Oasis: 'It felt like a tornado had just blown in'
Crowley landed what turned out to be the first of many interviews with the Gallagher brothers when presenting Carlton Television's The Beat, which he describes as a "grown-up music magazine TV programme"."In 1994, it was such an exciting year for music," says Crowley."It felt like there were more intrinsically British bands who were beginning to come to the fore. Whether it was Saint Etienne, Pulp or Elastica, or of course five young gunslingers from Manchester called Oasis."Crowley first came across Oasis through their radio promoter, who sent The Beat team a copy of Columbia – a song that would be on their debut album Definitely Maybe – which he says he and his producer "fell in love with"."There seemed to be a kind of punky-ness to them, which I loved," the BBC Radio London presenter says.
"Liam was like a squirrel on a washing line. He was here, there, everywhere… sort of doing that Liam walk, that swagger that he has," Crowley recalls. "He was very charming. When he focused on you, you couldn't help but be sort of charmed by him."Noel, it felt to me, had written all the books about what you had to do to become a pop star. He was very funny and very irreverent as well - slagging off a lot of the other bands we'd had on the programme."
What strikes Crowley most looking back at the interview - apart from what he now sees as a questionable taste in fashion in his younger self - is how comfortable the brothers were in front of the camera."They could not wait to see the red light go on," he says. "They were not shy, wilting flowers."The Gallagher brothers had the production crew in fits of laughter - "behind the camera, and everybody's got their hand over their mouth", Crowley recalls.The presenter quickly realised how compelling the brothers were as a double act, although he says "Liam did a lot of the talking" during the interview.
At one point, Noel interrupts his brother to say: "Can I say something now? My name's Noel. I write the songs."Liam later speaks of his ambition to "be a star" and "have a big house somewhere", with Noel quipping: "Preferably not anywhere near my big house."Crowley says the dynamic between the pair in 1994 felt like the sort of thing you'd see between any two brothers working together. The rancour that would ultimately cause Oasis's 16-year hiatus had yet to develop."They were taking the mickey out of each other," he says. "You could see that affection."
After the interview, Crowley says Noel took him aside."He said: 'Look, you should come [to the gig] this evening.' And I said: 'Well, I've got to go and see this movie and review it.'"The film was Shopping. "It was freaking awful. In fact, I think my review called it 'shocking'," Crowley laughs. "I stayed for about a third of the film, and then I hotfooted it over to the Marquee - and it was the best decision that I made that year."Looking back now, what stands out to Crowley is not just the charisma but the assuredness."Where did that self-confidence come from?" he says. "They looked to me like they'd been doing it for years. They seemed incredibly relaxed."While other bands often preferred to "let the music do the talking", Crowley says Oasis embraced the attention."They absolutely grabbed the bull by the horns and ran out of that guitar shop with it."
The interview would prove to be the first of many Crowley did with the Gallagher brothers.Asked why he thought they kept asking him back as their success grew, he jokes: "Because I'm cheap."Crowley says watching the tape puts a "big dopey smile" on his face. "It's a lovely snapshot of where they were at that time."I didn't foresee it," the presenter says of Oasis's global success. "But I left that interview feeling better for having met them."
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