The Forgotten Man of Oasis speaks out
The last time Tony McCarroll saw Noel Gallagher the drummer told him to f*** off and stormed out of the dressing room – and in doing so lost his place in Oasis forever.
So McCarroll could be forgiven if he was bitter about missing out on the multi-million pound fortunes set to be made by the band’s massive reunion shows.
But the man dubbed ‘the forgotten man of Oasis’ insists he isn’t looking back in anger about what might have been and missing out of a £400 million reunion windfall – and instead insists: ‘I’m happy for Noel and Liam. Really happy for them. And I’m dead happy for the fans more than anything and for those generations who haven’t seen Oasis.’
It was his first interview since last week’s announcement that Oasis will be touring again next summer saw people around the world asking how McCarroll felt about it.
Because he is often likened to Pete Best – the drummer thrown out of The Beatles for Ringo Starr just as they became globally famous – as the second unluckiest percussion man in music history.
Tony had been the drummer in the original Oasis line up but repeatedly rowed with Noel Gallagher who felt he wasn’t good enough before Tony was finally unceremoniously kicked out of the band.
The last time Tony McCarroll (pictured) saw Noel Gallagher the drummer told him to f*** off and stormed out of the dressing room
But the man dubbed ‘the forgotten man of Oasis’ insists he isn’t looking back in anger about what might have been and missing out of a £400 million reunion windfall. Pictured left to right: Paul Arthurs (aka Bonehead), Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, Tony McCarroll and Paul McGuigan in 1993
McCarroll (pictured with Oasis) is often likened to Pete Best – the drummer thrown out of The Beatles for Ringo Starr just as they became globally famous – as the second unluckiest percussion man in music history
McCarroll suing Noel in the High Court, claiming he was owed £15 million in royalties – and eventually settle for £550,000. Pictured: Oasis, with Tony on the drums in 1994
What followed was a bitter rift that ended with McCarroll suing Noel in the High Court, claiming he was owed £15 million in royalties – and eventually settle for £550,000.
With his nemesis Noel, 57, with a net worth of £53m even before the new tour – while Tony lives half a world away in the relative modesty of a £200k semi-detached in South Manchester which still has a mortgage, he could be forgiven for bearing a grudge.
But speaking exclusively to MailOnline from his mother’s hometown of Kinnetty, Ireland, today, he insists he doesn’t.
McCarroll revealed that his former bandmates had not yet been in touch with him, telling MailOnline: ‘They haven’t reached out yet and to be honest I’m not holding my breath.
‘Would I consider being involved? I don’t know. At the end of the day I’m not the only ex-member left behind, so I’ll just crack on.
‘I haven’t made up my mind if I’m going to watch them play next year either. I was at their last ever gig in the UK at the V Festival. It’s weird and ironic that I was there at the first and last gig.
‘I think we all knew it was going to happen and it had to happen.
‘Whether it’s been a blag for 15-years I haven’t got a clue. They’re brothers at the end of the day- maybe their mum Peggy clashed their heads together and said ‘sort it out’.
Tony had been the drummer in the original Oasis line up but repeatedly rowed with Noel Gallagher who felt he wasn’t good enough before Tony was finally unceremoniously kicked out of the band
His nemesis Noel, 57, with a net worth of £53m even before the new tour – while Tony lives half a world away in the relative modesty of a £200k semi-detached in South Manchester which still has a mortgage
McCarroll revealed that his former bandmates had not yet been in touch with him – adding that he’s not holding his breath
‘I wasn’t shocked when they announced the reunion. I’ve been saying for years it was going to happen, but I actually thought it’d be this year. I thought they’d do it to mark the 30th anniversary of Definitely Maybe.
‘They’re an exciting band, they know how to bring excitement to the table.’
Writing in his 2010 book, Oasis: The Truth, he dubbed him ‘The Lord Mayor of Loneliness’ despite his vast wealth and wrote: ‘I guess Noel’s life story just shows how you can have it all yet still not have enough.’
Nearly 15-years on from the book, McCarroll’s views on his one-time nemesis Noel have softened and he says he would like to meet up again.
He said: ‘I last saw Liam just before Christmas and it was all hugs and kisses with him. We’re not on the phone to each other but the relationship is amicable, we’re all good.
‘I’d seen him at the Supersonic film a little while before and he sat me down so that it was just me and him and we talked until it became a bit on top with all these people coming over to see what was going on.
‘I’ve not spoken to Noel in a while, but I’d love to see all of them again. It would be lovely if something nice happened, but I don’t expect anything. If it does, then great, nice ending to it all.’
Asked whether he thinks Oasis will get back into he studio after their tour next year in which they play Manchester’s Heaton Park, Wembley Stadium and in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Dublin, McCarroll said: ‘They should if the energy is still there. Noel’s probably got eight albums up his sleeve, who knows?
‘Noel’s an amazing songwriter. He really is. He’s lasted the test of time. He’s damn good at what he does, and you just look back in hindsight now and think ‘yeah he is special’.
Nearly 15-years on from the book, McCarroll’s views on his one-time nemesis Noel have softened and he says he would like to meet up again. Pictured: McCarroll on the drums
Pictured: The parish hall where a blue commemorative plaque will be unveiled in McCarroll’s honour
McCarroll joined the band in the 1980s when they were still performing under their old name The Rain, and neither Liam nor his elder brother Noel were members. Pictured left to right: Paul McGuigan, Noel Gallagher, Tony McCarroll, Liam Gallagher, Paul Arthurs (aka Bonehead)
‘Liam’s special too. To be in his presence on stage is something else. He’s one of the last of the greats when it comes to rock n roll stars. My grandson wants to be him, he copies his arms-behind-the-back singing stance and everything.
‘Some of the groups these days are so manufactured, it’s bland. You can feel it in the music, there’s a lack of energy and spice.
‘But with Oasis I really believe we gave kids hope that they could do this as well and it inspired a lot of people to jump on a set of drums, grab a guitar and form bands.’
McCarroll joined the band in the 1980s when they were still performing under their old name The Rain, and neither Liam nor his elder brother Noel were members.
During his time with the group, he performed on their phenomenally successful debut album Definitely Maybe, released on August 29, 1994.
The album is one of the most successful in musical history selling to date 8.5million copies.
Recalling the band’s early days, McCarroll said: ‘At the time Manchester was a bleak kind of place for work and to be successful.
‘If you weren’t at college or university you were on the lower end of the job scale so it was football or music and we dedicated ourselves to music to find a way out. And it worked out in the end.
During his time with the group, he performed on their phenomenally successful debut album Definitely Maybe, released on August 29, 1994
McCarroll is currently visiting Kinnitty in County Offaly, Ireland, the village where his mother is from and where he himself spent two-years as a boy. He still has family here in abundance
Tomorrow he will unveil a blue plaque in his honour at the village’s parish hall, where he had his ‘first rehearsed public performance’ back in 1980 as a nine-year boy in his school’s Christmas nativity play
He spent two years in Kinnitty, with the beautiful Slieve Bloom mountains as a backdrop, between 1979 and 1981 when his father moved the family there briefly for work
‘It’s madness that it’s been 30 years. I’d say Definitely Maybe was Oasis’ best album.
‘With What’s The Story you could tell they’d perfected the studio technique by then. They’d had enlightenment on how to work in a studio.
‘But first time wound with Definitely Maybe it was a case of ‘get in there and get out as quick as you can and don’t cost money’.
‘We only had so much of a budget to sort it out. It didn’t work first time around because we couldn’t replicate that wall of sound – we thought the initial recording was a bit weak but we’d been locked in separate rooms so there was no eye contact nor energy between us.
‘The secret was to put us in a room together to record it and that’s when we got back all the eye contacts, the nods… it was comfort and the recording captured it in the end. I’d be daft to say I wasn’t proud to be a part of that.
‘We didn’t predict it would be like that. We just wanted to be successful for a few years and we lived like it was going to be our last minute and that turned into Rock and Roll mayhem. We’d get the Sony exec p***ed up and made sure he went to the bar with his credit card.
‘It was great. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had a drink this year.
‘There’s a few concerts I’ve been to these last few years and bands from back then in the 90s are now all backstage drinking fruit tea. That’s what it’s like now.’
McCarroll attended the Kinnitty National School and played for the local Hurling club
McCarroll said he had been going to the Irish town since he was a baby, and called the plaque a ‘huge honour’
McCarroll is currently visiting Kinnitty in County Offaly, Ireland, the village where his mother is from and where he himself spent two-years as a boy. He still has family here in abundance.
Tomorrow he will unveil a blue plaque in his honour at the village’s parish hall, where he had his ‘first rehearsed public performance’ back in 1980 as a nine-year boy in his school’s Christmas nativity play.
He spent two years in Kinnitty, with the beautiful Slieve Bloom mountains as a backdrop, between 1979 and 1981 when his father moved the family there briefly for work.
He attended the Kinnitty National School and played for the local Hurling club.
McCarroll said: ‘It’s a huge honour for me.
‘I’ve been coming here since I was a baby. I spent two years here from when I was about eight or nine-year’s old.
‘When I was aged ten, a drum kit was set up on the right-hand side of the local parish hall for a nativity. I was playing with a guy called Seamus Bradley, who had a tin whistle, so we must have sounded ridiculous.
‘We were probably playing things like Jingle Bells and Silent Night but in my head it was brilliant.’
McCarroll later bought a drum kit for £50 and got a job as a paper boy to pay it off at five pounds a week.
He added: ‘I’d drummed at family weddings when I was about seven and I’d actually been on the Play School kids TV show when I was much younger beating a little drum in the corner.
‘But that nativity was my first rehearsed public performance which set me on my way.’
