Oasis - were they the biggest band in the UK since the Beatles?

[chatty]

How big were Queen? 

Didnt their popularity bounce up and down a fair bit until they killed it at Live Aid. Like they were big but nothing phenominal until then despite having a host of hits? 

Cant really say how big Take That or One Direction were personally as I tried my best to ignore both but both definitely were super popular for a period of time. Seems like One Direction were more a flash in the pan and were done fairly quickly though, but could be wronh on that. 

 

[fatyeti24]

31 minutes ago, eastynh said:

People forget about the queues you had to endure to get Oasis tickets. The amount of times I had to stay out all night just to get tickets for gigs, it was unreal. Never seen anything like that in my life.

 

25 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

That was the real test of how badly you wanted to go to something. Kids today with their F5 buttons, don't know they were born...

I only ever saw them live twice, Manchester Academy in December '94 and then the arena in November '95.  I don't remember tickets being especially hard to get - certainly no overnight queueing.

But then the squares piled in and they became fucking massive.

[Rose-Colored Boy]

31 minutes ago, chatty said:

How big were Queen? 

Didnt their popularity bounce up and down a fair bit until they killed it at Live Aid. Like they were big but nothing phenominal until then despite having a host of hits? 

Cant really say how big Take That or One Direction were personally as I tried my best to ignore both but both definitely were super popular for a period of time. Seems like One Direction were more a flash in the pan and were done fairly quickly though, but could be wronh on that. 

 

According to Wiki 1D were a thing for five years, so probably as long as Oasis' peak years, although obviously Oasis dragged themselves out as a legacy act for a good decade after anyone stopped caring about new material whereas 1D quit while they were still at the (commercial) top.

[eastynh]

51 minutes ago, fatyeti24 said:

 

I only ever saw them live twice, Manchester Academy in December '94 and then the arena in November '95.  I don't remember tickets being especially hard to get - certainly no overnight queueing.

But then the squares piled in and they became fucking massive.

They were on the way up then. I think a better gauge of your experience would be how quickly they went from Academy to Arena.  Not many, if any rise at that rate.

 

[H.M.V]

1 hour ago, Hugh Jass said:

That was the real test of how badly you wanted to go to something. Kids today with their F5 buttons, don't know they were born...

 

1 hour ago, eastynh said:

People forget about the queues you had to endure to get Oasis tickets. The amount of times I had to stay out all night just to get tickets for gigs, it was unreal. Never seen anything like that in my life.

Aaww you missed the mayhem of the Garth Brooks phenomenon in Ireland. Could buy tickets online but no, the oul cowboy hat wearing yokels queuing in the pissing rain overnight for tickets in winter only for it all to get cancelled. Oh how we all laughed. I would wager that this lot would argue that Garth Brooks is bigger than Oasis and The Beatles combined. 

[addicted2noise]

1 hour ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

According to Wiki 1D were a thing for five years, so probably as long as Oasis' peak years, although obviously Oasis dragged themselves out as a legacy act for a good decade after anyone stopped caring about new material whereas 1D quit while they were still at the (commercial) top.

Oasis's commercial peak probably only lasted for a year or two but it was unbelievable, it seemed like everyone was into them (not just music fans). Stuff like Liam Gallagher getting a haircut was front page news in the UK.

Edited March 26, 2019 by addicted2noise

[Martin Ashford]

My personal opinion is that Oasis were the biggest British band since Status Quo. Yes, I do not jest, back in their mid - 70's peak the Quo were unbelievably popular across a huge spectrum of the British public. Everyone in my school LOVED them  - seriously. A new Quo album was something to get very excited about. Everyone knows how they had massive hit singles for a number of years, completely dominating Top Of The Pops but live they were the band every long haired wannabe rocker wanted to see. I would certainly say they were the biggest band (at least in the UK) since The Beatles.

[Tommy Dickfingers]

14 hours ago, eastynh said:

The Roses crowd at the Etihad were diabolical. I went on the Saturday and it was the most uncomfortable I have ever felt at a gig.

The Heaton Park gigs though were utterly glorious and it was a privilege to experience such a euphoric occasion. So much so that it pushed Knebworth out of my all time top 3 gigs.

Really? I went Friday, Saturday and Sunday thought the crowd was good. Was at Heston Park two days no problems there, Finsbury Park the Saturday and Wembley Saturday. I honestly had no trouble at any of those. 

As for Oasis I went Liverpool Echo when I was 16 everyone was alright but Heaton Park was a bit rum.

[clarkete]

13 hours ago, addicted2noise said:

Oasis's commercial peak probably only lasted for a year or two but it was unbelievable, it seemed like everyone was into them (not just music fans). Stuff like Liam Gallagher getting a haircut was front page news in the UK.

So by your measure when 1D were front page news that meant you were into them?   

I was very much outside the oasis bubble in their hey day and didn't know anyone into them, just saw the items which made it onto the telly about relationships, feuds etc.

Isn't the question a bit awry, asking about UK impact when the Beatles impact was global, which was in many ways the bit oasis failed to do?

Edited March 27, 2019 by clarkete

[Hugh Jass]

2 hours ago, Tommy Dickfingers said:

 

As for Oasis I went Liverpool Echo when I was 16 everyone was alright but Heaton Park was a bit rum.

Oasis at Heaton was properly moody, I went the night that the power blew after one song and they made everyone wait around for over an hour while they fixed it. Thought there was going to be a riot.

[Username taken]

1 hour ago, Hugh Jass said:

Oasis at Heaton was properly moody, I went the night that the power blew after one song and they made everyone wait around for over an hour while they fixed it. Thought there was going to be a riot.

“Made everyone wait around for an hour” as opposed to doing what? Didn’t they also end up playing that show for free?

[Hugh Jass]

2 minutes ago, Username taken said:

“Made everyone wait around for an hour” as opposed to doing what? Didn’t they also end up playing that show for free?

As opposed to making sure they had kit that worked?

They offered refunds, not sure how many took them though. I didn't bother, then again I was only there because I managed to pick up a pair of tickets off eBay for twelve quid a day or two before. That was back when you could buy and sell tickets on there. 

[elias]

17 hours ago, chatty said:

How big were Queen? 

Didnt their popularity bounce up and down a fair bit until they killed it at Live Aid. Like they were big but nothing phenominal until then despite having a host of hits? 

It's extremely difficult to compare bands of different eras based on where and to how many people they played. In my youth the only way to get tickets (other than standing outside the venue) was to send off a postal order and hope you were lucky.
Even the biggest bands played what would be classed today as tiny venues. I saw Queen at the Bristol Hippodrome, AC/DC at the Colston Hall etc. The gig going population was much smaller in those days. No internet - you had to buy the NME or Sounds to know who was touring.
If a band played an arena they were a very big deal. Playing at Wembley was nearly unheard of. 

I agree that Queen waxed and waned in popularity and that Live Aid was the catalyst for a resurgence in interest, but they were still a massive band in their era.
Oasis had an impact that was truly significant, but bigger than Queen? Not for me.

[priest17]

2 hours ago, Hugh Jass said:

As opposed to making sure they had kit that worked?

They offered refunds, not sure how many took them though. I didn't bother, then again I was only there because I managed to pick up a pair of tickets off eBay for twelve quid a day or two before. That was back when you could buy and sell tickets on there. 

I got my redund. I had a great time but I was 16 and 40 quid is a lotta money at that age.

[Hugh Jass]

1 minute ago, priest17 said:

I got my redund. I had a great time but I was 16 and 40 quid is a lotta money at that age.

I remember the cheeky fucker who sold me my ticket contacting me asking me to send the stub back to them.

I didn't bother.

[jfaragher]

4 hours ago, clarkete said:

I was very much outside the oasis bubble in their hey day and didn't know anyone into them, just saw the items which made it onto the telly about relationships, feuds etc.

Yeah, I'm pretty much bang on the 'right' age to be a massive Oasis fan - I was 18 when Definitely Maybe was released, but I'd still struggle to tell you which one Noel / Liam was...

[Watergirl]

One thing about Oasis - it is the most “sing-along-able” music. Watch around you when they get played in a public space: everyone is singing. I noticed this one day while in a queue in Starbucks. Discussed this with my partner who works in a healthfood store. He tested it and it proved true there as well.

I also remember when they were played in between acts at the Pyramid: The entire field sang along. 

I am not a fan of bands reforming. I prefer when they let the memory be the memory (Abba, the Smiths). Their music will live on regardless 

[VCK]

You compare Oasis to all the other big name British bands of that era - Blur, Pulp, the Manics, Radiohead - and their music is a little one dimensional and not as ambitious as some of the sounds those artists created.

However, for what they are, which is simple, straightforward, anthemic guitar rock, they were always good at what they did. Oh, and Be Here now, which I still maintain is a very good record!  

Also, I don't think it's even up for debate that they were the biggest band to come out of the UK in the 90s, and to add to that, they're undoubtedly one of the biggest British bands of all time. I was way too young to really experience it, so the only thing during my time that came remotely close to the sheer phenomena when Oasis first emerged, was when Arctic Monkeys released their debut. Even then, that was simply just an album getting a fuckton of hype, not really being something that transcended music, but also had a huge cultural impact like Oasis was.

Oh, and, something something gammon something something Brexit something something white people something

Edited April 3, 2019 by VCK

[priest17]

3 minutes ago, VCK said:

gammon 

Careful now...

[BOBBY_FIRMINO]

On 3/24/2019 at 7:30 AM, Pipkins said:

Oasis were nothing more than a pub band that got lucky off the back of Brit Pop, a truely hideous period for music.  Whilst I appreciate for some young people it may have seemed refreshing compared to some of the chart rubbish of the 90s, it was cheap pub rock compared to Zep, Sabbath, Purple, Queen, Ramones, Sonic Youth (I could fill a few pages here but won't).  A cultural embarrassment, the 'rock' (I employ the word lightly) equivalent of the Spice Girls or Mel and Kim that was hyped to death by the media.  It was that period's Darkness.  Darkness fans failed to see the group started as a parody, a Spinal Tap for their generation, and actually took them seriously!  They must laugh all the way to the bank.  Ever get the feeling you've been cheated...?

Cheap pub rock compared to ... *checks notes* .. The Ramones. A band who famously spent half their career playing to the same pissheads in the same alehouse.

(And I like the Ramones)

Edited April 4, 2019 by BOBBY_FIRMINO

[Tommy Dickfingers]

I bet everyone who doesn’t like Oasis is shite craic. 

[John the Moth]

14 hours ago, Tommy Dickfingers said:

I bet everyone who doesn’t like Oasis is shite craic. 

What if you just liked the early stuff? Meh craic? ?

[CaledonianGonzo]

It's a simple choice between two bands. Good lager-fuelled fun with Oasis or bedsit self-pity with Radiohead.  That's it. That's all there is 

[ThePlacidCasual]

Bigger in what way? Culturally no chance id say that honour goes to the pistols.  Globally not even in the top 10.  In the UK.....erm probably afterall they are a great band for non music fans.

[priest17]

2 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

It's a simple choice between two bands. Good lager-fuelled fun with Oasis or bedsit self-pity with Radiohead.  That's it. That's all there is