Cocaine, ghosts and drowning cars: The legacy of Oasis’ divisive ‘Be Here Now’
Be Here Now hit shelves in August 1997 at the height of Oasis mania and has gone down in history as the group’s Marmite record: Loved by some, hated by others.
Not for the first time, the world’s eyes were fixated on a group of Mancunian ne’er do wells with immense musical talent and swaggering braggadocio to match.
After two smash-hit records and a pair of Knebworth gigs that attracted quarter-of-a-million punters, Oasis were the biggest thing since sliced bread.
So, after wrapping up at Hertfordshire, they did what any group of young successful lads would do. They went on holiday.
They drank. They partied. They celebrated. But they also made music.
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The first blueprints for Oasis’ third album Be Here Now were built on the Caribbean island of Mustique in 1996, amidst a swirl of drugs, booze and sunshine.
The CD was on music store shelves a year later – and has gone down in history as the group’s Marmite record: Loved by some, hated by others.
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Q Magazine called it “Cocaine set to music.”
Pitchfork described the sound akin to “hell churning around a cement mixer.”
But whilst a general consensus has evaded Be Here Now, there remains a unanimous fascination with the story behind it.
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Writing began in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – which Noel later admitted was a mistake but “a fucking good holiday” – before the band moved recording to the famous Abbey Road in London in October.
Despite being back on British turf, the partying didn’t stop.
Oasis took advantage of the studio bar at The Beatles old stomping ground, and after relocating to Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey, they spent a big chunk of time scooping white powder and tricking Liam into thinking his bedroom was haunted by flipping pictures and moving lampshades.
Whilst all this was going on, police and press lurked outside in the darkness, hoping to catch a glimpse of the havoc that was playing out on the other side of the studio doors.
The album was completed at another location in London where hedonism once again ensued, with the group eventually packing a huge bulk of recording into a two-day session.
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A final version of Be Here Now eventually arrived in stores on 21 August, sporting fittingly excessive cover art that featured a Rolls Royce dunked in a swimming pool.
People queued around the block to purchase a copy (among them a young Pete Doherty) and the album went to number one in 12 countries across the world, moving over 620,000 units in seven days to become the fastest-selling album in UK history.
Overall sales in Britain would eventually surpass 2.1 million.
Be Here Now was deafening, wall-to-wall bravado – packed with bloated songs that were loud and boastful even by Oasis’ standards.
These included the raucous opener ‘D’You Know What I Mean’; the title track (borrowed by Harry Enfield for his ‘Manky Street’ sketch, where a northern-twanged family squabble and demand drugs for breakfast); and the marathon-length closer ‘All Around The World’ – which powers on for nine minutes filled largely with ‘la-la-la’s’.
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Between the million strings and countless crashing symbols, Be Here Now was a musical reflection of the bedlam surrounding the band at that very moment.
The first wave of reviews were glowing. Critics gushed over the guitar riffs and called it ‘true rock and roll’, but when the clamour had calmed, many music writers retracted their initial praise; suggesting Be Here Now wasn’t actually the classic they’d first believed it to be.
Noel has largely dismissed the record as something of a footnote in Oasis’ glittering 18-year existence. But Liam has rushed to defend the album on numerous occasions.
“There are some great songs on there”, he told the NME, claiming its only downside was the fact it was “a bit overproduced”.
The record continues to split the brothers – and the Oasis fanbase – straight down the middle to this day.
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Still, however you feel about Be Here Now, the album is nonetheless a perfect snapshot in time.
This was the world’s biggest band attempting to eclipse their own colossal reputation.
The result was mayhem. Whether that’s the good or bad kind remains a question for the ages.
Feature
We’ve found some of the best Chinese food in town – being served out of a snooker hall
Danny Jones
Yes, you heard us right: we’ve stumbled across one of our favourite new places for Chinese food just on the outskirts of Manchester city centre – it just so happens to be served out of a best-in-class snooker hall.
And that really is just the tip of the iceberg here.
Some of you may have heard about and/or seen it already, but we’ll admit we were a little late to the party when it comes to Club 200, a.k.a. the pool, snooker, darts, mahjong club and more, which has so many different things rolled into that it’s really more a Russian doll than a Chinese restaurant or sports venue.
The hook speaks for itself: a place where people spend just as much time practising with chopsticks as they do their cues, as it really isn’t a gimmick, as some pessimistic folk would have you think – the food is banging and so are the vibes in general.
Not only is this quite literally the best snooker club in Manchester – complete with everything from classic American billiards and Chinese 8-ball to king-size snooker tables that the Ronnie O’Sullivan has played and won on, to a special AI system you won’t find anywhere else – it is SO much more than that.
Whilst the backroom was packed with everyone from casuals to those looking to get their pro certification via the official Q Tour, and lads in the front were practising their arrows, as co-owner Simon admitted they get almost just as many darts regulars these days, a storm was cooking up in the kitchen.
It would be unfair to say this place doubles as a bar and restaurant, because we really couldn’t get over how well put together this menu was.
‘Café 200’s food offerings involve classics like fried rice and chow mein dishes, to the kind of sides you could expect from your local Chinese chippy, but it’s even more authentic exports that really impress.
For instance, the beef ho fun seemed to be a big hit with everyone; we loved the salty seafood udon as well (a great chew on those noodles), and we know plenty of people still searching for proper Hong Kong-style French toast – they might just find it here.
Speaking of the special administrative region, which has a twisting and turning but nevertheless rich culinary culture all of its own, that last dish had us hopping with joy.
You’re looking at baked Portuguese rice: a Macau speciality rooted in the region’s colonial history.
We’ve never quite had anything like it before, even in all of our years eating this kind of cuisine around the 10 boroughs, but we haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
And then there’s everything else they do, from karaoke and bingo nights to catering for birthdays and other functions, or even just serving as a cool, somewhat tucked-away spot to watch the footy and other live sport come the weekend.
You can tell this place has built up a real community over the last 18 months or so, and while the food speaks for itself, it’s the sheer abundance and variety going on that makes it especially charming to so many.
Speaking of jack-of-all-trade venues, we stumbled across a similar multi-talented one over in Salford not so long ago, too…
‘Manc the Biff’: the Co-op Live crowd made the Clyro boys welcome on debut
Danny Jones
It feels like we’ve been waiting a long time to welcome Biffy Clyro back to Manchester, and they really didn’t disappoint on their Co-op Live debut.
Here’s our review of what was a proper rock show.
After a strong lineup of support acts with The Armed and Soft Play (formerly Slaves) injecting plenty of early energy into the crowds, already knew two things: the Scots wouldn’t disappoint, and a Manc crowd NEVER lets you down.
We knew everyone was on top form from the moment the Kilmarnock icons stepped out on stage under a swathe of blankets to the opener from their latest album, Futique.
Once the curtain was eventually lifted during ‘A Little Love’, which has quickly become one of the most popular singles for some time, you could see the sea of fans below start bouncing.
Rolling into the likes of ‘Hunting Season’ and Only Revolutions classic, ‘The Captain’, those bounces quite quickly turned into a healthy-sized pit, and those up in the stands with us finally got on their feet.
That was maybe our only complaint: we love seeing a seated section pretending they’re in standing from their start, but we get it and each to their own, of course.
In fact, the same goes for the rest of the session players joining them on the road this year.
One thing we weren’t expecting was quite how cool the production levels were going to be. We’ve never been Biffy fans for their creativity when it comes to toying with stage design or lighting rigs, but they threw in some fun effects regardless.
Highlights from the night included ‘Tiny Indoor Fireworks’, ‘Bubbles’, and ‘Black Chandelier’, though we were sad not to hear ‘Victory Over The Sun’, and it was especially gutting that one of our favourite tracks from the new record, ‘True Believer’, didn’t end up on the setlist.
Again, you can’t have anything – we’re just glad we got to be there and see a truly great British rock band proving that they are well and truly an arena-level band.
Lastly, even after all the years and an X-Factor cover trying its hardest to take the credit away from them, ‘Many of Horror’ is still an unbelievable rock ballad, and d’ya know who is an unbelievable rock band? “Biffy. F***ing. Clyroooooo.”
The Manc -
21st August 2020 
