Noel and Liam Gallagher on Sly St, East London, 8 May 1994. Image: Kevin Cummins
Share
Photographer Kevin Cummins had a unique view of the year Oasis shot to stardom. He captured all the big moments as the band blazed a trail through 1994, starting the year as fledgling hopefuls and ending it with a number one album, five hit singles and a reputation for excess, mayhem and massive tunes that would set them on the path to iconic status. Cummins takes us back to the start of that year when singing about being a rock ’n’ roll star was about to become a reality.
Amsterdam, 18 February
Image: Kevin Cummins
“It’s Noel on his own because the rest of them weren’t there. I was taken over to Amsterdam to meet them and we flew over on the Friday morning with a PR. We got to the hotel and I said, ‘Where are the others, are they still out?’ He said ‘No, they’re back home’ I said ‘Why?’ He said, ‘They got arrested on the ferry on the way over for fighting with Chelsea fans.’
They had a few drinks and it all kicked off – Noel had gone to bed. They were all locked up and sent straight back. Oasis were supposed to be playing a gig that night, opening for The Verve.
So we wandered about a bit and I saw a poster and I said to Noel, let’s take a picture by it so we remember this. So it kind of set the tone for the way things went. I don’t think Noel was massively pleased. He didn’t think, ‘Oh this is great. This is rock’n’roll.’ I’m not sure if he was pissed off that he hadn’t been able to join in or whether he was just now stuck there for the day and couldn’t even do the gig. Cos he likes playing, that’s why he was there.”
Sly Street Studio, London, 9 May
Image: Kevin Cummins
“It was perfect Man City having Brother as a sponsor at the time. Obviously, outside of the UK, City weren’t really that well known because we’d had about 15 years of abject misery – and then suddenly a band come along with two brothers and it kind of, for me, became apparent that Noel and Liam were the selling point of the band.
It was their band and a two-shot with Brother on the shirt was perfect really. When they went to Japan it was very difficult to get Man City shirts. You know, it’s not like the Premier League nowadays. But in the first three rows of the audience there were girls wearing Man City shirts with Brother on it. Those shots helped to really move them up a notch because they were so strong, because of the brother thing.
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertisement
They looked great together, Noel and Liam then. It just worked, beyond my wildest dreams really. They really do look like they’re genuinely fond of each other in those pictures. I don’t normally overshoot, but I took probably about four rolls of film on just that because I felt they were interacting really nicely and they were getting on well. That’s a particular favourite really. If I was their mum I’d love that session. I’d say, ‘Oh, that’s a really lovely picture of you two.’ Plus they look like they like each other. Which of course, they do, but you know… you spend too long with your brother… I can understand all that really easily.”
Oasis at Café Rouge, Frith Street, London, 15 March
Image: Kevin Cummins
“Café Rouge had the tables outside, that’s why we did it there. We made sure we didn’t get any branding in it. It’s a 60s-style caff, the car in the foreground gives it quite a nice feel. Now with digital technology and with camera phones it’s impossible for a band to sit in the heart of Soho outside a cafe and not be bothered, but nobody took any notice, cos no one was walking around with a camera.
Three years later I was photographing Bowie in New York and I took pictures of him out on the street with a mug of tea and nobody bothered him, nothing. And I just think how much things have changed over the last 20-odd years. Now if I try and take a picture of anybody, somebody would be behind me taking a picture even if they didn’t know who that person was just because they think it must be important. You could never replicate that now unless you closed the street off.
I liked this shoot. I didn’t give them much direction. I just said to Noel and Liam, one of you needs to look at me. It’s got a lovely charm, it’s very much about the growth of Oasis as a band.”
The King’s Hotel, Newport, 4 May
Image: Kevin Cummins
“I was sat in the lobby the morning after the show waiting for them. And then Liam just came in. I looked up at him and he was stood right under this sign that I hadn’t even noticed. I said to him, ‘Just stand there. Please don’t move.’
I took about five or six pictures while I had the chance to do it. I didn’t think it would be a cover shot [for NME], but I thought it would be an enduring image. I talked to Noel about it years later and I said to him, ‘Did it bother you that for your first cover we just put Liam on there?’ And he said, ‘No, why would it? He looks great and it’s a strong picture.’
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
He’s not got that kind of ego. If they’d put Noel on the cover Liam wouldn’t have been happy though! Quite a lot of the time with a new band they’re all very insecure. They like to say, ‘We’re a band. We’re not going to be photographed unless we’re all together.’ Noel knows the game and he knows that’s his selling point. He doesn’t need to be in the picture for it to be an Oasis picture.”
“Noel was very funny about the book. He said, ‘Fucking hell, our clothes are like a catalogue for Marks & Spencer.’ I don’t like styling a band. When you first start working with a band you need them to be as comfortable as possible. When we did the picture that’s on the cover of the book, that session Liam was wearing a maroon shirt and Noel was wearing a blue shirt. I’d just bought a dark blue denim Armani shirt and I had it with me. I wanted some pictures of the two of them in the same colour cos the background was a bluey grey as well. So I said to Liam, ‘You can borrow this if you like,’ and he went, ‘Oh great, I’ve never had an Armani shirt.’ I said, ‘Well, you don’t have one now, I want it back after we’re done!’
He wore it for the pics and then reluctantly gave it back to me. The reason we did that at the time was they were about to go to America and we wanted some pics that we could use over the next few months while they were away because we knew there’d be big Oasis stories breaking all the time. That’s why we did the shirt swap, so it looked like a different session.”
Oasis on stage at TJs, Newport, 3 May
Image: Kevin Cummins
“It seemed really exciting but it was because they were in a room too small for Oasis. You can see on some of the pictures… there’s a guy trying to rip Liam’s jumper off him. He’s that close to him, and the crowd were virtually onstage because the platforms were so low… you know, they were very small venues. I’m looking to try and capture the excitement and at that stage when you work with a band it’s quite nice to shoot from the stage because you start to understand what it’s like to be in a band and you can capture the excitement with your shot. It helps to ramp up the excitement for the reader who sees this the following week and thinks, ‘I’d love to go and see them.’
I did feel Liam had star quality without a doubt. He was always great in front of the camera but he was learning how to have his picture taken back then so sometimes onstage if he’d catch the camera, if he’d catch my eye, he’d sort of pose midway through a live show to get a good picture of him.”
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Oasis: The Masterplan by Kevin Cummins is out now (Cassell, £35). You can buy it from the Big Issue shop on bookshop.org, which helps to support Big Issue and independent bookshops.
Will you sign Big Issue's petition to ask Keir Starmer to pass a Poverty Zero law? It's time to hold government to account on poverty once and for all.