A Coatbridge author who witnessed the discovery of Oasis at King Tut’s has marked the band’s reunion by releasing a new book detailing the highs and lows of Gallagher brothers’ careers.
It was a bank holiday back in May 1993 when pals Andy Bollen and Ross Clark went along to the Glasgow venue, they had both been added to the guest list by an Airdrieonian friend – whose band was on the bill while Oasis weren’t – and had released music on an offshoot of Alan McGee’s Creation Records label.
As they made their way there they weren’t to know night would gone down in folklore as one of he most talked bout in rock ‘n’ roll history.
Andy has revisited the night and forensically examined the band’s career since then in his book; Definitely Maybe: The Birth, Death and Resurrection of Oasis, which will be released on May 1.
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“We decided to jump into King Tut’s to see Boyfriend and 18 Wheeler as guys we knew from Airdrie were playing,” Andy recalls. “Derek McKee, the drummer in Boyfriend, was our mate, and we were on the guest list.
“We’d heard the third band on the bill Sister Lovers had told their pals [Oasis], who they shared a rehearsal space with in Manchester, to come up to Glasgow, and they’d sneak them on the bill. Thus, history was made.”
Despite have a trio of publishers vying for the book he opted for Scottish publisher Birlinn/Polygon, whom he had previously worked with on the release of one of his other books; A History of Scottish Football in 100 Objects.
Andy’s recollections of the night include a tense atmosphere in the venue’s downstairs bar, as a dozen-strong group of “angry-looking” Mancunians milled around. It seemed to him as if trouble might kick-off in the usually laid-back indie venue.
He recalls a heated discussion between Alan McGee, Oasis’s sound man Mark Coyle, some of the members of Boyfriend, and Ali Murdoch – the gig manager.
“Derek told me the guys were alright but unhappy about coming all this way without seeing the band getting on stage, and that the everyone had intervened and calmed it down,” Andy revealed.
(Image: Birlinn/Polygon Publishing)
“The other bands had refused to play if Oasis couldn’t get on, and offered to trim their stage time to allow them to play. Murdoch called his boss Geoff Ellis, explaining that a friend of the third band on the bill had invited their pals from Manchester. Common sense was reached. The issue then was budget; they couldn’t pay Oasis, so they offered some Tennents Lager.
The Coatbridge man admits he is still genuinely amazed at the way things panned out for the band.
He added: “There were about 14 people there. I was standing next to Alan McGee at one of the most unremarkable gigs, and he was going crazy. I thought McGee had lost it. The band were like football casuals. The singer looked distinctive, but they would be the antithesis of a Creation band.
“One of the major in talking points around the night was always the idea of Alan McGee being there. Cynics claimed it was all too convenient, and that Sony (who had previously bought 49% of Creation) had sent him there.
“Others accept that it was just a remarkable sequence of events.”
On this issue, Andy has spoken in depth to several key people and claims to have “got to the truth”.
He insists the book isn’t just a Britpop memoir seen through the prism of that night with Alan McGee at King Tut’s.
“I think at its heart, it’s a book about five working-class guys from Manchester daring to dream,” he said. “Whatever your feelings toward the band, their story, going from King Tut’s to Knebworth in just over three years is an extraordinary journey.”
(Image: Andy Bollen)
Alison Rae senior editor at publisher Polygon agrees with that summation.
“This is definitely not your standard music biography,” she said. “Andy was involved in the industry, knew the artists, labels, managers and promoters, and he was there in King Tut’s when Alan McGee first encountered Oasis. This book will appeal to the lifelong fans and newcomers who have been energised by the Oasis reunion.”
Definitely Maybe: The Birth, Death and Resurrection of Oasis promises to be a rollercoaster ride. It will be published in paperback in May 2025, just a couple of months before the band’s world tour kicks off in Cardiff on July 5.
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