Definitely Maybe: The Birth, Death and Resurrection of Oasis by Andy Bollen review

It may be light on day-to-day detail and insider insights, but this account of Oasis’s career to date certainly nails the emotional appeal of their debut album, writes Fiona Shepherd

Definitely Maybe: The Birth, Death and Resurrection of Oasis is a slight misnomer. This book is definitely concerned with the birth of the Mancunian indie rock legends, their discovery, development, first two classic albums and key shows from T In the Park to Knebworth – what writer Andy Bollen terms their “first act” - but dispenses with a decade of their subsequent career and their imminent comeback in two chapters.

Oasis pictured in Withington, Manchester, November 1993, from l-r: Paul McGuigan, Noel Gallagher, Tony McCarroll, Paul Arthurs, Liam Gallagher | Getty Images

It’s a fair call. The ascent is more interesting than the plateau, and Bollen has skin in the game, as he was one of only 14 people present on the fateful night in May 1993 when Oasis were discovered at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, having blagged their way onto a bill without a booking. The show has acquired mythical status as the occasion of the handshake agreement between Noel Gallagher and Creation Records boss Alan McGee that he would sign the band.

Bollen’s verdict? “I wouldn’t have offered them a pint never mind a recording contract.” Nevertheless, he is happy to milk his eyewitness account across six increasingly repetitive chapters scattered through the narrative to diminishing returns. The takeaway is always the same. He didn’t rate the band, only later seeing the light. On his final revisit to the night in question, he quotes conflicting memories from others who were in the room where it happened, most of whom are his friends and acquaintances. From such hazy (and banal) recollections, legends are forged.

The preface of the book promises “no introverted navel-gazing or emotional heartache.” On that it delivers. This is a partial account from a fan’s perspective, full of supposition and projection, light on day-to-day detail and devoid of insider insights. Instead, Bollen offers pages of general industry wisdom about bands gaining live experience, strategies for getting noticed and horse-trading over deals which could apply to any band of the time. As a former musician, he knows this pre-social media milieu, arguably the last hurrah of the Svengalis and gatekeepers who had dominated the record business since the Sixties, but it does not make for a scintillating account.

Bollen is better on the appeal of debut album Definitely Maybe, eschewing muso analysis in favour of recognizing its emotional impact. He offers a salutary reminder that the eclectic influences celebrated on the record sleeve, ranging from Burt Bacharach to spaghetti westerns, counter the reductive image of Oasis as a band of lairy rock’n’rollers (not that there is any shade there). Fun fact fans will also learn what was actually in Liam Gallagher’s wine glass in the cover photo. Most touchingly, as a fellow drummer, he mounts a credible defence of original Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll.

Definitely Maybe: The Birth, Death and Resurrection of Oasis by Andy Bollen, Birlinn, £9.99