LOOKING BACK IN ANGER; Former Stone Roses star Ian Brown rips into Oasis brothers.
Former Stone Roses star Ian Brown has sent out a chilling warning to Oasis: The Drugs DON'T Work.The singer, who inspired the Gallagher brothers to form Oasis, uses the line from The Verve's classic No1 hit each time he meets Noel and Liam.
He wants the mouthy duo to stop boasting about their cocaine intake and quit the drug before it destroys them.
But Noel and Liam appear to be ignoring the advice.
Ian said: "I've told them to keep off the coke because it's no good, but they just ignore me."
Ian has become one of the band's sternest critics. But he's well aware that Oasis - as well as the Charlatans and Primal Scream - have modelled their image on the Stone Roses' "baggy revolution" of the 1980s.
Despite the similarities, however, few bands have managed to match the originality of the indie chart-toppers classic albums, The Stone Roses, in 1989 and The Second Coming five years later.
Ian said: "I can see that Oasis are influenced by the Stone Roses. They have worked hard and I feel happy for them.
"But it's 1998 - what's the sense in trying to be the Beatles? Liam is a young kid who has looked up to me.
"But Oasis are nowhere near the greatest band in the world. They are boring now. They don't have anything to say.
"To me, they are like Status Quo or the Rutles. Musically, they do nothing for me.
"The Stone Roses, at their height, were capable of reaching places that Oasis can only dream about."
Ian blasted back onto the music scene this week when his debut solo single, My Star, rocketed straight into the charts at No 5.
The new song is taken from his long-awaited album, Unfinished Monkey Business, which is released next month.
This time, Ian's sound is more mellow - a change he puts down to being a dad.
Although he's now split from long-term girlfriend, the couple's kids, Frankie, five, and two-year-old Casey are still an important part of his life.
He said: "It's hard not seeing them as much as I'd like. They say that being a father makes you more mellow, but I think it makes me more intolerant. It's hard only seeing my kids at weekends."
Ian had a troubled time after the Stone Roses split. He quit music to become a gardener before fleeing Britain to travel the world.
HE admits he was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown and he revealed: "I would have cracked up if I was forced to stay in England.
"I went to Morocco, Spain and Mexico and spent a lot of time in New York. I just thought about what the Roses had done.
"I realised that, while it was all happening to us, I had never looked back.
"So I took the time to think about some of our greatest moments, like the show at Glasgow Green, which we played in 1990. The night before that show, we met some kids in the town centre who were from Easterhouse.
"They took us back there and we stayed for three days. About 100 of the kids from the area came to the gig.
"It was in a marquee and it was like a sauna with 9000 people inside. Yet, despite being a big show, it's the most intimate one we've done.
"Afterwards, all the music- business people were backstage drinking champagne and, from nowhere, all these kids from Easterhouse came in and frightened the life out of them. It was great.
"That was the last show we played in Britain until 1995."
Ian also revealed his anti-drugs stance is down to seeing ex-Stone Roses guitarist and childhood pal John Squire becoming hooked on cocaine before quitting the band in 1995.
Squire dropped a bombshell when he TELEPHONED Ian with news of his departure.
Ian said: "John never told me that he was leaving until the day that he phoned me up. He didn't even have the decency to come round and discuss it with me.
"But that was just callous and cowardly behaviour from someone who I'd worked closely with.
"He was someone I'd built up an affinity with. But he treated me like a spare part. I haven't seen him since and I'm not likely to."
Squire went on to form the Seahorses and has scored several chart hits, including Love Is The Law and Blinded By The Sun from the LP Do It Yourself.
Ian keeps in touch with his other ex-Stone Roses pals, including drummer Reni and bassist Mani, who joined Primal Scream, last year.
But the former frontman holds a grudge against Scots rocker Bobby Gillespie's band. He claims Primal Scream's hit Loaded was a Stone Roses rip-off.
He said: "Primal Scream just use people. They're good at spotting talent like George Clinton and Denise Johnson and now Mani.
He added: "I've met Bobby Gillespie a few times. He came to Manchester looking for us in 1989, but I sent him back because he was wearing winkle-picker shoes.
"He said: `I've come to be with the Roses and I told him: `Not with them shoes, you're not'.
"When the Stone Roses came on the scene, Primal Scream were still rockers in their leather pants. Then they saw us and went off to make Loaded. I just don't trust them. They're not original.
"It's good for Mani to keep his hand in, though. Reni is working on his own stuff, singing and playing guitar."
Despite signing a multi-million pound deal with Geffen records in the US, the Stone Roses were left penniless when they split.
Their old record company, Silverstone, didn't pay the band royalties on the sale of their compact discs. Ian and Co took the company to court, but they couldn't record new material during the lengthy legal battle, which they eventually won.
Ian explained: "Our first record sold two million copies, yet we made pounds 20,000 between us. People think I'm a millionaire. I'm not. Reni is still signing on and if Mani hadn't joined Primal Scream, he would be, too."
Now Ian reckons he is ready for a more successful solo career.
"With this album, I wanted to uplift people. I'm hoping my album will inspire Reni to get grafting and get his songs out - some of them are brilliant."
Ian could be heading north for the T In The Park Summer festival. He said: "I've got a new band together and I'd love to play T In The Park.
"I'm happy because I know I have complete control over everything."
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| Title Annotation: | Features |
|---|---|
| Author: | Dingwall, John |
| Publication: | Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Date: | Jan 23, 1998 |
| Words: | 1099 |
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