Portrait Copyright: Matthew R Lewis website
Oasis were an English indie band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher (vocals and tambourine), Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar), Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass guitar) and Tony McCarroll (drums, percussion), who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher (lead guitar and vocals). Later years, the lineup changed, with Noel and Liam remaining with the band. The band split up in 2009 and the Gallagher brothers went their own way, with Noel forming his solo project the High Flying Birds and Liam forming the rest of the band with the new name "Beady Eye".
Oasis during their time were one of the most successful UK bands, with eight UK number-one singles and eight UK number-one albums, and won fifteen NME Awards, nine Q Awards, four MTV Europe Music Awards and six Brit Awards, including one in 2007 for Outstanding Contribution to Music and one for the Best Album of the Last 30 Years as voted by BBC Radio 2 listeners; they have been nominated for three Grammy Awards. By 2009, the band had sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide. The band were listed in the Guinness World Records book in 2010 for “Longest Top 10 UK Chart Run by a Group” after an unprecedented run of 22 top 10 hits in the UK. The band also holds the Guinness World Record for being the most successful act in the UK between the years 1995 and 2005, spending 765 weeks in the Top 75 singles and albums charts.
Links to Peel[]
Peel wasn't a fan of Oasis and did not invite them for a session, which he mentioned in an interview with B92, a Serbian radio station in 2002. However he did play their version of The Beatles "I Am The Walrus" on 23 July 1994 and played a B-side track of "Shakermaker" called "D'Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman?" on 09 July 1994 (BFBS). Also some of their albums were in his Record Collection: O.
One of Oasis's tracks got onto the 2000 Festive Fifty, this time covered by Cat Power covering "Wonderwall", which reached number 33 in that year's Festive Fifty. After playing the version, Peel stated that he never realised what a good song it was until she recorded it as part of her covers session.
Peel did make some comments on the band. On one instance on 23 December 1997, he warned Pavement that if they leave any long pauses in between songs, an emergency tape featuring "an old Oasis record" will kick in. Peel's daughter Flossie and her friend on 23 June 1995 also did not like Oasis and gave the band a thumbs down.
Interestingly on 20 January 1996 (BFBS), an Oasis track was played, but this was not the band from Manchester, but a techno artist.
Shows Played[]
The list below was compiled only from the database of this site and may be incomplete. Please add further details if known.
- 02 July 1994: Do You Wanna Be A Spaceman
- 09 July 1994 (BFBS): D'Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman? (B side - Shakermaker) Creation
- 23 July 1994: I Am The Walrus (Live from Glastonbury 1994)
- 1996
- 09 December 1996: Cigarettes And Alcohol (Non-Peel session) (John Peel's Classic Sessions)
- 1997
- 22 May 1997: Some Might Say (single) Creation
- 29 June 1997: Stay Young (single - D'You Know What I Mean?) Creation