Oasis stole my drummer! Blow Monkeys singer Dr. Robert lost expert musician to Noel Gallagher's band
The Blow Monkeys singer Dr. Robert has revealed that Oasis took his drummer Alan White back in 1995.
The Blow Monkeys singer Dr. Robert has revealed Oasis stole his drummer Alan White.
The It Doesn't Have to Be This Way singer was touring as a solo artist in the 1990s and Alan was part of his live band.
After Oasis' original drummer Tony McCarroll was fired from the band in April 1995, Alan was recommended to Noel Gallagher as a replacement by his friend Paul Weller as he knew of the musician through Steve White - who is Alan's brother - who played in Weller's group.
Dr. Robert can recall being on tour in Japan in April 1995 when Alan got a call from Oasis asking him to join and play their first number one single Some Might Say with them on Top of the Pops.
Speaking exclusively to Contact Music, Dr. Robert said: "I was touring in Japan at the time when they rang up Alan White, he was drumming with me, and they said, ‘Do you want to join our band? We’re number one and we’re doing Top of the Pops next week.’
“I said, ‘Alan, you better go.'
“He’s Steve White’s brother. Steve used to play for Paul Weller and The Style Council and Alan was drumming for me, so there was a connection.
“Alan’s a brilliant drummer, he played on the first solo album I did and he was magnificent.
“I played a lot with his brother Steve, who was phenomenal. He’s, like, the greatest British jazz drummer there’s ever been, he’s so good.
“Alan’s different, he’s really good at playing on songs, he was perfect for Oasis. You can really hear it on Wonderwall, his drumming on that."
Alan was in Oasis from 1995 until 2004 and played on four albums, including the band's acclaimed LP (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, before departing and being replaced by Zak Starkey - the son of Beatles drummer Sir Ringo Starr.
After Noel and his brother Liam Gallagher ended their feud last year and announced they were getting back together, Dr. Robert thought that Alan, 53, might get the call to re-join the Gallaghers on the Oasis Live '25 Tour.
When he didn't get asked, Dr. Robert assumed the brothers would call up Zak - who was recently fired from The Who - rather than go with new drummer Joey Waronker for the stadium shows.
Dr. Robert though Noel and Liam would call Alan for the Oasis reunion / Credit: Simon Emmett
He said: "I thought Zak Starkey would get the gig.
"Although I did like the original drummer Tony McCarroll. He had a lazy style, and he was dreamy, sort of behind the beat, I loved all that."
The Blow Monkeys will release their 13th studio album Birdsong on 15 August 2025, followed by a 10-date UK tour in October.
The band bring out new single The Penny Drops - the first track to be released from the upcoming LP - on 17 June and Dr. Robert has revealed the song is about the joy of getting older.
He said: "The Penny Drops is about acknowledging that it often takes a lifetime to learn some very simple things. One of the joys of getting older is not giving a f*** so much about what some people think; becoming yourself and moving away from ego driven adolescent impulses.”
The Blow Monkeys' new single The Penny Drops is out on June 17
The Blow Monkeys release their album on Creation Youth, the British independent record label launched by Alan McGee - the Creation Records founder who famously signed Oasis - and Dr. Robert admits Alan inspired him to write the record.
He said: "I live in Southern Spain, I moved here about 25 years ago, we bought a bit of land and built a house out of whatever money we had. We’re in the foothills of Sierra Nevada near Granada. There’s a guy who lives in the same village, that’s a guy called Youth who was the bass player for Killing Joke, but he’s also a big time producer. I had known him kind of on and off but didn’t really know him until we met here.
“I often pop round for a cup of tea at Youth’s and a couple of years ago I went round there and Alan McGee was sitting around the table. I had met Alan before, I tried to play at his club way back in the early ‘80s, then I met him during the time of Britpop but we hadn’t really connected.
“I was sitting at the kitchen table strumming, doing songs, I started off as a busker so I’m quite good at playing other people’s songs – although I could never remember the words.
“Alan was sitting there and he says to me, ‘Do you know Buick Mackane by T. Rex?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I think I do.’ I probably know more about T. Rex than is healthy. That was the beginning of a connection.
“I don’t think he realised how deep the music ran in me and he just turned to me and said, ‘Let’s just make a really great Blow Monkeys record.’ So I thought, ‘OK, let’s give it a go.’
“It just flowed out. To him, he loved things like Wait!, the dance crossover that we did in the late ‘80s, so I just really honed in on what I thought that meant and the songs came real quick.
“I love his enthusiasm. The fact of what he’s been through, all the highs and all the lows, he’s still like me; a music fan. He grew up listening to the same kind of stuff as me. At such an early impressionable age it stays with you for life. That fire, that light is still there, and I recognise that in him."
The Blow Monkeys new album Birdsong is out on August 15
To follow the release of Birdsong, The Blow Monkeys will embark on a 10-date co-headline UK tour with The Christians.
Tickets are on sale now, available from www.theblowmonkeys.com
The Blow Monkeys full list of tour dates is as follows:
Oct 11th - Gateshead, The Glasshouse
Oct 13th - Glasgow, Clyde Theatre
Oct 14th - Edinburgh, Queen’s Hall
Oct 16th - Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall
Oct 18th - Manchester, RNCM Theatre
Oct 19th - Wolverhampton, Wulfrun Hall
Oct 21st - Bexhill, De La Warr Pavilion
Oct 22nd - Watford, Colosseum
Oct 23rd - London, Shepherds Bush Empire
Oct 24th - Fareham, Live Theatre
