Oasis Was A Bit Of Luck

The man behind rock group Oasis has said he had no idea they would reach such giddy heights of world fame.

Alan McGee, who founded Creation Records and signed the Mancunian Indie giants as unknowns in 1993, told University of Gloucestershire students he thought the group may be another Primal Scream, if he was lucky.

Speaking in an hour-long lecture at the university’s Pittville campus in Cheltenham Alan, who is a visiting fellow, said: “I knew Liam and Noel were going to be a big Indie band, but I didn’t know just how big. I had no idea.”

The Glaswegian spoke to dozens of enthralled students about his career in the music industry, from when he bought his first record, Get it on by T Rex, for 11 shillings in 1971, to signing the Brit Award wining band which have sold more than 50 million records worldwide.

He told them about his young days of strumming on his dad’s bass guitar in Glasgow.

“It was always music. I never associated music with money, musicians got ripped off and they do. I just never ripped them off,” he said.

The man who formed Creation Records spoke of moving to London with two friends when he was 19, forming a band and then running a club, which he said attracted little interest at first.

After re-launching the club nights after a year’s break he said it proved more successful and led to him starting up the record label which would sign major names, including Super Furry Animals and My Bloody Valentines.

In a question and answer session Alan was asked if he thought music since the millennium was pretty forgettable.

He replied: “Nobody will know what this decade meant until 20 years from now. You can never be objective about the time we live in.”

The audience was impressed with his talk.

Popular music student Tim Rowlings, 22, said: “I thought it was good. He was insightful. What happened to him is like the romantic idea of how you would like things to work.”

Second year student Jim Lockey, 23, said: “It’s good to know someone who has achieved what he has is a normal person. It’s nice to know there are people who are willing to give people a chance over money.”

The talk was arranged by popular music course leader Joe Wilson, who has known Alan for seven years through his work in the music industry.

Source: www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk