Hewitt - Getting high: the adventures of Oasis

Always at it. Always the pair of them. Noel and Liam, Liam and Noel. The Gallagher brothers. Will it ever stop, this struggle for control? Probably not. Probably never. Tonight, of course, is no exception.

It is 27 April 1996, and Oasis are on-stage at Maine Road. They have just started playing Whatever.

Liam is at the mike, hands, as usual, firmly clasped behind his back. He starts singing but the 40,000-strong crowd roar out the first lines so loudly that he backs away from the mike to allow them to continue.

But the crowd arent too sure of the next lines. Their singing quickly fades out and Liam is caught unawares. He quickly leans forward to sing but the music is in front of him now. So he simply walks off-stage, kicking a tambourine in frustration. The band grind to a halt. Noel says, Thanks bruv, and then he starts the song up again and sings it himself. Oasis finish to great applause, and as it splashes all over them in great sheets of sound, Noel looks around at the place he finds himself in.

To the right of him is the Kippax Stand where he stood all those years ago with his dad, watching Manchester City. Noel has cut all ties with his father now and in doing so has sworn himself to surpass Thomas Gallagher in everything.

Tonight it is he, Noel, who stands on the hallowed turf, the crowd roaring out his name. It took years to achieve, but as a friend once told him, revenge is a dish best served cold.

Now his gaze goes up to the box above the stand where his mother Peggy and Meg stand watching him, pure love in their eyes, the two women in the world that he has allowed beyond the barriers in his heart.

Present in that box also is Alan McGee, the man who stumbled across him and recognised instantly the talent raging before him.

Watching too is Marcus, the man who has helped him so carefully to plot the amazing path that Oasis have travelled.

Surrounding the stage are the road crew he has journeyed the world with. Maggie, Jason, Jacko, Pie, and in front of him the lighting and sound men, Hugh, Frank, and somewhere too, he cant see where, stand his close friends Coyley, who helped to start it all, and Phil Smith.

Close by are the band, Alan White, Guigsy and Bonehead, loyal to the last, waiting now for him to play another song that they are yet to tire of playing.

And there, lurking in the wings, stands his brother, the man he will be tied to forever. If Oasis was just Liam, they would never have been signed, they would have threatened to self destruct. If Oasis was just Noel, they would never have reached the heights they have. That is the truth they have arrived at, that is the truth that keeps them battling for the soul of this thing called, Oasis.

Bound by love and hate, trust and admiration, they will see this through together. Let no one stand in their way.

This is called Masterplan, Noel announces, and he strums a chord that then rises high above the crowd and floats across Manchester, the town that helped shape him, the town he had to leave.

As Noel sings, Take some time to make some sense of what you want to say / And cast your words, the chord continues its journey, over Liverpool where they first recorded, and then high above the Irish sea, floating softly over the waves until Ireland is beneath.

It travels South, heading towards a little girl who sits by a river in County Mayo gazing into the water, searching for signs of her future. The chord reaches her and momentarily hangs above her head before descending and enveloping her body. The little girl gives a slight shiver and then looks up to the sky, knowing she has been touched.

Then she stands and walks away, whistling her song into the cool evening air, heading towards a future that nobody ever knows.

First and foremost my eternal thanks and praise go to Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher, Paul McGuigan, Paul Arthurs and Alan White. These are the members of Oasis who kindly invited me into their homes to talk about their past and present. They proved to be exactly the kind of people that their records said they would be. And then more.

Id just like to add that many years ago I demonstrated to Noel a Roberto Baggio free kick using the last beer can in his house. The can swerved round a post, smashed against a wall and then spilt itself all over his carpet. Many thanks then for passing this ball back to me a year ago.

Special thanks also to Peggy Gallagher for taking the time to talk so candidly with me, a stranger in her house. This book would have been so much more poorer without her contribution. Major thanks also to Meg Matthews and the Oasis manager, Marcus Russell. Their contributions proved invaluable.

To all the other people connected to this amazing story and who graciously took time out to talk, I owe a real debt. They are Alan McGee, Owen Morris, Tim and Chris Abbot, Tony Griffiths, Graham Lambert and Johnny Hopkins.

Information also came from a series of informal chats that I found myself having with, Bobby Gillespie, Jeff Barrett, Bob Stanley, Johnny Marr, Martin and Paul Kelly, Andres Lokko, Tony Meehan, Miranda Sawyer, Tony Hedley, Marc Riley and the incorrigible Gareth Crowley. Again, a big yo and many thanks for your comments and insights.

In terms of research, I couldnt have asked for a more professional approach than that given to me by Beatrice Venturini. Her approach and dedication was, in the parlance of the group, double top. Similarly, Debbie Hicks at Go! Discs Records transcribed my interview tapes with a thoroughness that helped ease much of the weight from my shoulders. I am indebted to both women for their encouragement and hard work. My thanks also to Professor Mervyn Busteed for his more than helpful contribution to the history of Manchester section, and to Andy Spinoza for his help in detailing Manchesters club scene.

In terms of the bands radio and TV appearances I was greatly helped by Simon Kelly, who supplied me with three tapes filled with every Oasis TV appearance from start to early 1996. Many thanks. Also, seconds out and big thanks to Dean Powell whose procurement of certain CDs was just as valuable.

Thanks also to the eternal Mod, Eugene Manzi at London Records, daddy Nick White at Island, Iona at EMIs Premier label, and Matteo Sedazzi for supplying me with music that was absent from my collection but helped me no end in understanding Noels writing and the subsequent Oasis sound.

Big thanks also to two guys and two gals at Anglo Plugging. They are head honcho Garry Blackburn, head of radio Dylan White, head of T.V. Karen Williams, and Ms. Bally Cheena.

Thanks also to the work put in by the bands photographer, Jill Furmanovsky, and her assistant Merle. Great gals, happy snappers. Another shout across town to Alec and Chris at Ignition Management for their patience in taking all my calls and answering all my questions.

I would also like to thank the following people for their help down the line. They are Stephanie Fertardo, Mark McNulty, Dean Marsh, Johnny Chandler, Mark Coyle, Phil Smith, David Irving, Andrew Whitelegg, Johnny and Kate, Fran and Charlotte Cutler, Digsy and all in Smaller, Pete Johnson, Len Brown, Brian Cannon, Irvine Welsh and Anne, all those connected to the Primal Scream, Real People and Ocean Colour Scene brigades, Andy MacDonald, Mike Heneghan, Michelle Potts, Fergus and Pete, Pippa Hall, Tony Crean, Naomi for the Bobby pie, Pete and Claire Barrett, George and Jenny, John and Anne Weller, Kenny Wheeler, Pete Garland and his beautiful family, the Woking boys and gals, Jim Le Hat, Mark Lewisohn, BBC2 for re-running The Phil Silvers Show, my two sisters Frankie and Nina, plus their husbands Pete and Alan, my three nieces Katy, Tanya Susannah, and the ever supportive Ms. Jess of Fulhams Cars and Bars, and Dean Kavanagh.