| Just Say Noel! |
It's so hard to keep up these days. In the last year we've been handed yet
another "pigeonhole" to deal with. Prepare yourself for NOELROCK.
Unlike NWONW, Britpop, or even Romo, this term has not been coined to herald a new phase of musical delights, but rather to curb what some call the most alarming trend ever to threaten rock music, i.e. liking the same stuff your folks did! Let's start at the beginning, shall we. No doubt some of you have heard of that band, er, you know, there were four of them. They came from Liverpool. You know, in the sixties. THE BEATLES, that's them. Well this lot has had an effect on the music scene that, apart from a small dalliance with punk, we're still feeling today. Almost every new Britband worth their salt has at some stage experienced, lived with, or owes their success to the Fab Four' music. This alone is not such a bad thing. The Beatles really did revolutionize the music scene, yet kept their integrity very much intact, that is until they decided that a dead John was a good reason to be free as a bird. The problem is this. The very roots of rock'n'roll, and it runs deeper than the music itself sometimes, is that we like it because our ma and pa don't. It's us, it's talking `bout our generation, if you like. So no matter how good a previous generation's music was, by unspoken law it's still no good. BUT, the nature of the game is to constantly bring out bigger and better stuff than you or anyone else ever dreamt of, which leads to a lot of knob turning and recording in funny places like Mongolian outhouses or whatever to get that new sound. Having that in mind, you wonder how far you can turn a knob before it's back where you started. This, my friends, is why pop constantly eats itself. Which brings us back to the nineties and OASIS, even though Noel probably wishes he could be left in the sixties. Now before I go any further let me state this. I am a fan of Oasis. Not a huge fan that sleeps out overnight for tickets, just enough to get some other sucker to do it. So if anything, being a fan gives me more reason to be critical, or not, depending on how you look at it. The truth is, though, that owing to Oasis' unmitigated success here, let alone their phenomenal status in the UK, their style and influences are being felt everywhere. Perth band HEADER, Brisbane band LAVISH, UK upstarts NORTHERN UPROAR, as well as countless other hopefuls like PUSHERMAN, MANSUN, et al, have all had a few slaps of tarnish courtesy of the Oasis brush, whether wanted or not. Even bands like OCEAN COLOUR SCENE and performers like PAUL WELLER, JOHN POWER and RICHARD ASHCROFT, regardless of the fact they were out and about before Oasis came along, have been thrown in to this collective whose patron I'm-no-saint-me-but-there's-a-lot-worse is Noel. In interviews and the like, on the question of who he likes these days, it's usually only five or six groups that he'll mention as being the real music, maan!, which means that considering his position, i.e. no need for toilet paper considering the amount of arse-lickers around, these groups enjoy some of his limelight and prosper accordingly. I happen to agree with most of his choices so far, but that still doesn't necessarily make it right. As the NME says, MORRISSEY used to do the same thing in the Eighties, the only difference being that Noel's choices are popular and sell records. The NME also says that Noel used to name-check the BEASTIE BOYS, BECK, and PORTISHEAD but that all changed when he became friends with one of his more current heroes, Paul Weller, the Don of the Mod Mafia (the Mod-Don, get it, modern, mod, oh forget it). Now I hold Mr. Weller in the highest regard, my recent viewing of his concert being probably the closest I'll get to a religious experience in this lifetime, but I'm too much of a fan of music to know that Paul sometimes has difficulties dealing with anything modern (funny that, really, when you think about it) so Noel's views changing accordingly is a touch alarming when progression is so vital to ongoing success, but then, Paul's been at this game for twenty-odd years and has yet to have a real flop. Oh, this music business, so many conundrums! So everything old is new again (to borrow a THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS line), but what does this mean to the BIS' of the world? Not much, really, cause that's the beauty of music, there's something for everyone. Clem |
| On The Influences Of Mr Noel Gallagher And Why I Don't Give A Toss |
When Amanda Rootes of Fluffy fame (notoriety?) described the ever-smashing Cast as being "innovators in a field of copyists" (Select), she pointed her finger without so much as lifting it from its strategic, *seductive* position on her fishnets. When some well past-it Sex Pistol (Glen "I was replaced before punk was coined" Matlock, I think) denounced the current British scene as being dominated by a wave of "phoney Beatlemania", the "O" word needed no mention, and it yielded none. Generation Y-ers and baby boombettes everywhere, Oasisteria has hit, and everyone has an opinion - one of which is an increasingly cynical one; one which finds an active outlet in forums such as NMEs "Angst" and Vox's "Missive Attack". And I quote:
Hello Noel Gallagher, you wanker. Fuck you, I'm not paying to see you rip off the Beatles at Maine Rd.And this is a mere sample of the vitriol, in this case, provided by British music press devotees like you and I, and one disillusioned American journalist. Quotes from all-knowing music-industry types and members of the Britpop and indie fraternities would keep us here for an age, or at least 12 baton changes of the Next Big Thing. And these are just the negatives. But now, even to read a positive article about Britain's favourite sons means that you also read about Noel's obsession with the Fabs, and how he can't get through a day without mentioning them once; about Noel's transient shared accommodation with Johnny Marr; about how Liam's inspiration to form Rain came after a close encounter of the baggy kind with the stage persona of Ian Brown; about how 'Wonderwall's US chart success parallels that of the Fabs' breakthrough single 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand'; about the tired comparisons to T-Rex, the Who, Status Quo, the Stones, the Kinks. the Pistols, Slade, the Small Faces... and the more *concrete* references to the New Seekers, Stevie Wonder and of course, Gary Glitter.He [Noel] should be up for grand theft for the amount of stuff he has stolen from Beatles records.
-Missive Attack
His [Noel's] canon of retro dad-rock muso dog-shit...
-Angst
Noel Gallagher's ability to revitalise classic rock themes... spews cut-and-paste banality... mimicry of laddish predecessors the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays... After 45 derivative minutes of the Brits at their laziest...
-SPIN Live!
All of which brings us to the bubble-bursting realisation that.... AAGH!! OASIS AREN'T INNOVATIVE!!! Hurry everyone, tape over Live By The Sea, burn your expensive Japanese import singles, smash your pint-sized glass that has "Cigarettes and Alcohol" emblazoned across it, use your very limited "Roll With It" Rizlas before anyone discovers you were a fan; and if they do, calmly reply that you liked them before it went to their heads, and you have since realised that they are unoriginal, arrogant pricks - or don't.
Make up your mind music press: are Oasis "a teasing glimpse of what The Beatles might have sounded like today", a band whose songwriter is "the greatest of the nineties" (LA Times and Q Magazine respectively), or just talentless fuckers whose lead guitarist has a knack for appropriation?
The belief of the latter is growing - an URBAN MYTH which is partly being fostered by the Lennon-esque "bigger-than-Jesus" comments made by Oasis themselves:
- Noel likes to tell people that he was born on the day of 'Sergeant Pepper's release, implying a possession of the "sacred seed". In fact he was born ten days later.
- Liam: "No-one's doing anything now. Like Noel says in 'Hey Now' - he took a walk down memory lane."
- Noel: "It's always intentional [the Beatles allusions], I'm always trying to rip the Beatles off for anything and everything." And Noel again: "Some of the lines from 'Don't Look Back In Anger' come from John Lennon: he's going on about trying to start a revolution in me bed, because they say the brains I had went to my head. Thank you, I'll take that."
- The cover of the 'Live Forever' single is John Lennon's childhood home at 251 Menlove Ave, Liverpool. Similarly, the cover of 'Don't Look Back In Anger' is a reference to the floral state that Ringo found his kit in after recovering from a bout of tonsillitis.
- The opening of 'Don't Look Back In Anger' lifts directly from John Lennon's 'Imagine', while the climax of 'She's Electric' does the same from 'With A Little Help From My Friends'. The lyrics to 'Morning Glory' cite Noel's favourite tune as being 'Tomorrow Never Knows'.
- Most gigs conclude with a rendition of 'I Am The Walrus'; 'Octopus' Garden' is now appearing on set lists; and the Japanese version of 'Some Might Say' includes a homage-paying cover of 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away'.
- In an interview, Liam vented his anger toward some "sad cunt's" version of 'I'm Only Sleeping', stating that he could have sung "his man's top tune" much better.
- The "Quoasis" shirt concept is a brainchild of Noel himself.
- Their most radio-friendly-unit-shifter takes its name from one of George Harrison's post-Fabs projects Wonderwall Music - not, as a rather regretful Tommy Gallagher would have you believe, from the name that barely post-infantile Liam and Noel used to describe their graffitied bedroom wall.
- The Bootleg Beatles supported their (apparently) phenomenal Earl's Court dates, Noel explains: "I wanted the Beatles, but they couldn't make it".
- In an advertisement for a rather dubiously titled compilation "The Godfathers of Britpop", a Gallagher quote appears - after asserting the importance of the Beatles' contribution, Noel states: "And they are of course, where I pinch all my songs from".
- Noel purchased a white suit that looks remarkably similar to the one donned by Lennon on the cover of 'Abbey Road', which is where, incidentally, Oasis were penciled in to do MTV Unplugged. Noel also admits to searching "high and low" for a jacket identical to that worn by John on the sleeve of 'Rubber Soul'. When told by Paul McCartney that he resembled a Fab, Noel replied "I've spent enough money trying to look like one".
So there is your healthy sample of Oasis making it difficult for you to argue their originality, and confirming that those Beatles comparisons will either blot or enhance Oasis' career in hindsight. But could you be arsed to care? All music is derivative, especially in such an insular pop culture as is Britain's. As Tamsin Carvan stated in Chester Issue Two, the first loves of bands will inevitably be a strong influence - imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But will there ever be more than fleeting comments or an occasional pop-tart associating Elastica with Wire, Suede and Bowie, The 'Grarse and the Monkees?
As a passionate Beatles fan, I missed the early nineties musically trying to decode THAT BIT at the end of 'I'm So Tired' on a frustratingly one-way turntable, and agonising over which songs appearing over 7 years, 13 albums and 22 singles were going to make their way onto the legacy of the eighties - the cassette tape. So why, I've been asked, am I an Oasis fan? Do I not consider their brazen references to the fabbest of four sacrilege? The answer is an unwavering NO. Despite priding myself on being as big a Beatles fan as the pantie-wetting masses that scored bit-parts in "A Hard Day's Night", the sad fact remains that John Lennon and I co-existed for but eight months. And although I can say that I've seen Paul McCartney live, being surrounded by a bunch of middle-aged geezers (coherent enough, fellow wannabes?) whose lungs are far too tar-laden to sustain the screams, listening to the cheesiness of 'Hope Of Deliverance' with some off-key vegan groupie (who I blame more than Yoko) on back-up doesn't quite compare to the adrenalin rush that was Shea Stadium, nor the poignant, dramatically ironic end that was Candlestick Park. The Beatles aren't mine. But Oasis are.
And that's why I spend most of my hard-earned McDonalds $ on limited editions that Manda Rin and Sci-Fi Steven would be "proud" of. That's why I can listen to 'Wibbling Rivalry' daily and still be amused. That's why I can spend $20 on 2 minutes of drunken banter and not wince when Noel unashamedly sucks Tony Blair's cock. That's also why, that if by some freakish event of my providential destiny I ever meet the Messrs. Gallagher, I would recite the contents of my CD collection - Beatles, Who, Stones, Cast, Smaller, Manics, OCS - gulp - Burt Bacharach (conveniently neglecting to mention that I own all five Blur albums), whilst simultaneously allowing them to snort lines off my stomach and join in a riotous rendition of Oasis' tour bus song - 'Wouldn't It Be Nice To Be A Fucking Cockney, Wouldn't It Be Nice To Be In Fucking Blur'.
That's why I bought both the albums on vinyl at Glenn A. Baker's Time Warp record store however much I detest the man - John Lennon returned his MBE because he opposed British involvement in the Vietnam War, not because he was altered by "chemical substances" you twat - and now they're nestled between 'Revolver' and the 'White Album' forming a supernova only demonstrated previously by the Smokin' Mojo Filters, when Liam holds up 'Red Rose Speedway' in the film clip to 'Shakermaker', and when Damon Albarn joined Ray Davies for 'Waterloo Sunset' on the White Room - Thank you Q! Not to mention the added bonus of 'Sad Song', 'Bonehead's Bank Holiday', the card for Leamington Spa's winning database and the lyrics to 'Definitely'- It is Mr. Clean and Mr. Ben!!
That's why I overlook the way that Liam told Justine Frischmann to "get her tits out" (while dexterously noticing that Donna Matthews was in fact "gaggin' for it" at the Mercury awards), and why I tolerate the pro-men anti-women lad sub-culture that they have, rather frighteningly, brought to the forefront of chic - my dilettante-esque feminist values get lost somewhere between the bombastic opening riff of 'Rock 'n' Roll Star' and the perfect militant crescendo that brings 'Champagne Supernova' and 1995's greatest album to an end, and all the B-sides besides.
I love their arrogance and the delightfully real sound that the witty, articulate observations of Blur and Pulp constrict. I love the way that they can have 9 singles in the indie charts simultaneously. I love it that Nowaysis played Phoenix alongside Britpop's minor placings and that bands like "Teen Anthems", "Mike Flowers Pops" and "Supernova" can chart. I love the way that they have changed countless football alignments and have revived the concept of indie-stadium-rock (oxymoron or what!) and multi-platinum 45's. I love the fact that they're leading the 90's "British Invasion", the fact that "innovators" Cast oft fill their support slots, and I *especially* love the fact that Courtney Love detests them. And I love it when they steal from the Beatles. Macca doesn't seem to mind - "I like 'Whatever'" - so why should we? (Here would be the point where a less partisan article would make note of George Harrison's comparatively unfavourable comments to the Melody Maker.) Keep in mind punters, 'Definitely' and 'Glory' shit on 'Please Please Me' and 'With The Beatles'. Perhaps by his 13th LP, Noel will have attained the elusive status of "innovator" and "pop music sculptor" as well as enough dosh to buy THOSE RIGHTS from Plastic Wanktastic himself. But does he need to? Myself and countless others will continue to fawn whatever the case - until our grandchildren give us 'Oasis Anthology 1' for Christmas somewhere in the hopefully distant future, and far beyond.
Alison Smith