IT'S JUST ROCK'N'ROLL

From unknown Creation Records signing to megastars... it began here half a world away

- JOHN DINGWALL

SCOTLAND set Oasis on the road to fame and the band have made it clear the love affair goes both ways.

So music industry figures were not surprised that two Scottish dates were included in the band's long-awaited reunion tour.

The Gallagher brothers first performed on Scottish soil in May 1993, gatecrashing Scottish indie band 18 Wheeler's headline gig at Glasgow's King Tut's.

Only a handful of people caught their legendary set, despite thousands who claim to have been there.

Creation Records boss Alan McGee shook hands on a record deal with Noel that night. And months later, while still complete unknowns, Oasis got another break thanks to Scottish indie act, BMX Bandits.

Again they were at the bottom of the bill for a UK tour.

The Bandits' bass player, Sushil Dade, 58, who enjoyed a smash hit in 1990 with the Soup Dragons' I'm Free, said: "The Soup Dragons had just split up when Alan McGee suggested I join BMX Bandits who were on Creation.

"We headlined the bill on a handful of UK dates with 18 Wheeler second on the bill and an unknown Oasis were third on there.

"Oasis hadn't released a record back then.

"The band were really raw, like a heavy metal version of The Beatles, but you could tell they were larger than life by the way they walked."