“The be-all, end-all”: The two bands Noel Gallagher modelled Oasis on
Manchester has produced some of the most iconic and influential acts in British guitar music. Salford spawned post-punk staples Joy Division in the late 1970s. The jangly misery of The Smiths began just down the road in Stretford. The Fall, Buzzcocks, The Stone Roses, the list goes on. Even now, the city is producing indie bands aplenty, from Blossoms to Delights. But there is perhaps no band more intrinsically linked to Manchester than Oasis.
After growing up in the city, the Gallagher brothers would become an essential part of its musical history when they formed Oasis in the early 1990s. With their football chant-esque lyricism and massive melodies, they quickly won over Britpoppers and guitar fans with all-time hits like ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’. The music history of Manchester would influence their sound, but it wasn’t the only scene they looked to for inspiration.
One of Oasis’ biggest influences came from just across the M62, from the port city of Liverpool. Years before Liam or Noel were even born, The Beatles were already paving the way for them from the Cavern Club. When Noel was asked about the influence of the Beatles during a chat with Addicted To Noise in 1995, he stated that the Fab Four were “the be-all, end-all” to Oasis, “Where it starts and where it finishes.”
“Everything we do is inspired by The Beatles,” he enthused, and it’s easy to see this reflected in their work. The band have littered their discography with references to the Liverpudlian band, with nods to yellow submarines and helter skelters. They’ve also covered a fair few Beatles classics in their time, including a performance ‘I Am The Walrus’ at their iconic Knebworth show.
When it came to their original music, Oasis honed a sound that was quite different to the Beatles. They created a kind of laddy, youthful guitar music that was perfect for the Britpop era, but like The Beatles, solid guitar songwriting still sat at the centre of it all. But the Fab Four weren’t the only band that influenced Oasis. Noel also credited Irish rockers U2 with maintaining an influence on the direction of the band, though they had no bearing on their actual sound.
Rather, Bono and his bandmates instructed the way Oasis navigated things beyond the studio, inspiring the vision they had for their journey as a band. “They started as a working class band and went on to become the biggest band in the world,” he explained, “As did the Beatles. So just the way they have done things…” This is certainly a trajectory that Oasis successfully mirrored. While U2’s sound can’t be heard in their Britpop tunes, they did hone a similar career path from childhood friends to worldwide stardom.
Though they once proclaimed that they would, Oasis wouldn’t quite reach the levels of The Beatles’ influence and impact. It’s a near-impossible feat that, at this point, it seems that no one will ever achieve. But, failing this, Oasis became one of the biggest bands not only in Manchester but also in the world. Between the influence of The Beatles in their sound and the influence of U2 in their ethos, Oasis earned their own place in guitar music history.
