Auntie Gwen's Municipal Court

When Oasis performed ‘Champagne Supernova’ at the MTV VMAs on 4 September 1996, it was supposed to be a big moment for their career. Millions of viewers in America could make Oasis a household name in the States, help them finally break into the US, where, while the records were selling, the Americans had never really got Oasis (Noel's words, not mine). It was also a rare second chance the band had got after fumbling another moment that could possibly have cemented them as one of 90s music's greats: this was about 15 days after their filming for MTV Unplugged famously went awry. MTV Unplugged, that had cemented their contemporaries like Nirvana as all-time greats, Oasis had squandered that opportunity. The VMAs were their chance at repairing their image.

The band performed, and Liam was Liam on stage: belligerent, loud, didn't give a toss. Sure, with MTV Unplugged, people may have bought into the bad-boy rockstar image, but this was America. And the press didn't buy it at all.

The American press destroyed Liam for spitting. They found it disgusting. This, along with the fact that Liam spilled his beer and changed the lyric to “Champagne Supernova up your bum” and slagged off American record execs—standard fare in the UK, they'd done worse at the BRITs earlier that year; waggled Liam's bum at the nation—temporarily killed any chance of Oasis having success in America in 96. America may have heard of Liam's yobbish, bad boy rockstar image, but I don't think they were ready to see how crass the punks really were. Literally as the performance ended, the presenter remarked on it (I forget the exact wording), awkwardly saying something like “oh, he spilled his beer”, and for that reason alone Oasis' 1996 performance at the MTV VMAs was such a scandalising affair.

That, combined with a spate of cancelled gigs in 1995, Liam arriving in the US late because him and Patsy were finding a house, as the US tour started in Sep 96, and then Noel leaving the tour early, alongside many problems while on the tour, gave Oasis a bad reputation and would make their lives harder in America for the next decade to come. This is why Oasis never broke America. This picture, this moment, in some ways, is the reason why Oasis never made it big in the States.

Here's the full performance and the interview they did before it (where notably, Noel is already pissed off that Oasis got subtitled—othered—in an older interview when they were literally speaking English. It was never going to be easy for them).

happy 4th of july 🎇

Noel: I just don’t see myself on stage with Liam. I just don’t see it.

noel you have no idea