younger. I’d like to make one while I still look good and before I look like Phil Collins, which, eventually, I will. It’s nothing to do with Liam. I’ve got the songs — I could do four solo albums.
LIAM once said he was John Lennon reincarnated. So who does he think Noel could be? KEV HOLMES, by email
Liam: He’s f***ing Buzz Lightyear.
Noel: Buzz Lightyear? So I’m a superhero, then? Liam is Arthur Mullard.
WITH all the band members that have left over the years, if you had to pick one of them to rejoin Oasis, who would it be? CLIVE KEARNS, by email
Noel: None of them — and I don’t say that with any malice towards them as they were all f***ing brilliant and I wish they’d never left. But it led to better things.
WHO do you believe is the most talented member of the band? WAYNE BURTON, Rotherham
Liam: I’d say it’s Noel but we’re all talented in our different ways. He’s good at writing songs and I’m better at singing them. We’re all the same man. If it’s about f***ing looks, then it’s totally me.
Noel: Everyone’s got their own individual talent. Liam’s got many subtle little talents. 99 per cent of them I can’t see but he must be talented as everyone keeps telling me. Gem is a brilliant producer, Andy is a whizz at everything and a great songwriter. Obviously, everyone else will say me.
Andy: We are a band of equals. That’s the feeling that I got when I started to play with this lot. We’re all super good at what we’re doing.
Gem: I think we’re all really talented in different ways but Liam’s voice is an absolute gift from the gods. But I think Andy is the best musician in the band, and Noel’s songs — he’s one of the all-time greats.
WOULD Oasis have ever been as successful if you were all bald? ENDA BURKE, Galway
Liam: No chance. I wouldn’t go and see a band with a load of bald f***ers. You’ve got to have a barnet or it doesn’t work.
Andy: The hair’s getting a little thinner but we’re stapling it together.
Gem: In my world it goes hand in hand — shoes, guitars, hair. That’s the triangle.
Noel: Absolutely not. The way Liam looks is a big part of it. Back in the day I didn’t look that great as I was too busy getting off my head, Bonehead was bald, Guigs looked like an average man. And shoes are always good as we’re Mancunians. We dress from the feet upwards.
AFTER 12 years at the top, how long do you think you will continue? Will you be like the Rolling Stones or go gracefully? DARREN MUGFORD, by email
Liam: I dunno. I didn’t join the band to split up. I joined the band because I like being in a band and I like to make music. If the tunes are f***ing good and we all look half-decent, then people will want to buy the records. I still love everything about it. This is what I like doing and it never gets boring. So who knows, man? All those bands that split up after a couple of records, well, they can suck my ****!I love singing Our Kid’s songs and I love doing the gigs. I like the way our band’s perceived and we’ve got the best fans in the world. So why would you not like it? I’ve got nothing in common with other bands — wearing their tight kecks and pointy shoes.
Noel: We just take everything one step at a time. I don’t know how long it will go on. As long as we’re all still into it. I’d say longer after the last tour, as I’ve seen a new generation of Oasis fans.
IF Tony Blair told the Queen to give Noel a knighthood as his parting gesture before stepping down, would you accept it?RICHARD JONES, Australia
Noel: I’d initially accept it and not turn up. I’m not a big fan of the monarchy.
YOU’VE got one bullet. Who do you shoot, Robbie Williams or Phil Collins?STEPHEN BAILEY, by email
Noel: It always comes out wrong about Phil. I don’t give a f*** about Phil Collins. I wouldn’t shoot him. I think he’s bit of a knob though. As for Robbie, I’d load the gun for him as he’s eventually going to do it himself as he is a grossly unhappy person.
MORRISSEY used his celebrity to reform the New York Dolls. What about using your power to get The Smiths back together.CRAIG WELLS, by email
Noel: Well if The Smiths announced a gig anywhere in the world tomorrow I’d be there and the same goes for The Stone Roses. But they properly fell out. As bad as things get in Oasis there’s always this sibling thing that draws us back together or my Mam gets involved. So it’s a pipe dream.
THE Beatles have had their music adapted for Cirque Du Soleil and Queen have had their songs turned into a musical. Any plans for Madferit: The Story Of Oasis?JAMES, by email
Liam: Nah, I wouldn’t be up for it. Not sure what Noel would say as he’s getting weirder the older he gets — especially as he’s coming up to 40. I bet he’ll have a yellow f***ing Ferrari next, so who knows where his head will be at in a couple of years’ time? But it’s not my cuppa tea. It’s not rock ’n’ roll is it?
Andy: The Cirque De Soleil is a mad one. I’ve heard some of the music and it’s amazing. I’ll see it next time I’m in Vegas.
Gem: I sincerely hope not. I really do. I think it’s an un-Beatles thing to do.
Noel: I bought the album and I had to switch it off. I thought it was ridiculous and I didn’t get it. It was like Stars On 45. A musical? I don’t know. It sounds that f***ing ridiculous that I’m kind of getting into it.
WAS Songbird included just to stop Liam whingeing?BEN GOULSON, London
Liam: Our Kid put it on! It’s a f***ing tune! And I don’t f***ing whinge. Who asked that? Tell Ben he’ll be whingeing when I take my foot off his head.
Noel: No, because it’s a bona fide good Oasis song and I wish I’d written it as I f***ing love it.
DOES your success and commitment to touring and promotion interfere with your creativity?GARY STANFORD, by email
Noel: I’d say yes it does. I used to aggressively pursue creativity. Ten years ago if I wasn’t writing a song every day I’d panic. But now I’ve nothing left to prove and I don’t mean that in a defeatist way. The only things I’ve got to prove are to myself. So even if I go four months I don’t stress. I used to chase after my creativity but now I let it find me.
ANDY/GEM, if you could have played on any songs before your time which would they be? Do you ever regret not being a part of Definitely Maybe?SARAH DYSON, Wigan
Andy: I would’ve liked to have played on all my favourites like Slide Away, Champagne Supernova, Live Forever — all those kind of tunes. But it doesn’t really matter as I play them live now anyway. I don’t have any regrets in life as everything led me to where I am now. When they did Definitely Maybe I was seeing Liam and Noel as we were in the same studios a few weeks apart as I was making Ride’s third album.
Gem: It’s all what it was, what it is. It’s carved in stone. Now they’ve got a different life in my head played live. Champagne Supernova is a different record when I play it live.
DO you envisage a time when the band no longer tour?BRENDAN FINNEGAN, by email
Liam: I hope not because sitting in the studio all day is great but I’ve got to see people’s reactions. It’s a top day out at an Oasis gig, whether you’re on the stage or in the crowd so why would you want to cut that stuff short?
Andy: Yes I can, well maybe not tour so much. I can look forward to a day when we do tone it down but right now we’re still in our prime and none of us want to stop now.
Gem: No I think you’ve got to tour and that’s why all the great bands, us included, have our fans because we go and play to them. Simple as that.
Noel: Me and Andy look at things more objectively. I’m not going on the road when I’m 50! And it depends on how I look. We’ll still be touring in five years but I don’t ever want to end up like Pink Floyd. Now I f***ing love Pink Floyd but on stage at Live 8, well I’m not going out like that. I want our last photo shoot to look good. I don’t see an end to it yet but we’re not going to be like the Rolling Stones, no f***ing way — all that macrobiotic food and tights? No way.
NOEL and Gem, will you make an acoustic album after your tour?SIMON MANGERS, Luton
Gem: Who knows? We’ve done loads of stuff, radio sessions and everything so all they need is for someone to put them in a sleeve. It’s weird as everything with Oasis is this rock ’n’ roll lad thing but this shows a really tender and quiet side of us.
Noel: We had a good laugh doing that tour but I wouldn’t like to make it a bigger tour. Doing the acoustic tour I was centre of attention and I’m not sure I like that. It’s weird.
YOU’VE got a docu coming out, but if Hollywood was to make the Oasis film, who would play who?NEIL RENTON, Edinburgh
Noel: Nobody really looks like Liam and fortunately no one looks like me. We’re pretty unplayable I guess. Rhys Ifans would do a good Liam if he could get the accent right.
WAS it difficult for the band to adjust to being musical celebs?ALEX MacGREGOR-DEVLIN, by email
Liam: Nah, if people ask for an autograph, sign it and move on. I don’t like it if there’s a load of people mithering me but apart from that it’s not hard.
Andy: I haven’t the same profile as the brothers so I can go down Woolworths, do my shopping and I don’t get bothered.
NOEL featured on the Radio 2 superstar line-up telly advert. Who would you have in your fantasy line-up?DAVE MYERS, Liverpool
Liam: I wouldn’t have had Sheryl Crow. I would have had Keith Moon for a start. I would have f***ed Our Kid off and got Jimi Hendrix in. Elvis would go and I would have been in there. For backing singers, The Supremes.
Andy: I’d keep Keith Moon on drums, Noel on guitar. I’d get rid of Sheryl Crow and get John Power from The LA’s in and yes, maybe Elvis on vocals.
Noel: I’d go for Reni from the Stone Roses. Lee Mavers from The LA’s singing and playing guitar and me on another guitar. On lead guitar Johnny Marr and on bass Mani.
I SAW Oasis in Colorado and it was amazing. Do they still care about breaking the US?RICH JONES, Denver
Liam: What’s breaking it? We tour there. I would never want to be that huge that you’re on Oprah. I’d never want to be that big in America as they’re all f***ing weirdos. If it means going out there all the time then I’d rather be big here. The money would be nice but if that’s the only reason, then nah.
Andy: Last time we played Red Rocks, Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden so have we not made it playing those places? I feel like we have, though I feel we should be bigger. Americans would like it if they heard us more on the radio.
Noel: Our US label is conservative, Celine Dion’s on it. They’re ultra-professional and we weren’t bothered about the meet-and-greet side of it but the older I get the more I like going there. It would be great to have a No1 American album but I know what it takes to get that. The reason we didn’t break America wasn’t anything to do with the music — how can it be, our music is f***ing great. A lot of it has to do with mine and Liam’s personalities — they just don’t get it. Our record company never really got us, but I can live with that.
SO, will there be another record?MARTIN PETERS, Manchester
Liam: We’ve done stuff for the next record. When we recorded the last one, we recorded about 50 tunes and I think there’s an album there definitely. We’ve just got to wait for Our Kid to decide what he wants to do. If he wants to make a new record let’s go. I’m ready to go. If Noel wants to take a f***ing break then I’ll be doing the f***ing record with Gem as I don’t take breaks. He always says: “Our Kid loves the limelight, he can’t relax” Well where were you last week? In Tokyo you f***ing knobhead.
Noel: Is that right Liam? Liam sees things very differently to the rest of us. After The Brits I don’t know. Liam needs to go to anger management classes and get some manners and then maybe we’ll make another record.
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Noel was interviewed over the week on the Ken Bruce show on BBC Radio 2. He was choosing his favourite 10 tracks by other artists and finsihed off by saying a few words about 'Stop The Clocks'. You can listen to the interviews by going to
www.bbc.co.uk/radio2-----
Noel done an interview and a short acoustic set (Wonderwall and Don't Look Back In Anger) for Italian radio station Radio Deejay. Download the set and interview at
AnotherOasis-----
Noel's planned acoustic set for MTV Italy on Saturday 25th was postponed to the 30th.
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Liam gave an interview to celebrity gossip magazine 'Now'. Read it here.
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Noel was on Russell Brand's BBC Radio 2 on Saturday night for one of his regular chats. In it he spoke about the big Oasis/Westlife chart battle. Listen to this at
www.bbc.co.uk/radio2-----
Next week is littered with Noel acoustic broadcasts. On Tuesday is a live video stream of Noel and Gem's Paris show on
www.msn.com . On Thursday is their MTV Italy interview and acoustic set. On Friday, Noel will be doing a couple of songs from a BBC Radio 1 listeners living room and on Sunday XFM will be broadcasting Noel and Gem's show in Manchester.
New Noel Australian press interviews + News
The Age.comWHEN Noel Gallagher was growing up, rock stars didn't come from Manchester. At least not until a band called the Stone Roses emerged in the 1980s.
"I'd always been interested in music, but the idea of what Oasis eventually became came from seeing the Stone Roses live," Gallagher says. "Rock stars then looked different to us. We were normal lads who went to the football, took drugs and hung out on the street. When the Stone Roses came along, they looked like us and made the goal seem nearer."
Oasis, with Noel and brother Liam out front, would become the biggest-selling band in Britain. Twelve years on from their debut, Definitely Maybe, the band are in hiatus. A two-disc best-of, Stop the Clocks, is released this week and Noel Gallagher holds court in his Buckinghamshire home.
After several patchy releases, the band was reinvigorated last year by strong sales and reviews of their sixth studio album, Don't Believe the Truth. A well-received world tour followed.
Sadly, neither success has served to mend fragile relations between band members. Noel says that with the exception of rhythm guitarist Gem Archer, he has not spoken to any of his bandmates, including brother Liam, since March.
"The minute of the last gig of the tour ends that's me f---ing gone," he says, cheerfully. "I don't speak to any of those geezers. It keeps it interesting for me. I wouldn't want to come back off the road and then go straight back into the studio."
From the band's infancy, the tension between Noel and frontman Liam saw them develop into something of a caricature. There were fearful public shouting matches, fist fights, bust-ups and walk-outs. Noel, 39, who was raised with Liam and elder brother Paul by his mother after their father walked out, is philosophical about their relationship.
"A lot of the negative stuff in this band has been very unnecessary and a lot of it caused by Liam," he says, matter of factly. "He's a very antagonistic young chap."
It was during his mid-1990s songwriting purple patch that he conceived Definitely Maybe and (What's the Story) Morning Glory - 27 million copies sold worldwide - and some of the best B-sides recorded in the past 15 years such as Talk Tonight, Acquiesce and The Masterplan.
Gallagher places Talk Tonight among his favorite vocal performances. It was written on Oasis' first American tour in 1994 after a "massive row" with Liam in LA.
"I took all the tour money and a big bag of drugs and went to stay with a young lady friend of mine," he recalls. "I wrote it about brief experiences of running around America for a week. At least something positive came out of it: a great f---ing song."
In spite of the band's inner turmoil, Gallagher still fondly recalls Oasis' early days, so vividly captured in the artwork for Definitely Maybe. The cover was shot in former guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs' front room and captures the band as they were, drinking wine, smoking cigarettes and playing guitar.
"The only thing manufactured about that was the drummer was there," Gallagher says. "I'd always be around at Bonehead's house playing guitar. They were f---ing great days. I'd love to relive them, but they really can't be relived."
The mid-1990s saw an embarrassment of musical riches concluded by the release of 1998's cocaine-plastered Be Here Now.
Mercilessly panned on its release, Gallagher considers the album's main flaw was that it wasn't Morning Glory. "But I'd ran out of gas. In hindsight it could have been better, but it's an expression of its time."
Live Forever, a recent documentary featuring the Gallagher brothers at their amusing best, focused on the rise of Oasis and Britpop in general. Gallagher says that those involved (including his former nemesis, Blur leader Damon Albarn) are portrayed "as we are".
"Damon come across how I know him, as a confused individual," he says. "He always wanted to be the man, the voice of that generation, but what he failed to understand is that that's a mantle you can't take yourself, it's given to you."
On Oasis' last Australian tour just under 12 months ago, Noel noted the band had arrived at the end of their contract with Sony, and were not going to re-sign with them. He also suggested his own life had taken a re-signing.
These days Noel uses the services of a personal trainer and the hedonistic lifestyle of the 1990s is a distant memory. So, we have to ask, what's the better high, drugs or stepping out on a stage?
"I'd say being on stage, that's just incredible. Drugs are a very personal and selfish thing; stepping out on stage is a very communal thing that involves you and thousands of people. I'm more about others now," he says, with a knowing chuckle. "I'm not that selfish any more."
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Adelaide NowNoel Gallagher isn't backward in sharing his opinions about, well, everything. Here's what's been on his mind.
We're talking about the new best-of Stop the Clocks. Have you got a favourite Oasis song?
Not really a favourite, no. If I was to pick one I was to listen to right this very second it would be either The Importance of Being Idle or Supersonic.
Have you got a song then that you think is the best song you've written?
You can't . . . I don't think you can really say that. Fifty million people would say Wonderwall, I would say Live Forever but then again Liam would say something else. It's all opinion and conjecture, isn't it.
When you write a song like Wonderwall or Supersonic do you have that feeling once you get to the end of it, `Yeah, that's pretty good'?I did with Live Forever. Supersonic was done in such a rush I still . . . when I listen to that song now I still think it's amazing. The Importance of Being Idle, when I finished that I thought it was amazing. I went out and celebrated that night.
You can feel it?I've written many, many great songs, obviously but I've also written a few stinkers, you know what I mean so when the good ones come along I know. Some of the songs take you by suprise. Some songs you write and you think, "Hmm, that's alright'" and then loads of people go, "Wow, that's amazing." Like Lyla for instance, I thought, `well that's pretty good and then when people heard it they were going, `F***ing hell that's incredible' and I'm like, `Really?'... of course it is, I wrote it.
But that must be part of the fun as well. To take albums on the road and see which songs people really respond to live?
That's all part of the creative process. I've written some things that I thought were monumental and then people have heard it and gone, "Gnah, that's alright". You never quite know. But there certain songs that come along where you go, `F***in' hell. That is fantastic.'
Was it always frustrating that Acquiesce never got onto an album?
Not really. Frustrating for other people. Not me. I never understood what people were, "Oh this should have been a single." Well, why wasn't it then? I don't remember people at the time clambering for it to be a single. It's a great song and all that, but it's not like it's been brushed under the carpet and forgotten about. The cream always rises to the top.
Because a lot of the talk at the minute is going to be about the best-of, is it difficult or interesting for you to start thinking about the early days all over again?
You know it's not difficult because everytime we put an album out people always compare it to Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory so it seems to be I've been talking about the past forever. It's like same sh**, different day for me.
Does it feel then that the best-of might get rid of a bit of that then? Once the best-of is out you will be able to start again.
I don't know. Oasis and particularly Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory had such an impact on people around the world that maybe I wouldn't want people to stop talking about that. I don't know.
The best-of is the end of your contract with Sony BMG. So now you're looking for another record company?
My manager deals with all that kind of thing. We don't have to deal with any of that sh**. Far too complicated for me. I remember looking at a record contract once and it just looked like what I imagine the script for Lord of the Rings would have looked like. I was reading it, going, "What does...? What? What the...? What does that word mean?" It was like one of those scenes from Star Wars where an android is reading out the technical difficulties on one of the space ships in the desert. And you're just like, "I don't know what that means." I thought this is all about making records, isn't it? It's all forthwith and hereforth and I hereby degree that those forsooth, "What?"
So people just need to tell you when to start writing songs and when to book into the studio.
I'm a huge rockstar, point me in the way of the drum riser. That'll do me.
I read an interview where you said the 90 seconds where you walk from the backstage of a stadium to the stage are the best moments you can get.Walking from the wings to your microphone is an incredible high, and it's an incredible re-affirmation of what you do. It's such a communal... people have said to me, "Well, is it better than drugs?". Well, it is because drugs is a selfish personal thing. If you're taking drugs with a whole lot of people, you can all take the same drug but it effects you in different ways. But when you experience something like that, this very communal thing with 60,000 or 70,000 people it's quite special. It's not something to be taken lightly. If you're going into it thinking it's a f***ing walk in the park...
The more you do it, the more you learn how to handle it. To me, I never used to get nervous, do you know what I mean? I was always a little on edge before going onstage. But now I just love it. It's almost like you can conduct an orchestra when you're up there.
What a lot of people don't understand, when they're starting up, they go, "Oh, I'd be petrified to get up there" and I always say to them, "The thing about it is ... all the people looking at you, they want you to be there. You should never go out on a stage and feel I'm not worthy to be in this stadium. The state of mind you've always got to be in is I'm bigger than this stadium and these people want me to be bigger than this stadium. So even if I don't feel like I'm bigger than this stadium I've got to act like I'm bigger than this stadium or let somebody else do it. I've never understood these wimpy rockstars who get stage fright. Go and get another job then.
When you can command an audience of that size elsewhere in the world, why come to Australia when the reality is you'll only play to 5000-10,000 people when you could be playing to 60,000 elsewhere?That's a good question ... the weather?
The first time we came to Australia we didn't have a very good time at all, we were in the wrong place mentally and we were all heavily into drugs. It was a f***in' crazy time. We were having a great time but the music and all that suffered so we didn't go back for a while. I guess ever since then ... well, let's put it this way. You speak English. We've kind of got the same cultural references. I can order room service pretty easy in Australia. It gets a bit difficult in Japan. You say, `No, I asked for sugar, man. Not lobster.' That kind of thing.
Australia traditionally has loved it's music, it's rock'n'roll. Who wouldn't want to go there? My very good friend Paul Weller, I keep saying to him, "Everytime I go there, man, they keep asking me when you're going to go there.' And he's like, `Well, it's a bit far isn't it?" And I'm like, "Well, f***ing hell, it's a bit far. They do have airplanes now you know. No-one's requiring you to drive there."
Are you worried about the reception you're going to get next time you come down here after your comments about the Socceroos?What did I say?
I believe you said, you wanted to "kick Tim Cahill in the bollocks" and that the Socceroos had a "sh*t name."That's rubbish. Socceroos. That's f****n' nonsense. And explain to me this ... you know Tim Cahill? Everytime he scores a goal he goes and boxes the corner flag, that's ridiculous.
He's being the Boxing Kangaroo.
F***ing boxing Socceroo. What a tit.
It's no different to British players DJing when they score goals.
Yes it is. Well, they're idiots as well. Listen... can you print this? All footballers are f***ing idiots. Start from that rationale. They're all idiots. All of them. They're moronic. They can't dress, they're into shit music, they've got sh*t hairdos, they've got ugly wives and they've got stupid kids.
That's alright then, if you're bagging all footballers.
Oh, totally. I do think Australians are that good at cricket and rugby, what are you playing football for?
You'll never win the world cup. That's for sure. But then neither will England so I don't know what I'm going on about.
England are shit and all. And don't get me wrong, I went to the World Cup in summer and all those English footballers are f***in' knobheads.
Are you going to come out here to catch some of the Ashes?No, cause I'm kind of busy doing the promotion for this.
It'll be interesting, very, very interesting. You ... you lot have to win it really, don't you? Cause it was bad last time. Old f***ing Glenn McGrath saying you were going to whip us five-nil but it didn't quite turn out like that, did it.
I'm looking forward to that and the Rugby World Cup. It's going to be good man. Do you think you'll win the Rugby World Cup?
I'm from the Southern States so we don't really play Rubgy down here.
Oh really, Do you play boomerangs and all that lot?
We play Australian Rules Football.
* See, now that's f***in' insane. That is insane.
It's a great spectator sport.
It's stupid. Men in really tight shorts and vests, c'mon.
Have you been to a live game?
Are you insane? How would I have been to an Australian Rules ... do you know why it's called Australian Rules?
Because we only play it in Australia.Because you only f***ing play it in Australia.
What about when you've been out here on tour?
Listen, I'm too busy getting drunk and talking about the Beatles.
You can do that at the football
Nooooo. I'm not having that. That's wrong. That's like saying Sumo wrestling, ain't it brilliant... if you're Japanese it is. It bears no relation to the rest of the planet. It's like baseball. What a load of sh** that is. Each to their own I guess.
No plans to tour here any time soon, then?I guess when we put a new record out whenever that'll be. It'll be on the map.
Have you started thinking about a new record?
Not really. We only really got back off that tour, it only finished in March. And I don't really need to be hanging out with my brother. Once every three years and only for one year at a time.
You also have another brother Paul, what does he do?
He gets on my nerves, is what he does.
You're the oldest?
No, I'm the middle. Our Paul, what does our Paul do? He keeps the Oasis archive. If you asked him where were the band playing on the 29th of August 1992? He could tell you in an instant. He could even tell you what clothes I was wearing. He's an encyclopedia of all that irrelevant bullsh**. Good lad though.
Thanks for your time, Noel. I think you need to check out a bit of Australian Rules Football next time you're in Australia.
And you need to get a life, love. See you in a bit.
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Noel appeared on BBC Radio 4's 'Front Row' on Wednesday evening talking about the album. You can listen to the show (Noel is first on) by going to
www.bbc.co.uk/radio4-----
Noel gives an interview to the new issue of American magazine Spin.
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When Noel was in Japan, he gave an interview to the 'School Of Lock!'. Listen to the interview by clicking
HERE.
Noel interview for The Sun + XFM live broadcast
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,4-2006540086,00.htmlNOEL GALLAGHER has seen RED over the current mania for all things GREEN. The OASIS legend has given a landmark interview in which he passes judgement on modern Britain, politics, music and the celebrity culture which he despises. Noel gave off enough of his own hot air to bring down the ozone layer in one interview session.
What makes Mancunian Noel most angry is the fad for Green politics and do-gooders trying to save the planet. Guitarist Gallagher, 39, fumed: “Greens are f***ing hippies with no place in the world. “They’ve been telling us for the last 50 years not to use aerosols or the sky’s going to fall in. “Well - you’re the scientists, do something about it. “How do you suggest we get 50million Chinese not to have a fridge? “Or get 700million Americans to stop using their big stupid cars.
“The only way its going to happen is if the sky falls in. “Until is does, these Greens are wasting their time. “I’m glad - because in 50 years time I’ll be dead.”
Finding a rock star with such strong opinions is a rare thing these days. But Noel more than makes up for the rest of them during this exclusive interview to promote Oasis new Greatest Hits album Stop The Clocks. His Green opinions - like all of his thoughts - are more than just hot air. He tries to get a rise with a controversial statement - but then backs it up.
Noel is convinced that even if the world does change for the worse, kids of tomorrow will simply adapt. He explained: “They won't be sitting there going: ‘Dad, you shouldn't have brought me into this world.’ “Kids adapt. “Our parents are horrified about the society we built for ourselves - drugs and sex and drink and rock'n'roll and television. “But to us that's normal. “So - we'll be horrified with what follows. “By the time I'm on my deathbed my daughter ANAIS will be some mental axe-wielding cyber punk lunatic. And I'll be horrified. “I'll be glad to get out of the place! She'll have adapted quite well, I would have thought. “The world in which we live - they always say: we have to leave a safer planet for our children. “Well - I haven't got a car. So I'm doing my bit for the environment. “I walk everywhere. I only live round the corner from Central London and I walk everywhere. “That's my bit. I take public transport and I walk. So I don't clog up the roads with petrol fumes and all that stuff. That's what I'm doing.”
And Noel has utter contempt for celebrities who lock themselves away from the rest of us and refuse to ever get on the bus or just walk. He maintains that he still goes to buy his own groceries - and people like ROBBIE WILLIAMS and ELTON JOHN who don’t, come in for a tongue lashing. Noel said: “If I run out of milk, I go to the supermarket. And I queue up like everybody else. “Can you imagine Elton John queuing up to by milk? “The thing is - these stars like Robbie Williams and Elton John and all the rest of that lot - what are they afraid of? “Are they actually afraid somebody might actually say hello to them in the street? “There ain’t no axe-wielding celebrity murderers out there. It's not like that. “It p*sses me off that they lock themselves off from humanity. “And then you see these people on telly and you wonder why they're a**eholes. “Cause they're surrounded by a**eholes who treat them like they're something special when they're not. “Whereas the likes of me, when I want a taxi I queue up.”
But it does not mean that Noel will always pause to speak to people.In fact he loathes signing autographs. He added: “I don't give a f** about autographs. Just say no! “I take great pleasure in that sometimes. “People think they're slaves to their fans. No. People stop you in the street, sign this - no piss off! “"Could you sign this, please?" No. "Why not?" Cause I'm not in the fu**ing mood, that's why. Dead simple.”
Noel - who has been described as “the wisest man in rock” is on great form. He is celebrating a complete rebirth of Oasis since their last studio album Don’t Believe The Truth. New bands like ARCTIC MONKEYS and KASABIAN honour him as the godfather of modern music. It is now taken as a given that Oasis are the most influential British band of the last 20 years - probably since The Clash or Sex Pistols.And Noel is relishing his new-found status of the elder statesman during the 11th anniversary of his own band.
The former hellraiser has calmed down on all fronts - and relaxed into a life of quiet enjoyment.
He is blissfully happy with his girlfriend SARA MACDONALD - and refuses to do anything he doesn’t enjoy. That includes making music when it doesn’t take his fancy.
He explained: “In the early days if I wasn't writing songs I was in the studio recording songs. If I wasn't in the studio I was rehearsing. I was aggressively being creative. Cause I had goals to achieve. You won't get to be the biggest band in the world sitting on your arse watching telly all day. “Soon as we were the biggest band in the world in 1996/7 I took the foot off the gas. “You can keep re-inventing yourself, like U2 But then - look at the clothes they wear. It's not very graceful. So - I don't get up every day and go, right, pass me the guitar. “I really do enjoy being lazy. “Let me see what I've done this summer. I went to Ibiza for 6 weeks. I went to Miami for 2 weeks. World Cup. Moved house. Went to Republic of Ireland to visit my mother. Been to New York. I just get around. I enjoy doing nothing.”
When Oasis blew up in 1996 at the centre of Britpop they were linked in with the rise of the Labour government. Noel was famously photographed attending a function at No10 Downing Street and shaking Tony Blair’s hand. It is an image he does NOT regret. Noel recalled: “I don't feel any shame about that. The picture's a bit sh*t, cause I have a glass of champagne in my hand. And I was wearing a cheap suit, and that's not f**king like me. But I have no regrets about going. "I was only in my twenties at the time, and I thought - "wants to meet ME? Well, f**ing bring it ON!" And I can't remember the mindset I was in. But looking back now I think I probably would have just been fascinated by it all.”
Noel is no fan of Blair - but he has an interesting take on the Iraq War.Soldiers come in for a bashing from him - for complaining about having to fight. He continued: “Blair made an almighty cock-up about going to war in Iraq. “But when people go on about that it's like they're suggesting that if anybody else had been in power they wouldn't have gone in with the Americans. “Because after WW2 we always have sided with the Americans.“Don't think for one moment David Cameron wouldn't have sent the troops in, or the other guy from the Liberals.
“And another thing annoys me. “You get a million people walking through Hyde Park, "don't send the troops", and all that. “The troops they wanna go, all they want to do is fight! They're soldiers! They're lunatics! They're loving it until they get shot - and then they're claiming compensation. “If you're bothered about getting shot - here's a thing - don't join the Army!”
Despite calming down on the work front - and enjoying life more - one thing has not changed. The relationship between Noel and his singing brother LIAM remains as strained as ever. Noel continued: “The problem with our relationship is that he doesn't like me. “I know that. I can accept that. I actually don't mind that. “And I'm indifferent to him. I'm not bothered what he does, I'm not bothered what he says, I'm not bothered about his music, his haircut or where he lives. “I don't actively go out of my way to antagonise him. He does actively go out of his way to antagonise me. “But I just keep out of his way. I can't be dealing with him, he's just a pain in the a**. “He's got a split personality. He's either got a Messiah complex. When he looks in the mirror he sees the Messiah. “Or he's got a Caesar complex. When he looks in the mirror he sees enemies everywhere. “It's very difficult to deal with a person who thinks he's the centre of the universe one minute and the next minute everybody's out to get him.”
Luckily, despite their differences Oasis are around for the long-term.Noel has compiled the greatest hits to satisfy a contract with Sony Records. But then the band will go it alone - and start a new album which they plan to release themselves on their label Big Brother. Noel explained: “Record labels are places you go and borrow money to make records. We don't need to borrow money any more. That's basically it. “Why take all that money off them, put it in your bank - and then when your record comes out, for every record sold you get 15 Pence. Why not just not take the money and when it comes out, and it sells for £ 15, you get £15 of it. That makes business sense to me.”
Noel hinted that a new studio album will be ready next year. But for now there’s the compilation to look forward to. Stop The Clock features 18 of Oasis’ best tunes - and will be released in the UK on November 20.
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http://www.xfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=307674Noel Gallagher and Gem Archer of Oasis will be playing an exclusive Xfm homecoming gig in Manchester this December to be broadcast live across the Xfm Network.
Xfm in association with Virgin Megastores are proud to announce that Noel and Gem will be taking to the stage at The Lowry, Manchester to play this special exclusive set on Sunday 3 December to celebrate the release of their best of album ‘Stop The Clocks’.
With a capacity of just 400, this will be one of the smallest venues Noel has played in a very long time, and a once in a lifetime chance for fans to see the Oasis helmsman play a seriously intimate gig.
Tickets to the one-off show won’t be available through normal ticket outlets or from the venue, and can only be won by tuning in to Xfm London, Xfm Scotland or Xfm Manchester during our special Oasis Day on Friday November 24
Or by signing up to Xfm Plus (if you're not already a member) and going to the competition on the Xfm Plus homepage by
clicking here.
Not that we’re blowing our own trumpet here but this is just two weeks after Xfm’s exclusive session with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and just days before Xfm’s charity Christmas extravaganza Xfm’s Winter Wonderland. We’re said it before and we’ll say it again. Damn we’re good to you.
To hear Noel Gallagher and Gem Archer Of Oasis live at the Lowry Quay Theatre, Manchester tune in to Xfm from 6pm on Sunday December 3.
‘Stop The Clocks’ is out on Big Brother / Sony Records on November 20.
New Noel Reuters interview & news-round up
Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rock icons Oasis release their greatest songs album on Tuesday capturing more than a decade of hits, but the band's main songwriter Noel Gallagher says his best-known tunes are not so great.
For many Oasis fans, three songs -- "Wonderwall," "Don't Look Back in Anger" and "Champagne Supernova" from the blockbuster hit 1995 album "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" -- were the defining moment for the band.
For Gallagher, the album was overrated.
"Morning Glory, I don't think it's the best-sounding record we have ever done," Gallagher told Reuters in an interview. "Some of the songs are not as great as people think they are."
As for the notion that "Don't Look Back in Anger" and "Wonderwall" captured the spirit of British optimism of the mid-1990s, Gallagher puts much of it down to timing.
"There was always going to be one defining British album that came out at that time, it just so happened we put ours out at the right time and the songs, being about hope and love, just struck a chord with people," Gallagher said.
"I don't much like 'Wonderwall,' but the effect that song has on people, I can't deny it," he said. "Great music is in the ear of the beholder."
"I still don't know who this chick Sally is," he said of the heroine of "Don't Look Back in Anger."
"I wrote the thing and I don't know what it means, but for some reason, for (fans) it means the world to them," he said.
"All those lyrics, like 'Champagne Supernova' and that, they were just nonsense ... you can think about those lyrics for the next 500 years and they still won't mean anything."
"BIGGER THAN JESUS"As Gallagher reviews the 18-song, 2-disc "Stop the Clocks" compilation, he says the band's first album "Definitely Maybe" from 1994 remains his best work.
"People are still hailing it as one of the greatest albums of all time," he said, calling it on a par with the seminal punk opus "Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols."
Absent from the album, which includes some of the band's famed B-sides, is anything from their third effort, 1997's "Be Here Now," when the band came close to imploding under the weight of their own success and a blizzard of cocaine.
"As soon as you get involved in cocaine, it all goes out the window because you think that every note you play on the guitar is ... monumental," Gallagher said.
Now 39, Gallagher is more relaxed that at the height of his fame and drug abuse when he notoriously wished Blur frontman Damon Albarn death by AIDS before later apologising.
"It's shallow," Gallagher said of the life of drugs he gave up in 1998 after a moment of clarity.
"Back in the day, I was prone to making sweeping statements," he said, adding that he has no real regrets. "It was a time for heroes, it wasn't a time for being reserved and concise about our success. We were ... bigger than Jesus."
Now having completed a six-album record deal with Sony Music, Gallagher says he has no plans because for the first time since 1994, Oasis are without a recording contract.
"It's quite a liberating feeling," he said. "I'm sitting back at the minute and saying, 'I couldn't be bothered, I've achieved everything I ever set out to achieve.'"
"But on the other hand, Oasis is such a fantastic thing, you could never walk away from it, ever," he said. "While you still have breath in your lungs and could still stand up and weren't bald, you couldn't walk away from this."
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A new Noel interview also appears in new edition of The Big Issue.
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Noel appear on Radio 2 today on Ken Bruce's show, talking about his favourite songs. You can listen to the show again online at
www.bbc.co.uk/radio2 . Noel appears roughly 2 hours into the programme. More clips from the interview will be broadcast over the next 5 days on Ken's show.
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Noel also appeared on The Album Chart Show on BBC Radio 2, talking about 'Stop The Clocks'. Again, you can listen to the show online at
www.bbc.co.uk/radio2---
Noel will be appearing on BBC 2's The Culture Show this Saturday evening, talking about R.S. Lowry, the insepiration behind the new Masterplan promo video.
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Two bonus tracks are being made available on the UK edition of iTunes with 'Stop The Clocks'. These are Columbia (from the 2nd night) and Cast No Shadow (from the 1st night) at Knebworth in August 1996. Both tracks (along with the version of Champagne Supernova from the first night on the STC bonus DVD) have been freshly mixed for the release.
Noel interviews and appearances
Reminding people that the TV edit of 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' will be shown tonight on Channel 4 at 11:50pm. This is followed by a repeat of the 2nd July 2005 City of Manchester Stadium gig.
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Before then, Noel will be appearing on The South Bank Show (ITV1, 10:45pm) which is about Sir Peter Blake, designer of the 'Stop The Clocks' and the Beatles 'Sgt. Peppers' album sleeves.
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Noel was chatting on the phone to Russell Brand last night on his new BBC Radio 2 radio show. Listen to the show again at
www.bbc.co.uk/radio2==
Noel will be on BBC Radio 2 on Monday. On Ken Bruce's show (9:30am - 12:30pm), he'll be choosing his favourite tracks as part of the 'Tracks Of My Years' feature and later on he'll be on The Album Chart Show (7pm - 8pm) chatting to Simon Mayo about 'Stop The Clocks'
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Dates for your diaries: Noel will be on MTV2 UK's Gonzo show next Friday (7pm) for a 2-hour special. You can watch a clip from the interview on the Overdrive player at
www.mtv.co.uk .There's also an Oasis appearance on MTV Italy's TRL on Saturday 25th November. The website seems to suggest a live performance as well. Also, him and Gem should be appearing on Gary Crowley's Saturday show on BBC Radio London before the end of the year. More news on that as it comes out.
Noel interview for The West Australian
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=25&ContentID=13284At the end of 1994, Noel Gallagher was on tour with his band in the United States. The album he’d just written and recorded had gone straight to the No. 1 spot on British charts and was quickly becoming the (then) fastestselling debut album in British history.
But none of that meant much in Los Angeles. He’d just seen his younger brother, Liam, completely mess up a concert, bent on a cocktail of drugs and booze.
Gallagher grabbed his passport, went to the airport and, without telling a soul, boarded a plane for San Francisco. Oasis were over before they’d barely begun.
This was to be the first of many splits, fractures and punch-ups surrounding the enigma that is Oasis, one of the greatest episodes in the celebrated history of rock’n’roll.
Gallagher is enjoying a fairly relaxed day at his luxurious home in Chalfont St Giles, a short drive north of London. It’s been 15 years and more than 50 million album sales since he joined his brother’s band and drove it to the kind of fame and fortune that made instant rock’n’roll folklore.
“I didn’t think that we’d still be sitting here after however long it is discussing the merits of one’s back catalogue,” Gallagher laughs, reflecting on the tumultuous history of Oasis and the release of the band’s greatest hits album, Stop the Clocks.
“It was good to just be getting off the dole, really, and possibly making some money. Taking as much drugs as possible and have a good time. Rock’n’roll is not about making plans or achieving goals and that. It’s about doing what you want. Of course, Liam takes that to the absolute f...ing extreme, but there was no master plan, really.”
With the release of 1994’s debut, Definitely Maybe, there was no going back to the dole line for the five members of Oasis, which included the Gallaghers, Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan and Tony McCarroll.
Formed amid the crumbling decay of Thatcherism, for these Mancunians music was the only escape. And they were never going to leave quietly, as Liam so famously stated on the snarling Cigarettes and Alcohol: “Is it worth the aggravation/To find yourself a job when there’s nothing worth working for/It’s a crazy situation/But all I need are cigarettes and alcohol.”
Six albums later, including an impressive B-sides release, and Oasis have run and crawled rock’s gauntlet. (What’s the Story) Morning Glory created Brit-pop and made them filthy rich, Be Here Now pushed them out of favour with the hostile British music press and last year’s superb Don’t Believe the Truth reinstated them as heroes again.
There have been broken spirits and broken noses, and today Noel and Liam remain the only two original members in the band — and even they are hard pressed to muster any scrap of brotherly love.
“He’s a f...ing little idiot is what he is,” Gallagher says matter-of-factly. “I haven’t seen him for four months but I know wherever he is he is being a f...ing idiot. Genuinely, he doesn’t like me, I tell you that for a fact. And I am indifferent to his idiocy.”
Behind the brawls and tabloid fanfare, Oasis were quite simply a brilliant rock’n’roll group. Noel the pop mastermind, Liam the untameable rock star — together they were unstoppable. And hearing these 18 undeniable hits from Stop the Clocks blast through the stereo back to back is all the proof you need: Rock ’N’ Roll Star, Wonderwall, Slide Away, Cigarettes and Alcohol, Live Forever, Supersonic, Don’t Look Back in Anger and so many more.
“We tell it like it is,” Gallagher suggests of the reason for the band’s continued success. “And I guess people have been through the ups and downs with us, and ultimately there’s some good music in there. It’s real as well; I often see the rock stars on the tele and I think, ‘There’s something intrinsically fake about you’. And you don’t get that with Oasis. Ask me the f...ing question, I won’t tell you any lies.
“I guess the 90s would have been a little less exciting if it wasn’t for us.”
Add the 21st century to that as well. Not only did Oasis make English music exciting again in the 90s, the band’s influence stretched across the oceans and has today manifested itself in the contemporary rock vogue, headed by bands as diverse as Jet and the Killers.
While Gallagher, who turns 40 next May, is happy to accept his fate as rock’s elder statesmen — and says he’s currently working on the next Oasis album, which will see a release “later rather than sooner” — he humbly admits his time as rock’s bad boy genius has passed.
“Fundamentally, rock’n’roll is youth,” he explains, “so once you reach a certain age you cease to be rock’n’roll any more. It’s not about bad behaviour or about living on the edge or wearing a leather jacket or having a drug habit and drinking Jack Daniels all day. All of those things help, right, but it’s about being young.
“Then you get older and you’ve got more baggage and instead of music being the single most important thing in your life, it becomes one of many important things in your life.
“A kid who is 24 and has one electric guitar and a f.....g head full of ideas is far more interesting than someone who is in their 50s with five kids and six houses.”
Couple of new Noel interviews
News.com.auAS A twenty-some-thing oik in Manchester, Noel Gallagher remembers using some of the money he had little of to buy Nirvana's In Utero album.One song made his blood boil: the unfortunately prophetic I Hate Myself and I Want to Die.
"I remember thinking 'Here's this f---ing yank who's got everything I want'," Gallagher recalls of Kurt Cobain.
"He was in the biggest band in the world, he's critically acclaimed, revered by fans, he's a f---ing multi-millionaire. That was everything I wanted in life, he had it. And the c--- wants to kill himself. I started thinking, 'How can that be?'."
Gallagher, who had started writing the songs that would become Oasis' seminal debut Definitely Maybe, suddenly got the inspiration to write Live Forever.
The ballad became the band's signature tune, recently voted the best song ever by Q Magazine readers in the UK.
His lyrics became the antidote to Cobain's suicidal misery.
"At the time I had nothing, I was living in a council flat, I had nowt," Gallagher says. "I had one guitar, I could barely pay the rent on the rehearsal room, I didn't have a job but we kept it going. I still loved getting up every day because it was a pleasure to be alive. Live Forever just came out."
Fast forward to 2006 and the twenty-something Gallagher is now a thirty-something multi-millionaire who is the songwriting force behind one of the biggest rock bands in UK history.
He's got everything he thought Kurt Cobain was wasting . . . except Courtney Love. "I'm still working on that," he jokes, "but she won't have it."
Gallagher is on the phone to spruik an album he didn't want to release – Oasis' best of Stop the Clocks. You see, Oasis had left their label Sony BMG in the UK, but the company were going to release the album regardless, so Gallagher stepped in to, as he puts it, stop it being sh--.
"They're within their rights to do one," he says, "We got wind they were going to do one so we figured it's best to be involved, choose the tracks and the artwork and all that f---ing bollocks. But it's frustrating, we'd rather be working on new stuff."
Stop the Clocks features precisely no new tracks, resisting the recent trend for artists to throw a couple of new or previously unreleased songs on their "best of" albums.
"Best ofs aren't about new music," Gallagher says. "When you buy a best of, not by a classic band but by new bands like Supergrass or Blur or Manic Street Preachers, there's always two songs at the end that are so obviously new songs that have been lying around the studio – let's stick that on the best of and they're so obviously not the best."
Two unreleased songs, Stop the Clocks and The Boy with the Blues were mentioned by fans as possibilities to make the compilation.
Gallagher says the songs exist but were never going to make the best of.
Instead the best of features Liam and Noel Gallagher's pick of their songs – tellingly nothing from their critically mauled Be Here Now album and a large smattering of tracks from their debut and follow-up What's the Story Morning Glory. There's also four B-sides from that era, only two tracks from their recent "comeback" album Don't Believe the Truth and one track each from Heathen Chemistry and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants.
"This album is not for the Oasis generation, as they're called," Gallagher says. "If you're an Oasis fan you've probably got all these songs anyway. This album is for kids in 10 years time who will maybe get an introduction to Oasis the way I got into the Beatles, through a best of. Then there's plenty of other material they can discover for themselves, as opposed to the band going 'Here's all our best music'. There's songs like Rockin' Chair, D'Ya Know What I Mean, Listen Up, Fade Away, Headshrinker and all these B-sides that should have been on there, but people can discover those on their own."
Stop the Clocks is a best of, not a "greatest hits". There is a difference.
Indeed, there's not only eight singles left off Stop the Clock, but three UK No. 1 hits.
"There's another seven or eight songs that should be on there. But that would have meant stretching it to three CDs and I thought that was a bit f---ing sh--, really," Gallagher says.
"Two CDs is enough. It would have been nice to get it down to one CD, to get 12 killer tracks on one album but unfortunately I've written too many killer tracks."
Not that Gallagher isn't quick to point out which singles he automatically nixed from the potential tracklisting.
"Roll With It, All Around the World. Stand By Me, Sunday Morning Call. Quite a few really. But I wouldn't be surprised if a 'greatest hits' album is on the way very, very soon. The record label owns all the rights to our music. I've got a couple of record labels myself. I'm thinking if I run a record label I'd go 'Hmm, I can still milk this Oasis thing for another album'. There's eight singles not on it. I wouldn't be surprised if there's an Oasis 'greatest hits' imminent."
While rifling through the Oasis vault recently Gallagher says he found a "f---ing immense" live version of Some Might Say and a demo of Cigarettes and Alcohol he has "no recollection of recording".
His iPod contains only one Oasis album in full – Don't Believe the Truth – but plenty of demo and unreleased material.
Any chance of an anthology series, like his beloved Beatles?
"I don't know how these things work. Sony Records is going down the toilet mate. They own it all. I'd brace yourself if I was you, the barrage of any old sh-- is coming.
"There's a full unreleased album of Definitely Maybe, the one that was scrapped, plus a full unreleased album of stuff from Don't Believe the Truth that was scrapped because of, well, various reasons. Well, it was sh-- really."
While they're in nostalgia mode, Oasis will also release a tour documentary Lord Don't Slow Me Down filmed on their Don't Believe the Truth tour between 2005 and 2006.
"Swarthes of it are from Australia, actually," Gallagher says. "What's it about? I have no idea. There's lots of me f---ing about in it. Me swearing and playing guitar, signing autographs.
"People are expecting me to big it up, the people who made it. You see band documentaries and they're really exciting? This one seems f---ing boring to me but who am I to say? I'm in it."
The band are also in hibernation, and will begin negotiations for new record deals outside the UK.
"As for offers I don't know, my manager deals with all that, but I'm sure there's been millions and millions been offered," Gallagher states.
There's also no word on a new album, but Gallagher is not concerned.
"We had 11 songs leftover from the last album. Out of those seven were pretty good and four were great. I'm certainly not panicking. We could release an album now without even going into the studio to be honest. But there's no hurry. We only got back off that tour in March. F--- that. I'm not even interested yet to be honest. I haven't spent the money I made yet."
Manchester Evening News(NOTE: These are extracts from the 'Lock The Box' interview available on the 'Stop The Clocks' bonus DVD. - Mr. M.)
IN 1994 Britain's rock fans were in the grip of a grunge invasion. American bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam dominated the charts with their heavy riffs and desolate lyrics.
Luckily Noel Gallagher was on hand to save the day. "I remember Nirvana had this two-chord song saying, 'I hate myself and I want to die'," says the Manchester-born Oasis songwriter.
"And it was like, as much as I like Kurt Cobain, I'm not having that.
"I couldn't have people like that coming over here saying that they hate themselves and they want to die, that's rubbish. So I wrote early hit Live Forever at that time.
"I'm not saying it was written directly as a retort to that, but kids don't need to hear that kind of nonsense. It seemed like to me he was a guy that had everything and was miserable about it, and we had f*** all.
"I still thought that getting up in the morning was the greatest thing ever because you didn't know where you'd end up at night, you know? We didn't have a pot to piss in, but it was great, man."
This was Oasis at the beginning - champions of the people, champions of themselves - a group of men with a deep desire to make music that meant something.
Today, despite selling millions of records, they're still as down to earth, still as cocksure as ever - stomping along rather than treading the fine line between arrogance and self-belief, and still making music they believe in.
It's an impressive feat, not least because of all the line-up changes (only Noel and brother Liam Gallagher are left from the beginning, currently with Gem Archer on guitar and Andy Bell on bass while Ringo Starr's son Zak Starkey is semi-official drummer), and the fall from grace as national heroes after some duff albums.
They're still an enticing live draw, holding on to a stadium-filling legion of core fans, and they've kept the less loyal interested with their entertaining interviews and the aggressive in-fighting between the Gallaghers.
But it's their insistence at doing things their own way, thank you very much, that has really kept them in favour with their fans.
Noel and Liam haven't changed at all. For a start, Noel still does his own shopping at the supermarket, and they've kept a 'can't-be-arsed' attitude to conquering the lucrative American market.
Even in bowing to record company pressure to do a best of, they've done it on their terms. The forthcoming Stop The Clocks compilation isn't the greatest hits collection fans may have expected, or even wanted - half the singles aren't there.
Instead it's a compilation of the songs that Oasis themselves think are their best, including some album tracks and b-sides.
"To me, the songs that are on it are the songs that we have generally played live over the last 14 years," says Noel. "Those are the songs that I feel is our best work. Five of us, four of us, can't sit in a room and pick a track listing.
"I always pick the set list and if anyone's got a problem with it they say to me they're not doing that. It's the same with the track list. I picked it, it went round, and I didn't get any of the usual phone calls at quarter to four in the morning," he laughs.
People now bow to Noel's obvious savvy because Oasis' longevity is mostly due to his dedication and undeniable songwriting talent.
Before Noel joined, Oasis were just a bunch of school mates gigging around Manchester. Liam then invited Noel on board, who made himself sole songwriter, simplified the band's playing technique and demanded they aim for nothing less than the top of the charts.
But it took some time for his peers to realise his potential.
"I remember writing Cigarettes And Alcohol in my flat in Manchester," he says, "in those days I used to write on the electric guitar with my amp on 10 in my room in this block of flats.
"One of the guys that lived above me, I remember him once passing me on the stairs going, 'You're not going to write a song with that riff, are you? That's rubbish'. I was going, 'Listen, fat arse, it's going to be amazing when it comes out'.
"And I remember going down to the rehearsal room and bringing the song in. Bonehead used to always be the tut-tutter. I told him I've got this tune called Cigarettes And Alcohol, and he goes, 'Cigarettes And Alcohol? You've got to change the title'.
"And then I did the riff and he's just going, 'Woah, you can't do that, that's T-Rex'. And I was like, 'I don't give a shit who it is, no one's ever going to hear it anyway'."
Both were wrong. Cigarettes And Alcohol was a massive hit, among many others. The Oasis hit-making machine shows no signs of stopping or even slowing down. After a few critically-panned albums, their last, 2005's Don't Believe The Truth, was lauded by many as a return to form.
And while Noel and Liam continue to put new, up-and-coming bands in their place (Arctic Monkeys and The Klaxons are their latest sore points), as well as happily sharing their political views ("New Labour have destroyed politics in this country," Noel said recently), they'll always have an audience.
"To me 1/8this album3/8 is like looking back at old photos of your kid and going, 'Look at that, you've got an ice-cream on your head'," says Noel. "It's just like looking back in time and going, 'There's the tune'.
"And if we don't do as many great tunes for the next best of, then we'll see. But who's going to tell us we're not going to do any more great tunes? I reckon we'll be rockin' 'til the cows come home."
Stop The Clocks lyrics + News round-up
In 2003 a set of lyrics purporting to be from the original demo of 'Stop The Clocks' were posted onto an unofficial Oasis forum. 3 years later, those lyrics have been confirmed to an extent with this page in the 'Stop The Clocks' album booklet.
Thanks go to the teasers at Big Brother.
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Noel and Gem's set for MySpace Japan is due to take place later today. Hopefully we'll get some information soon on what was performed, and maybe even some audio/video. I believe Noel has also got a couple of Japanese TV appearances planned for this week as well.
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Bit of media reminders for you all: Noel will be on BBC Radio 2's Burt Bacharach documentary this Friday evening at 7pm. The edit of 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' will be on Channel 4 this Sunday at 11:50pm, followed by a repeat of the 2nd July 2005 Manchester gig at 1:05am.
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Liam, Gem and Andy will be "taking over" BBC 6 Music on the 12th December to be talking about their favourite music, reveal the artists that have influenced their sound and plunder the extensive BBC archives to play some classic session and concert recordings from the past 40 years.
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Channel 4 will be broadcasting one of the recent Noel/Gem/Terry acoustic gig at some stage believed to be before the end of the year.
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For those of you too skint/lazy to buy the 'Stop The Clocks' special edition, the 'Lock The Box' interview with Noel and Liam will be broadcast on ITV2 on the 25th November at 11:50pm. This follows Noel's interview on Parkinson on ITV1 at 10:50pm.
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Noel will be appearing on MTV2's Gonzo with Zane Lowe on Friday 24th November at 7pm.
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The 'Stop The Clocks' EP was released on Monday with the album versions of 'Acquiesce' and 'The Masterplan', the 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' demo, and a live version of 'Some Might Say' recorded in Tokyo on the 22nd August 1995.
Noel Sunday Mail Interview / New song clip
Some more clips from 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' here, including a short clip of what sounds to be a new Noel tune.
See them at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxSuHTkb4KwAlso, it's emerged that there are two edits of the film, the first of which was roughly 95 minutes long and was shown at the world premiiere in New York on November 4, and the second of which was roughly 60 minutes long and was shown at the Toronto showing. This hour-long edit looks to be the one that's going to be shown on Channel 4 on the November 19.
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A new interview with Noel was published in todays Sunday Mail, available in Scotland. Extracts appear here.
IT'S ONLY CLOCK AND ROLLWhen Noel Gallagher moves up a gear into verbal overdrive it's best to sit back, relax and enjoy the no-holds-barred ride.
The Oasis guitarist carefully picks off his targets with the skill of a deadly assassin.
So who's in his sights? H is volatile brother Liam for a start. Try this for size.
"We're in a period of unrest at the minute because he's a ******* idiot who insults my intelligence," said Noel, 39, sternly.
"I have to supress all my working class urges not to smash a chair over his head.
"The polite thing to say is that we do a dance around each other. He doesn't get in my way and I don't get in his.
"I know for a fact Liam doesn't like me. It's because I'm much more talented than him.
"I love him because he's my brother but I don't LIKE him. He says he loves me but I don't see much coming from him.
"Trouble is, Liam can never take yes for an answer. He tells me he's written a great song for the next Oasis record and I say: 'Okay, we'll put it on.' But then he'll start shouting that it should be included on the CD. I've just said yes, what part of that does Liam not get?"
Noel invited me to Oasis' secluded studio bolthole in the Buckinghamshire countryside to talk about the group's first greatest hits compilation, Stop The Clocks, due for release on November 20.
He is compelling company and our conversation covered a variety of diverse topics.
Last month, it was revealed Oasis are to receive an Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at the Brits in February.
The group have publicly snubbed the ceremony since winning a trio of gongs in 1996, so why the U-turn?
Noel told me: "Last year when we should have been nominated for best single they chose Shane Ward and Tony Christie. We should also have been in the running for best album and in there was Kate Bush and Westlife.
"That p***** me off, big time. They've asked us to accept this Outstanding Contribution award for the last few years and we've always said no.
"With Stop The Clocks coming out we thought, This isn't gonna go away so we either do it now or when we NEED to do it in five years and look more like a bunch of old fellas.
"I'd like to do it before I'm 40. It means Oasis will be the youngest ever band to get such an award. That's colossal.
"But it's live on telly. God help them - they've made the biggest mistake of their life."
The promo schedule for Stop The Clocks is relentless. On November 19, Channel Four screen Lord Don't Slow Me Down - a fly-on-the-wall tour documentary.
While Noel has agreed to be a guest on Parkinson on November 25.
He said: "About 70 per cent of the tracks on Stop The Clocks chose themselves then we had to work out which B-sides to use.
"Initially, I wrote down a list of 30-odd tracks but I didn't want to run to three CDs. The only criteria was to look at every track and say: 'Why should this song NOT be on the record?' In the end, it was put together like an Oasis fantasy set list."
Noel claims success sits comfortably on his shoulders. Not only is he one of rock's greatest ever songwriters ... he's also one of the richest.
Royalties from hits such as Live Forever, Morning Glory and Don't Look Back In Anger have made him a multi-millionaire.
What was it like when the huge royalty cheques dropped through his letter box?
He said "I went mental. I spent s*** loads of money buying cars and I don't have a driving licence.
"I've got a Rolls Royce that Alan McGee bought me for making him a multi-millionaire. Sixteen grand it cost him ... and I made him £20million.
"I've also got a 1967 Mark II Jaguar and a big black Range Rover. But I can't be a**** taking driving lessons. I was told I had to sit a written test. There's no chance of me taking an exam in a school gym with a load of toerags from Slough. It would be like sitting my 11 - plus again. No way.
"If that's what it takes, I'll go buy a HORSE!"
Noel added: "I've also spent a lot on s*** - drugs, clothes and parties. I've never been ashamed of that. I earned that money.
"An Oasis CD costs £16 and from that the five of us get a pound to share between us while somebody else earns £7.
"I've got a huge house. It's ******* enormous and takes me an hour and a half just to walk a round the grounds. But what do you expect me to do? Live in a council flat?"
At 39, Noel is wiser than the young upstart who exploded on to the UK rock scene in 1994.
He's sussed enough to realise he has occasionally overstepped the mark but says he has no regrets, despite once infamously saying he hoped Damon Albarn of arch-rivals Blur died of Aids.
He also dismissed Robbie Williams as "the fat dancer from Take That" sparking a 10-year feud which continues to this day. He said: "The Blur stuff was out of order and fuelled on booze and drugs. You could pick out just one line from any of my interviews, stick it in a magazine and it would look offensive.
"I've only ever spoken my mind. But I don't wish Damon any bad luck at all. I felt I was goaded into it by the guy doing the interview and I was a bit too dumb not to take the bait."
So what about Robbie?
Noel told me: "I don't like Robbie Williams' records, it's not my bag at all. But the guy has carved out a career for himself after really only being a backing dancer.
"I remember seeing him once at the Brits after he'd had one of his six-month periods of mouthing off. He put his hand out to shake mine and I said: 'Not when you're wearing eye liner, Sonny Jim.'
"Again, I bear Robbie no malice at all because he doesn't enter my way of thinking.
"I've heard about the secret track on his latest album Rudebox attacking us but I can't be bothered with it any more. He's got his thing, he sells out stadiums around the world - good luck to him." Noel did fire a warning to Mr. Williams though. The guitarist sings lead vocals on several of the hits on Stop The Clocks. Has he considered a solo career?
"Robbie is probably the biggest solo artist in the country but I'd eat him for breakfast," he said.
"Why? Because I write better songs, I'm a better singer and I've got soul. End of ******* argument.
"If I decided to go solo I'd be enormous. Just be thankful I can't dance AND play guitar at the same time or you'd be looking at the first gunslinging John Travolta.
"My heroes were Johnny Ma rr of The Smiths and John Squire of The Stone Roses and they never moved a muscle. So I'm not starting any of that.
"Much as Liam and me don't get on you DON'T leave a band like Oasis.
"Luckily, my head has never been turned by the prospect of making a country and western album."
NOEL ON... MARRIAGEOASIS guitarist Noel Gallagher has ruled out marrying his Scots girlfriend any time soon... because he can't be bothered with the hassle.
He's been with Sara MacDonald for seven years but insists he has NO plans to tie the knot.
Reports this week said he was planning to wed at Manchester's Urbis museum followed by a party at his beloved Manchester City's football ground.
But in an exclusive interview at his recording studio he revealed: "I've got no marriage plans at the minute.
"It infuriates Sara when I say this cos I love that girl dearly... I just can't be a**** with a wedding. She says I need a slap.
"You ask me when I'm getting married all the time. Ask me a question on sport instead."
Noel revealed that when Oasis signed a deal with Creation Records in 1993 it killed off a previous relationship.
He said: "I remember going home to Manchester after a meeting with Alan McGee in London.
"I got into my flat about two in the morning and the girl I was living with at the time woke up.
When I told her Oasis had a record deal she burst into tears... and they weren't tears of joy.
"I said: 'What is wrong with you?' And she said: 'You're gonna leave me now and move to London.'
"I replied: 'Don't be stupid babe'. But six weeks later I was off. I said: 'London's calling. I can't stay here, love. It's my destiny.' So while McGee gave me a record deal, he temporarily ruined my love life."
Noel invited the Sunday Mail to Oasis' studio in Buckinghamshire to talk about their greatest hits compilation, Stop The Clocks, released on November 20.
And our no-holds-barred chat - covered in full in seven-days magazine - ranged from his rivalry with younger brother Liam, his long-running feud with Robbie Williams and how he feels about being part of New Labour's Cool Britannia brand.
He was also vocal about Oasis being given the Outstanding Contribution to Music gong at next year's Brit Awards.
Noel said: "Last year we should have been nominated for Best Single and they chose Shane Ward and Tony Christie. That p***** me off, big time.
"They've asked us to accept this Outstanding Contribution award for the last few years and we've always said no.
"With Stop The Clocks coming out we thought, 'This isn't gonna go away.'
"I'd like to do it before I'm 40 next year. But it's live on telly. God help them!"
NOEL ON... TONY BLAIRIt was the image which defined the Cool Britannia era... Noel Gallagher sipping red wine with Tony Blair at Downing Street prior to the 1997 general election.
But has the superstar lived to regret pinning his colours so firmly to the New Labour mast?
The answer appears to be definitely ... maybe.
Noel told me: "I didn't want to meet Tony Blair - he wanted to meet ME! I was the king of London. Looking back, it was a cynical ploy by his spin doctor Alistair Campbell.
"I was in a euphoric state of mind thinking: 'Of course Blair wants to meet me. I'm ******* amazing. Who wouldn't?'
"But I don't feel conned or used. As trivial as it sounds now, the fact that a guy who'd been in a band, owned an electric guitar and has probably had a spliff was Prime Minister really meant something at the time.
"It felt like it might be important after years of John Major and Margaret Thatcher. He just MIGHT be one of us.
"In hindsight, it turned out he was just a politician like all the rest. Initially, we all thought something was gonna change... it didn't.
"I was brought up as a Labour voter. I come from a working class family and was on the dole for seven years.
"I admit I got carried away by the whole Britpop-Cool Britannia thing. It WAS euphoric when the Labour Party got into power. I didn't realise it wasn't New Labour at all - it was the Tories dressed in red.
"History has shown it's really the Bank of England who got into power."
What does Noel think of those calling for Blair to resign and pull our troops out of Iraq?
He said: "What a lot of people fail to grasp is it doesn't matter who was in No. 10, Britain would STILL have gone to war. We're in America's a*** pocket and that's the end of that."
"We have this big inferiority complex because we're this tiny little island in the middle of nowhere. If there's something going on in Turkmanistan WE need to be involved. Why?
"We're a nation built on war. We still Troop the Colour... like anybodygivesa ****."
But Noel did have some words of praise for the PM.
"If you were to take the Iraq thing out of the equation, Labour do seem to have made a difference with things like the minimum wage.
"They also made education and health a priority."
NOEL ON.. THE FUTURENoel admits he's not sure if Oasis will still be on the go in another 10 years.
"I'd be 49 then," he said. "To be quite honest, I get up in the morning and it's a struggle pulling my socks on. I've got a bad back, a stiff neck and I don't get enough sleep.
"When I was young I was kind of fascist about not making music when I got to 30. Then I thought, 'I'll pack it in when I'm 35' and so it goes on. It all depends on how trim we look.
"Groups like Pink Floyd started out playing middle-aged music and it's STILL middle-aged music. Oasis songs are more up.
"Will I be playing Cigarettes And Alcohol at 50? Probably not... but who knows?"
One thing Noel is determined to do again however is gig in Scotland.
"Scotland has always been a very special place for us. It's the whole Celtic thing.
"Scots see themselves as rebels. They saw Liam and me giving two fingers to society and instantly related to us. Our gigs there have always been extra special."
NOEL ON.. ALAN McGEECreation Records' boss Alan McGee wrote a new chapter in music history when he spotted Oasis playing at King Tut's in Glasgow in 1993.
He was so knocked out by the unknown Manchester band he offered them a deal on the spot.
Noel told me: "The story we were NOT booked to support 18 Wheeler is true... but the myth which says we threatened to smash up the club if they didn't let us on isn't.
"As anybody who's ever met a Glasgow doorman will tell you you're not smashing anything up in that town - particularly if you're five skinny kids from Manchester. You'd get your head kicked in.
"McGee asked us: 'What are you called?' I said: 'Oasis'. I was trying to be quite cool so when he asked if we'd like a record deal I asked: 'Who with?'"
Noel revealed that when the group got home to Manchester they hit the phones to find out more about the charismatic McGee.
Noel said: "There used to be a big cardboard cut-out of McGee in Eastern Bloc Records in Manchester. That's how I knew who he was.
"I was into Primal Scream and Teenage Fanclub so I knew about i Creation. I phoned a couple of people who knew him and said: 'McGee is off his head, isn't he?'
"But they said that was what he did. That's when I realised he was serious. McGee is a superstar in my eyes."
New Noel interview (Guardian) + News
A whole bunch of new Noel interviews took place in the last couple of days. He's interviewed with Paul Weller in the new edition of Esquire (UK) and with Kasabian in a new NME 2006 magazine. He also took part in a very lengthy interview on Sex Pistol Steve Jones' LA radio show yesterday, which was recorded and I'll try to get online later.
Here's the
Guardian interview
'Liam doesn't like me," shrugs his older brother. "He confuses love with hate. 'I love you.' No, Liam, I think you'll find you fucking hate me." Sitting in his management's central London HQ, Noel Gallagher recounts a recent disagreement. Oasis are about to release Stop the Clocks, their first retrospective. In the accompanying booklet, the lyrics for each of the 18 songs appear beside an image. The picture Noel chose to go next to Songbird - the only track written by Liam - was a red brick wall. "Because it's a love song about his bird," explains Noel. "And red is the colour of love."
But Liam, who wrote the song for his long-term partner, Nicole Appleton of All Saints, didn't take it that way. "I got a message on my answer machine," sighs Gallagher. "He was like, 'The colour red? Beside the song I wrote about my missus? Who I've got a child with? How fucking dare you!'" Gallagher tells the tale with a mixture of amusement, resignation and disbelief. "He only had to say he'd like to change it. No problem. But instead it descended into personal abuse." Liam's rant continued until the tape ran out. "I listened to it with my missus," says Noel. "She was going, 'You and your kid are actually insane. It's amazing you've managed to get this far.'"
But, somehow, here they still are. The Gallaghers may be Oasis's only original members, but their massive following remains. Last year's warmly received Don't Believe the Truth sold 2.5m copies, propelling Oasis on to a worldwide tour to 1.7 million people in 26 countries. They plan to record the follow-up in 2007. "The empire is still building," says Gallagher.
For now, though, the 39-year-old is looking back. On completing their six-album deal with Sony, Oasis were asked to release a greatest-hits collection.
Gallagher wasn't keen, but aware that Sony actually owns the band's songs, he agreed to support a best-of, featuring his selection of Oasis favourites.
It's a belting collection, with an intriguing tracklisting. Of the 18 songs, four are B-sides and four album tracks - meaning only 10 of Oasis's 22 top-40 hits feature. The rejects include Roll With It, Oasis's contribution to the famous 1995 chart battle with Blur. "I don't like that song," admits Gallagher, who seems comfortable enough with his achievements - and himself - to be self-critical. But the most telling statistic is that 14 of the 18 tracks were released in 1994 or 1995. In other words, Gallagher seems to be admitting what many of us believed: that his band - and his songs - peaked over a decade ago.
"Yeah, of course," he shrugs. "We're talking about the best of Oasis here. If you stop the man in the street and ask 'What's Oasis's best album?', a few might say Don't Believe the Truth, which is great, but the squares will say Morning Glory and the cool people will say Definitely Maybe. That album should just be called the Best of Oasis." He leans forward. "Look. I was a superhero in the 90s. I said so at the time. McCartney, Weller, Townsend, Richards, my first album's better than all their first albums. Even they'd admit that."
So why didn't he remain a superhero into the next decade? "Because those songs were written in my 20s. All I had in the world was a guitar and a Dictaphone. When you're young, you write about being young and shagging and drugs and drinking. You can't do that when you're 39. I was a different person then."
These days, Gallagher's Saturday nights involve watching Match of the Day, and he hasn't touched cocaine since 1998.
"Cocaine itself isn't that bad," he says. "It just makes you drink more and that's the worst drug there is. Especially when you're surrounded by people whose psychosis sets in the more they drink. But people think I stood up at a party and announced, 'That was my last line of cocaine, from this day forth I shall take no more,' and everybody sighed and left. It wasn't like that. The reason I packed it in was that it was only meant to be a weekend, which became a week, which became a month and so on. I just decided I couldn't be arsed any more."
Although Gallagher says his songwriting passion was reignited by Don't Believe the Truth, his inescapable problem is that any new Oasis album must compete with their first two records.
"Which is completely unfair. If I knew how to write another Definitely Maybe, I'd do one every year. It astounds me that I wrote those songs. But nobody has ever bettered Definitely Maybe, don't pin it on my shoulders. The Arctic Monkeys came close, but that's it. They've got the tunes and the attitude. If only they could front it out."
At times this year, the Arctic Monkeys have seemed almost embarrassed by their success. It's the antithesis of the Oasis way. "I've never understood that kind of thing. Like the Clash going, 'We're not playing on telly.' Well fuck off then. When we first started we said we were the greatest band in the world. We should have said we were the best band in the charts. 'Cos to me, the world is the charts. I don't give a fuck about Radiohead and all that indie nonsense. I was brought up on the top 10. Slade, T.Rex, David Bowie. If you're not in the charts, you don't exist. BMX Bandits? Four people are listening to it in Hull. I went in there to get Phil Collins' severed head in my fridge by the end of the decade."
Which, in a manner of speaking, he did. "I came from a shithole in Manchester, right, so it was all brilliant to me. Even touring in a transit van was better than being in my flat. Then when we got a deal, we were like: 'Bring it on!' I wanted the big hairdo, big shades, big car, big house, swimming pool, jet, drug habit, a mirrored top hat and a chimp. All of it. The Kasabian lads told me they'd only get out of bed to read about us in the paper. And what would you rather read? 'The guy from Keane's been to a rabbit sanctuary 'cos one of the rabbits needed a kidney implant, so he swapped his with it' - or 'Liam Gallagher sets fire to a policeman in cocaine madness, while his brother Noel runs down Oxford Street nude'?"
No doubt Kasabian loved the story about Gallagher visiting the victorious Tony Blair, in 1997, at his Downing Street reception and asking the new PM how he'd managed to stay up all night during the election; "Probably not by the same means you did," was Blair's knowing reply.
Having effectively been New Labour's house band, what does Gallagher think of Blair now? "Well, I think that Britain is a better place than it was before the Labour party took over. Personally, I'd have loved Neil Kinnock to get in. He was gonna rip Margaret Thatcher's head off and shit down her neck. Then Tony Blair came along and it was like: 'Ah, he's gonna outsmart all of these public schoolboy cunts.' But we all got carried away in 97. Once the veneer wore off - even taking the Iraq debacle out of the equation - we've all just given a massive shrug. I think the Labour party's crowning achievement is the death of politics. There's nothing left to vote for."
Gallagher is concerned David Cameron will win the next election, "although even if he does, it won't matter because it won't change anything. He's just saying the same as Tony Blair was saying. Gordon Brown over David Cameron? When I see them on television, I switch them both off."
Gallagher, though, is contented. He has no sympathy for those for whom fame is a burden. He doesn't sit in his country house (though he has one) counting his millions (though he has several). "Life is a great thing, why shut yourself away from it? I can't understand people like Elton John and Robbie Williams going straight from their blacked-out limos to a restaurant. I stand in the queue at Waitrose. More rock stars should do that. Forget therapy, go to the supermarket and interact. The staff in my local Waitrose are really blase about me now. They'll be like, 'Him? Oh he's in here all the fucking time. And between me and you, he doesn't eat very well.'"
Ten years ago, Gallagher's life was almost entirely focused on Oasis. But even though he says its not his sole passion any more, that he has a full life outside Oasis, he insists he is still very much the band's leader. "If I said the next album was going to be Irish reggae, then it would be." Nevertheless, he's relinquished control to the point where all four members contribute songs, something he admits would have been unthinkable in the mid-1990s. "I've got to say a lot of weight was lifted from my shoulders when Liam, Andy and Gem started to deliver songs for Don't Believe the Truth and they were actually good."
Gallagher readily concedes his brother's earliest songs weren't great. "But you either say, 'That's shit, fuck off,' and he retreats into his shell. Or you go, 'Look, I'm not into it, but if you believe in it, it goes on - but you're taking the flak for it.' Liam used to say in interviews, 'Noel won't let me write.' But back in the 1990s while I was grafting, he was shooting Stella into his arms 'cos he thought it would mainline into his brain quicker. So I was like, 'Well write one, and we'll take it from there.' I'm glad he's done it, because the great ones are great and the shit ones he gets slagged off for. And there's nothing I like more than reading people slagging Liam off." Gallagher cackles.
"The reason he doesn't like me is that I'm indifferent to him," he explains. "I can come off tour, put the bags down and shut the door. Liam can't do that. He wants to carry on. Plus, he insults me and I don't like being around people who insult me."
The brothers don't exchange Christmas or birthday presents and have only seen each other "two or three times" since returning from tour in March. "I just don't need to be in the gang all the time," says Gallagher.
Presumably he has considered the possibility that Liam's insults stem from jealousy; after all, Noel's the older, brighter one, the one who wrote 17 of 18 songs on Stop the Clocks, the one people respect more. "But he's got nothing to be jealous of. Thing is, you say about the 17 songs, but Oasis is dependent on three equal parts. That's him, me and the songs. It's all about that struggle and it wouldn't be Oasis without him. But Liam can't see that. 'Cos when he has a drink, he's got an enemy complex. And a serious inferiority complex. But, y'know, he is my brother. And although I don't like him, I do love him to bits."
Perhaps, I suggest, you should buy him a Christmas present this year. "Yeah, maybe I will," nods Noel, thoughtfully. "I'll get him a fucking straitjacket."
---
There's a possible Noel solo performance on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show on the 1st December. More news on that as the date draws nearer. Noel also confirmed acoustic shows in Manchester and Tokyo in his LA interview.
