Five artists that hated Oasis
After breaking out in 1994 with their seismic debut album, Definitely Maybe, Oasis joined the likes of Blur, Suede and Pulp in the so-called Britpop movement. In a trashy echo of the 1960s’ British invasion “rivalries”, Oasis began to feud petulantly with their key Britpop rivals, Blur. This PR war would reach a head during a 1996 charity football match during which Liam Gallagher and Damon Albarn squared off like sparring stags.
Beyond this most memorable duel, Oasis made a habit of evoking criticism from their musical peers through the 1990s. Their objection to Radiohead’s somewhat moody antidote to Britpop stirred up similar flurries of resentment.
Even in 2015, following 20 extraordinary years of musical evolution on Radiohead’s part, Noel Gallagher maintained dismissive sentiments. “I’m aware that Radiohead have never had a fucking bad review,” he told Esquire. “I reckon if Thom Yorke fucking shit into a light bulb and started blowing it like an empty beer bottle, it’d probably get 9 out of 10 in fucking Mojo. I’m aware of that.”
In 1995, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke responded to some of the Gallaghers’ provocative comments in a conversation with London Calling. “They’re a joke, aren’t they? It’s just lots of middle-class people applauding a bunch of guys who act stupid and write really primitive music,” he said. “Then people say, ‘Oh, it’s so honest.’”
A year later, Radiohead recorded an insincere cover of Oasis’ 1995 hit ‘Wonderwall’ during a session for CBC. Towards the end of the rare recording, a member of the band can be heard saying: “Is this abysmal or what?” to which Yorke replies: “Yep,” before promptly adding: “It’s always good to make fun of Oasis, though.”
Throughout their meteoric rise to global stardom, Oasis made it very clear who their favourite band was. A Mancunian reincarnation of The Beatles was apparent in some of Oasis’ music, but the obsession was confirmed by Liam Gallagher’s fashion and baby name choices.
In a cultural ripple, Oasis treated the Fab Four as a deity, echoing John Lennon’s controversial comments about God when claiming they had become “bigger” than The Beatles.
“Oasis were young, fresh and writing good tunes,” McCartney told Q while reacting to such swaggering proclamations. “I thought the biggest mistake they made was when they said, ‘We’re going to be bigger than The Beatles.’ I thought, ‘So many people have said that, and it’s the kiss of death.’ Be bigger than The Beatles, but don’t say it. The minute you say it, everything you do from then on is going to be looked at in the light of that statement.”
Although McCartney showed characteristic humility in these comments, one can’t help feeling he would have concurred with his former bandmate George Harrison and his thoughts on the Gallagher brothers’ attitude. In 1996, the Beatles guitarist criticised the group, claiming, “The music lacks depth, and the singer Liam is a pain; the rest of the band don’t need him.”
Naturally, this wounded Liam’s pride, but he’s never been the type to submit. During an interview with MTV, Gallagher responded violently: “If any of them old farts have got a problem with me, then they should leave their Zimmer frames at home, and I’ll hold them up with a good right hook.”
“I still love the Beatles, and I still love George Harrison as a songwriter in the Beatles, but as a person, I think he’s a fucking nipple,” he clarified. “And if I ever meet him, I’ll fucking tell him. And if you’re watching, nipple!”
Gallagher added: “So it goes to show, all the time the Beatles and all of that, it so fucking stupid because he’s the silly one because he reads the press. How’s he know I’m silly? I’m not silly. He only reads the press, you know what I mean? So he’s the fucking silly one.”
McCartney and Harrison’s old friend Mick Jagger also took issue with Oasis. “You can’t dance to it, the new album’s impossible,” Jagger said in 1997, following the release of Oasis’ third album, Be Here Now.
In 2010, the Rolling Stones frontman elaborated on his feelings toward Oasis while speaking on Absolute Radio. “Well, that’s what they do, they don’t move – that doesn’t mean to say they don’t connect – they do connect sometimes, sometimes they’re not always good ways,” he explained, taking aim at the band’s lack of energy on stage.
Continuing, Jagger made a comment on the band’s attitude. “What was that famous story when they were in New York, and they didn’t think the New York audience was loud enough, and they said something like ‘You’re rubbish’ or something, ‘New York, you’re a load of crap’ or something like that – which is not what you do anywhere really, especially in New York,” he said.
On top of Britpop spats and violent threats to ageing rockstars, Oasis also caused a stir with pop singer Robbie Williams. Although the Gallagher brothers allegedly partied with the former Take That singer at Glastonbury 1995, relations between the two acts had spiralled by the turn of the century.
This feud reached an infamous head during the Q Awards in 2000 but has continued for over two decades. Reflecting on his incendiary relationship with Liam Gallagher in a 2022 interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Williams admitted that he liked Oasis’ music but couldn’t forgive their “bullying” nature.
“Ultimately, I’m a huge fan of Oasis and [always] was,” he said. “I was there, and I was part of it, and it was fucking unbelievable: incredible hedonism, reckless abandon and rock’n’roll, and ‘let’s turn it to 11, 12 and let’s see where this goes’. It’s part of that competitive nature of me, too.”
“Also, they were gigantic bullies too, to the whole industry, everybody in it – and I didn’t like that,” Williams added. “A lot of that still remains inside me. They’re probably different people now, but there’s a lot of me that’s like, ‘They’re fucking bullies, them. I don’t like bullies’.”
See some of the entertaining highlights from the 2000 Q Awards below.
Five artists that hated Oasis:
- Radiohead
- Blur
- Mick Jagger
- George Harrison
- Robbie Williams
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