Noel Gallagher has never been the one to shy away from his inspirations. He has been an encouragement and an artist to look up to for all his musical contributions. Whether as a solo musician or as a part of one of the greatest British rock bands Oasis, The way he has encapsulated the musical world in his magic is undeniable.
Love him or loathe him, Noel is a phenomenal songwriter and singer. Gallagher’s taste in music is an inspirational trip. He had references from the greatest artists like The Who, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles, and his musical career has surely taken him to that same elite category. His love for music comes as he grew up listening to and having inspirations by all sorts of genres. His favorite list of tracks comes from a wide variety of music. This has changed with the passing of time and also with each different interview, the list has had changes in it.
When he was asked to name his favorite tracks from the 60s till now in Absolute Radio, he had songs from The Rolling Stones, Bee Gees, to The Smiths. He talked about Rolling Stones’ ‘I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction)’ and said, “Great riff from a great band. It’s a youth anthem that I think still holds true today for young people and the way that you feel when you’re young.”
Gallagher also talked about Young Fathers ‘Get Up’ and said, “This track called ‘Get Up’ is amazing. I was doing a gig in Bilbao on our last tour, it was a festival, and they were on the bill, so we got there early and came to see them. They were just truly astonishing and one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen. Incredible.”
That was the older list of songs he had talked about with Absolute Radio. Noel talked about which songs he could not live without in 2015 and he tried his best and chose a couple of songs. He chose eight different songs, and it was a mix of pop music, rock, and everything. The first one on the list was Sex Pistols’ ‘Pretty Vacant.’ He said it was the rebirth of youth culture, which was dead.
The one that followed was David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance.’ David is an all-time idol of his and comments about his wife too. He commented, “The only reason that I’m not going to play the track ‘Heroes’ is because my wife—the lovely Sarah—said to me this morning, ‘You are going to play ‘Let’s Dance’ by David Bowie, aren’t you?’”. Detailing further, Gallagher continues: “Well, I was going to play ‘Heroes’. She said, ‘Play ‘Let’s Dance’, You make me listen to it three times a week. You’ve ruined the song for me. I now hate it because you play it so much. Don’t go on Desert Island Discs and not play it’”.
Another track that he talked about was Hand In Glove by The Smiths. He even declared that it is the only band he would join now. He says, “I love this track because it was their first single and it’s got a color to it. They’re so important to music in this country, particularly alternative music”.
After talking more about some other songs, he finally lands on The Beatles. Gallagher has paid tribute to this wonderful band and has a great amount of admiration for them. After picking the song ‘Ticket To Ride’, he concludes his list by saying, “: “I can’t really go through this without mentioning The Beatles. The first guitar that I ever bought when I actually had some money was an Epiphone, it’s what they used to play. They mean a great deal to me musically. They’re just the greatest thing in music that ever was.”
With talks about his final selection, he puts an end to the list of songs. His selection of songs is one of the best and can be a great playlist for anyone. Here is the list of Noel Gallagher’s 8 favorite songs.
Noel Gallagher’s favorite songs of all time
- ‘Pretty Vacant’ – Sex Pistols
- ‘Let’s Dance’ – David Bowie
- ‘Nobody Home’ – Pink Floyd
- ‘Hand In Glove’ – The Smiths
- ‘Voodoo Ray’ – A Guy Called Gerald
- ‘With Or Without You’ – U2
- ‘Be My Baby’ – The Ronettes
- ‘Ticket To Ride’ – The Beatles
You can listen to the full episode of ‘Desert Island Discs on Spotify.
