[dropcap]B[/dropcap]ritpop fans were awash in excitement yesterday when a six-second video popped up on official Oasis social networking sites like Instagram and Facebook depicting the band in stills from their early years with a graphic overlay that read “26 FEB 9AM.” Add this to the news form earlier this year that at a family wedding Liam and Noel Gallagher had quashed — or at least tempered — their wibbling rivalry enough to make plans to open a rock club under the name Champagne Supernova, and Liam’s band Beady Eye having mysteriously disappeared from this year’s Coachella lineup page, and a reunion seemed more than likely to be in the cards. Promoters have also reportedly put millions of dollars on the table for the group to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut, Definitely Maybe, at Knebworth this summer, the same location where they played two nights to more than 300,000 people 18 years ago.
Reunion hopes have been dashed for now it seems, as the big news is Big Brother Recordings announcing the band’s first three albums would be re-released this year as part of the label’s “Chasing the Sun” series. Definitely Maybe is up first, with a three disc extravaganza dropping May 20 featuring a series of live and previously unheard music highlighted by acoustic versions of “Live Forever” and “Shakermaker” from a Paris in-store gig, an early and intimate version of “Half The World Away” recorded in Noel’s Gallagher’s hotel room in Toyko in 1994 and “Strange Thing” from the original 1993 demos cassette.
The 1993 demos will be released on cassette in a limited run and is available to order now from oasisinet.com, a replica of the legendary demo cassette handed out by the band before getting signed. An incredibly rare rock artifact — only eight copies were made in its original form — Definitely Maybe producer Mark Coyle has written new sleeve notes for this release.
“It was a disused warehouse and there were different businesses in there,” said Noel Gallagher in a statement of recording the demo. “And The Real People had this ground floor rehearsal space, where you walked in and they had all their gear set up, and upstairs they had a telly. And we used to go there, play local band nights and hang out with the Stairs, the La’s, The Real People. They bought an eight track and I’m not sure they really knew how to use it properly, so we brought our mate Mark Coyle over one weekend.
“We put a few mics out and recorded maybe ten or fifteen songs. They were the songs on the original demo that we gave to Alan McGee. Great times. On the demo of “Columbia” there’s a snippet of (British Labour Party’s) Tony Benn talking. We were just flicking through the radio recording it, and he was on. If anyone produced it, it was Mark Coyle. He put out the mics and was twiddling the knobs. The Real People were drinking beer, punching the air and going “this is great!’”
Each configuration of Definitely Maybe includes a remastered version of the original album. The deluxe CD and super deluxe box set include two CDs including all the B-sides plus rare and unreleased Oasis tracks from the era, plus their huge Christmas single from that year, “Whatever.” Sleeve notes have been penned by critic Neil McCormick.
Additionally, for Record Store Day on Saturday April 19, Big Brother will release a limited edition remastered replica of Oasis’s debut 12 inch single “Supersonic” on heavyweight vinyl. It features “Take Me Away” and a live version of “I Will Believe” on the B-side. Detailed plans for the expanded editions of (What’s the Story?) Morning Glory and Be Here Now are expected in the coming months.