Alan McGee, Former Oasis Manager, Explains “Different Sides and Facets” of Liam Gallagher

Alan McGee, co-founder of the label Creation Records in 1983, is recounting some of his experiences as Oasis‘ former manager in his new memoir Creation Stories: Riots, Raves, and Running a Label. He signed Oasis to Creation Records in 1993, a year after half the label was sold to Sony. McGee was concerned that his label would go under after the sale, but Oasis began successfully selling records around that time.

McGee had some great successes with Oasis, but ultimately Creation Records died in 1999. Still, McGee holds a legacy in the Britpop, shoegaze, and indie pop scenes for his work with bands like Oasis, the Libertines, and The Jesus and Mary Chain.

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In his memoir, he recounts moments with notoriously feisty brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, some of which help to explain what he calls the “different sides and facets” of Liam. There is one iconic photo of McGee and Liam outside of the London club Ronnie Scott’s from 1997. The photo makes it look like the two are having a friendly chat, but knowing Liam Gallagher, it’s anything but.

For context, the band was soaring after the release of their album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?. Additionally, Liam had just started beef with Alex Lowe, vocalist of the band Hurricane #1. According to a report from NME, Lowe had done an interview where he referred to Oasis as “these c–ts,” which notoriously volatile Liam didn’t take kindly to.

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Alan McGee, Former Oasis Manager, Gives Insight into Liam Gallagher’s Facets and Quirks

“Which he didn’t mean [in an offensive way], that’s just the way we talk in Glasgow. That’s affectionate,” Alan McGee wrote in his memoir while recounting the story. Apparently, Lowe and Liam got into a physical altercation at Ronnie Scott’s, where the photos were taken. Liam left the club to cool off, and McGee went with him.

“I manage to get them outside, and there’s a famous picture of me and Liam outside Ronnie Scott’s where it looks like we are having a chat, but what he’s really saying is ‘McGee’s a fucking c–t!’ to my face,” McGee continued.

“We then went to some drinking club, some posh place like upstairs at the Groucho, and we were in the very back and Liam shouts at me for two hours. It’s like the blast furnace treatment until he eventually runs out of steam. It was nuts.”

An intimate look into Liam Gallagher’s fiery temper, this story parts the curtain on what it was like being Oasis’ manager at the height of their fame. Later in the memoir, McGee explains that, the next day, the problem was resolved, and Liam invited him to visit the Dalai Lama.

“That’s an example of how it was working with Oasis at the time, and all the different sides and facets to Liam,” McGee wrote. “There’s a lot of depth to him, one minute he’s brawling, and the next he’s wanting to meet the Dalai Lama. It’s a depth that people don’t see, wrapped in a toughness, like when he came back after Oasis had split and after Beady Eye had ended, and made a solo career for himself, which is so hard to do.”

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