GALLAGHER NOT BOTHERED BY GRAMMY SNUB
Sunday, January 11, 1998
The self-proclaimed "best band in the world" was snubbed by the American
recording industry, but the lead guitarist of Oasis says he isn't bothered a
bit.
Any disappointment Noel Gallagher may feel over not getting a 1998 Grammy
nomination was tempered by news Oasis' Be Here Now was voted album of the year
in a Rolling Stone magazine readership poll.
"Anything that's voted for by the readers of a magazine or the listeners of a
radio station is far more important than sticking a Grammy on top of the
television set so you can show your Grandma," Gallagher said in a recent
telephone interview.
Though the industry didn't think Oasis was worthy, the five piece rock 'n' roll
band from Manchester, England, is still one of the best around, says the lead
guitarist, songwriter and co-producer.
"We were the best band in the world about a year ago but then we let it slide a
bit by not turning up for gigs and various other things. But we've had our time
and we're just getting on with it."
Gallagher's backing away from a claim that gave Oasis a reputation for brash
arrogance.
"I've still got unswerving belief in the band but I've just decided not to ram
it down people's throats any more. I plan to let the music speak for itself from
now on.
"If every record I make is better than the last one, then to me that's all that
matters," he says.
Gallagher says the response to Be Here Now, Oasis' third album released August
1997, has been positive.
"It's been brilliant everywhere around the world. Initially it was, how do you
say, critically acclaimed, but as soon as it didn't start selling as well as
Morning Glory then people started slagging it off a bit. So I'd say it's been
50-50," he says.
"But again, reviews don't really interest me. When people come up to me on the
street and say: 'Thanks for the music,' that's the only inspiration I need."
The inspiration for Gallagher's songs is another story altogether. He has a
well-known habit of borrowing lyrics or chord patterns from other people's
music.
For the song Don't Look Back in Anger he nicked a line from John Lennon and the
opening piano bit sounds like Lennon's Imagine. Some Might Say rips off Ooh La
La by the Faces.
"It's easier than writing your own isn't it?" he says with a chuckle. "I'm
getting sued left, right and centre but I wouldn't worry about that.
"Every song that's ever written has been ripped off by something else ... I
don't think anybody's done anything original for the last 30 years."
All music is rubbish, he says. The only difference with Oasis is his rubbish
has "a certain style."
Asked where he's calling from, Gallagher has to call out for a location. He
also needs to ask where he played the night before.
"I don't know where we are. I don't know where we're going to. It's sort of
have guitar will travel," he says.
The one thing he does know is that the gig he will play later is sold out. The
band's 17-date North American tour has found them playing to large stadiums full
of fans.
"I'm not interested in that side of it. I just play for the crowd that are
there," he says.
"They're not there to see me or to see me do anything because I don't actually
do anything except stand around and play the guitar, but I would hope that the
music sort of makes them want to get up and dance or wave their arms in the
air."
By JENN GODDU
The Canadian Press