Oasis may be one of Manchester’s finest exports but Liverpool played a big part in their success
The Gallagher brothers have seemingly set aside their differences and Oasis have reunited after 15 years apart. Liam and Noel will head out on a world tour next year, playing huge concerts in the UK, Ireland, Canada, the USA, Mexico and Australia – with more dates possible.
Demand for tickets has been through the roof, with fans hoping the band recover the magic that made them an era-defining force in the 1990s and 2000s. Though they are one of Manchester’s finest and proudest exports, Oasis also have a number of links to our city, which played an important part in their early success.
The band’s track ‘Don’t Go Away’ is a root of some of these links – including a lesser-known example relating to an iconic Liverpool building. ‘Don’t Go Away’ featured on the band’s 1997 studio album ‘Be Here Now’, which became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history.
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Having released the lengthy anthems ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’ and ‘Stand by Me’ as singles in the second half of 1997, ‘Don’t Go Away’ became the album’s third single in early 1998. However, it was only released in Japan and as a promotional single in North America.
The ECHO previously reported how Oasis spent a lot of time in Liverpool in their early years, working with Bootle band The Real People on their demo and early recordings. ‘Don’t Go Away’ can trace its origins back to that time.
The almost five-minute song was written around the time of the band’s Liverpool sessions. It is a lament about losing somebody close to you and includes the lyrics: “And as the day was dawning, my plane flew away, with all the things caught in my mind.”
Those lyrics also lead us to the track’s other link with our city. The single’s artwork features the old Speke Airport terminal. The art-deco building features on the cover with the statement ‘Welcome to Merseyside’ visible on the terminal, while a 1940s Avro-Lancastrian plane sits in the foreground.
Beyond the song’s mention of a plane flying away, you would assume the band made their artwork choice in part due to their much-publicised love of The Beatles. The old Speke Airport is associated with the Fab Four’s early days, featuring in plenty of photographs and newsreel clips as the band jet off from their home city and return home to their adoring fans.
The airport was constructed on the grounds of Speke Hall and began operating in 1933, originally serving crossings over the Irish Sea. It was then leased to the Air Ministry and Speke Airport became an important RAF site during the Second World War.
Known as RAF Speke, it had a factory next door which produced Bristol Blenheim light bombers and Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers. Parts of American aircraft shipped to Liverpool’s docks were also assembled in Speke.
In October 1940, Speke was the site of what is believed to be the quickest air-to-combat kill of the Battle of Britain. Flying a Hawker Hurricane, Flight Lieutenant Denys Gillam shot down a German Junkers Ju 88 as his undercarriage was still retracting after taking off. Gillam, Alois Vašátko and Josef Stehlík, from 312 Squadron, were credited with the kill.
Following the war, the airport returned to civil operations and was busier than Manchester Airport. The site was developed by the council in the 1960s and featured frequently in aforementioned footage of masses of Beatles fans, with the art deco tower depicted in the Oasis cover standing out.
A modern terminal was built in 1989 and eventually became what is now Liverpool John Lennon Airport. The old Speke Airport lay derelict for many years before becoming a Marriott hotel in 2001. It continues to operate as a hotel, now owned by Crowne Plaza, and serves the nearby modern airport.
‘Don’t Go Away’ peaked at 48 in the Japanese charts. The CD single included a live version of ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’ as well as ‘Sad Song’ and ‘Fade Away (Warchild version)’ as its B-sides.
