A short formal report on

Noel Gallagher

Name: Luke Clerkin
Class: PMCZ
Issue Date: 15/10/2013
Deadline Date: 05/07/13
Word Count: 1,252

Terms of Reference

Class PMCZ were asked to do a short formal report on the early life and career of former Oasis principal songwriter and High Flying Bird’s front man, Noel Gallagher. The report is to be 1000 words in length. The issue date is the 15/10/2013 and the deadline date is the 5/10/2013.

Methods of Procedure

(2.1)

The students used Wikipedia as a source of gaining information on the life of Noel Gallagher.

(2.2)

The students used Noel Gallagher’s biography as a different source of gaining information on his life.

(2.3)

The students used YouTube as a source of gaining information on the persona of Noel Gallagher and an in depth view on his live performances.

Findings

(3.1) Introduction

Noel Gallagher is the former principal songwriter of Brit Pop band, Oasis and he is now the front man of his own band, Noel Gallagher’s Highflying Birds. During his career with Oasis, Noel played alongside his younger brother Liam, who served as the band’s front man. The band gained severe media attention for the budding inter band/sibling rivalry which ruled them, both on and off the stage and it would be this rivalry that would result in the band’s break up in 2009.

(3.2) Early life

Noel Gallagher was born in Manchester in 1967 to Irish parents, his mother hailing from Mayo and his father from Meath. He is second eldest of three brothers, his brother Paul being the oldest and Liam being the youngest. The Gallagher brothers had a hard upbringing as they were subjects of physical abuse by their alcoholic father. As a teen Noel and his brothers were often in trouble both inside and outside of school and Noel himself was given 6 months’ probation for robbing a corner shop and he was also expelled from school for throwing a bag of flour over a teacher. It was around this time that he began to teach himself how to play guitar.

Oasis

(3.3) Joining the band

In 1988, Noel became friends with the guitarist of The Inspiral Carpets, Graham Lambert, after meeting him at a Stone Roses concert. Their friendship grew after Noel auditioned to be the singer of the band and he was rejected but ended up going on tour with them as a roadie.
When he returned from a world tour, his mother told him that his brother Liam was now the singer of an indie rock band, called The Rain. This surprised Noel as before he had left, Liam had no interest in music and it made him eager to go see the band in action. When he did so, he wasn’t impressed by their live performance but he insisted on becoming a member, once he could write all the songs and have creative control of the group. He promised he would take them to superstardom. This was after he had rejected Liam’s offer of asking him to be their manager.

(3.4) Creation records – Sony America
In 1993, the band heard that the manager of Creation records, Alan McGee, would be looking for new talent to sign to the label, at a gig in Glasgow’s King Tuts venue. Together, they set off on a six hour journey from Manchester to Glasgow in a rented van. They arrived at the venue to be refused entry as the security were not informed that they had been added to the bill but eventually they secured an opening slot. After hearing their first song, Alan McGee was impressed but he wasn’t sure if it was because of his consumption of drugs and alcohol, but when he heard the rest of their set, he knew he had to sign them. He approached Noel after the set and offered them the record deal. Within a couple of weeks, McGee had them signed to Sony America for a six-album contract.

(3.5) Definitely Maybe – Brit Pop Era

(3.5.1) Definitely Maybe

In early 1994, Noel wrote Oasis’ first single ‘Supersonic’ and when it was released; it peaked at number 31 on the official UK charts. It was then followed by their debut album, ‘Definitely Maybe’ which received unbelievable commercial and critical success. It was so successful that it became the fastest selling album ever in Britain, at the time and it entered the charts at number 1.
On their first American tour, Noel decided to leave the band due to him feeling the American fans didn’t understand their music and he and Liam fought, after a gig in L.A. had went very wrong.
He flew to another city without telling anyone and decided to leave the industry forever until he met a girl who he said, ‘talked him off the ledge’. This is where he came up with the idea for his cult hit ‘Talk Tonight’ from the Oasis B side album ‘Master Plan’. He was then tracked down by a Creation employee and he decided to make up with his brother and continue the tour.

(3.5.2) Brit Pop Era

Following the rise and fall of the Stone Roses and the introduction of ‘American Grunge ‘ music like Nirvana, Britain needed something new to make an impact on its people and Oasis brought that with their music, but some other bands decided to step up to the challenge , Blur and Radiohead being two of the main bands.
Noel and Liam became notorious for mocking their ‘rivals’, which stirred up lot of frenzy with the presses. While all this was going on in the press, Oasis received their first Number 1 with their single ‘Some Might Say’ which was followed by their second album ‘What’s the story (Morning Glory) ‘, it became the second fastest album ever in Britain and peaked at number 4 on the American Billboard charts.
With their rising success, came the real life of a rock and roll star, fighting (with fans, each other and with reporters), drinking and consuming various types of drugs but as the lifestyle grew, so did Noel’s problems. He began to realise that he had become addicted to drugs and he had suffered panic attacks which soon led to depression and as a result he has claimed to have given up everything in 1998.

(3.6) Post Brit Pop Era and leaving Oasis

(3.6.1.) Post Brit Pop Era Their third album ‘Be Here Now’ became the most anticipated release in Britain at the time, but it gained a lot negative criticisms, as it didn’t live up to the standards set by their first two albums. Also at this time, Noel gained an interest in politics and was pictured shaking the hand of Tony Blair which also received a lot of negative criticism by the public and the media along with his ‘rival’, Damon Albarn, of Blur.
In 1998, there came two major changes in the career of Oasis (I) Alan McGee left Creation Records and sold his 51 per cent stake with the label to Sony. (II) Rhythm guitarist, Bonehead quit the band and soon after so did bassist, Paul Mcguigan.
Without Bonehead and Guiggsy, Noel recorded the entire guitar on the next album and then with new musicians replacing the past members, Oasis went on the release another 3 studio albums and toured all over the world.

(3.6.2) Leaving Oasis and solo career

In 2009, Noel took to his website to inform fans that he had decided to leave Oasis , which resulted ultimately in the band splitting up. In a number of interviews following the statement, Noel blamed Liam for his exit; he claimed jokingly that Liam had thrown a piece of fruit at his head and that he had had enough of his brother’s disrespect and immaturity towards him.
One year later he began to perform his first concerts without the band and then went on to form a new band called ‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’.
The High Flying Birds released a self-titled album in 2011 and began touring with it all over the world later that year and are still continuing to do so at this moment in time.
When asked by press and reporters about a possible Oasis reunion, Noel refuses to believe that it will ever happen, much to the upset of the band’s dedicated fans and followers.

Conclusions

From their findings the students came up with the following conclusions:

(4.1)

Noel Gallagher’s hard upbringing is what inspired him to write music and through that, he inspired a whole generation.

(4.2) Noel’s rivalry with his brother, his demons and his addictions not only made Oasis one of the biggest bands in the world, but it also resulted in the band splitting up for good.

(4.3)

Oasis showed that no matter where you come from or how much money your family earns, you can do anything if you put your mind to it and are prepared to put work in.

(4.4)

The only person stopping a possible Oasis reunion is Noel Gallagher.

Bibliography

The students used ‘Noel Gallagher, The Biography’ by Lucian Randall as a source of gaining information.

References

The students used the following online links as references:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Gallagher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ODcuQirKs0 – interview with Gay Byrne – ‘The Meaning of Life’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcVD1xI9WLA – Interview with Jonathan Ross, 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpidIfXXx6k- Live Forever, The Rise and Fall of Britpop