Breaking News

Cigarettes & Alcohol Is The English National Anthem




















Were you an Oasis fan before you joined?
I was a fan and a hanger-on! I saw them 20 times. First time was at the Powerhaus, end of 1993, about 30 people there. I got introduced to Liam, and said: "You guys are amazing, you should come out and support Ride sometime!" Within three months, they were bigger than ride!

Do you have a favourite Oasis song?
"Slide Away". It's breathtaking. In the early days, I used to go and see them a lot with Tim Burgess. The day Definitely Maybe came out, I'd been asked to come in and deputise for Eddie Phillips from Creation, who'd signed with Creation. Eddie couldn't do the gig, so they asked me to play guitar. I came and borrowed all Noel's gear. Tim and I went to the gig listening to Definitely Maybe, all the time thinking, 'This is great, this is great.' "Slide Away" was our favourite song. Though, you know what? "Cigarettes & Alcohol" is the English national anthem!

What about one you enjoy playing live?
"Rock 'n' Roll Star", my absolute favourite. It locks in, musically and emotionally. You put it at the end of the set, just when you think there's nothing left, and it tears the roof off. The ending is one of the best I've ever heard, since "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" by The Who. I know everyone thinks Oasis are dad rock, but I think that ending for "Rock 'n' Roll Star" is pretty out there.

Which is the most memorable of the two songs on Stop The Clocks that you play on?
"Songbird". I remember we recorded a version with Liam on bass, Noel on drums and Johnny Marr on electric guitar. We'd just come back from the Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants tour. There'd been a huge row in Barcelona, and Noel had simi-left the band. This was the first big storm that Gem and I weathered. Johnny came down for the weekend - he was like a father figure - and we worked through a load of Liam's songs. The one really big positive thing out of all this was that Liam really motivated. There was this day when we did "Songbird" and Noel just said: "look i want to play drums today." He wasn't in the mood to talk. And it came out like "Please Please Me", that kind of vibe. It was lovely, actually.

Source: Uncut Magazine

No comments