Oasis definitely maybe will make it
This is the story of five musicians from Manchester, England, who formed a crunchy guitar band, did their time on the pub circuit and ventured to Glasgow, Scotland, for a gig where the president of Creation Records (home to The Boo Radleys and Primal Scream) just happened to be in the audience. He quickly signed them to a label deal.
They recorded their first single, “Supersonic.” It cracked the U.K. chart at No. 31, and a week later, promptly vanished.
“We were quite happy with that,” said lead guitarist and songwriter Noel Gallagher. “We thought a Top 40 single for a new band from England was pretty much unheard of in the last five years.”
End of story? Not yet. The follow-up single, a psychedelic jam called “Shakermaker,” caught them all by surprise. It peaked at No. 11 nationally. They went from playing in front of 150 people in smoke-filled pubs to 2,000-capacity venues in four months. Along the way, they became the new darlings of the self-important British press.
Oasis is ready to take on America on Aug. 23 with its first album, “Definitely Maybe” (on Epic). Gallagher likes their chances stateside.
“That’s one of the great attributes about America, you’re not interested in what’s what and what’s not,” he said. “Any band in the whole world can come to America and have a hit single.”
BWF (before we forget): Oasis definitely made it. “Definitely Maybe” attained gold status and reached No. 58 on Billboard’s pop chart, while the follow-up, “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” reached No. 4 in 1996 and sold more than 3 million copies, powered by the Top 10 single “Wonderwall.” Their third album, “Be Here Now,” peaked at No. 2 in September 1997. … Be here now with Oasis on the Web @ www.oasisinet.com.
About the Author
Gerry Galipault Gerry Galipault debuted Pause & Play online in October 1997. Since then, it has become the definitive place for CD-release dates — with a worldwide audience.
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