"...in the morning, we don't know what to do"
With Oasis once again in the news my default position remained the same - I was neither "Blur or Oasis" but Radiohead. And lets be honest, I looked down on both of the others. But while I think Blur showed far more evolution than Oasis I forgot how Oasis were part of my life growing up.
"Get a grip on yourself, it don't cost much"
December 1994 - stood by the petrol station on Waldram Park Road in Forest Hill, London (the petrol station has now gone). Its a pre Christmas drink and Nicholas Dunn is there handing a present to me, James Clifford and possible Anthony Saunders. This is a strange one - we're twenty year old boys and the selfless act of gift giving wasn't familar to us. But Nick, bless him, hands us the 12" vinyl of Whatever and a small cassette tape with an orange paper insert. The cassette is a recording of the first Oasis album Definately Maybe (August 1994) and he's hand written the tunes on the orange paper. Pretty sure we had a few beers after in Forest Hill at the Dartmouth Arms but what I do know is that the 12" and tape made it home with me - no small feat considering how much twenty year old me used to drink. I still have the vinyl.
"I wanna talk tonight, Until the mornin' light..."
I'd like to be cool and say that my involvement with Oasis ended there but jump forward a few years when I worked for Lewisham Council and I'd stuck around for the second Oasis album which ended up being my jumping off point. But looking back I remember having a final moment with the first album when during a bit of a testing time in life when I received some very welcome friendship from someone who drifted out of my life then back into it a lot later. So whenever I hear "Talk Tonight" (1995) I'm reminded of them and a smile crosses my face. The song was released on The Masterplan (1998) as well as the B-side to "Some Might Say" but I think I discovered it on the 1998 release.
"Lately, did you ever feel the pain..."
So whats the point of this ramble? The point is if someone asks if I'm an Oasis fan I say no. But they've still soundtracked parts of my life that were special. When I put them on Spotify I know most of the words, learnt from a hundred drunk singalongs in pubs and clubs (yes, probably a few times at The Venue in New Cross). Their tunes take me back to my twenties and remind me of people I no longer see and people I'm lucky enough to still know. So I guess I am a fan - but Radiohead are still better! 😜