Was Oasis more popular than the Beatles during the 90s?

[LoZoccolo]

I think so. International megastars.

[mark414]

1. well

we'll see if oasis can still top the charts 30 years from now, as the beatles have done more than once in the last 10 years or so

[LoZoccolo]

3. Oasis will be releasing box sets and "naked" versions of their albums...

...which will be bought by our children and children's children.

[democracyindanger]

4. and given to you as xmas gifts because you'll have enough old man sweaters

[LoZoccolo]

9. The Beatles never mastered the rock music video as Oasis did.

The synergy of the release of the albums along with heavy rotation of their music videos was a value-add for the Gallagher brothers.

[LoZoccolo]

10. Before someone makes a snarky comment...

...I am not talking about the two watermelon-smashers who were in competition for the trademark of being the Gallagher.

[Ruffhowse]

12. I disagree. The Beatles darn near invented the music video. They created

many short films to go along with certain songs throughout the years, and "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help" were essentially long form versions of music videos. "Let It Be" was also in this category, although it could be considered a precursor for the MTV "Unplugged" type of show. So, as with many things, the Beatles were way ahead of their time with film that went along with their music.

[LoZoccolo]

14. They were never in heavy rotation.

Even if their rock music video had been visually stunning and cutting-edge, that is only one component of synergy. The other is heavy rotation. Oasis is tops in synergy.

[tigereye]

61. there was no heavy video rotation back then, dear

there was radio rotation and they were on it a lot as I recall.

[democracyindanger]

15. Oasis never made a feature film

And if you want to argue marketing, then fine: Oasis was a better marketed band than the Beatles.

[LoZoccolo]

17. The Oasis story will make a beautiful feature film.

Their struggles and big break to make it to the top of the pops is an enduring tale. The parts of the younger Oasis members will be hard to cast (the real Oasis members will be aged by the time the story is told), and will require premium scouting for top-notch A-list talent.

[democracyindanger]

45. Crap

You've been having me on, and it took me this long to realize it.

Well-played, LZ, well-played indeed.

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. Who?

:shrug:

[d_b]

6. Ditto

[DBoon]

8. surely you've heard of the Beatles

eom

[arcane1]

46. lmao, that was my question

:P

[OldLeftieLawyer]

5. What's "Oasis"?

That should answer your question.

:hippie:

[StopTheMorans]

7. Best. Band. Ever. Jesus doesn't even come close to comparing.

[Jessica]

19. Jesus had a band?

[StopTheMorans]

22. yeah, I think there were 12 other members

:silly:

[JVS]

30. No, that's just Rusted Root?

Basically a regular sized band with 8 extra dudes on bongos

[tigereye]

63. wow a Rusted Root joke

great rhythm section. They were certainly more popular and accomplished more than many other Pittsburgh bands. Still, I myself would have preferred other bands from that time be on Letterman, but that's just sour grapes. ;)

[JVS]

29. I think they're called Jesus Lizard

[RetroLounge]

69. Jesus Lizard

Now that was one scary band.

Loved them...

RL

[Capn Sunshine]

76. What about Jesus Jones

Talk about scary

!FLASH!

[Liberal_Andy]

11. talented, yet derivative, I'd give 'em a 7.5...

The Beatles being a 10.

:toast:

[LoZoccolo]

13. But do the Beatles have staying power?

Oasis is still together, and the Beatles are not, and therefore their 7.5 is still being compounded anually, and will be a 14 before you know it.

[Liberal_Andy]

16. They left us wanting more,......

but they left on top of their game. Yes, Abbey Road has staying power.

[LoZoccolo]

32. Oasis had to cancel a U.S. tour due to fan hysteria.

Oasis mania had reached levels far exceeding what the Beatles accomplished, and thus the level that their fans wanted them became such a liability that they had to nix plans for an epic set of dates in North America. Humbly, the band took the fall for the cancellation on themselves, and disguised the axeing as grand arrogance on their own part ("that's Oasis, isn't it?"). That's smart public relations.

[devilgrrl]

18. Well, I see Liam Gallagher is a member of DU

Explains all the "Oasis is better than the Beatles" posts. Those derogatory comments put forth by the late great George Harrison still under your skin "silly one?"

[LoZoccolo]

24. Oasis has a sharpshooter public relations machine.

They would never release statements that would demean other talent or cause a media war between artists, and therefore serve as a picture of rock and roll class and professionalism.

[Droopy]

27. Shit

You had me going until that one! LOL!

[Droopy]

20. I don't understand the appeal of Oasis

Whenever one of their songs came on the radio I always turned the channel.

[ceile]

21. AAGGHHHH!!!!!

I can't STAND Oasis!!! Blasphemy!!!!!
How about was(is) Blur bigger than Oasis?
The answer would be YES, YES and YES!!!:bounce:

[Tyrone Slothrop]

43. Blur, Blur, Blur!!!

I love Blur, btw.

;-)

[LoZoccolo]

44. Oasis never had to team with a rapper and a member of a trip-hop group...

...to stay current with a newer music-buying market. The members of Oasis still thrive on their own.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

47. Blur never had to wish AIDS on the members of a rival band

Neither did Oasis, come to think of it. And yet they did.

Blur=Class band, innit?

[JVS]

48. What's the story behind this?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

49. Blur and Oasis were big rivals in Britian in the early to mid 90s

They were sort of vying for biggest band in the realm. Anyway, there was a pretty infamous interview in which one of the Gallaghers (can't remember if it was Liam or Noel) said that he wished that Damon Albarn and the rest of Blur would catch AIDS and die.

Which basically makes the Gallaghers just about the lowest form of scum on the planet.

Granted, I'm a big Blur fan, but still -- that sentiment is absolutely disgusting and was completely uncalled for.

I still take issue when I hear an Oasis song on the radio.

Edit: Found this on some Oasis fanboy website: "Another source of publicity for Oasis was their long time press battle with another high-profile British band, and their rivals on the music market, Blur. In an interview with the Observer, when asked which band was better, Noel replied to the reporter that he "wished the members of Blur would die from AIDS"(Oasis). "

[JVS]

51. That's hilarious!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

23. I was a college disc jockey at the height.........

....of Oasis mania in 1994-95. Only the bizarre Brit-Goth chicks wouldn't admit the Beatles were still the best.

[JVS]

25. The 90's wasn't the best decade for the Beatles

You know you're not doing so hot when your drummer takes a gig on Shining Time Station

[johnnie]

26. The Anthology sets sold well

I think The Beatles did pretty well through out the 90s. Ringo on the other hand..lol.

[JVS]

28. Ringo is a significant part of the beatles

Besides, didn't Paul's wife die and someone stab George during the 90's? Not exactly a party

[johnnie]

31. I'm a huge Ringo fan, don't get me wrong.

It's just that he does some strange things. I think this original thread was about the popularity of the two groups and not how many times the band members had diarrhea or if their pets got ill.

[JVS]

33. I think a provacative question is do the members of Oasis...

each suck as much after breaking up the band as each of the Beatles did?

Does Liam have some "Jet" out there that we're not aware of?

[LoZoccolo]

35. Their original songwriting musicianship would not be called into question.

For instance, the Gallaghers would never put themselves in a position such that they would be accused of stealing creative elements of "He's So Fine (Doo-lang Doo-lang Doo-lang)".

[JVS]

38. I nearly forgot about the "My sweet love" "He's so fine" controversy

So is there any Beatle who hasn't greatly embarrassed himself after the breakup?

[LoZoccolo]

40. Ironically, one of John Lennon's most progressive songs...

...which lambasted anti-feminist values, cannot be quoted on this progressive message board due to language restrictions! It is as if he, as an artist, lacked the confidence not to defeat his own accomplishments within themselves. The Gallagher brothers, I imagine, would avoid ever doing that.

[patcox2]

55. I'll call Oasis' songwriting into question. Blatantly derivative.

They were just a cheap imitation of John Lennon's monotonic doggerel. Sure, Oasis were slightly more melodic, but their songs have so many of lennon's stylistic quirks, the same little lennon-esque wordplay, cheap little "ironic" references, hallmark-card level philosophy masquerading as something deeper. Imitative crap.

[LoZoccolo]

57. Could the Beatles ever come up with a new word like "wonderwall"?

Sure they invented the term "flange", but that is a musician's term, not necessarily a rock fan's term.

[Dedalus]

71. Are you fishing for the response...

...that Oasis got the word "Wonderwall" from the title of a George Harrison album? What do I win?

I also figured out where Oasis got their name. The word "Oasis" is repeated over and over in a chant on the same page in "Finnegans Wake" that contains the word "ghughuthuyoo," which was supposedly the inspiration for "Goo Goo Goo Joob." That's right, I found that all by myself. Suck it.

[LoZoccolo]

78. Let's not fight.

This is interesting, because people believe that Oasis is derivative of the Beatles (I don't), but now from what you point out, it is obvious that the Beatles are derivative of James Joyce.

Does anyone have a picture of James Joyce? I'm wondering if the Beatles haircut comes from James Joyce.

[Ruffhowse]

34. Just ask any "man in the street" types to name a half dozen Beatle songs,

and I bet most people could do it. Do the same for Oasis, and I bet most people couldn't name more than one. That says it all right there.

[LoZoccolo]

36. That is only because Oasis songs have long names.

"Don't Look Back In Anger" may not be as long as "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey", but I am confident an exhausive survey of titles would reveal that the typical Oasis song title is longer than the typical Beatles song title.

[JVS]

39. One more point. Beatles were around longer and started as a boy-band...

this means that their audience was wider both in terms of age and demographic. People who hate "damn hippies" could very well know and like their early music, while those same "damn hippies" might love the later stuff and eschew the "I wanna hold your hand era"

[LoZoccolo]

41. Furthermore, they minimized what they could have had...

...as an image of being "young turks" by first appearing in public wearing the suits of square society, causing a crisis of credibility that they later had to overcompensate for (look at White Album-era pictures of them to illustrate).

[patcox2]

54. No, you have that wrong. Appearing in suits was not positioning.

Everyone appeared in suits then; its not that there was a "radical" look and the beatles chose not to wear it and instead opted for a mainstream look. You fail to appreciate the impact of the beatles and their innovations. When the beatles abandoned suits and developed their later look, they were among the avante garde of those who created the radical look. There was no radical look before the beatles (there were beats, but thats different).

[LoZoccolo]

56. The Beatles wore leather jackets and had pompadours before that.

They had the James Dean look, only even more. Even the Beach Boys in their striped shirts or the Kingston Trio had more young turk in their panache then the Beatles when they switched to suits from their older young turk look.

[patcox2]

72. Suits with no collars, more pre-mod than traditional? nt

Look, the beatles started as a Buddy Holly tribute band, and they were not far from skiffle, too. They had many many influences, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Elvis, Chuck Berry, they did black and white, rockabilly and blues, doowop and dancehall and pop crooning, and they synthesized it all and out of it they created something new, hell, not even something, many things.

Oasis, on the other hand, took the beatles, and created, the imitation beatles.

[Scout]

37. who/what is/was Oasis?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

42. no

[mitchum]

50. Britpop and its Limey and anglophile boosters always seemed so...

sad and desperate.
Smacked of the Jaycees to me.

[Moloch]

52. I like Oasis....

I always thought they were a much improved version of the Beatles.

At least THEY had some talent and didn't have to resort to shamelessly watering down the music of Black artists to make it more palatable to White racists.

The Beatles=Pat Boone

[LoZoccolo]

53. Kick.

:kick:

[kmla]

58. Nah. They were 'the new Beatles' like Terence Trent D'Arby

was "the new Elvis'.

They came. They went.

And the pop music industry train rolls on.

[LoZoccolo]

59. Terence Trent D'Arby was more popular than the Beatles during the 80s.

But to our surprise, he was succeeded by Oasis in the 90s. Nobody could see that coming.

[kmla]

64. Oh, yeah..... I forgot that time in 1988 that I was overtaken

by a mob of adolescent girls rushing Terence at the airport....

Crap. Maybe I should go back and re-read my old journals from the '80's....

[LoZoccolo]

66. "Wishing Well" was more lyrically bold than the Beatles.

Hugging like a monkey-see monkey-do
Right beside a riverboat gambler
Erotic images float through my head
Said I wanna be your midnight rambler

The Beatles never ventured into the kind of territory which unabashedly testifies to "erotic images" within.

[kmla]

67. Uhhhh. Like "...a fish and finger pie"?

:shrug:

[LoZoccolo]

68. That abashedly, not unabashedly.

Though I must admit that all I heard when I listened to that Terence Trent D'Arby line was something like "radi goomi gees run through my head" when it came out. I had to look it up on the web over ten years later to really know.

[ikri]

60. Got to know the name of your dealer

'cause that's some good s*** you're smoking

(Oasis can write great songs, only problem is they make the songs sound like someone is kicking a cat to death)

[LoZoccolo]

62. So did Yoko Ono, and kind-of on purpose.

I have never heard it, but someone told me that there's an album that John Lennon and Yoko Ono made where she is screaming. And I think she has some sort of yell during the weird part of "What's The New Mary Jane?" as well.

[Radical Activist]

65. hehe yeah right

They had what, one major hit in the US? The Beatles had more hits in the US before they even toured here. Blur is still better.

[RetroLounge]

70. Oasis IS the Beatles

Have you ever seen them together?

RL

[CO Liberal]

73. Of Course Not

When Beatlemania hit the US in 1964, it was all everyone was talking about for months. The only time I hears anyone talking about Oasis was when the fighting finally broke them up. And it was very little talk at that.

People from all walks of life, and every demographic, became instant Beatles fans in 1964. Oasis only appealed to a small sector of the population, and never had the wide appeal of the Fab Four.

The Beatles had an influence on fashion, from longer hair on men to mod clothing. And that influence was spread across several generations. For example, the day after their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, my own mother (38 at the time) got her hair cut to like John Lennon's. Have you ever heard of ANYONE going after "The Oasis Look"??

Dozens of recording artists in every area of music (including pop, country/western, R&B, easy-listening, jazz, and even classical) have recorded cover versions of Beatles songs. How many cover versions of Oasis songs are out there?

The Beatles made several hit movies, including "A Hard Day's Night", "Help!", and "Yellow Submarine". I cannot recall a single Oasis feature-length movie.

More than 40 years later, The Beatles' influence is still felt in this country. On the other hand, a large portion of the people in the US have never ever HEARD of Oasis.

Sorry, but there's no comparison.

[LoZoccolo]

77. I have gone after the "Oasis look" every morning since 1995.

This look is deceptively simple - it looks like a bowl cut, but is actually a high-maintenance style. You have to keep your bangs straight, and requires a trim every four or five days.

[Wat_Tyler]

74. What's Oasis?

Wasn't that like a shoe store, or something?

[Capn Sunshine]

75. Never heard of 'em

so probably not.

[NeoTraitors]

79. Some things stand the test of

time and are classics. One of the 2 bands you mentioned falls into that category.

Oasis did fit the mold of what a rock-n-roll band should be. They pretty much hit all of the standard cues that make rock-n-roll special. I really can't say that about too many bands. But to mention them on the same day as the Beatles, let alone in the same sentence is blasphemy for a rock-no roll-fan.