Oasis rejected Trainspotting because they thought it was actually about trainspotters
You've gotta roll(ing stock) with it
Barely a day goes by without some cracker of a quote from Liam or Noel, but this one really is quite special: a throwaway comment that suggests that a pivotal moment in popular culture could have been very different.
Speaking at a press question and answer session, Andrew Macdonald, the producer of Trainspotting, and Rachel Fleming, who was costume designer for the film, revealed that Oasis turned down the chance to contribute to the film's soundtrack, because they thought the film was actually about real, genuine trainspotters, rather than a black comedy revolving about drug addicts in Edinburgh.
“Danny [Boyle] is from near Manchester and he was very keen to have Noel Gallagher do something but there was a reason why he didn’t do it,” said Macdonald. “He came to the launch party in Cannes, but I don’t know why he didn’t do a piece of music.”
Fleming added, “I met Noel at a thing the other week and he said to me: ‘I would have done something, but honestly I thought it was about trainspotters. I didn’t know.’ That’s what he actually said.”
Of course, even without a contribution from the Gallaghers, the film went on to do rather well, becoming a critically-acclaimed classic, while its soundtrack - which featured songs by Pulp, New Order, Underworld, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop - has gone down in history as one of the greatest ever. The two compilation records, which featured songs used in the film alongside those that acted as inspiration for the filmmakers, are two of the biggest-selling of all time. But with an Oasis song in there too? It could have gone even more stratospheric.
The hugely-anticipated sequel, Trainspotting 2, which follows the same characters 20 years after the events of the original film, and will be loosely based on the book's sequel Porno.
Of course, one other band that contributed to the soundtrack of the original was a little-known beat combo known as Blur. So there's every chance Noel would have refused to have been involved in something with his mortal enemies, regardless.
[Via Guardian]
(Image: Rex)
