Oasis' Noel Gallagher reveals 'biggest fight' he had with Liam

USA Today

3 days ago

Before last August, the odds of an Oasis reunion were low.
Now, as the tempestuous Britpop band kicked off its Oasis Live '25 reunion tour July 4 in Wales, bets are being placed on what the first song on the setlist will be and which expletive Liam Gallaher will first utter when he and brother Noel return to the stage after 15 years. Most apt is, will Oasis break up before the tour is over in November?
The famously mercurial brothers Gallagher have provided oddsmakers with plenty of historical material to suggest a 41-date voyage around the world helmed by a pair of hotheads is a tenuous arrangement.
Among the numerous books released in anticipation of Oasis' comeback is 'Supersonic: The Complete, Authorized and Uncut Interviews' (out now from Penguin Random House). The oral history compiled by Simon Halfon, a friend of the band since 1996 when he designed their album covers, is derived from nearly 30 hours of interviews with the Gallaghers that he commissioned for the 2016 documentary, 'Supersonic' (both the film and the book are named for the Britpop band's 1994 debut single).
Stories about misbehaviors are abundant.
A simple ferry trip turned into a drunken melee ('Someone's punched someone, someone's kicked someone, someone's got nicked and then we are handcuffed,' Liam recalls).
Stage brawls were routine ('In the middle of 'Bring It On Down' somebody got on stage and smacked me right in the eyeball … Of course there is a fight and I hit somebody on the head with my guitar,' is Noel's remembrance).
And alcohol and drugs were omnipresent ('As soon as a line went up my nose, I could have been anywhere, mate,' Liam says of the album launch party for '(What's the Story) Morning Glory').
Along with the brothers, a handful of other voices pop into the interviews, including original guitarist/keyboardist Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs, matriarch Peggy Gallagher (spelled 'Peggie' throughout the book) and Noel and Liam's oldest sibling Paul, who is not a member of the band.
Here are a few of Oasis' recollections of raucousness:
Noel Gallagher reveals the 'biggest fight' he ever had with Liam
The recording sessions of Oasis' sophomore effort, '(What's the Story) Morning Glory,' an album that generated enduring gems 'Wonderwall,' 'Don't Look Back in Anger,' 'Roll With It' and the dreamy title track, took place in Wales.
Because Noel and coproducer Owen Morris preferred to work on post-production without the other band members as distractions, 'That gave Liam a lot of time to fanny about and indulge in his greatest hobby, which was acting like a ... buffoon,' Noel says.
A drunken Liam wandered back to the studio after a few hours with some new pub friends and the result, Noel recounts, 'might have been the biggest fight we ever had.'
A cricket bat in the studio was used to smash all sorts of things – studio equipment when it was in Liam's hands, Liam's head when it was in Noel's – until Noel left with Liam chucking a garbage can at the car as he drove away.
Michael Spencer Jones, the photographer who shot the band's first three album covers, said a local repairman came to the studio the next day and remarked, 'We've not seen damage like this since Ozzy Osbourne and Sabbath were recording here. This is nothing.'
Oasis has no love for helicopters
Within 18 months of their existence and the smash success of debut album 'Definitely Maybe" in 1994 and '(What's the Story) Morning Glory?' in 1995, Oasis reached stratospheric heights in Europe.
Stadium sellouts and iconic festivals such as Knebworth became the norm for the band. But while the massive crowds didn't cause trepidation, their required mode of transportation did.
'I remember being more nervous looking at the itinerary – it just had the word 'helicopter' in every other page. That ramps up the odds of dying quite sharpish,' Noel says. 'We were helicoptered everywhere: helicopter to Slane (Castle), helicopter to Loch Lomond, helicopter to the chippy. I was sick of it all at the end.'
Liam had a different reason for his dislike. 'Getting off a helicopter, the only thing I'm thinking is, 'If that blade messes my hair up, man, I'm walking home … That is seriously where my head would be at.'
Oasis has no interest in awards
Both times the band has been nominated for entry into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Liam has responded to the potential honor with angry expletives.
His dismissive attitude emanates from Oasis' heyday, when the band was being feted regularly with awards primarily from British institutions.
'You come to my house, there is not one award up,' he says. 'They're all under the stairs, just sitting there … that's not what I'm about. Awards ceremonies are good just for the simple fact – to get wasted and hurl some abuse at some poor indie band.'
Noel says he has given all of his awards away and that the approval of fans is all he needs as validation.
'They don't mean anything,' he says. 'It doesn't make you any better, any greater a person or better a songwriter … It's what you're doing on stage that really matters.'