Goodbye, superstar. Noel Gallagher Quits Oasis

I remember the first time I heard about "the next Beatles" as my friend Eric referred to them. It was 1996 and a perfect July day in upstate New York. 

I am a lifelong John Lennon fan, and because of that I am usually openly opposed to any "copycat" or bullshit homage to him. There was only one John Lennon, so how can Bono do a cover of "I am the walrus" it just seems stupid. 

Eric lived in a house with his mom, who was a waitress, so summers at Eric's were generally unsupervised and fucking awesome.  I walked in to Eric's after walking the 2 miles through the woods to get to his house; walking the creek bed, using the broken tree to get up the ravine, and sneaking in just behind the Stock's house. 

Eric put in the album "(What's the story) Morning Glory"  and the track "Hello" played. I was stunned. The guitars, the use of feedback, the subtle twinge in Liam's voice hypnotized me. By Champagne Supernova (track 12) I had a new reference point to my life. 

Sadly, people grow apart, I can't remember the last time I talked to Eric. The funny part about life is that sometimes relationships dissolve for no reason at all; one day you don't call, the trip you don't make back into town, the Christmas where you didn't drop by, and friends just seem to fade away.  There's no moment where you walk up to a friend slowly fading and say "I'm done, we're not friends, we don't have much going on anymore" so they basically get put away in this mental folder for you to reference every now and then. 

As I grew up, went to college, women, booze, drugs, all of those great times had Noel Gallagher's music directly attached to them. I was singing "don't look back in anger" today in the car on my drive home...he has written the soundtrack to my life. 

I started to really come to respect Noel for his interviews, his humor, and his beliefs. If you type in "Noel Gallagher Interview" in youtube you're in for a treat as he could have easily been a comedian. The timing, the intellect, it's all there. 

Hearing that he quit isn't as tragic as him dying, as John Lennon's assassination, or as the state of the economy- it just means that I've lost my theme music, and I'm going to miss hearing what my friend has to say though music. 

You can't quit Oasis when you are Oasis. Liam is a great singer, but Noel is the attitude, the charisma, and the driving force. I wouldn't attend a concert now even if I had free tickets and was promised a blowjob from a 19 year old gap model after. 

Noel, I will miss you. I have every song, every dvd, and every simple part of Oasis to remind me of a life well lived, but something has died with your departure. 

I wish you the best, and I can't thank you enough for being the background music of my life. 

Chris Tatum.