There are many Oasis songs that the general public could sing to in their sleep. But there was a time when the band was little more than a burgeoning rock group from Manchester. Find out how the Gallagher brothers and co. first got their big break, below.
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Big Break: The Song That Shot Oasis to Fame
The origin of Oasis started when Liam Gallagher jumped into an already formed group with bassist Paul McGuigan, guitarist Paul Arthurs, drummer Tony McCarroll, and singer Chris Hutton called The Rain. After ousting Hutton, Gallagher took over lead vocal duties.
Shortly after, Noel Gallagher joined the outfit as their main songwriter. With both brothers now on board, they were off to the races.
Oasis released their first single, “Supersonic,” in 1994. Despite only taking half an hour to write (according to Noel), it became a powerful force for the group.
“Noel’s just sat there with the guitar and he just wrote the music, that will do, and then he wrote the words, any old f***ing words and he came back in the room with us, with his guitar and he said, ‘Look, I’ve just written another song,’” Arthurs once recalled. “He started singing it and we nailed it and mixed it that night, rapid…it sounded massive, absolutely massive.”
Though they had later singles that charted higher than “Supersonic,” it was the band’s first major release. The song hit No. 9 on the US Alternative Top 50 chart, No. 11 on the US Alternative Airplay chart, and No. 2 on the UK Indie chart amongst other accolades. Needless to say, it put Oasis on the map.
The subsequent album, Definitely, Maybe, furthered the band’s success. That effort was then blown out of the water by (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, which featured the omnipresent “Wonderwall.” Despite that acoustic guitar driven song being the band’s biggest break, it was “Supersonic” that started everything off for the group.
Revisit the track, below.
(Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)
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