Oasis celebrate 30 years of their debut single, Supersonic, with the release of a rare – and wild – live version of the single, recorded during the band’s 1994 performance at the Limelight in Belfast.
The live single was released today on all formats, including spatial audio, with the individually numbered pearl 7” featuring Take Me Away on the B-side, with Take Make Me Away, I Will Believe (Live) and Colombia (White Label Demo) on the CD release.
Oasis are, of course, no more. Frontman Liam Gallagher does his thing, and has a new album out now with John Squire of the Stone Roses fame. Brother Noel has High Flying Birds. And while they manage their post-split relationship through regular barbs in the press, there is no tangible sign of a rapprochement coming any time soon.
In 1994 it was very different. Everything was going in the right direction in a hurry. Some might argue – some might say – their 1995 sophomore LP, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, is stronger but there is a strong argument to say they never bettered the swagger and energy of Supersonic. Noel Gallagher, for one, would back that argument up. Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester in 2023, he said that would be the Oasis song he would pick for his Desert Island Disc.
“It was written in the studio on the hoof one night,” he said. “We mixed it there and then that night; it was written recorded and mixed in about six hours and it’s just a moment of pure inspiration. And it’s the original lineup jamming it out in the studio – magic.”
This rarely heard live version brings its own magic to the track, the electric guitars a tangle of voltages, all skronky anarchy.
David Neely witnessed this madness at first hand. He was the booker and general manager of the Limelight, and recalls watching the band’s dizzying ascent in real time as their debut album, Definitely Maybe, released on 29 August to an expectant public, rocketed to number on in its first week.
It was a show that is now claimed by thousands that they were there – simply a show that is legendary in these parts
David Neely, general manager, Limelight
“They took the stage in the Limelight, Belfast on Sunday 4th September,” said Neely. “It was a sell out 500 people at the gig and tickets only £6.75! The Sunday of the week the debut album was released, the Limelight show was the right venue, for the right band at the right time.
“I remember around 6.30pm (in the dark days before mobile phones) that a call came into the office from Radio One, saying the band had just went to Number 1 in the album charts. It was a show that is now claimed by thousands that they were there – simply a show that is legendary in these parts.”
Originally released as a single on 11 April 1994, 30 years and a day later Supersonic is back out, live, raw and available here.
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