Latest news with #Scotsman
Otago Daily Times
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Booze, brawls and break-ups
Oasis are back. But what was it like in the band's self-aggrandising, boozy heyday? Thomas Beller revisits the '90s. In 1993, by an accident of fate, I received a promotional tape from a record company publicist, Jim Merlis, who worked with Nirvana. He had made friends with a mad Scotsman named Alan McGee and sent a cassette with a bunch of Creation acts, calling out one in particular: Cigarettes & Alcohol . "Everyone is going crazy about this band," he said. "What's the big deal?" I thought when I heard it. "T Rex with different lyrics." At that time, in the fall of 1993, I was a staff writer at the New Yorker . By the spring of 1994 I was a fired staff writer. Embarrassed at losing such a job, I fled to London. Oasis sounded different in England. I heard them on the radio, in record stores, everywhere. A lot of the excitement had to do with the singles. This aspect of Oasis feels lost now in the platform age; their early work has been repackaged on albums with titles like Stop the Clocks and Time Flies . In some ways it was the B-sides that made the biggest impact: Fade Away and Listen Up ; an early version of Columbia ; and, especially, Acquiesce . To encounter Acquiesce on a B-side added an aura of limitless possibilities to the band. And it was this limitless horizon that the songs kept emphasising. "You and I are gonna live forever" is the most obvious example, but those early lyrics are overflowing with exhortations to live, an aspiration repeated so often it almost seemed in defiance of someone having once told Oasis to drop dead. I saw Oasis live in London in 1994, and again, at Earl's Court, in 1995. I remember an acquaintance walking beside me amid the throng of fans as we entered the arena in 1994. A seemingly mild-mannered guy, he turned to me with wild eyes and said the word that encapsulated the mood: "Butterflies!". Twenty-two years later I would watch Supersonic , the documentary about their early ascent, in a half-empty theatre in New Orleans, and exit the theatre pondering where it had left us: arriving at Knebworth by helicopter. A massive crowd. A homecoming. The primal thump of the bass drum. And then ... Credits. The end. Or the end of the beginning. I met the band just on the other side of this divide between moving upwards towards the sun and the other option, falling to Earth. It was the summer of 1997. I was on assignment for the music magazine Spin . The interviews were done at the Sony sound stage on 10th Avenue, New York, a big anonymous box of a building in Hell's Kitchen. I was put in a big room and my subjects were brought to me in batches. First came Alan White, Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (or "Guigs", as the band called him), and Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs. Then came Noel Gallagher. And finally his brother, Liam, who was accompanied by a bodyguard, named Danny, in a tracksuit. I assumed Danny was there to protect Liam. But then I misspoke and said, "I quite liked your record", and Liam was on his feet. "You liked it quite a bit? What do you mean you liked it quite a bit? See ya later, man." He marched over to the door before Danny could get off the couch. Then Liam turned back towards me, and Danny's other purpose was revealed: protecting people from Liam. "You've got big f****** hands, man," Liam said. "But I'll knee you in the balls, man! Whaddya mean you liked it quite a bit? It's tops, man. Tops!" In the end, we worked it out. By the end of our chat he invited me to join them that evening at a bar he called "the Irish pub". "There are a million bars in this city with the word Irish," I said. "I need a name." That night I arrived at the street corner with my girlfriend and was confronted with a large sign that read "The Irish Pub". It was my first clue that Liam is not as incoherent as he sometimes seems. What transpired at the bar that night still seems incredible to me. ("I can't tell you the way I feel / because the way I feel is, oh, so new to me," as the lyric to Columbia goes. The refrain is: "This is confusion, am I amusing you?".) The most basic fact of the night is now a banal commonplace regarding the early years: the epic amounts of alcohol consumed by everyone, most notably Liam. Then there was the band's choice of music on the jukebox. The band the members of Oasis, or really Liam, played over and over was called, "Oasis". Liam took great pleasure in singing along to the lyrics of his favourite band, sometimes slapping his open hand very hard into the chest of Danny in the tracksuit, while insisting he sing along. A good friend with an interest in rock music, the writer Robert Bingham, had been bothering me all that day to bring him along to this rendezvous. His choice of companion at The Irish Pub was the most conservative, Waspy person he knew, a lovely guy named Willie who sat with Rob and me at a small round table while me and my girlfriend Jennifer chatted with McGuigan over pints of beer. McGuigan was a source of curiosity for me because of the way that both Noel and Liam, independent of one another, had mentioned Guigs as having had "a crispy". I had never got a clear answer on the meaning of "a crispy". As far as I could tell it meant some sort of Gallagher-/tour-induced nervous breakdown. Guigs was already exploring other interests and, along with Bonehead, would soon bow out of the band. He seemed to be the most calm and non-violent of the group, even more than Alan the drummer, who was brought in late and seemed to want to make zero waves. And yet when Willie answered Guigs' innocent question, "What do you do?" with the reply, "I'm a lawyer", the glass of beer came down on to the table at the same time that Guigs got to his feet. An electric current shot through the room. Guigs had sent up a flare. By that point in the night, Guigs had told me, in a calm, slightly solemn way, about various brawls the band had been in, including a situation in Tokyo where they scrapped with American Navy ensigns. "There were about 35 of us," Guigs explained. "We were in a bar. One of them f***** with one us, but they didn't know how many we were. And then we all stood up at once." And what happened? "We kicked the shit out of 'em," he said. Once again, there was a "we all stood up at once" energy in the room. Somehow, Willie murmured a sufficiently placating response. Everyone sat back down. Willie, in his pinstripe suit and impeccably knotted tie, remained, to his credit, unmoved by the whole thing. Meanwhile, I could see Liam chatting up Jennifer. She was very pretty, with a soft voice, round face and expensive hair. I went over. Liam turned to me with the poker face for which he is famous. At Earl's Court, he had done nothing more than hold this blank expression for 60 seconds as the giant monitor above the stage slowly zoomed in on him, his pretty blankness reverberating to the increasing roar in the arena, the facial expression equivalent of a guitar held near an amplifier and generating louder and louder feedback. Now he gazed at me with that same impassive expression. "Marry her," he said. "Before someone else does." Jennifer was as psyched to be hanging out with Oasis as anyone else would be, and Liam liked her. Let it be said! That such an agent of chaos should also have such a conservative streak — "marry her!" — is one of the paradoxes that fuels the story of Oasis, which is also a story of two talents that hover in the tension of killing one another and complementing one another. Cain and Abel never had a band, after all, and never had to do press. After the New York interviews, I followed them out to California that summer of 1997, where they set up shop in a stadium in Oakland opening for U2. Be Here Now was chugging its way to record stores across the land. This was the moment in the cartoons when someone runs off a cliff and for a while they are suspended in the air, legs churning, but not dropping, yet. After their set, there was a memorable scene with Noel in a sky box — literally a glass box way up in the sky. We had a nice chat fuelled by my offer of a powder. (I am still annoyed that Spin magazine did not reimburse me for this, as I had quite reasonably listed it among my expenses alongside meals and transportation, which, come to think of it, are both words one could use to describe the substance.) "Don't mind if I do," Noel said, and when he lowered his head to imbibe I saw, in the next glass box over, Liam Gallagher himself, both arms thrown out around the empty seats on either side of him, one leg crossed on the other knee, sitting resplendent in kingly solitude in dark shades, watching the "fookin egg" which was U2's stage set on that tour. It was like a movie, or an allegory: Noel's face fills the screen, then, when he moves out of the frame, Liam. It was a perfect moment of regeneration. One brother morphing into the other, different but the same. Later that night I trailed Liam into a backstage party where I was not meant to be, and from which I was ejected by an angry San Francisco security guard. But not before I absorbed the sight of Liam singing his own songs into Bono's face. Singing at the top of his lungs while slapping the U2 singer's chest with his open hand and insisting he sing along. Bono was recently quoted, in advance of this summer's Oasis shows, as saying: "I love them; I just love them. And what I really love is, the preciousness that had got [into] indie music, they just blew it out. There was just the swagger, and the sound of getting out of the ghetto, not glamorising it ... they were rawer than anybody." My encounter with the band was about a year after Knebworth, prior to the release of Be Here Now . It was the beginning of the long second act. And then the break-up years involving the brothers hiding in plain sight. It's not like they stopped making records and touring. If there is a chart for the most mentions in the NME over the past 30 years, Oasis and the Gallagher brothers combined must surely be at number one. But the sense during this period was never of finality, but rather of dormancy. A volcano, not a death. And now these two wizened faces peering out at us from a poster, skirting perilously close to Spinal Tap territory and yet not, because the excitement is real. Once again: "Butterflies". — The Observer
Scotsman
8 hours ago
- Health
- Scotsman
Scotland's Health Awards 2025: Inspiring NHS Fife support worker recalls 'teary' awards moment
Scotland's Health Awards 2025 are now open for nominations. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... For Karli Whittle, her job is all about human contact - helping those battling with severe eating disorders to get a grip on their condition and to return to a healthy lifestyle. The focus for the NHS Fife dietetic support worker is on empowering adults with these disorders through psycho-education and meal support. It rarely leaves the time for any thought of personal recognition for Ms Whittle, 37, from Buckhaven. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Karli Whittle wont the Support Worker Award at last year's The Scotsman Health Awards 2024. Picture: Lisa Ferguson | Lisa Ferguson It is why it took being officially named as a finalist in the support worker category for last year's Scotland's Health Awards 2024, hosted by The Scotsman, before the NHS employee even realised she was nominated at all. Ms Whittle, who won the award from a pool of six finalists, including fellow NHS Fife workers Tracy Cunningham and Kelly Ann McNeil, said she only found out she was in the final at a run-of-the-mill team meeting. 'I didn't know until that point,' Ms Whittle said. 'I was teary. It happened within a team meeting in the dietetic department and at the end they were saying that they'd put someone up for a nomination. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I was getting ready to go out the door at the time thinking it was just somebody else. But I was like 'I better listen' and then when they said it was me, it was just like 'aahhhh'. '[I was] very shocked, but obviously so happy that people nominated me - obviously patients and colleagues. It's heart-warming.' Scotland's Health Awards 2025 is open for nominations | The Scotsman Ms Whittle works in NHS Fife's eating disorder advanced intervention team (EDAIT), which provides one-to-one interventions that also involves families and carers. Her phlebotomy skills, which involves collecting blood samples, are used to help with health monitoring and recovery efforts. Interviewed off stage after accepting the award, Ms Whittle said it felt like she had won the honour for more than just herself. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I feel like I've got it for the two teams I work for,' she said. 'I've got it for dietetics and the eating disorder team ... it's the team that this is for, it's not just me. 'We all do really hard work and the team that I work for as well, obviously the dieticians, the nurses, everybody, they're so inspiring.' Nominations are now open across 17 award categories, which all aim to recognise frontline health and social care workers and celebrate those who work hard behind the scenes to make sure patients across the country get the highest level of care possible. The Support Worker Award is for an individual involved in providing excellent NHS non-clinical support services for people in Scotland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Caroline Lamb, chief executive of NHS Scotland and director-general health and social care, and Health Secretary Neil Gray at the launch of The Scotsman Health Awards 2025, which will be held in the Edinburgh Corn Exchange in November. | Lisa Ferguson A support worker delivers hand on care, and also works behind the scenes to improve patient care. They could be an ancillary assistant, a domestic assistant, a catering assistant, a care-at-home worker or a porter - to name but a few. Any nomination must be for an individual support worker who is providing care/services either working in an NHS department, a Health and Social Care Partnership or in a local authority environment, delivering integrated health and social care services. Teams and groups cannot be nominated for this award. Other award categories include care for mental health, as well as awards for the doctor, nurse, top team, volunteers, young achiever, Allied Health Professional, midwife and leader of the year.
The Irish Sun
15 hours ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Sam Todd and Ronan Boyce pop up with goals as Derry City hammer Drogheda Utd to take second place in Premier Division
DEFENDERS Sam Todd and Ronan Boyce struck a goal apiece as Derry City swatted Drogheda United aside to move into second place. Todd and Boyce — who both hail from 2 Derry City hammered Drogheda United Credit: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile 2 Danny Mullen of Derry City celebrates after scoring his side's third goal against Drogheda Credit: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile Carndonagh man Todd headed home the opener on 33 minutes from Michael Duffy's clipped cross. Ramelton lad Boyce then pounced to fire home a rebound after Andrew Quinn cleared Duffy's strike off the line. Substitute Danny Mullen added a third five minutes into stoppage time. Duffy was again involved as his strike at the near post was turned into the path of the Scotsman by Drogheda keeper Luke Dennison. Read More on Derry City It was a third win and clean sheet on the bounce for the Foylesiders who remain 11 points behind leaders They are now above Bohemians on goal difference. And Kevin Holt also came close to breaking the deadlock midway through the opening period when he met Duffy's inswinging free-kick. Most read in Football But his glancing header bounced just wide. Sadou Diallo then tried his luck from distance on the half hour but his effort sailed harmlessly off target . Electricity goes out during Shelbourne vs Derry City in League of Ireland opener Derry eventually broke Drogheda's resolve from a short corner. Duffy received the ball back from Whyte and clipped it into a crowded penalty area where Todd headed into the corner of the net. The hosts doubled their lead three minutes later when Duffy raced on to Liam Boyce's through ball and rounded the keeper but his strike was cleared off the line by Quinn. The clearance fell to Ronan Boyce who steered the ball into the net. Derry were well in control but Drogheda found a way in behind the City defence moments later. Thomas Oluwa got away from Mark Connolly and sent a strike towards goal but Brian Maher stood tall and saved at the front post. Carl Winchester had the ball in the net when he received the ball from a sublime defence-splitting pass from Whyte. But the Belfast man strayed offside and the goal was ruled out. Diallo then picked out the run of Duffy with a pass over the top. But the winger's effort on the volley dipped over the crossbar as Derry threatened to put the match to bed before the break. SECOND GEAR Derry continued to dominate at the start of the second half. And livewire Duffy was the next to threaten as his effort from the edge of the penalty area was just deflected behind by Conor Keeley's block. Keeley — scorer of a brace on Drogheda's last visit to the Brandywell — was then in the thick of the action at the other end. The former St Pat's defender chested down a cross inside the Derry box before volleying narrowly wide of the target on 63 minutes. Substitute Mullen put the icing on the cake in the fifth minute of stoppage time for the hosts. Duffy's strike was saved by the foot of Dennison — but it fell straight to the feet of the ex-Livingston ace who tapped in from four yards. SUN STAR MAN Michael Duffy (Derry) DERRY CITY : Maher 7; Cann 7, Connolly 7, Holt 7; R Boyce 8, Winchester 8 (McMullan 76, 6), Diallo 8 (O'Reilly 63, 6), Whyte 7 (Mullen 75, 7), Duffy 9, S Todd 8; L Boyce 7 (Benson 75, 6). DROGHEDA UNITED : Dennison 5, Kane 6 (Cruise 55, 5), Quinn 7, Harper-Bailey 6, James-Taylor 6 (Bosakani 87, 6), Farrell 5, Brennan 5 (Markey 55, 6), Heeney 6, Keeley 6, Lambe 6, Oluwa 5 (Kareem 60, 6). REFEREE : R Harvey (Dublin) 6.
Irish Examiner
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Derry City climb to second with comfortable win over Drogheda United
Derry City 3 (Todd 33, Boyce 36, Mullen 95) Drogheda United 0 DERRY CITY's Donegal defensive duo Sam Todd and Ronan Boyce sent the Brandywell outfit on their way to a comprehensive victory over a lacklustre Drogheda United to move into second spot in the table. Carndonagh man Todd headed home the opener on 33 minutes from Michael Duffy's clipped cross and three minutes later Ramelton native Boyce pounced to fire home the rebound when Andrew Quinn cleared Duffy's strike off the line. Substitute Danny Mullen added a third five minutes into stoppage time and again Duffy was heavily involved as his strike at the near post was turned into the path of the Scotsman by Drogheda keeper Luke Dennison. It was a third win on the bounce and a third consecutive clean sheet for the Foylesiders, who remain 11 points behind runaway leaders Shamrock Rovers with two games in hand and above third place Bohemians on goal difference. The win was Derry's first over Drogheda United in 12 months since a 5-1 thumping at Brandywell on June 28th and this one was just as comfortable as they avenged a 3-1 defeat by the Boynesiders earlier in the season. Tiernan Lynch was quite happy to stick with the same starting eleven who won back-to-back games in Dublin against Shelbourne and St Pat's last week despite facing into a third game in the space of eight days. His opposite number Kevin Doherty was down to the bare bones and made two changes from the team which drew 1-1 at Cork in their last outing as Thomas Oluwa and Aaron Harper-Bailey came in for Frank Cooper and Warren Davis. Gavin Whyte was lively in the early stages and when he got the ball into feet from Diallo five minutes into the match, the ex-Portsmouth man turned Gavin Brennan but his shot from 25 yards was saved by Luke Dennison. Derry were dominating the ball but without any real tempo and Drogheda were quite content to let the home side play in front of them without troubling the Boynesiders' defence. From Michael Duffy's inswinging free-kick from wide on the right on 24 minutes Holt rose highest at the front post but his glancing header bounced wide of the far post with Dennison rooted to the spot. Diallo tried his luck from distance on the half hour mark as Drogheda continued to frustrate the Candystripes but the midfielder's effort sailed harmlessly off target. Derry broke Drogheda's resolve from a well worked short corner kick on 33 minutes when Duffy received the ball back from Whyte and clipped it into a crowded penalty area where Todd rose above James Taylor Douglas and headed into the corner of the net for the Carndonagh man's first goal of the season and second in 40 appearances for the Brandywell club. The home outfit doubled their lead three minutes later when Duffy raced onto Liam Boyce's throughball, rounded the keeper but his strike was cleared off the line by Andrew Quinn. That clearance fell to Ronan Boyce who continued his run and steered his close range effort into the net. It was the first time Derry scored two goals in a game since a 2-1 win over Cork City on May 9th in Turner's Cross. Derry were well in control but Drogheda found a way in behind the Derry defence moments later when Thomas Oluwa got away from Mark Connolly and from an angle sent a powerful left footed strike towards goal but Maher stood tall and saved at the front post with a strong left hand. Carl Winchester had the ball in the back of the net on 45 minutes when he received the ball from a sublime defence splitting pass from Whyte but the Belfast man had just strayed into an offside position and the goal was ruled out. Substitute Mullen put the icing on the cake in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Duffy's strike was saved by the foot of Dennison but fell straight to the feet of the Scotsman who tapped in from four yards. Derry City: Maher, Cann, Connolly, Holt; R Boyce, Winchester (McMullan 76), Diallo (O'Reilly 63), Whyte (Mullen 75), Duffy, S Todd; L Boyce (Benson 75). Drogheda United: Dennison, Kane (Cruise 55), Quinn, Harper-Bailey, James-Taylor (Bosakani 87), Farrell, Brennan (Markey 55), Heeney, Keeley, Lambe, Oluwa (Kareem 60). Referee: Robert Harvey (Dublin).
The Herald Scotland
20 hours ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Two Scots named in Toulouse vs Bordeaux Top 14 final squads
The full-back has been handed a starting role for Toulouse against Bordeaux-Begles on Saturday. Kinghorn had returned to action for his side in the semi-final triumph over Bayonne last week. Now, he will try and help his side to the Top 14 title. Les compositions de la #FinaleTOP14 sont OFFICIELLES 🔥 Qui du @StadeToulousain ou de @UBBrugby soulèvera le bouclier de Brennus demain soir ? 👀 — TOP 14 Rugby (@top14rugby) June 27, 2025 While Kinghorn will be the only Scotsman in the starting sides, there will be another Scottish player in the squad on the opposing side. Jonny Gray has been listed among the replacements for Bordeaux for the Top 14 final. Read more: Toulouse XV: Neti, Marchand, Aldegheri, Brennan, Flament, Cros, Jelonch, Willis, Graou, Ntamack, Kinghorn, Chocobares, Barassi, Mallia, Ramos. Replacements: Cramont, Baille, Meafou, Banos, Saito, Ahki, Lebel, Merkler. Bordeaux-Begles XV: Poirot, Lamothe, Tameifuna, Petti, Cazeaux, Gazzotti, Samu, Bochaton, Lucu, Jalibert, Bielle-Biarrey, Moefana, Depootere, Penaud, Buros. Replacements: Sa, Perchaud, Gray, Vergnes-Taillefer, Retiere, Carbery, Janse Van Rensberg, Falatea.
