Oasis Are Fascists! | Alan McGee Thought So Purely Because Of Union Jack Flag

Although I’m proud to be British, I’m also aware of the UK’s history as an empire builder, which wasn’t the glorious time in our past that many would have you believe. Basically, we went around invading countries, and claiming them for ourselves. Kind of like the USA is doing now.

In light of that, the Union Jack flag became synonymous with nationalism, and holding extremely right-wing political views. Which is why when Alan McGee, former boss of Creation Records, most famous for signing Oasis, spotted a Union Jack flag on the wall of Oasis’ rehearsal space, he thought they were fascists.

McGee ended up signing Oasis after seeing them play in his native Glasgow, but even before that, he saw them rehearsing in Manchester, where he took an instant dislike to them.

He told NME:

“My little Manchester mate, Debbie Turner, shared a practice space with this band that had a Union Jack on the wall. I remember looking at the Union Jack and asking, ‘Are they fascists?’. She said, ‘Yes.’ She was taking the piss, of course. She added, ‘They’re called Oasis’.”

“It was a psychedelic Union Jack, sitting alongside pictures of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. But it was still a Union Jack – and back then, before the whole Cool Britannia bollocks – a Union Jack meant you had to be right-wing. I truly didn’t have a clue. I didn’t put the name Oasis together with Noel (whom he had met earlier). I just thought, ‘Fascist’.”

You may think the Gallagher brothers are loud mouthed idiots, but I don’t think they’re fascists. I hate to think what would have happened if McGee hadn’t changed his mind about them. There would have been no Britpop war between Oasis and Blur, and the Madchester scene would have been much less important to the British musical landscape.

[Photo Source: From Newscom with permission]