On July 4, the moment that many around the world have been counting down to for years will finally arrive. Yes, Oasis will return to the stage together as they officially get their Live ’25 tour underway in Cardiff. For the UK business, it is one of the most hyped events in recent memory, a story that has everyone talking. Of course, those conversations involve plenty of reminiscing, too, which is why Music Week has gathered an array of top names and tasked them with one thing: to pick their No.1 Oasis track. Dig in for part four of our supersonic ride down memory lane...
Photo: Getty
ROLL WITH IT (1995)
“I used to love dancing to this at house parties as a teenager. It just had this feelgood, confident energy that made you feel invincible. It was all about being yourself and not backing down and, at that age, that message hit different.” YolanDa Brown (BPI)
SLIDE AWAY (1994)
“I was 16, and about to embark on my A-levels. It felt like the sun shone all summer and Slide Away soundtracked my journey through the end of my adolescence to becoming a young man. It still evokes that feeling of being free.” Dan Chalmers (YouTube)
“Slide Away is the absolute pinnacle for me, top of the tree, no question. But when someone hands me a guitar, it’s Married With Children every time. There’s just something about it I can’t resist.” Jodie Cammidge (Polydor)
ALL AROUND THE WORLD (1997)
“This song reminds me of bonding with my older brother when we were kids. He introduced me to Oasis and would play Be Here Now over and over on family road trips and on his first car’s radio!” Marcelo Hinojosa (Meta)
LET’S ALL MAKE BELIEVE (2000)
“The B-side to Go Let It Out is a bit of an oddity – unusually melancholy and lyrically introspective, it’s the type of song that’d typically be sung by Noel, yet Liam’s voice has rarely sounded this beautiful.” Dan Gumble (UK Music)
LITTLE BY LITTLE (2002)
“A great dream-pop ballad that just strikes a great chord. At the time, I was more anti-Oasis than anything, but they have stood the test of time so staunchly, that nobody can deny their influence and storytelling. And if they can touch the cold dark hearts of us old goths too, they are undoubtedly here until the end of time!” Julie Weir (Music For Nations)
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING IDLE (2005)
“This song comes from that time when the band were cloaked in some kind of identity crisis, but I love that you can imagine Noel, slouched in a chair, strumming away at this, while his phone’s going off in the background with people asking him whether he wants to be on Question Time or tour Panama or something. All the while, he’s writing about this character who has happily opted out of the rat race.” Steve Lamacq (BBC Radio 6 Music)
“This is such a quintessential show of British culture. From the melancholic guitar, melodies and lyrics, to the video, it has always stuck with me. The last verse about losing faith in the summertime because all it does is rain is too real as a born and bred Londoner. Plus, Rhys Ifans’ star turn in the video is the perfect balance of narrative and satire.” Komali Scott-Jones (AWAL/The Black Music Coalition)
“I have really vivid memories of this coming out and it has an eeriness to it that I loved. I’d listen to early Oasis a lot growing up and they were some of the first songs I learned on guitar, but I remember being excited that it felt like they had tried something slightly different with this. The video was class as well, I used to sit and watch that on MTV.” Bradley Simpson (artist)
LET THERE BE LOVE (2005)
“Let There Be Love is more [like] John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band in a way. There’s a chord change in it that kills me and which I absolutely adore. It’s a really, really unusual melodic twist in that song and, being the muso that I am, those things always appeal to me.” Steven Wilson (artist)
SUPERSONIC (1994)
“I had just passed my driving test and was proudly cruising around in my Ford Fiesta when I first heard this on Radio 1. I went to turn the volume up and I crashed into another car. No one was hurt, but that was the effect the song had on me. It was the coolest record I had heard. It was a time when all my school friends in Manchester suddenly thought it was cool to like a guitar band and then everyone had the haircut and the swagger. A few years later, I saw Liam in a pub in Altrincham and I bought him a gin and tonic. In typical fashion he told me to fuck off and I loved it!” Louis Bloom (Island EMI)
“Rock’n’roll in its purest form. When I was a student at Bristol in 1994, I had to persuade my friends to trek to Glastonbury’s NME Stage [now The Other Stage] in baking heat to see this new band I’d seen in Melody Maker. Everyone was tired and grumpy, but Oasis were incredible and my mates haven’t stopped thanking me since!” Helen Thomas (BBC Radio 2)
“First of all, the drums are perfect. Their unbreakable tempo makes you feel bulletproof. The song opens with an aura, the guitar rises up defiantly and then Liam’s vocal is the sound of angsty, teenage uprising. Total perfection!” Jack Saunders (BBC Radio 1)
“I saw Oasis perform Supersonic on The Word and immediately I was in. Before that I was into the American grunge scene, but now here was something that was raw, punk, British and mine. Good tunes helped. I took a photo into my local barber and got the haircut. From then, I bought every single on 12 inch and started feeling that maybe I should form a band.” Richard Archer (Hard-Fi)
“I first heard this song in ’94 when I was hosting Naked City on Channel 4. We had two stages in the studio, Oasis were on the smaller one. All afternoon their dressing room had been lively, and we wondered if they’d make the recording session. It was their first time before TV cameras, though they did a live set a couple of days later on The Word that was broadcast first. Anyway, they played Supersonic and the world changed. They just had this edge, this snarl, this ‘fuck you’ swagger, this confidence. I was just blown away. Every other band we had on were in some way trying to be something. They were utterly themselves. Just so damn convincing.” Johnny Vaughan (Radio X)
WAITING FOR THE RAPTURE (2008)
“To pick one Oasis song is like picking one Beatles song. There are the titan songs like Champagne Supernova or Don’t Look Back In Anger, but they are built on the genius simplicity and stories of everyday people that come from all the other songs, from Acquiesce and Digsy’s Dinner, to Waiting For The Rapture and Little By Little. Oasis are a band for the people, they’re about what life is and how to deal with living it. In 2011, we were playing a festival in Paris and Liam was on the bill with Beady Eye. They say never meet your idols, but fuck that, I was going to find him. We walked the maze of dressing rooms and finally, at the end of the last hallway, we heard an acoustic guitar echoing from a dressing room. I peeked my head in, and there on a couch was the man himself. We walked in and introduced ourselves and, as luck would have it, he was familiar with the band. For the next week of festival shows I wouldn’t leave him alone. I’ll tell you this, if you’re going to meet your idols, make sure Liam is one of them. He was humble, and spoke with true charm and wit, with that knowing fire behind his eyes, as much of a rock star as there has ever been. Oasis reuniting is like The Beatles getting back together. The people need it, but more importantly, music needs it.” Taylor Momsen (The Pretty Reckless)
CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA (1995)
“This song is so evocative of my teenage years, of getting into music, starting bands and covering Oasis, very badly. Across more than seven minutes, the band take you on an incredible journey that shows off the range of their talent and energy. It sounds just as fresh as it did 30 years ago!” Ed Howard (Atlantic)
“It just feels like the ’90s – dreamy, emotional, and melancholy in the best way. There’s something about the way it builds and floats along, and every time I listen to it, I feel like I’m getting lost in a beautiful memory. That’s probably because in secondary school my form tutor, who was also a drama teacher, would make the class sing Oasis tracks every morning to get our day started off the right way.” Negla Abdela (Ministry Of Sound)
“This takes me straight back to the ’90s – round a mate’s place, music on, chatting rubbish. It wasn’t just a song, Oasis were a force, reshaping British music. This song touches everyone.” Emmy Lovell (SoundCloud)
“I got married six months ago and the ERA team threw me an Oasis hen party, with specially made ERA bucket hats and a trek to Hitchin to see Noasis. This has to be my favourite track. At the end of our wedding, the whole party sang it at the top of their lungs. It was pure joy and I’ll never forget it! Liam signed some Record Store Day merch for us years ago and I couldn’t resist asking for a pic. He was so friendly and kind and just a total and utter legend.” Megan Ogleby-Page (ERA)
“I have to choose Champagne Supernova. You have to go back to the rawness, these two guys from the North West and what they’ve gone on to achieve. The impact that they’ve had on British culture is immense.” Jamz Supernova (BBC Radio 6 Music)
“We were asked to support Liam at Knebworth in 2022 and I don’t think my parents have ever been prouder. My dad stole a human-sized poster from the show. I remember not actually being able to watch Liam at Knebworth that day because I had to get a train back to Portsmouth and was a miserable twat for the rest of the evening. At the show in Glasgow, I made friends with a middle-aged couple and we sang our hearts out to this song, hugging each other and spilling beer everywhere, exactly the way I wanted it to be.” Holly Mullineaux (Goat Girl)
“It wasn’t released as a single in the UK, but it felt like such a huge song and really grabbed us all back in 1995. I can’t wait to hear it live again this summer!” Bob Workman (Warner Music)
“For Christmas 1995, I got my first hi-fi and (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? on CD. Thirteen-year-old me thought almost every song was brilliant, 43-year-old me still thinks the same way. The record’s pièce de résistance, though, remains its epic closer. Unlike any other song Noel Gallagher has ever written, it might also be his greatest.” James Hanley (journalist)
