Liverpool · The Oasis Sessions

The band who helped Oasis

Before Oasis had a record deal, they made their first proper recordings in a Liverpool studio — with The Real People showing them how. Here is what actually happened.

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Around 1993, before Oasis had a record deal, Chris and Tony Griffiths did what Liverpool bands do for one another — they opened up their studio. The Gallaghers came down, and the Griffiths helped them record their early demos, showing a raw young band how to shape a song: structure, dynamics, arrangement. Those sessions fed into the tape that won Oasis their deal, and in time into Definitely Maybe.

It's a thread most fans never see. The collaboration is a matter of record — and the credits are real:

The Credits

On the record

  • SupersonicTony Griffiths sang backing vocals; the band helped record it at the Pink Museum.
  • Rockin' ChairCo-written by Chris Griffiths. Released as a B-side to "Roll With It" and later collected on The Masterplan.
  • ColumbiaChris has said he wrote the first verse — an account also recounted in Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll's memoir.

Now hear the band themselves

Some of the DNA of the biggest British band of the nineties traces back to a studio in Liverpool — and to The Real People. But the Griffiths were never a footnote to someone else's story. They wrote hits for Cher, Rooster and more, released records of their own that still hold up, and they're out playing them right now.

Do yourself a favour — start with the band, not the connection.

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