Crossed Channels is a monthly podcast on which Dan Epstein (the Yank) and myself (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond. We publish it exclusively for our paid subscribers.
However, my accident last week forced Episode 9 - in which we discuss Kate Bush’s early years, especially her debut album The Kick Inside which failed to make almost any roads in the USA despite “Wuthering Heights” propelling the LP into Top 10 charts almost everywhere else on the planet - to be delayed by a week. That episode will go up this Thursday August 29th (barring the further unforeseen!).
However, in the interim, Oasis did us a solid and reformed, giving us an excuse and an opportunity to share out, to all our readers - free, paid, or just passing through - Episode 5 of our show, entitled Oasis: What’s The Story? You can access the entire episode via the audio file up top, and it should be available on all major streaming platforms, including these:
Here’s some of what we wrote to accompany the show when we first posted it back in April:
“Originally a quartet formed in 1991 as the Rain, Oasis – which became a five-piece once singer Liam Gallagher's older brother, the songwriter Noel Gallagher, joined the band - were signed to Creation Records in the summer of 1993. They scored their first UK Top 10 hit a year later with “Live Forever,” and generated such a buzz that their 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe entered the Number One spot on the UK albums chart in its first week of release, becoming the fastest selling debut album in British history.
But it was their second album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, that turned Oasis into a genuine phenomenon. Released in October 1995, the record spent ten weeks at the top of the UK albums chart and spawned four UK #1 or #2 hits with “Some Might Say,” “Roll With It,” “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger”. For anyone in Britain in 1995-96, it was impossible to get away from the sound of the band’s music; discussion of their antics (the Gallagher brothers took “sibling rivalry” to new extremes and the group as a whole was known for its rabble-rousing); and coverage of the Britpop phenomenon, which Oasis were drawn into after the media created a rivalry between themselves and Blur.
Why did Oasis — and especially (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? — strike such a massive chord with British record buyers? What was it about the band’s music, message and attitude that resonated so deeply in the UK? And how was this exceedingly British band received in the US at a time when the seismic rumbles of the grunge movement were still being heard and felt on that side of the Atlantic?
Dan and Tony discuss these topics and more, including their memories of their first Oasis concerts, and have a look to see just how well (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? holds up today, nearly 29 years after its release.”
We hope you enjoy this free episode. The other artists/specific albums we have featured to date are The Jam/Setting Sons; The Replacements/Tim; The Sex Pistols; Otis Redding; Blondie; The Clash/Sandinista!; and Love/Four Sail. They can each be accessed directly from here. Subscriptions to either of our Substack pages not only get you the full podcasts delivered to your Inbox but access to all archives from that particular page, and other bonus features too. We keep these podcasts ad-free as we do our Substack pages by default. Your support is appreciated.
In the meantime, feel free to share this episode if you’d like, and to comment once you’ve listened along. Cheers, and look out for Episode 9 on Kate Bush in just a couple of days.
What's The Story, Oasis? Maybe? Definitely!