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Shakermaker

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For the toy, see Shaker Maker.
"Shakermaker"
Song
B-side"D'Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?"
"Alive" (8-track demo)
"Bring It on Down" (live)

"Shakermaker" is a song by the English rock band Oasis, written by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. The song was first released as a single on 20 June 1994 and later released on Oasis' debut album Definitely Maybe. The single narrowly missed the UK top 10, peaking at number eleven. It was also the first song performed by the band on Top of the Pops. It is the only single from the band's debut album not to be certified Silver by the BPI.[citation needed]

Lyrics

Gallagher admits the lyrics are taken from the world around him, for example, a Shaker Maker was a popular toy in the 1970s, the character of "Mr Soft" was taken from a Trebor Soft Mints commercial, which featured Cockney Rebel's song "Mr Soft", "Mr. Clean" is a song by The Jam, one of Gallagher's favourite bands, Mr Benn is a British children's cartoon and the entire last verse - "Mr Sifter sold me songs/When I was just 16/Now he stops at traffic lights/But only when they're green" - was written in a taxi on the way to the recording studio to record the song. Apparently, Liam Gallagher was pestering Noel to finish the song. At this point, the taxi stopped at the traffic lights outside "Sifter's" (a record shop in Burnage, Manchester). Noel penned the lyric and it became part of the song. Noel used to frequent the store to buy old records before Oasis started releasing albums and Mr Sifter refers to the owner of the record store; Sifter told Noel to mind his words if he ever got famous.[citation needed]

Music

The song illustrates Noel Gallagher's habit of borrowing from the past: the chords are a simple twelve-bar blues progression (albeit with the V (F#) raised to a flat-VII (A)) and the melody for the verse was originally taken from "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" (the song made famous from its use on Coca-Cola adverts in the 1970s) by Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway, Bill Backer and Billy Davis. However, this led to Oasis being successfully sued for the unlicensed use by The New Seekers and were ordered to pay $500,000 in damages.[citation needed] When asked about the incident, Noel Gallagher joked "Now we all drink Pepsi."[citation needed]

B-sides

The song was released with three B-sides: "D'Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?", sung by Noel Gallagher, which is instrumentally similar to "Married with Children" from Definitely Maybe and features nostalgic lyrics and two-part backing vocals by Liam; "Alive", a rough demo of an early rocker, and a live version of "Bring It on Down".

Personnel

Track listings

  • CD CRESCD 182
  1. "Shakermaker" - 5:08
  2. "D'Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?" - 2:41
  3. "Alive" (8-track demo) - 3:56
  4. "Bring It on Down" (live) - 4:17
  • 7" CRE 182
  1. "Shakermaker" - 5:08
  2. "D'Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?" - 2:41
  • 12" CRE 182T
  1. "Shakermaker" - 5:08
  2. "D'Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?" - 2:41
  3. "Alive" (8-track demo) - 3:56
  • Cassette CRECS 182
  1. "Shakermaker" - 5:08
  2. "D'Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?" - 2:41

Music video

The video was shot in Manchester outside their house.

The field they are playing football in is Didsbury Toc H rugby field in Ford Lane, Didsbury in South Manchester.

The album Liam shows to the camera is Paul McCartney's 1973 album Red Rose Speedway.

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