Noel Gallagher: "Coffee Shops Ruined Rock ’N’ Roll"

15 March 2018, 14:47 | Updated: 15 March 2018, 14:50

The former Oasis man has a firm opinion on what went wrong with the music business: coffee shops, Friends and expensive Rolling Stones t-shirts.

Speaking to NPR, he explained: “Since the rise of the coffee shop, culture has disappeared, don't you think? People are horrified that they have to pay for music. Music! But $20 for two coffees, oh, absolutely.

“I feel like the resistance to pay for music came after people got used to that. Maybe it's that they got used to spending a lot on commodities that feel like culture — like coffee — and then changed their financial priorities. Or maybe it's that, all of a sudden, music was free.”

Noel went on: “I blame Friends [for] the rise of the coffee shop. Sitting around in sweaters drinking overpriced coffee and talking about nonsense.

Asked what he thought embodied the spirit of rock ’n’ roll, Noel explained: “To me, it's freedom of thought. Freedom of expression. It's not about the leather jacket and the Jack Daniels, though that always helps.

“Rock and roll to me was about Led Zeppelin and The Beatles and the Stones and the Sex Pistols.

“Somewhere in the middle of the '90s, people started mass-producing Rolling Stones 1971 tour t-shirts and MC5 t-shirts. People would say, ‘That's so rock and roll, innit?’ and it lost its thing.”