OASIS Faq
MELODY MAKER
13th March 1999
- "He's Not Looking Back In Anger
- Oasis' former drummer Tony McCarroll attracted more media attention in five minutes last week than he has since May 1995, when he parted company with the band following a punch-up with Liam Gallagher in a Paris bar. After emerging from the High Court on the morning of March 2, McCarroll was pursued down The Strand in central London by a posse of photographers, TV crews and journalists.
- McCarroll didn't seem to mind the attention. He repeatedly raised his arms in triumph and grinned broadly as he ran with the media pack, even, somewhat dangerously, continuing to make the gesture in the middle of The Strand. In doing so, he pleased the paparazzi who'd been waiting by a barrier by the court steps, and who had earlier been disappointed by the absence of any current members of Oasis at the court.
- However, he also seriously angered the Oasis camp. According to one source close to Oasis, the terms of the settlement were to have been kept secret at McCarroll's request, but the band were so annoyed by McCarroll's claims of vistory and early press reports portraying them as the losers on the case, that they decided to publicise the details of the settlement.
- In his lawsuit, McCarroll claimed that his sacking from the band had been unfair and illegal, and that he was therefore entitled to a 20 per cent share of the money made by oasis after his departure from the band. Calculations based on that claim led to wildly inflated estimates of the size of the settlement. The London Evening Standard's report of the case on March 2, was headlined "Oasis drummer wins £18m (definitely maybe)".
- However, it later emerged that McCarroll's windfall had been much more modest. He was, in fact, paid around £550,000 in return for forfeiting any royalties on the Oasis records on ehich he played, namely the 'Definitely Maybe' album and the 'Some Might Say' single.
- Oasis' lawyer, Raz Mireskandar explained later: "The band were going to go to court, give evidence and defend the action, and any advice to them was that they were going to win. Then at the door of the court a proposal was made that we buy out all the rights. And the band said, 'As long as it's the going rate - what it's worth - we're happy. This guy will get a sum of money, and we'll never have to deal with him again.'"
- "So then they asked, 'So what is it worth?' and I took independent advice and came up with the figure of £550,000. The one concession that the band have made is that they didn't insist on going to court to get their costs."
- Later last Tuesday, Noel Gallagher reportedly commented: "I have just been told that Tony has given up. I'm chuffed."
- McCarroll was represented at last week's hearing by solicitor Jens Hills, the lawyer who won £2 million for sacked Beatles drummer Pete Best in royalties for the 'Anthology' collection.
- After the hearing, McCarroll commented: "I'm glad the whole thing is over. Now I can get on with my life and my career."
- Asked how he felt about the Gallaghers, he said simply: "I no longer have anything to do with them."
- "Liam Wins Apology"
- Liam Gallagher won an outright victory in one legal dispute last week, winning a formal apology for an article published in Here! magazine in 1996.
- Their statement explained: "The former publishers of Here! magazine, Gruner & Jahr, apologise to Liam Gallagher of Oasis for the distress and embarrassment caused by an article that appeared in the September 2, 1996 edition of Here! magazine. Liam Gallagher has also been paid a contribution to his costs. The article alleged Liam Gallagher had sought and undergone a course of psychotherapy. This was untrue."
c 1998 Andrew Turner
aturner@interalpha.co.uk
This page hosted by
Get your ownFree Home Page