Cable: the one band who almost broke up Oasis
Throughout the 1990s, Oasis seemed like they were on the verge of breaking up at any given moment. They may have had their times when everything seemed to be going right, but all Liam Gallagher had to do was have one go at his brother Noel before everything started to fall apart. Even though the band tried their best to be on good behaviour in their time, all it took was some harsh words from the band Cable for them to start falling apart again.
If you look at what the band was going through in 1995, you’d swear that they had nothing to worry about. They may have been bickering now and again, but Noel was on the verge of his finest works yet, descending onto Rockfield Studios to create what would become What’s the Story Morning Glory.
For Noel, there was no room for error. The band had already started putting together their first big hits, so the next album was where they were going to prove that they were more than just a fluke nostalgia act. Noel may have been the workhorse, but Liam was the rockstar in the middle of things, constantly swigging booze and partying in between recording sessions.
As Liam was leaving the pub one day, he came across writer and producer John Robb, who had just finished producing some records for Cable. Not one for modesty whenever talking about his own band, Liam was more than happy to share the rough mixes of their masterpiece with the band, which didn’t exactly go over well.
When listening to the album, Robb recalled the band trying to get Liam riled up, saying, “[Liam] goes to the guy in Cable and says, ‘It’s great, innit?’ and he goes, ‘It sounds crap. It sounds like The Beatles’. The bloke was pissed out of his head, and he starts prodding Liam with his finger. And there’s this massive crashing sound, and they’re having a fight in the other room”.
While this kind of behaviour was nothing new for Noel, it was one of the first times that the band had that kind of chaos show up at the studio, leading to him shelving the band for a few weeks to chill out. With new drummer Alan White having just joined, Noel decided to cut the band’s studio time, only recording what was needed before buggering off like he did when the band sabotaged their own gig at the Whiskey-a-Go-Go.
Cable may have been responsible for the band’s demise for a few days, but it didn’t end up slowing Oasis down at the time. This was right before they took over the world, and they weren’t going to let that kind of fight become the be-all and end-all. After returning to the studio, the band cranked out the rest of the tunes and walked out with a classic featuring landmark singles like ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’.
Then again, Oasis was a ticking time bomb for half of their career, and that kind of animosity would rear its head multiple times before Noel had enough. Since the band had practically become a money machine towards the end, Noel decided to fold the band in 2009 after one too many chaotic backstage incidents, leaving a disgruntled crowd in Paris and never returning to the band ever again. The band may have lasted far longer than anyone expected, but one can only imagine what the world missed out on had Cable spelt the demise of them before they hit Knebworth.
