chapter iii 6th member of oasis

7/29/2019 Chapter III 6th Member of Oasis

1/12

THE 6TH

MEMBER OF OASIS

Noel woke up on his 21st birthday full of excitement and anticipation. Not only was

he celebrating a landmark in his life, but he would be going to see a gig that night of

The Stone Roses. His mates had encouraged him to celebrate the day drinking in the

local Burnage bars, and then perhaps venturing in to Manchester city centre to drinksome more, chat up girls etc, but Noel was heavily into music by that stage and would

not have missed this gig for anything in the world.

A largely uneventful 21st was had during the day, Noel spending it with Louise, but no

major excitement was had until the evening when Noel and Liam set off for

Manchesters International 2 Club. Ironically enough, this was previously named The

Astoria, and was where Peggy and Thomas had first met 24 years earlier. The setting

was to prove equally as important and historic in Noels life as his parents first

meeting.

Despite knowing full well that he was working at Kennedys the next day, Noel had nointention of not making the most of his birthday night and had already taken a

substantial quantity of speed, with more in his pocket for later use. Noel and Liam

entered the club, headed for the bar and drank some beers. In typical fashion, though,

they then went their separate ways, Liam on the search for good-looking girls while

Noel preferred to take in the atmosphere and enjoy the DJ set being played. The

support band for that night was James, and Noel casually taking in their set and

afterwards heading to the toilets, to finish the speed he had brought with him. The

Stone Roses appeared on-stage and, despite not being on top-form, both Noel and

Liam were mesmerized by them, their on-stage presence and attitude striking a chord

with both. Here was a band from their home-town, adored by the fans and making it

happen for themselves, no complaints about lack of education or opportunities, they

overcame all of this and were now on-stage, playing their music to a more than

appreciative audience. Both Noel and Liam would later speak separately about the

inspiration and motivation they drew from this performance, individually dreaming of

being Ian Brown and John Squire, and unaware of just how prophetic this would

become.

Halfway through the gig, Noel spotted someone with a tape recorder standing close-

by. Intrigued, and feeling confident as a result of the speed he had taken, Noel

approached the guy, casually asking him what he was doing. Due to Noels

confidence, the guy was taken aback, startled, believing Noel to work for the club orthe band themselves. Noel explained that he did not and they got chatting about

music, gigs and guitars. Noel mentioned that he had just bought a copy of

Planecrash by the Inspiral Carpets and asked his new mate what he thought about

them. His new mate was actually Graham Lambert, the guitarist for the Inspiral

Carpets and Graham explained to Noel that he was kind of in them sort of thing.

Although not a huge fan of the band, Noel has always respected fellow musicians and

the fact that Graham was the guitarist was an even greater bond the two. They spent

the next few hours in deep conversation about music and naturally hit it off,

exchanging telephone numbers and Noel being invited on the guest list for the next

Inspiral Carpets gig a week later. Graham is a friendly, likeable character and

bonded well with Noel, with the two of them keeping in touch regularly over the nextfew months.


2/12

Noel made his way home to Louise ecstatic with how his 21st had gone. Not only had

he spent the day with the girl he considered to be the love of his life, but he had seen

one of his favourite bands live, one of his main idols, John Squire and also made a

good contact in the Manchester music scene. Never one to pass up such an

opportunity, Noel has always had a knack of maximizing these, ensuring he gets asmuch as he possibly can from any meeting that comes his way. Graham would prove

to be an excellent contact to have made and also a good friend, although the two

would rarely speak in a matter of a few years.

The impact the night had on Liam was almost as important to Oasis future as that of

Noels. Completely taken with Ian Brown, Liam had a new idol, a new goal and aim

basically, Liam wanted to be him and began to take guitar music seriously.

The next few months saw Noel continue his day-time job at Kennedys, wishing away

the hours until he was able to return home to carry on with the latest song he was

writing, or go out to see a band live. Noel became a regular at Manchester gigs,building up further contacts along the way and, with every band he saw live, realizing

that he was better than any of them, had more talent, wrote better songs and

questioning- if they could do it, why not him? His confidence growing every day,

Noels song writing became more serious and prolific and he decided that the music

business was where he wished to be.

Keeping in touch with Graham Lambert regularly, Noel was delighted to receive a

call from him one day, informing him that the Inspiral Carpets had sacked their lead

singer, Stephen Holt, and asking Noel if he would like to audition for them. Noel saw

this as his break in the music industry; the hours ofpractice, writing songs, perfecting

them were now going to lead him to being part of a band, and a relatively successful

one at that. Noel required no encouragement whatsoever to agree for an audition and

the date was set for 21 December 1988.

With a couple of weeks to prepare, Noel deliberated over which songs he should sing.

Should he sing one of his own, thus giving the Inspirals the opportunity of seeing that,

not only were they getting a fine signer, but a songwriter, as well? In the end, he

decided upon the Inspiral Carpets songs: Joe, Whiskey and Keep The Circle

Round and Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones. Noel arrived at The Mill

Studio, South Street, Ashton-Under-Lyme that night feeling nervous, as this could

have been the big break he had been waiting for. He looked back at the chancemeeting with Graham Lambert on his birthday and began to believe that this was fate,

his destiny being mapped out for him. Somewhat nervous, Noel overcame this by

acting confidently and cockily, not wishing to display any sign of weakness at all and

also by a method slightly less legal.

The two main members of the group, Clint Boone and Graham Lambert, were

impressed with both his singing and his attitude. They already knew Noel personally

and so were in no doubt as to his dedication and commitment. Noel felt confident he

would be offered the role but they turned him down, explaining that his voice was

too punky and that they were looking for more of a Sinatra feel. Having built this

moment up, Noel was devastated, but tried to not let his feelings be seen. He headedback to Kennedys to work, disappointed but doubly determined to continue with his


3/12

song writing and make it in the music business.

In April 1989 Noel broke his foot at work when someone dropped a piece of a gas

mans pipe on it. Unable to continue his labouring work, he was moved to the store-

room. Knowing that, despite not offering him the job, the Inspirals had been

impressed with him, Noel called Graham Lambert to tell him what had happened andthat he would be keen to work for the band as a roadie. As they were so friendly,

Graham was more than willing to help him out and invited Noel along to help them

out at Leeds Duchess Of York pub. Noel arrived at the pub, had to be helped around

on crutches but so began his career as an Inspiral Carpets roadie! Noel quits his job at

Kennedys to work as a full time roadie.

Beginning as a guitar roadie, the band soon appointed another one, promoting Noel to

looking after their guitars, keyboards and drums. Although he generally plays down

his time with the Inspirals, this was to prove a vital training ground for Noel and one

which would be of enormous benefit to him and Oasis in later years. It was also

where Noel was to meet someone pivotal in his career, who would become one of hisclosest friends and of huge help to him, Mark Coyle.

Mark Coyle was the Inspirals guitar technician and sound engineer, working for them

during breaks in The Stone Roses touring. Much respected in the industry,

particularly in his home-town of Manchester, Mark had worked with many bands,

including The Happy Mondays. A talented guitarist, Mark first band was called The

Wild Strawberries but they never enjoyed any success and he moved in sound

engineering, where he found his niche. Looking at their backgrounds and interests, it

was inevitable that Noel and Mark would hit it off and become close friends. Both

came from the same side of Manchester, both came from Irish Catholic families, both

loved football Mark being as fanatical about Manchester United as Noel is for City,

indeed he was banned from Old Trafford for being too noisy and zealous, both being

fine guitarists and they shared a passion for the same artists: The Beatles, The Smiths,

The Stone Roses among others. Noel summarised their friendship as:

Music and football is what brought us together. E was really into The Beatles and

hes also a full-on United fan, the dick. We had loads of arguments about City and

United. Still do to this day. Hes also a brilliant guitarist. He never plays in front of

anyone now but let me tell you, hes top.

Noel called Coyley, as he is known, his partner in crime and they were certainly themost boisterous and adventurous of the Inspirals, or their entourage. Both heavily into

drink and drugs, they maximised the opportunities given to them to ensure they

enjoyed every minute of their rime with them. On tour, the two of them used to share

a room, and became very close in a short space of time. They worked together very

closely, as well, with Noel being in charge of sound checks he took the opportunity

and time to try out his own songs. Coyley used to play drums and Noel guitar and

vocals, Coyley always advising him on what sounded best and where to improve on it.

Not one to take advice or criticism easily at the best of times, he was, and remains one

of the few, select people whose opinion Noel respected, listened to and acted upon.

Although completely unaware at the time, this was the beginning of the forming of

Oasis sound, unique to the band and formed in the main by Noel and Coyley.Although his influence on Noel and Oasis stretches further than this, for this reason


4/12

alone he is worthy of the title The Sixth Member Of Oasis and it could easily be

argued that he was the most important person in Oasis sound who was not named

Gallagher.

Covered in more detail later in the book, Noel and Coyley began recording music,

mainly in Coyleys bedroom in his house, 388 Mauldeth Road West, a landmark inOasis history. Here they recorded dance demos together, Noels early demos and also

some songs which were to become famous.

Meeting Mark Coyle was a monumental event in Noels career, one which would fast-

forward his progress no end, and Noel has never forgotten this. Noel has always lived

by the work hard, play hard motto and they certainly enjoyed playing hard while

with the Inspirals!

The famous story about Noel eating cornflakes sprinkled with cocaine is falsely

attributed to when he was with Oasis. In fact this happened when touring abroad with

the Inspirals. Noel and Coyley woke up in the hotel room with vague recollections ofthe previous nights events. They were scheduled to return to the UK that day and,

upon entering the kitchen, found a ridiculously large amount of cocaine remaining.

Clearly they were unable to carry this on the plane and so decided that the best course

of action would be to have it with their breakfast cornflakes! This is not the most

appetising dish, however, and Noel never tried it again.

The Inspiral Carpets were an anti-drugs band, with none of the members indulging at

all. This is perhaps one of the reasons why Noel was turned down for the lead singing

role, the other members being a little wary of having someone so clearly keen on

experimenting within their band. Noel and Coyley used to hide their stashes from the

band, and more importantly from customs when travelling. When they travelled

Europe by tour bus they devised an ingenious method. Rather then hiding their drugs

in their own bags, they used to plant them on the sleeping band members when

crossing borders, carefully and silently retrieving them when the coast was clear! Had

the drugs been discovered, it would have been the band members themselves facing

the resultant problems, rather than the two partners in crime! None of the Inspirals

ever cottoned on to this, and only found out about it years later when Noel confessed

in a magazine interview.

Noel also recalled a time when he and Coyley were so out of it during a gig that they

hidebehind a stack of amps during the performance and were totally oblivious to anyof the songs whatsoever. Another member of the road-crew had to find them once the

gig had ended and carefully kept them out of eye-shot from any of the band members,

so as to avoid any problems for them.

Coupled with the parties, drug taking and fun, though, was hard-work. Noel has

always had a strong work ethic and rarely puts in less than his all to any task.

Working for the Inspirals was no different; he viewed this as a break in the music

industry, one of his feet in the door and was determined not to do anything to run that.

Noel was greatly respected by his fellow roadies and the band themselves, for his

knowledge, talent and ability. Indeed, he was one of the very first people to hear any

new Inspirals material, the band trusting his opinion to such an extent that they wouldplay new songs to him, in order to get constructive criticism and then change the song


5/12

accordingly. He was also highly respected for his musical ability; already a master of

the guitar, Noel used his role to master the drums and keyboards, as well. He would

later use this drumming talent to great effect with Oasis, recording several songs. But

the other side of the coin to this talent was his impatience with the various drummers

of Oasis. Having so much talent himself, and not even considering himself to be a

drummer, Noel found it difficult to understand why the guy he was paying to do therole was not as gifted as himself. In June 1990 the Inspirals drummer, Noddy, was

very ill and the band had a gig commitment to fulfil in Austria. Knowing Noels

talent, Graham Lambert and Clint Boone asked him if he would step in for the gig,

which he enthusiastically agreed to. He began rehearsing with the band for the gig and

all present were amazed at just how good he was, enthusing to all around. Word got

back to Noddy about this and he, amazingly enough, became the picture of health

immediately and so Noels Inspiral Carpet debut was thwarted. He never played on-

stage nor recorded with them ever, but did appear alongside them at Reading Festival,

which he described as his most embarrassing Inspiral Carpet moment, if not of his

entire career. Part of their stage show was to have a pantomime horse on with them

and they reckoned it would be a good move to have Noel swinging from the udder!Not exactly how Noel wished to make his major UK festival debut and a moment he

would far rather forget.

As much as Noel plays down his time with them, the experience was vital for him and

Oasis. Not only did he become an all-round expert on several instruments and

equipment but observed and learned from everything he saw going on. These lessons

would prove invaluable to Oasis when starting up and negotiating with various

parties.

Noel summed this up in 1996:

It was a great chance to suss it all out for three or four years. Being around

managers, agents, record company people and journalists.

The Inspiral Carpets were an honest bunch and probably a little too trusting, leading

to them making various mistakes, contractually and otherwise Noel witnessed and

learned from these, vowing never to go down the same path with the group he would

one day lead.

On top of his technician responsibilities, Noel enthusiastically helped in other areas,

as well, in the office with paperwork, band merchandise, replying to fans letters, heensured that he knew the exact structure and set-up required to make a band run

successfully and smoothly.

He also had his first experience of giving interviews, when he would pretend to be

Clint Boon when Clint himself was either too hung-over or just fed-up of the rock star

ritual. Noels very first interview as himself came in spring 1991, when a freelance

journalist named Stella Blackburn arranged to interview the Inspiral Carpets, turned

up at the venue agreed (ironically enough, the Swindon Oasis), only to discover that

the band had changed their minds and left. Stella Blackburn then thought she might

as well interview the roadie, Noel. The interview was brief and focussed on the

music industry, but even at that stage Noel displayed signs of knowing exactly whatto say in such circumstances, mocking several of the stars of that period (Chesney


6/12

Hawkes and Rod Stewart being two of his targets), providing several quotes which

could have been used as headlines and clearly relishing the limelight. Rather

surprisingly, Noel also fiercely criticised stadium gigs: theres no point in putting on

massive great big gigand being shit. And was complimentary of his soon-to-be

rivals, Blue, saying it was very, very, very healthy, indeed that they were in the

charts! Equally surprising is that the media failed to drag this quote up when theOasis v Blur fued arose.

From a purely financial viewpoint, Noels job was also extremely worthwhile. Rather

than earning 100 a month on the dole or the same amount a week from the various

jobs he was doing, he was earning from 500-750 a week, a substantial amount at

that time. He was still living with Louise Jones at this time and their combined

incomes were enough for them to both enjoy a good living and for Noel to spend the

money required to progress a musician. As a result of this, Noels guitar and

recording equipment collection grew steadily, becoming a keen collector of these and

he now owns over 100 guitars.

The Inspirals experience also allowed Noel to get the rock n roll lifestyle and excesses

out of his system and meant that when he began with Oasis he had already done

everything a rock star was meant to do, leading him to become singularly focussed

on the music and achieving the success he craved. In Noels own words, he looked

back in July 1995, reflecting: I was bored by the lifestyle before I even started this.

Foreign tours, all-night parties, hazy recollections of the previous days events,

groupies and adulation were all experienced by him while working with the Inspirals

and this is where he differed from the other four members of Oasis, who were rock

virgins as success came their way. Noel became fed-up with touring abroad rather

quickly, the excitement and novelty of turning up to a different airport every morning

and spending exactly the same two hour spell except surrounded by a different

language, held little appeal to him, in the same way that being on an uncomfortable,

old tour bus with the same twenty males hardly inspired him, either. The Inspirals

took Noel along to countries such as US, Argentina, Japan, Russia and Estonia and he

quickly learned this was a necessary evil, in order to become famous and successful it

was of utmost importance that the fans buying your music and merchandise were able

to see you and witness a live performance by you, leaving them hungry for more and

more. Once again, a shrewd, smart businessperson such as Noel made a mental note

of this fact and so it followed that Oasis would tour the vast majority of countries,

venturing to places other successful bands would normally only deem worthy of

sending a promotional video to.

Long tours abroad meant long spells of free-time, with little to do except spend your

earnings in the over-priced hotel bar. Although partaking in his fair share of this,

Noel chose to couple it with working on the music, as well, spending hours in his

hotel room playing his guitar and singing, until he felt he had mastered and perfected

that particular song. Mark Coyle was often present during these times, which were

vital to Noels development as a songwriter. Coyley would either listen and

encourage, or play along with Noel during sound checks, which became a regular,

growing feature of the Inspirals gig preparation, so much so that Graham Lambert

later commented that they would sound check for longer than the Inspirals did, with

no gig to prepare for! Although said jokingly, this fact was not unnoticed by the bandat all, and would be one of the main reasons why they chose to replace Noel and


7/12

Coyley as technicians/roadies, realising fully that their minds and focus were

elsewhere, and that the Inspirals were openly being used as a vehicle to progress

Noels own career, rather than helping their own, which was, after all, what they were

paying the pair 750 each a week to do!

Mark Coyle was now Noels closest friend by far and one of the few people heactually trusted a friendship which has remained throughout the years and during

Noels meteoric rise to fame and fortune. The basic reason why this friendship

remained so strong and true is because Coyley never looked to Noel for anything

other than this. Unlike so many other friends Noel would make throughout the

years, where he quickly realised that they had their own, selfish reasons for wanting to

be close to him, Coyley simply wanted to spend time with his mate, help him and

encourage him to become the star he knew he deserved to be. He has so much self-

respect and pride that he never once used Noels door-opening name to do so, always

achieving whatever he achieved on his own talents and efforts.

When Coyley set up his own band, Tailgunner, in 1998, he asked Noel to drum on hisdebut album, which Noel was ecstatic to do. Although reported by the music press,

this was never the selling point or attraction of the band that had to be the strength

of the music, rather than a celebrity guest musician. Although no stranger to

appearing on songs of other artists recordings, drumming on an entire album is a

completely different level of commitment, yet one Noel was more than happy to take

on, such was his desire to help his friend out. It was suggested that Noel would drum

under an alias, so as to deflect any publicity about his involvement in the band, but he

explained why he did not as: Hes my mate; Im not going to tell him he cant have

my name on the sleeve.

The album was critically acclaimed, and was not the Oasis-like one many people

expected. Instead, Coyley drew from other inspirations, such as Led Zeppelin, to

create his own style of music. Indeed, he sought to distance his own band from Oasis

music to such an extent that they are not even listed on Tailgunners official MySpace

page as an influence. The album was supported by a UK tour, with many people

speculating whether Noel would play live for them or not. He and Coyley decided

against this move, believing that by doing so it would take away from the music and

this is not what the tour was designed to do. Playing in small clubs, there is little

doubt that the crowds were larger than they would have been without the Noel

appearance rumours, and Tailgunner merchandise sales were enhanced, as well.

Although he did not play live with them, Noel turned up at a couple of gigs to supportCoyley, who was delighted with his appearance. Noel, however, felt somewhat guilty

and self-conscious at the shows, being bombarded by fans and requests for

autographs, what he really felt like saying was Fuck off, go and ask forhis autograph

and buy his CD! He did not, of course, but similarly he only attended two

Tailgunner shows as a result. In 2007 Tailgunner released a second album, which

Noel did not appear on, as Coyley preferred to bring in a full-time band member.

Coyleys musical tastes were diverse and wide, and he passed many of his passions on

to Noel. Noel used to be in charge of the music on the Inspirals tour bus, with both

Clint Boone and Graham Lambert reporting that they would become very fed-up of

constant Beatles songs. Coyley was also a huge Beatles fan and he and Noel inspiredeach other by discussing rare recordings, bootlegs, best versions of songs, and Noels


8/12

passion and interest for the band grew as a result.

He had rarely met anyone in his life who shared his passion of music and to meet

Coyley now was perfect timing. Up until this point Noels musical taste had been

punk, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, U2 and his dance period, obsessively listening to

these artists. Through his friendship and long hours spent with Coyley, he opened up

to new artists, who would influence the style of his song writing and also the sound ofOasis for many years.

Most people have heard of Burt Bacharach, could sing along to a good few songs, but

be unaware that it was he who had written them. Songs such as This Guys In Love

With You, Magic Moments, Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head are worldwide,

everyday classics, which everybody knows but remain unaware of the writer. Noel

was in a similar boat, having loved these songs being played on the radio, the lovely

melodies and effective orchestral accompaniments but never purchased one single

record of his. Coyley was a huge Bacharach fan and this formed a significant part of

his play-list. He introduced Noel to these songs and Noel instantly identified and

bonded with them, sharing his passion immediately and playing Burt Bacharach rightup there with his other favourites. He was also to become a major influence on

Noels song writing, songs such as Half The World Away, Going Nowhere being

almost more Bacharach-ish than his own! His records were quickly purchased for

Noels collection and he fulfilled an ambition on 27 June 1996. By singing This

Guys In Love With You onstage with Bacharach at the Royal Festival Hall, London.

Noel was disappointed with his performance that night the one and only time he has

appeared as the singer and nothing else which was surprising, given that he sang it

perfectly and added a new dimension to it. He had probably built the moment up in

his mind to such an extent that it was never going to match his expectations. Not

forgetting Coyley that night, Noel ensured that he got the best seats and also

introduced him to their shared idol.

Led Zeppelin can be heard in Oasis music, being a very heavy and obvious influence

at times but rarely cited as such by the music press, who prefer to labour The Beatles

constantly. It was Coyley who made Noel aware of Led Zeppelin, playing their songs

regularly and Noel loved the dance beat mixed with heavy guitars, a style he would

keep and work on, only really releasing music in this style around Standing On The

Shoulders Of Giants time. Indeed, Noel would later remark that any Led Zeppelin

similarities heard in his songs could be completely and totally attributed to Mark

Coyle, as he only discovered the band through him.

An influence of Noels that has become more and more evident is that of Neil Young.

Young was Coyleys greatest idol, ranking him above John Lennon and insisting that

he could do no wrong. During their Inspirals time he would lend records to Noel and

again, Noel instantly bonded with them, but stored this influence away for several

years until he felt he had mastered it. Noel Youngs prominence in his music began

with him covering the classic Hey, Hey, My, My and, gaining much confidence from

the acclaim he received for it, continued in his song writing.

Mark Coyle extended Noels musical taste and once again shaped the sound of Oasis,

lasting long after he stopped working with them.

While Noel was touring abroad with the Inspirals, improving daily as a songwriter (hehad already written several songs which would become all-time classics), Liam was


9/12

still in Manchester, living in the family home, working odd-jobs but had not remained

idle on the musical side of his life. Liam was friendly with two fellow Mancunians,

Paul McGuigan and Paul Athurs, affectionately known as Guigsy and Bonehead

respectively. Bonehead was a guitarist and keyboardist and went from band to band,

never remaining with any for a significant amount of time, yet taking every one

seriously. He and Guigs had formed a band called Rain, together with drummer TonyMcCarroll and singer Chris Hutton. If accounts are to be believed, and there is no

evidence to doubt them, Rain were awful, playing gigs in tiny bars to a few drunk

couples and effectively going nowhere. One day Liam was in Boneheads house and

began singing along to a record being played. Boneheads wife was having a bath and

told him that Liam had the voice of an angel. Already aware of Liams singing

capabilities, and of his looks and charisma, Bonehead decided he needed Liam to

replace Hutton as lead singer in his band and agreed this move after talking it over

with Guigsy. So the seeds of Oasis were sowed, albeit raw, primitive and bearing no

resembalence image-wise or musically to the Noel-dominated Oasis which would

follow. They rehearsed together and Liam and Bonehead wrote a few songs together,

as well, which were to form the basis of their live performance. Liam was unhappywith the bands name and suggested that this should be changed to Oasis, this having

struck him when he saw an Inspiral Carpets poster in Noels bedroom, the band

having played the Oasis venue in Swindon. Having a substantially stranger

personality than Bonehead, Guigsy and Tony, and being the star attraction of the band

even in those days, none of his suggestions or ideas were likely to be dismissed and so

Rain became Oasis.

Upon returning home to Louise Jones after touring the US with the Inspirals, Noel

learned of Liams new band and that they were playing a gig at Manchesters

Boardwalk on 18 August 1991. Feeling both pride and amazement that Liams band

were going to play a live gig, this was a date that Noel was never going to miss, and it

was firmly etched in his diary.

Noel went along to the Boardwalk that night with Louise Jones and met his other

brother, Paul, when he arrived. Excited and slightly amused, he watched a 4-song set-

list of Liam/Bonehead compositions, none of which were potential hits, nor were the

band overly impressive, either. The one song Noel considered to be listenable was

called Take Me and this remained on early set-lists when Noel finally joined.

The popular story about Noel joining Oasis was that he went back-stage immediately

after the gig, told them they were shit but that he would join, write all of the songs andmake them rich and famous. Although thus carries some truth, and provides an

excellent story, the reality was different.

Noel did indeed go backstage to tell the band that they were shit, but that he would

be interested in joining them. He invited them back to his and Louises flat in India

House after the gig to listen to some of his songs, in order to decide if they wanted

him, with the full knowledge that they were bound to, of course. Off the band and

Mark Coyle went to India House where a few beers were had during a Noel solo gig

consisting of Live Forever, Must Be The Music, Snakebite, I Will Show You, See The

Sun, Colour My Life, Life In Vain and Better Let You Know. Noel could have

stopped after playing Live Forever, this song being strong enough on its own to merithis Oasis takeover, but treated them to an extra half hour of his compositions.


10/12

Stunned with the quality of his songs the band was desperate for Noel to join, fully

realising this was their best, or only chance of making it. Contrary to the popular

myth, Noel played it cool, being non-committal and suggesting this was not the only

option he had to consider. Even in those early days Noel knew how to market himself

to the best effect and create the need and demand for more. He waited a few weeks,

during which time the other band members frantically called Liam to see if Noel hadmade up his mind yet. Eventually Noel met with them again, agreeing to join Oasis

but under certain, non-negotiable conditions. These being:

He would be fully in charge. Everybody would turn up at rehearsals, on time, every

time. Everybody would give 100% commitment to Oasis. Drink/drugs would be taken

in moderation and be strictly secondary to Oasis. If anybody broke one of these rules

then they would be out, no questions.

Due to the strength of his songs, Noel could have put in extra conditions, messages on

demand, 99% of takings going to him etc and the band would have accepted them but

they eagerly signed on the dotted line, metaphorically.

Noel immediately brought in Coyley as the bands sound engineer, which the band

were initially unsure of, seeing him as an outsider and a bit quiet. No serious doubts

were raised, though, for two reasons: firstly, it was now unquestionably Noels band

and secondly the warmed to Coyley during their first drinking session together, fully

recognising him as one of their own.

The band rehearsed at The Boardwalk, minutes from Noels flat, and got to work on

the Oasis sound, constantly with Coyleys help and guidance. He would often record

the early rehearsals, as he would continue to do throughout the years, and he must

have the ultimate Oasis bootleg collection in the world. Unfortunately, his closeness

to Noel means that they will probably never be heard.

Noels first on-stage appearance came at little reported about Granada Festival, which

is often missed in Oasis history, in September 1991. This is probably omitted as it

was a one-song set, the band only playing Take Me. Two gigs at the Boardwalk came

next, one in October 1991 and then Columbia being debuted on 15 January 1992, as

an instrumental. Columbia was always intended to be played as such, until Liam and

Chris Griffiths of The Real People added some lines and Noel, inspired by the sound,

completed the song. The very next morning, Noel and Coyley left at 5.30am to travel

to Japan with the Inspiral Carpets again, both buzzing from Oasis progress anddevelopment, despite still playing to around 40-50 people. This trip came at a good

time for the two, able to take stock of the last few months, plan ahead and, just as

importantly boosts their bank balances.

When they returned, Oasis went to Out Of The Blue studios in Manchester to record

their first demo. Noel did not feel that his own songs were perfected yet and so the

band recorded Liam/Bonehead compositions: Alive, Reminisce and Take Me. The

sound was very Stone Roses influenced, the songs were not Noels and as a result he

lost interest in this demo, later denying that he had ever played on it. Noel then

arranged a gig in Datford, Kent, which was the bands first outside of Manchester.

This was scheduled for 19 April, as support to the Ya Yas and Noel managed toarrange this as a result of the connections he had made through the Inspirals. When


11/12

they arrived there, Liam had has rock star head on, possibly resulting from

performing outside of his home-town and flatly refused to go on as support to a

fucking student band. The Ya Yas were not bothered by this at all and simply

wanted their music to be heard and so Oasis first headlining set came about.

Gigs in Middleton and Oldham followed before Oasis very first charity gig, atPlayback Roadshow on 22 June. This was a difficult event to become involved with,

and only happened due to Boneheads brother being friendly with the organiser. This

was the first of many charity events supported by Noel/Oasis throughout the years and

they donated a signed tape of two mixes of Take Me to be auctioned. This tape has

never surfaced since and, regardless of what the winning bidder paid, they could

doubtless add a good few zeros to the value now!

Three Manchester gigs followed, in July, August and September. The September gig

was the In The City International Unsigned Talent Night and spaces on the bill were

very hard to get so Noel, again, used his Inspirals contacts to good effect.

Oasis were now beginning to attract media interest, Noel and Guigsy being

interviewed by Steve Covell for Manchesters Uptown magazine and then Noel by

Penny Anderson for the Manchester Evening News. The latter was an important step

for the band, with Penny writing a full-page article which was highly complimentary

of them, including calling their demo tape the best all year. Noel did himself no

harm at all in making himself attractive to potential interviewers by providing several

good quotes. When asked to describe Oasis style of music, he replied that it was

neither pop nor rock, perhaps pock, and when asked about the lack of keyboards in

the bands music he sarcastically quipped: there has never been a cool keyboard

player apart from Elton John. Amazingly, this opinion was taken seriously by a

lot of people and Noel did not live it down for years!

At this stage Oasis did not have a manager, so Noel took on the role himself. He was

friendly for a long time with Liam Walsh, who also worked with the Inspirals, and

Liams girlfriend worked for a company called Red Alert. Liam arranged for Noel to

be able to work from this companys offices, where he made calls, sent faxes, letters

etc. This obviously gave the band a more professional image, appearing that they had

their own management offices. Noel also sent out a lot of demo tapes to various

record companies from there, desperately keen to get a record deal. This goes against

Noels later claims that he only sent out a limited number to a select few people, but is

the truth.

Oasis continued to rehearse religiously at the Boardwalk, easing the cost by sharing

the time with a band called the Sister Lovers. The two bands became friendly and

Noel would later immortalise them in his song My Sister Lover. It was through this

friendship that Alan McGee had his first contact with Oasis. He was friendly with

the band and one of their members, Debbie Turner, invited him to the shared rehearsal

room one night to share a spliff. Upon entering, McGee saw the Union Jack on the

wall, emblazoned with Oasis and instantly thought them to be a right-wing,

nationalist group. McGee made a mental note that this was not the type of band he

wished to be involved with..

Towards the end of 1992, Noel and Mark Coyle went on tour to work with the


12/12

Inspirals again, across the UK. Unknown to either of them, this would be the last

time they would work with the band. They hit it off immediately with the support

band, The Real People, and invited Chris and Tony Griffiths along to Oasis next

scheduled gig at the Boardwalk, 5 January 1993. At the end of the tour Noel and

Coyley were told by the Inspirals that they were no longer required to work with

them, with a lack of money being the reason given. Both were also given a final pay-off of 5000, but, as this was around two months earnings, it was of little comfort.

Finances were certainly not the true reason why they were sacked, the real reasons

being:

The Inspirals felt, with some justification, that neither Noel nor Coyley were

focussed on their band, being keeneron Noels songs and using their sound checks

to rehearse them. They were clearly aware of their commitment to Oasis and did not

believe they could be committed to both. Noel was using every possible opportunity

available to him to push/open doors for Oasis, doing so while the Inspirals were

paying him! Drugs the Inspirals became fed-up with Noel and Coyleys behaviour,

towards these, although he would later claim this to be less than one third of thereason why.

Being sacked and so back on the dole was very bad timing as Noel needed the income

to fund Oasis rise and progression. Without this he knew he would struggle to

continue at the rate they had been. He was also grateful for the platform to promote

Oasis that his status with the Inspirals gave him. This is the real reason why Noel

now plays down his time with them, is overly critical of the band and barely spoke to

Clint Boone or Graham Lambert following his sacking severely chastising brother

Paul for doing so at Glastonbury 1994. Noel felt let-down by the Inspiral Carpets,

lied to and left job-less for no real reason, he was, after all, doing every task he was

asked to and more.

So, Noel found himself at a crossroads in January 1993. On the one hand, he had gigs

arranged for Oasis, was completely happy with his band, in total control, had his side-

kick, Coyley, with him, they were working on a second demo tape, which would be

his, unlike the first one, they were beginning to attract media attention everything

was on the way up. On the other, he was now unemployed and had no way to finance

his bands progression.

Was this to be the breaking or making of Oasis?

chapter iii 6th member of oasis

Documents