Bands as NBA Players: Part IV

Oasis is Shaquille O’Neal*

Dominance. When I first thought of Oasis, I couldn’t help but to recall when they first burst onto the music scene, and it felt like they would be on the radio every other song. But unlike so much overplayed music, they never got old. No matter how many times I heard 'Wonderwall' or 'Champaign Supernova', I didn’t change the station. Oasis was great and that’s just how it was.

The most dominate NBA player of my lifetime was a player I loved to hate. Shaq was a force, and in the post-Jordan era he would not be denied. Brute strength and over-powering post play was his forte’. He was unstoppable and that’s just how it was. Dominant.

And like Oasis, Shaq was unmatched at his peak and continues to maintain his relevance even after his best years are behind him. Musically, the early 90’s will inevitably be remembered for the grunge movement. Bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains channeled teenage angst into mainstream success. Grunge gave Generation-X an anti-establishment sound that ran away from pop music as fast as their flannel shirts would let them. The fun and excess of the 80’s was over. Bleak music was king. Rolling Stone playfully referred to Seattle as "the new Liverpool," an ironic reference to the British city that played a large role in the UK’s pop music culture.

While Seattle was telling the whole world how dark things were, there was a 15-year old kid in Virginia Beach that tried to sing along to Smells Like Teen Spirit but didn’t really have that much to be pissed off about. Thankfully for me, 30 miles from Liverpool there was a little band in Manchester proclaiming "You and I are gonna live forever." For me, Oasis lived up to their name, and apparently I wasn’t the only one as "Definitely Maybe" became the fastest selling debut album in UK history (at the time), and went platinum in the US.

Pop music was far from dying, and Oasis set out to prove that it never would. When Jordan retired from the Bulls for the last time, it left a cloud over the NBA. The year after his retirement a lock-out delayed the start of the season and the future of the game was in doubt. Then Shaquille O’Neal proved one of the age-old adages of the NBA – you can always win with a dominant big man. Maybe Jordan had proven that scorers could lead dynasties, but Shaq would remind us all, thanks to three straight Championships, that the demand for an unstoppable center will never die. Shaq became the face of the NBA and helped guide the league through the post-Jordan years. By the time he won his fourth championship, his legacy was sealed.

If "Definitely Maybe" was the fresh-faced Shaquille that led the Magic to the finals and endeared himself to a new generation of fans, "(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?" was the Laker years. The album is the third biggest-selling album in UK history; it went 4-x platinum in the U.S. and sold over 18 million copies worldwide. And it wasn’t just the record sales, regular radio play continued years after the album’s initial release. Oasis were the Britpop Kings, and American kids like me couldn’t get enough. The band played before packed arenas around the world, most famously Knebworth House in 1996 where they played back-to-back nights in front of a total of 375,000 people. Even more impressive was the 2.5 million people that applied for tickets.

In 2005, "Don’t Believe the Truth" became the band’s sixth album, and like the previous five albums, it entered the UK charts at 1. It also contained two more 1 hits. Maybe there were no 15-year old kids singing along to 'Don’t Look Back in Anger', but Oasis proved they still had plenty left in the tank.

The following summer, the Miami Heat raised a championship banner to the rafters, in large part thanks to the big fella. The Lakers had to choose between Shaq and Kobe, and choose the younger, hungrier, more talented player. Shaq proved he could still dominate, and added another ring to his collection.

In the Summer of 2005, Coldplay rolled into my hometown having just released their third album, "X&Y" (the top selling album of that year). They were the hot ticket in town and all of my little brother’s friends were going to that show. I would have been there, except for one little thing. I was in another state, four hours away with a slightly older crowd. Oasis played before 18,000 strong and we sang every word of every song. I chose a four hour drive and Oasis, over a 10 minutes jaunt to Coldplay. There was time for Coldplay later. I couldn’t pass up a chance to listen to the soundtrack of my youth. Oasis, like Shaq, was just that dominant.

Speaking of, I leave you with this, tune in next week for the next band: Coldplay is Kobe Bryant.

- Paul Phipps

Next Week: Part V

* This is Part IV in a series of columns by Paul Phipps. If you missed Parts I-III, check it out in our blog section.