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Oasis · S2 E7
Cigarettes & Alcohol
The T. Rex riff, the working-class anthem, and the moment Oasis became more than a band. They became a movement.
Noel Gallagher plays a riff in the rehearsal room and Bonehead stops him cold: 'You can't use that, that's T. Rex.' Noel's answer: 'Bolan's dead. Let 'em sue us.'
Oasis, Cigarettes & Alcohol (1994). The T. Rex riff, the working-class anthem, and the moment five lads from Burnage became a movement. This isn't just a single. It's a manifesto.
Cigarettes & Alcohol, Oasis (1994)
The opening riff is lifted straight from T. Rex's 'Get It On (Bang a Gong),' and Noel has never pretended otherwise. But where Marc Bolan used it for glam-rock seduction, Noel turns it into a working-class war cry about the only pleasures available when your job is a dead end and your future is a blank wall. Owen Morris's mix slams the guitars so far forward that Liam's vocal has to fight its way through the noise. Listen for how the chorus drops away to almost nothing before the riff kicks back in, a trick that makes it hit twice as hard the second time.
Sources
Far Out Magazine
Songfacts
The Riff
When Bonehead hears the riff for the first time, he immediately recognizes it as T. Rex's 'Get It On.' Noel doesn't care. He points out that Bolan borrowed it from Chuck Berry's 'Little Queenie' in the first place, and the chain of theft goes back further than anyone can trace. Nobody sues. You can't copyright a feeling.
Sources
Far Out Magazine
Songfacts
“One of the greatest social statements of the past 25 years.”
— Alan McGee, Creation Records founder, on first hearing Cigarettes & Alcohol
TAP TO REVEAL: Why did nobody sue Oasis for the Cigarettes & Alcohol riff?
The Anthem
Released on October 10, 1994, 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' peaks at number 7 in the UK, Oasis's second top 10. But the chart position doesn't tell the real story. This is the song that turns Oasis from a band into a cause, an anthem for every kid on every council estate who's been told to keep their head down and get a proper job. 'Is it worth the aggravation to find yourself a job when there's nothing worth working for?'
Sources
Cigarettes & Alcohol, Wikipedia
Which song did Noel borrow the Cigarettes & Alcohol riff from?
Digsy's Dinner, Oasis (1994)
After all the stolen riffs, lawsuits, and manifestos, here's Noel writing a song about going to his mate Digsy's house for lasagne. Two and a half minutes of pure joy, no ambition, no anger, just a lad looking forward to dinner. It's the most human thing on Definitely Maybe.
Digsy's Dinner, Oasis (1994)
'These could be the best days of our lives.' Two minutes of Noel at his most carefree. No borrowed riffs, no working-class statements, just a song about a mate's cooking. Sometimes the best songs are the simplest ones.
Cigarettes & Alcohol: The File
Definitely Maybe is number one, four singles are in the charts, and Oasis are the biggest new band in Britain. Next season: Rockfield Studios, Wonderwall, Don't Look Back in Anger, and the album that will sell 22 million copies worldwide.
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