Is it a feud or is it just some school yard fun? This question is raised as it boils down to Radiohead and Oasis. Two giants in the UK alternative world.
Radiohead had originally been grouped alongside Blur and Oasis for a strange period of time, but they soon broke free. However, while they may have taken a new path of their own making, the band weren’t able to escape a public war of words with Manchester’s prolifically outspoken brothers.
Radiohead rarely indulged in taking shots at anyone, but when Thom Yorke decided to put his own spin on the Oasis song ‘Wonderwall’, he really wound up.
In 2015, Noel Gallagher would take on Radiohead’s consistently impressive reviews by saying: “I’m aware that Radiohead have never had a f*cking bad review. I reckon if Thom Yorke f*cking s*it into a light bulb and started blowing it like an empty beer bottle it’d probably get 9 out of 10 in f*cking Mojo. I’m aware of that”.
He didn’t stop there. Gallagher took another shot at the Radiohead frontman while discussing the backstory of the Oasis song ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ and its impact on contemporary music. “Technically, there’s better songwriters than I am. Guardian writers will tell you that. Have other people’s songs ever really touched a generation, though? Radiohead? When do people listen to them? Is it when they go out, or is it when they come in? Because I’m struggling to think.”
Obviously, Radiohead was not on the good list when it came to Gallagher.
Years later, with the bee still firmly in his bonnet, Gallagher took aim once more: “Thom Yorke sat at a piano singing, ‘This is f*cked up’, for half an hour. We all know that, Mr. Yorke. Who wants to sing the news? No matter how much you sit their twiddling, going, ‘We’re all doomed,’ at the end of the day people will always want to hear you play Creep. Get over it. I never went to fucking university. I don’t know what a paint brush is; I never went to art school.”
Thom Yorke, ever the professional, replied in succinct fashion: “I did. It taught me to respect other artists.”
However, the story isn’t that straightforward. It turns out Yorke had actually attempted a blow at Oasis years prior.
While tinkering around on his acoustic guitar, Yorke romps into a rendition of Oasis’ 1995 song ‘Wonderwall’, seemingly attempting to make his vocals sound as nasally as possible akin to Liam Gallagher’s almost parody approach. Quite cheekily, Yorke then plays around with the lyrics as he sings: “There are many ways that I would like to sing to you, but I don’t know how.”
Towards the end of this rare recording, a member of the Posies can be heard saying: “Is this abysmal or what?” to which Yorke replies: “Yep,” before promptly adding: “It’s always good to make fun of Oasis, though.”
The Radiohead frontman then adds: “They don’t mind, actually.”
Have a listen below.
