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Noel Gallagher has been known on occasions to list the world’s 10 greatest bands; some obvious names tripping off his tongue – “The Beatles, Stones, Who, Sex Pistols, Kinks, Jam, Smiths, Stone Roses, Bee Gees.” He’ll pause momentarily before adding : “I’m putting us at seven ahead of the Smiths cos we’ve done more.” It’s classic Gallagher, the great Mancunian motormouth. In the time it takes for some rock stars to muster a coherent sentence, he’ll have set the world to rights, written off many of his peers as no-hopers, talked a great deal of sense, said something truly stupid or offensive or both, and provided a potted history of 134 years of his favourite soccer club, Manchester City.

There’s a fundamental belief believe within him that Oasis are different from other bands. “People like Coldplay, but they don’t love them. People like U2, but they don’t love them. But people fucking love Oasis. That’s the way it is. It’s more than the music.” Amongst his devotees, he’s clearly got a point. However, it’s also true that plenty of people can’t stand the band, regarding them as crass copycats, playing 100% variants of the same song. Christ, when they’re not ripping off The Beatles, they’re busy ripping off themselves.

I’ve played Oasis in the past but eventually with age, there’s only time to mine gold – silver must be left on the shelf. I’m sure Mr Gallagher wouldn’t take offence – he’s worth a lot more than most of us and in any event, he remains a walking talking encyclopedia on popular music. Maybe deep down, he knows more than he’s letting on ………………