Tag: Oasis

Brothers At Arms – Noel and Liam Gallagher

A huge Thank You to Randy from mostlymusiccovers.com for publishing all of these that him and I wrote.

We all know the great album Brothers in Arms from Dire Straits, but sometimes those brothers are “at arms” rather than in them. In this part of the mini-series Max (that’s me!), from PowerPop, talks about the “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em” Siblings of Noel and Liam Gallagher of the legendary band Oasis. Randy from  https://mostlymusiccovers.com originally posted this post here.

The feud between the Gallagher brothers, Noel (left) and Liam (right), of the British rock band Oasis is one of the most toxic in music history.

Their volatile relationship has been marked by public spats, physical altercations, and a war of words in the media. The brothers have different personalities, with Noel often seen as the more reserved and serious musician, and Liam as the more volatile and outspoken lead singer. The Gallagher brothers are cultural icons in the UK, known as much for their music as for their childish spats.

“Wonderwall” (1995)

Noel was born on May 29, 1967, and Liam was born on September 21, 1972, in Manchester, England. The Gallagher family faced a troubled home life, with an abusive father, which led to their mother Peggy eventually leaving with her sons. Both got interested in music in their teens. Noel worked as a roadie for The Inspiral Carpets, which gave him insight to the music industry and songwriting. In Liam’s teen years he got interested and formed a band called The Rain.

In 1991, Liam’s band, The Rain, was struggling when Noel joined after returning from touring with The Inspiral Carpets. Noel agreed to join only if he could take creative control. The band was renamed Oasis, and with Noel as the principle songwriter. In 1994 Oasis released their debut album, Definitely Maybe, which became the fastest-selling debut album in the UK at the time.

“Don’t Look Back in Anger” (1995)In 1996 Liam pulled out of an MTV Unplugged performance at the last minute due to a claimed sore throat, forcing Noel to perform alone. Liam then heckles Noel from the audience. In 2000, Noel temporarily quits the band after a backstage fight with Liam but then returns. In 2009, Noel quits the band after another backstage fight with his brother. Noel cites his inability to work with Liam as the reason. Oasis was done but the fighting kept going. Their documentary Oasis: Supersonic in 2017 consists of the brothers insulting each other in separate interviews. They moved the show to Twitter in 2018 with Liam blaming Noel of blocking an Oasis reunion. Liam also accuses Noel of not being allowed to see his niece. Liam then insulted Noel’s wife…and the hits just keep coming to this day.

It’s a shame because Oasis was one of the UK’s biggest bands.

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Max Picks …songs from 1995

1995

We have come to the end of the line for Max Picks. I decided to draw the line this year. What a year it was for me in music. I was 2 when the Beatles stopped playing music. I never got to experience a new Beatles song and this was it. It’s still a favorite of mine. I’m going to work up a few Missed Max Picks because of the songs I missed. I want to thank ALL of you for the support and your comments on this series. It was a fun one to do. We started this on June 23, 2023!

Beatles – Free As A Bird

In the 1990s I kept reading about the Beatles Anthology coming out and the three surviving Beatles getting back together to release old never heard before music as well as new. They were going to take a John Lennon demo and add something to it. This was beyond exciting for me. I was too young to remember a new Beatles song coming out.

It had an older feel but sounded modern at the same time. George Harrison’s distorted slide guitar playing brought an edge to it. It even had a strange ending like some of their other songs.

I got an early release of the Anthology CD from a friend of mine who worked in a record store and he said…don’t tell anyone. I sat glued to Free As a Bird because for once I was listening to a new Beatles song… I was one year old in 1968 so I missed them when they were originally out. I liked the song and still do. I have talked to Beatles fans who don’t really like it that much but the song has stuck with me. .

Was Free As a Bird the best song in the Beatles catalog? No not even close but just to hear something new was fantastic. The Anthology videos and CDs jump-started their popularity all over again…and it hasn’t stopped since then. I had cousins who were teenagers at the time who were never interested in them until Anthology came out. All I could say to them was…I’ve told you for years.

Also…my favorite music video of all time

Jayhawks – Blue

This song would rank high among my favorite songs. The Jayhawks were an Alt-Country band with a pop/folk sound formed in Minneapolis–Saint Paul in 1985 and played alternative country rock. They have released 10 studio albums and are worth checking out.

The song was on the album Tomorrow the Green Grass.

They recently backed Ray Davies on his albums Americana and Our Country – Americana Act II. Their 2016 album Paging Mr. Proust was produced by Peter Buck of REM.

They combine country, folk, rock, and pop with good harmonies.

Oasis – Wonderwall

This song is awash in sixties influence…which isn’t surprising by Oasis. It caught my attention in the 90s seeing that it had a mod mid-sixties influence.

This song was supposedly about Noel Gallagher’s then-girlfriend Meg Mathews, who is compared with a schoolboy’s wall to which posters of footballers and pop stars are attached. He said: “It’s about my girlfriend. She was out of work, and that, a bit down on her luck, so it’s just saying, ‘Cheer up and f—in get on with it.’” Noel later married and then divorced Meg Mathews.

Noel also said… “The meaning of that song was taken away from me by the media who jumped on it. And how do you tell your Mrs. it’s not about her once she’s read it is? It’s about an imaginary friend who’s going to come and save you from yourself.”

Everclear – Santa Monica

With my big black boots and an old suitcase
I do believe I’ll find myself a new place

Those lyrics hit me for some reason as did the song. It was my first introduction to the band and I loved it. This is one of the few new bands at the time that I followed.

Art Alexaskis formed Everclear in Portland, Oregon, in 1991. Portland in the early 90s had a huge music scene. Everclear broke out first with this song nationally.  Many bands there didn’t think Everclear deserved it over everyone else…there was a lot of competition there at that time.

Santa Monica is a seaside town in California where Everclear lead singer Art Alexakis grew up. He describes it as Like LA but on the coast.

The song peaked at #1 on the Mainstream Rock Charts, #4 in Canada’s Alternative Charts, #27 in New Zealand, and #40 in the UK in 1996.

It was on the 1995 album Sparkle and Fade. John at 2 Loud 2 Old Music reviewed all of their albums in this article. It’s a great review of their recording career.

Ramones – I Don’t Want To Grow Up

This came off of the Ramones’ last album Adios Amigos. This song is a Tom Waits cover. This song actually made the top 30 for the Ramones. Their reputation grew through the years. They probably got more popular after they broke up than they were when they were together. It’s a shame that many of their songs didn’t hit bigger at the time. Their songs are short, to the point, and usually very catchy. You would have thought radio would have loved them.

The album is really good and it was a good way to go out for them.

BONUS PICK… I’m going to break my own rule about only 5 songs since this is the last Max Picks…and I’m breaking another rule by featuring a band twice in one post. Which band should it be?

Beatles – Real Love

This was the second “new” song by the Beatles to be released in the 1990s and it was on the Anthology 2 album. I liked the song but it didn’t resonate with me like Free As A Bird did. Real Love sounded more like a Lennon solo song with the Beatles backing him…but I love Lennon’s solo output so I did like it but it wasn’t as “Beatle-ly” to me as Free As a Bird.

The song was more fully realized than Free As a Bird and didn’t take as much input by the other three shaping it. This is the only Beatles song where the songwriting credit is John Lennon alone instead of Lennon-McCartney or all four Beatles.

Paul McCartney did his best John Lennon’s imitation to help the lead vocal because the recording of John’s voice was low and spotty in some places. The lead vocal is actually a John and Paul duet.

 

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Oasis – Don’t Look Back In Anger

I was checking out UK #1’s Blog the other day and he posted this song as going number #1 in 1996. As Stewart points out…they borrow a lot of music but to me… they do it to enhance what they have…not a rewrite of the same song. 

I’ve heard this song just a few times and his post brought it back. Over here in America, I only really heard Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova with any consistency. This one I like better than either one of those. 

They borrowed from John Lennon’s Imagine for the intro but that is fine. The line “So I start a revolution from my bed” was supposedly linking Lennon’s Bed In for Peace in Toronto. Just looking at them… they could have stepped out of the mid sixties mod movement. They were part of the 90’s Britpop scene of Blur, Pulp, The Verve, and others. I was always drawn to Oasis more because they didn’t go out of their way to sound modern or mix in modern styles. They did sound 90s but in a mid-sixties type of way. 

Guitarist Noel Gallagher sang the lead on this song not his lead singer brother Liam Gallagher. Noel is credited with writing this one. He gave his brother Liam the option of singing lead on this one or Wonderwall. Liam picked Wonderwall (look for the quote below) which is the one that Noel wanted to sing because it was about his then girlfriend.

The song peaked at #1 in the UK, #24 in Canada, #55 on the Billboard 100, and #20 in New Zealand in 1996. 

I’m going to borrow this bit of Stewart’s post from UK #1’s Blog: 

“Meanwhile, it has also been voted the 4th Most Popular #1 Single ever, the 2nd greatest Britpop song (after ‘Common People’), and the Greatest Song of the 1990s. (And, most importantly, the 2nd Best Song to Sing Along to While Drunk – controversially robbed of top spot in that poll by Aerosmith’s God-awful ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’.) It is also by far the best of Oasis’s eight number ones… and I hope that’s not too much of a spoiler for what’s to come!”

Sorry for the long quote below but it pretty much tells the story of the song. Plus I love the dig he makes at Liam at the end.  

Noel Gallagher: “We were in Paris playing with The Verve, and I had the chords for that song and started writing it. We were due to play two days later. Our first-ever big arena gig, it’s called Sheffield Arena now. At the sound check, I was strumming away on the acoustic guitar, and our kid (Liam Gallagher) said, ‘What’s that you’re singin?’ I wasn’t singing anyway, I was just making it up. And our kid said, ‘Are you singing ‘So Sally can wait?’ And I was like – that’s genius! So I started singing, ‘So Sally can wait.'”

“I remember going back to the dressing room and writing it out, it all came really quickly after that. (The title) ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ just popped out. We wrote the words out in the dressing room, and we actually played it that night, in front of 18,000 other people. On acoustic guitar. Sat on a stool. Like an idiot. I never do that now.”

“When we were coming off recording ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger,’ I was originally gonna sing ‘Wonderwall,’ and Liam said, ‘I wanna sing it!’ And I was like, ‘I’m singing one of them, so you take your pick. He chose ‘Wonderwall’ and I chose the other one, then it came out as the single. And on that (BBC TV) series Our Friends In The North – the last ever one where they all meet up, when they’re all older and have all got kids, and they’re all alcoholics – that was the music for the end credits. And I still haven’t seen that episode, but loads of people have come up to me, saying, ‘Man it was so powerful.’ And it kind of took a life of its own after that. It took over from ‘Wonderwall’ in England as our most famous song. And it’s the biggest song of the night now, when we play it live. Which must do Liam’s head in – as he doesn’t get to sing it – but it makes me feel pretty good.”

Don’t Look Back In Anger

Slip inside the eye of your mind
Don’t you know you might find
A better place to play
You said that you’d never been
But all the things that you’ve seen
Will slowly fade away

So I start a revolution from my bed
‘Cause you said the brains I had went to my head
Step outside, summertime’s in bloom
Stand up beside the fireplace
Take that look from off your face
You ain’t ever gonna burn my heart out

And so Sally can wait
She knows it’s too late
As we’re walking on by
Her soul slides away
But don’t look back in anger
I heard you say

Take me to the place where you go
Where nobody knows
If it’s night or day
But please don’t put your life in the hands
Of a rock and roll band
Who’ll throw it all away

I’m gonna start a revolution from my bed
‘Cause you said the brains I had went to my head
Step outside ’cause summertime’s in bloom
Stand up beside the fireplace
Take that look from off your face
‘Cause you ain’t ever gonna burn my heart out

And so Sally can wait
She knows it’s too late
As she’s walking on by
My soul slides away
But don’t look back in anger
I heard you say

So Sally can wait
She knows it’s too late
As we’re walking on by
Her soul slides away
But don’t look back in anger
I heard you say

So Sally can wait
She knows it’s too late
As she’s walking on by
My soul slides away
But don’t look back in anger
Don’t look back in anger
I heard you say
At least not today

Oasis – Wonderwall

This song is awash in sixties influence…which isn’t surprising by Oasis. It caught my attention in the 90s seeing that it had a mod mid-sixties influence. The song peaked at #8 in the Billboard 100 and #2 in the UK in 1996.

This song was supposedly about Noel Gallagher’s then-girlfriend Meg Mathews, who is compared with a schoolboy’s wall to which posters of footballers and Popstars are attached. He said: “It’s about my girlfriend. She was out of work, and that, a bit down on her luck, so it’s just saying, ‘Cheer up and f—in get on with it.'” Noel later married then divorced Meg Mathews.

Noel also said… “The meaning of that song was taken away from me by the media who jumped on it. And how do you tell your Mrs. it’s not about her once she’s read it is? It’s about an imaginary friend who’s going to come and save you from yourself.”

 

 

From Songfacts

The music is based on Wonderwall Music, an instrumental album George Harrison wrote for the movie Wonderwall in 1968. This was the first solo album released by any of The Beatles.

The concept of the “Wonderwall” is based on a ’60s film called Wonderwall – from Psychedelia to Surrealism, starring Jane Birkin. She lives next door to a man who becomes fascinated with her,so he slowly makes holes in his wall so he can watch her through it. This is the “Wonderwall.” Warning: this movie is supposedly terrible.

In 2002, the British army produced a recruitment video that used this under footage of soldiers conducting exercises. The producers of the video didn’t realize they needed permission to use the song, and when Oasis denied, they had to recall all the videos.

The album is the second-best-selling in British history. The best selling album in UK history is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. 

This was the first single Oasis released in the US, and is their biggest hit in that country. >>

Initially, Noel wanted to sing this song, but he gave his brother Liam Gallagher the choice, and Noel ended up singing “Don’t Look Back In Anger.”

What sounds like a cello was played on a Mellotron tape-playback keyboard, although the video features shows someone playing the cello.

At live shows Noel plays his acoustic guitar on a Fender Telecaster. It’s one of the few songs where he uses a Fender guitar rather than a Gibson.

The opening track of (What’s the Story) Morning Glory is the track “Hello,” which starts off with the opening riff of “Wonderwall” playing extremely quietly; this stops once the guitar noise comes in.

The original title was “Wishing Stone.”

In an interview conducted in Australia around the time of the release of Be Here Now, when asked which 3 songs he would like to be remembered for, Noel immediately responded with “Live Forever” and “Wonderwall” and then proceeded to list several others, including “Champagne Supernova,” “Magic Pie” and “Cigarettes & Alcohol.”

At the very end of the song, the intro to “Supersonic” can be faintly heard being played on acoustic guitar.

Radiohead recorded a bootleg cover of the song in which Thom Yorke sings many incorrect lyrics and cuts out mid-chorus when a background voice says, “Is this abysmal or what? It’s always good to make fun of Oasis.” 

This was prevented from reaching #1 in the UK by Robson & Jerome’s Double A-side, “I Believe”and “Up On The Roof.”

The song’s music promo won the Best Video at the 1996 Brit Awards.

Jay-Z opened his set at the Glastonbury Festival in 2008 by singing a few minutes of this song – quite poorly. The famous UK festival was known for rock acts, so having Jay-Z perform stirred things up. After Noel Gallagher made public remarks taking issue with a rapper’s invitation to the festival, Jay responded with the on-stage mockery of “Wonderwall.”

The It’s a Shame About Ray episode of the HBO series Girls closed with Lena Dunham’s character Hannah singing this song in her bathtub, followed by a segue into Oasis’ original version. The day after its original broadcast on February 2, 2013, the tune re-entered Billboard’s Rock Digital Songs at #50.

This was voted #1 on the state-funded Triple J youth network’s “Hottest 100” countdown of the best songs released between Jan. 1, 1993, and Dec. 31, 2012. The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” was runner-up. More than 940,000 votes were cast for the poll, which was held to celebrate two decades of Triple J’s Hottest 100 countdown. “Wonderwall” previously topped the annual “Hottest 100” in 1995, a time when Oasis were at the peak of their powers.

Noel on the song’s drum placement (The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters by Daniel Rachel): “I write songs purely for feel. Like the drums coming in on ‘Wonderwall’: people were going, ‘Why have they come in there, it’s an eighth of a bar too early?’ ‘What’s an eighth of a bar?’ I struggle to understand people’s perceptions. It comes in there because to me that’s where it sounds right to. ‘That’s wrong.’ I’m like, ‘Wrong to who? How can it be wrong?'”

This topped a 2016 survey commissioned by the website Sunfly Karaoke ahead of Father’s Day to find the favorite karaoke songs of dads around the UK. The song narrowly beat Blur’s “Parklife,” which came second in the poll.

Ryan Adams covered the song for his 2004 Love is Hell album. His version was supposed to be an inside joke with his then girlfriend, with whom he would debate the merits of Oasis vs Blur, but Adams managed to put a much darker spin on the song. He told Uncut: 

“It occurred to me that I was singing it from the perspective of someone in danger of committing suicide. That’s not what I was thinking about when I first did it, but it did have a different meaning. It’s someone saying, you’re my last hope. 

But in the second verse, that hope it’s not happening, and I’m singing like that person would sing if that’s the last thing they’re ever going to sing. That’s how I feel in that moment. It’s not a perversion to tap into these those things. I can let my body sing this way and let my mind go there, and I can feel all those things because they’ve been real things in my life at some point.”

Wonderwall

Today is gonna be the day
That they’re gonna throw it back to you
By now you should’ve somehow
Realized what you gotta do
I don’t believe that anybody
Feels the way I do, about you now

Back beat, the word was on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I’m sure you’ve heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don’t believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now

And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I
Would like to say to you but I don’t know how

Because maybe, you’re gonna be the one that saves me
And after all, you’re my wonderwall

Today was gonna be the day
But they’ll never throw it back to you
By now you should’ve somehow
Realized what you’re not to do
I don’t believe that anybody
Feels the way I do, about you now

And all the roads that lead you there are winding
And all the lights that light the way are blinding
There are many things that I
Would like to say to you but I don’t know how

I said maybe, you’re gonna be the one that saves me
And after all, you’re my wonderwall

I said maybe, you’re gonna be the one that saves me
And after all, you’re my wonderwall

I said maybe, you’re gonna be the one that saves me
You’re gonna be the one that saves me
You’re gonna be the one that saves me