A core part of Oasis and their unparalleled rock and roll power back in the 1990s was their ability to speak directly to the youth culture of the time, but Noel Gallagher\u2019s songwriting was equally adept at harking back to multiple previous generations of rock royalty, including Pete Townshend.<\/p>\n
Decades before Gallagher ever picked up a guitar, Townshend was at the forefront of British rock when the nation\u2019s capital was at its most swinging. With era-defining anthems like \u2018My Generation\u2019, Townshend captured the voice of Britain\u2019s post-war youth and paved the way for virtually all future rock and roll rebellion. That sound is inseparable from the vibrant, nostalgia-fueled image of the swinging sixties, but if you strip The Who\u2019s work down to its core components, it has never really become outdated.<\/p>\n
So, it should come as no surprise that The Who, along with the likes of The Beatles and The Kinks, formed a colossal influence on Oasis during their earlier days. Adopting the same kind of grassroots spirit and rebellious energy as their heroes from the era of mods and mini skirts, the Britpop heroes were indebted to people like Pete Townshend. Nevertheless, Oasis weren\u2019t always so well-respected by that older generation of rock and rollers.<\/p>\n
George Harrison, for instance, famously dismissed Liam Gallagher as being \u201csilly\u201d, although the parka-wearing frontman quickly brushed that insult off. Pete Townshend, on the other hand, was a lot more receptive to the new age of British rock and roll which emerged during the 1990s, with Oasis firmly at the forefront. \u201cThe thing that got me about Oasis was Liam\u2019s voice, not so much the attitude,\u201d the songwriter once told The Times. \u201cIt took me a while to get used to the attitude, and I felt Noel was the one with the most edge.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that mutual appreciation, Townshend fostered a certain friendship with the Oasis frontman during the peak of Oasismania. \u201cLiam used to come to Who gigs with his girlfriend, and he was always charming,\u201d The Who guitarist recalled. \u201cAnd despite the fact that it was intended to be threatening and to have no emotion, it was loaded with emotion.\u201d That description could equally be attributed to The Who\u2019s early work, awash with youthful angst and an underlying current of complex emotional intelligence.<\/p>\n
Unlike some of the swinging sixties contemporaries, Townshend had no qualms about having influenced the age of Britpop, although he did also note that Oasis weren\u2019t a simple rehashing of the past. \u201cThe songs were inspired not just by The Beatles, The Who and The Kinks but also had this feeling of coming from an entirely new place, and I don\u2019t really know where it is,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Perhaps as a result of that, Townshend tended to lean towards Oasis\u2019 more vulnerable, understated moments as particular favourites. \u201cI feel a bit exposed, talking about it now,\u201d he said, \u201cbut the song that brought me to tears is [\u2018Half The World Away\u2019].\u201d One of Noel Gallagher\u2019s finest moments, that iconic track was only released as the B-side to \u2018Whatever\u2019 originally, before eventually being included on The Masterplan album four years later.<\/p>\n
Townshend didn\u2019t expand on his love of the song, but it is easy to see why it fostered such an emotional response for the songwriter. \u2018Half The World Away\u2019 offers an entirely different perspective on the Oasis sound, much more honest and vulnerable than some of their brash, big hits which helped to define the Britpop sound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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