Oasis

Oasis was an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991.

Developed from an earlier group, the Rain, the band originally consisted of Liam Gallagher (vocals and tambourine), Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs (guitar), Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan (bass guitar), and Tony McCarroll (drums, percussion).

The following year the band recorded (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) with their new and former Starclub drummer Alan White in the midst of a rivalry with Britpop peers Blur in the charts.

The Gallagher brothers were featured regularly in tabloid newspapers for their sibling disputes and wild lifestyles.

In 1997 Oasis released their third album, Be Here Now (1997), and although it became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history, the album’s popularity tapered off quickly.

McGuigan and Arthurs left Oasis in 1999 as the band went on to record and release Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (2000).

After their departures, they were replaced by former Heavy Stereo guitarist/frontman Gem Archer and former Hurricane No. 1 guitarist/frontman Andy Bell who joined the group for the tour in support of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, which had moderate success.

During the tour the brothers’ increasingly deteriorating relationship ultimately led to Noel Gallagher announcing in August 2009 that he would be leaving the band after a backstage altercation with Liam before a festival appearance.

Oasis played their first ever live gig on 18 August 1991 at the Boardwalk club in Manchester.

Liam’s brother Noel Gallagher, who was a roadie for Inspiral Carpets, went with the band to watch his younger brother’s band play.

Whilst Noel and his friends did not think Oasis sounded particularly spectacular, he did begin to consider the possibility of using his brother’s group as a possible outlet for a series of songs he had been writing for several years.

Noel approached the group about joining with the proviso that he would become the band’s sole songwriter and leader, and that they would commit to an earnest pursuit of commercial success.

“He had loads of stuff written,” Arthurs recalled. “When he walked in, we were a band making a racket with four tunes.

All of a sudden, there were loads of ideas.”

Oasis under Noel Gallagher crafted a musical approach that relied on simplicity, with Arthurs and McGuigan restricted to playing barred chords and root bass notes; McCarroll playing basic rhythms, and the band’s amplifiers turned up to create distortion, Oasis created a sound “so devoid of finesse and complexity that it came out sounding pretty much unstoppable.”

Bassist Paul McGuigan briefly left the band in September 1995, citing nervous exhaustion.

He was replaced by Scott McLeod, formerly of The Ya Ya’s, who was featured on some of the tour dates as well as in the “Wonderwall” video before leaving abruptly while on tour in the US. McLeod later contacted Noel Gallagher claiming he felt he had made the wrong decision.

Gallagher curtly replied “I think you have too. Good luck signing on.” To complete the tour, McGuigan was successfully convinced to return to the band.

The band, comprising the remaining members of Oasis and led by Liam Gallagher, decided to continue working together under the name Beady Eye until breaking up in 2014, while Noel went on to form his solo project Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.