The Studio Failure That Led Noel Gallagher to Quickly Pen Oasis’ Debut Single

In the short time it took Noel Gallagher to write “Supersonic”, he likely didn’t imagine how an impromptu song would forever change the future of British rock music. But before he turned a simple guitar riff into the first Oasis single and subsequent anthem, the band had struggled in the studio to capture what was supposed to be their debut release.

Chinese Takeout and an Abandoned Track

Creation Records boss Alan McGee had planned on releasing “Bring It On Down” as the first Oasis single. So after completing a tour with The Verve, the Manchester band booked studio time at the Pink Museum in Liverpool to record it.

However, they struggled to capture a solid take as tensions between drummer Tony McCarroll and Noel Gallagher escalated. (The band fired McCarroll in 1995.)

I need to be myself
I can’t be no one else
I’m feeling supersonic, give me gin and tonic
You can have it all, but how much do you want it?
You make me laugh
Give me your autograph
Can I ride with you in your BMW?
You can sail with me in my yellow submarine.

Oasis then abandoned “Bring It On Down”, and, according to Gallagher, while the rest of the band and studio personnel left for Chinese takeout, he wrote “Supersonic”.

“As bizarre as it sounds, [I] wrote ‘Supersonic’ in about however long it takes six other guys to eat a Chinese meal,” he said. In one night, Oasis recorded and mixed the replacement lead single from Definitely Maybe—unwittingly igniting a colossal shift in British pop culture.

A Timeless Demo

Essentially a demo, “Supersonic” was co-produced by the band’s live sound engineer, Mark Coyle, and features layers of backing vocals performed by Tony Griffiths from Liverpool rock band The Real People.

Although the band reworked several tracks from the early sessions for Definitely Maybe, including “Bring It On Down”, “Supersonic” made the album in its original form and remains a defining song for both the band and Britpop. By the time Definitely Maybe arrived in 1994, it set the record for the fastest-selling British debut in history (a record now held by Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not by Arctic Monkeys).

But how different would that history be without the studio setback in Liverpool?

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