Whatever, Trevor

Here’s some history on the Oasis song, Whatever.

"Whatever" is a classic Oasis, written by the band's lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. It was released on December 18, 1994 as a stand-alone single bridging the gap between Oasis' debut album, Definitely Maybe, and their second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?.

"Whatever" entered the UK Singles Chart at #3, Oasis’ first single to enter the top 5, something every Oasis single released since has also accomplished, aside from the download-only single "Lord Don't Slow Me Down", "I'm Outta Time" and "Falling Down". Like "Lord Don't Slow Me Down," this is a non-album release. 


The strings were played by the London Session Orchestra which featured former ELO violinist Wilf Gibson. The strings were arranged by Nick Ingham and Noel Gallagher.


Part of the song's melody was lifted from Neil Innes' song "How Sweet to Be an Idiot". Innes successfully sued Oasis for plagiarism and was awarded subsequent royalties. The portion of the melodic line in question accompanies the lyrics "I'm free, to be whatever I" of the Gallagher version.


When Oasis performed the song for Top of the Pops, they mimed and one of the cello players from the string ensemble was replaced by rhythm guitarist Bonehead, who clearly had no idea how the instrument was supposed to be played and mimed terribly. Towards the end of the song, he gave up the pretense and started using the bow to conduct Oasis.


As part of the show, Whatever was introduced by Damon Albarn of Blur who would later famously feud with Oasis. As Albarn introduced Whatecer, the Gallagher brothers made rude hand gestures behind him which only served to heighten the feud between the bands – Noel went on to infamously wish that Albarn would die of AIDS.


"Whatever" has been performed live by Oasis many times. They often ended live versions of the song with lyrics adapted from The Beatles song "Octopus's Garden".


They have also been known to add the lines "All the young blues....carry the news...," in reference to the Mott the Hoople song "All the Young Dudes". The "blues" in the lyric are the fans of the Gallaghers' beloved Manchester City Football Club. This line had to be omitted from the original studio version of Whatever because of copyright concerns.


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Who was the Fat Dancer from Take That?

“The Fat Dancer from Take That” was the name given to Robbie Williams by Noel Gallagher in 2000 when they were in the middle of a public slanging match. Noel is famous in some parts for his quips and quotes. Some are designed to generate publicity and some are just mean. Wishing Damon Albarn from Blur would die of aids was perhaps his most vile comment of them all.


Robbie responded to the fat dancer comment by calling Noel a "mean spirited dwarf". The comments continued and escalated when Noel offered Williams a gun so that he could kill himself.

This was all following how Williams was befriended by both Noel and Liam Gallagher, at the time when their band was the world’s most popular. Paranoid and taking too much cocaine, according to Mr Williams, they fell out in proper rock star fashion – through the press.

The reference to Robbie being a fat dancer is now a tad ironic as though Robbie had become a successful singer in his own right at the time the comment was made, he went on to become a major solo artist, being just as popular as Oasis in their hey day.

In 2009 the last laugh could be on Robbie as Oasis split up leaving Noel open to quips that he’s just that old cranky bastard from Oasis. Still, the rumours abound that Robbie is going to rejoin with the reformed Take That so we'll see what commnet Noel makes if that happens...


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An Oasis mixing desk tells a story..

From Popbitch:

Some years ago Oasis bought a vintage EMI TG
mixing desk from a studio in Australia. Before
it was shipped to England a famous record
producer working in the studio heard about it...
and carved "Blur" inside it. He's always wondered
if the Gallaghers ever found his handiwork.

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