Noel Gallagher has warned anyone making reggae versions of Oasis hits “there will be trouble”.
The ‘Wonderwall’ group’s former guitarist is seemingly unaware that the internet is rammed with reggae renditions of the Britpop group’s classics, as he quipped he’d be wanting words if he ever hears anyone doing a cover of ‘Live Forever’ in the Jamaican music style.
The 54-year-old guitarist is quoted by the Daily Star newspaper’s Wired column as saying: “They don’t have to ask permission to cover the songs if you’re not changing the arrangements.
“If you’re doing, like, reggae versions then it’s kind of courteous to ask.
“Goddamit, if I ever find out there are any reggae versions of ‘Live Forever’ out there, there’ll be f****** trouble.”
The tongue-in-cheek warning comes after Noel recently hinted he could be set to put his own spin on classics by the likes of The Smiths and Burt Bacharach for a new project now he has his own home studio.
He said: “I’d like to do a covers album, now I’m going to have my own studio and I can be there all the time there’s no reason for me not to knock out an old cover between 6 and 7 in the evening.
“I would do a good ‘This Guy’s In Love With You’ by Burt Bacharach, ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ by The Smiths and a song by a band from Liverpool called Shack.”
What’s more, the ‘Some Might Say’ hitmaker is keen to re-record Oasis classics to suit his voice.
Noel penned the majority of their back catalogue for his estranged brother and former bandmate Liam’s voice.
And while a reunion between the warring siblings – who haven’t spoken to each other since Noel quit the band in 2009 after a backstage bust-up between the pair at their final gig in Paris – is unlikely, the rocker has another trick up his sleeve to please Oasis fans.
Noel got the idea for the album of reworks after performing a rendition of ‘Live Forever’ for the first time publicly for his recent BBC Radio 2 session.
Although Noel had never performed the 1994 hit from their acclaimed debut studio album, ‘Definitely Maybe’ – which he penned the year he formed the iconic rock band in 1991 – there was footage of him singing the song at a soundcheck before an Oasis gig in 2005, which emerged online.
He said: “I would be interested in doing an album of reworks in the style of that version.
“A bunch of Oasis reworks might be nice to do.”