Tony McCaroll

Tony McCaroll was one of the founding members of British rock group Oasis and their Drummer from 1991 to 1995.

Related Topics:
Oasis - 1991 - 1995

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Born in Manchester, England, McCaroll formed the band "The Rain" (named after the Beatles song) with friends Bonehead, Guigsy and Chris Hutton. Hutton was later sacked, and replaced by Liam Gallagher. Liam's brother Noel soon joined with a bag full of songs that were to make Oasis famous.

Related Topics:
Manchester - England - Beatles - Bonehead - Guigsy - Liam Gallagher - Noel

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Perhaps McCarroll should have noticed the growing tensions between himself and the rest of the band when they buried him alive in the 1994 video for "Live Forever." This tension soon grew greatly between himself and Noel. McCarroll had been angered by the "£1,000 incident", as the band called it, which occurred after Creation advanced them that sum to purchase new equipment. Having already spent £600 of his own money on drums, McCarroll found that Noel refused to spend any of the cash on drum skins and instead bought a new guitar. He felt Gallagher was intimidated by him. For his part, Gallagher made his feelings clear with his favoured trick of pretending to forget McCarroll's name during interviews. Noel has since been blatantly derogatory about McCaroll's skills as a drummer.

Related Topics:
1994 - Live Forever - Guitar

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McCaroll was asked to leave the band in 1995 after rumours of a punch-up with Liam. McCaroll has since denied this.

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On the last day of April 1995, McCaroll's departure was announced and soon the fight was abandoned as the main reason - instead, Oasis explained, his drumming just wasn't up to it. "I like Tony as a geezer but he wouldn't have been able to drum the new songs," explained Noel. McCaroll was replaced by Alan White

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In 1999 McCaroll hired a lawyer Jens Hills - who had won Pete Best £2m from the Beatles in 1995 - to sue Oasis for £18m. Arguing McCaroll was owed his part of the band's five-album deal with Creation, the case hoped to set a legal precedent, as McCaroll would have claimed compensation for LPs on which he had not played. Eventually, he accepted an out-of-court settlement of £600,000 in March 1999, which effectively severed all links to the band, with McCaroll's legal fees reported at £250,000. The settlement provoked considerable reaction (one headline questioned "Is this the most stupid man in showbiz?". The reporter claimed "what Tony failed to realise was that he effectively held a lottery ticket which would mean he'd carry on winning every year.")

Related Topics:
1999 - Jens Hills - Pete Best

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When Guigsy left Oasis later that year, McCaroll was one of many who offered to take over the role as bass player, but Noel refused to consider him.

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