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It was the winter of 2008 and I was back in Levenshulme, Manchester. My old friend BigUn thrust a copy of The Sun towards me, with an instruction to turn to the ‘Bizarre’ showbiz page. I did so, expecting the usual. And I wasn’t let down. Noel Gallagher was blessing the pages again on his promotional drive for what might possibly be the final Oasis album, Dig Out Your Soul. I had been a founding member of the band.

He was rattling on about my unsuitable haircut and piss-poor drumming once more, but by now I was accustomed to those insults. Over the previous six albums, my hair had been a major marketing tool for him. I’d had 15 years of such treatment. I looked at the photo of Noel in the paper and realised he was shaping his own hair upwards in an attempt to gain a little extra height. Some things never change. I was not sure why he was so fixated with hair. I wasn’t even in possession of my mop any more. But it was time for Noel to flog an album. And that’s where I get involved.

My name is Tony McCarroll and I was one of the original members of the rock ’n’ roll band Oasis. I formed this group with my childhood friends and spent five years in it. I am often referred to as The Nearly Man, a Mancunian Pete Best, The Stupidest Man in Pop Music, alongside a host of other derogatory terms. Time to put the record straight I guess. Hopefully, this insight into my life, the Gallaghers, Oasis and the well-oiled machine we all know as the music industry will go some way towards putting those insults to bed; then again, maybe not. That, I suppose, is for you to decide.

What I can state with absolute certainty is that the story told by Noel Gallagher – be it through him, the other band members or sycophantic rock journalists – will not tie in with my version of events: that he stepped in and took control of a hopeless band of misfits, armed with a bag that contained hit record after hit record. It will not tally with his being the voice of an underclass, the working-class generation. And it certainly won’t tally with his story of the events that surrounded my unceremonious exit.

Now I hear your alarm bells ringing. But don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a vicious swipe from a rejected band member. Hopefully, you will find it an honest overview of the formation of Oasis, and a reflection on the pitfalls of life – in particular, the ones that litter the music industry. It is also a recollection of times past, which I hope you will be able to relate to and enjoy once again. But most importantly: it’s the truth.

Tony McCarroll

October 2010, Manchester, England.