Alan McGee – the former manager of Oasis – has recalled the story behind his legendary photo with Liam Gallagher.
READ MORE: Alan McGee: “The music industry doesn’t want young indie rock’n’roll. The culture is so different”
The ex-manager of the Britpop icons opened up about the famous image of him with the frontman outside London jazz club Ronnie Scott’s in 1997, and suggested that the calm demeanour they have was far from the case.
The photograph captured Gallagher as he was riding the high of Oasis’ fame after the release of their second album ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ and, more specifically, shortly after he had a row with Hurricane #1 singer Alex Lowe.
It came after Lowe had recently done an interview with NME, and had referred to Oasis as “these c***s” – something which infuriated the indie-rock icon.
“Which he didn’t mean [in an offensive way], that’s just the way we talk in Glasgow. That’s affectionate,” McGee explained in his new memoir (via The Independent), adding that the two got into a physical altercation and Gallagher went on to vent his frustration to him outside the jazz club.
“I manage to get them outside, and there’s a famous picture of me and Liam outside Ronnie Scott’s where it looks like we are having a chat, but what he’s really saying is ‘McGee’s a fucking c***!’ to my face,” McGee wrote.
Liam Gallagher With Alan Mcgee Outside Ronnie Scotts, London, Britain – Jul 1997, Alan Mcgee And Noel Gallagher (Photo by Brian Rasic/Getty Images)
“We then went to some drinking club, some posh place like upstairs at the Groucho, and we were in the very back and Liam shouts at me for two hours.
“It’s like the blast furnace treatment until he eventually runs out of steam. It was nuts.”
Later in the book, the Creation Records boss – who helped bring Oasis to international fame – explained that the issue was resolved by the next day, when Gallagher invited him to meet the Dalai Lama.
“That’s an example of how it was working with Oasis at the time, and all the different sides and facets to Liam. There’s a lot of depth to him, one minute he’s brawling, and the next he’s wanting to meet the Dalai Lama.
“It’s a depth that people don’t see, wrapped in a toughness, like when he came back after Oasis had split and after Beady Eye had ended, and made a solo career for himself, which is so hard to do.”
Other anecdotes in the book include McGee sharing his first impression of Noel Gallagher, who he “liked straight away”.
“He had been hustling since he was 15. That was his thing. When I signed him at 25, he was at his hustling peak. This was his moment. And mine,” he explained.
He also added that what he enjoyed about his time with Oasis was that they were “always genius, wild and unpredictable. You never knew where you were with them. They were so volatile, but I loved it.”
His book, Alan McGee: How To Run an Indie Label is released on September 5.
The memoir comes after McGee spoke to NME back in 2020, and looked back at his extensive time in the industry ahead of his 60th birthday.
“In my head, I’m still a ginger punk-rocker from Glasgow and that’s what I’m always going to be. I’ve never had a particularly high opinion of myself, and being old is irrelevant because I’m still into music,” he said.
“My role models are the managers, like Seymour Stein, Andrew Loog Oldham, Malcolm McLaren and Tony Wilson. Seymour is my role model more than anyone else, and he’s still running music at 78. That’s how I want to be until the very end: still into bands and still putting music out.”
As for other Oasis news, the band have been increasingly hinting at the hopes of a reunion. For instance, Liam recently told the crowd at one of his gigs that Noel was “still playing hard to get” regarding a comeback for the band.
He also gave an update on the status of a possible Oasis reunion, following reports that the group apparently booked concert dates at Wembley Stadium this year.
Oasis also shared a previously unheard version of ‘Up In The Sky’ from their 30th anniversary edition of ‘Definitely Maybe’.
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