On This Day In Oasis History...

Roll With It is a song by British rock band Oasis written by their lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. It was released 14 August 1995 as the second single from their second album (What's the Story) Morning Glory ?, reaching #2 in the UK Singles Chart (see 1995 in British music).

"Roll With It" received a great deal of attention when Food Records, the label of Britpop rivals Blur, moved the original release date of single "Country House" to clash with it, sparking what came to be known as "The Battle of Britpop". The British media had already reported an intense rivalry between the two bands and this clash of releases was seen as a battle for the number one spot. The media sensation was spurred on by verbal attacks from the respective camps (in particular Noel and Liam Gallagher, Damon Albarn and Alex James), that extended beyond the music industry to the point where the two bands were regularly mentioned on the evening news. In particular, public imagination was sparked by the contrast between the gritty, working class Oasis and the artsy, middle class Blur. In the end, Blur's "Country House" single sold 274,000 copies to Oasis' 216,000 copies of "Roll with It". The singles charted at number 1 and number 2 respectively.



In the week of its release, Damon Albarn was asked what he thought of the song. He dubbed the band as "Quoasis" and sang "Down, down, deeper and down" in reference of the song's likeness to Status Quo's 1975 hit Down Down..

The song is like several other songs, such as "Supersonic", in that it preaches the importance of being yourself. Noel Gallagher does not like the song at all. In a 2005 interview he described it as "appalling".

The melody for this song also appears in part in The Lemonheads' song Purple Parallelogram, which was co-written between Gallagher and Evan Dando.



Top of the Pops Performance

When Oasis played "Roll With It" on British chart show Top of the Pops, the Gallagher brothers switched roles with Liam pretending to play guitar and Noel pretending to sing (equipped with Liam's tambourine). It mocked the public's inability to tell them apart and also the institution of miming on programmes such as Top of the Pops (it is widely believed that the brothers' dislike of miming led them to do it). The set ended with the band erupting in laughter at the Gallaghers' impressions of each other.

Artwork

The photograph used on this release was taken on the beach at Weston Super Mare. In the background is the Grand Pier which burnt down in July 2008.

Oasis had been following in the footsteps of The Beatles, who were photographed on the beach wearing Victorian bathing costumes in 1963.

Track listing

CD CRESCD 212
"Roll With It" - 4:00
"It's Better People" - 3:59
"Rockin' Chair" - 4:36
"Live Forever" (Live at Glastonbury '95) - 4:40
"Live Forever" was recorded live at the Glastonbury Festival on June 23, 1995.

7" CRE 212
"Roll With It" - 4:00
"It's Better People" - 3:59

12" CRE 212T
"Roll With It" - 4:00
"It's Better People" - 3:59
"Rockin' Chair" - 4:36

Cassette CRECS 212
"Roll With It" - 4:00
"It's Better People" - 3:59

Australian CD HES 662325-5
"Roll With It"
"Talk Tonight"
"Acquiesce"
"Headshrinker"
"Headshrinker" was a b-side of the band's previous UK single "Some Might Say" and was one of the last tracks to feature original Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll.

Oasis at the iTunes Festival is now available to download, for more details click here.