Who are in the picture frames on Oasis’ album cover ‘Definitely Maybe’?

Posted On September 4, 2024September 4, 2024

Crafting the perfect album cover is a near-impossible task. Since the dawn of popular music, bands, record labels, and graphic designers have been pulling in opposite directions, attempting to create an album cover that is engaging and intriguing enough to boost the success of the record itself. A great artwork should represent the artist and their music while offering something visually engaging – something recognisable instantly. By that measure, Oasis struck gold with the cover of their 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe.

Admittedly, it would have been a struggle for Definitely Maybe to flop, regardless of what was on the cover. The excitement built up around Oasis through their early singles, ‘Supersonic’, ‘Shakermaker’, and ‘Live Forever’ helped to make the Manchester guitar band one of the most talked about artists in Britain prior to the release of their debut album. Expectedly, Definitely Maybe debuted at number one in the UK album charts upon its release in August 1994, cementing itself and its album cover in the pages of British rock history forever.

In contrast to many other bands of the Britpop age, Oasis chose to use a photograph of themselves on the cover of their debut album rather than a commissioned artwork or photographic representation of the music itself. This choice seemed to fit in with the overarching ethos of the band, which placed almost as much importance on the personalities of the group as the songs themselves. For Definitely Maybe, Noel Gallagher recruited photographer Michael Spencer Jones, who had arrived on his radar after shooting photos for The Verve’s All In The Mind.

Initially, Gallagher wanted the album to be a pastiche of a specific photograph of The Beatles, which showed the Fab Four sitting around a coffee table in Japan. The setting was chosen as the West Didsbury home of guitarist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs, and while there, Jones decided to shoot some photographs in the front room, in front of Bonehead’s big bay window. In an effort to make the album cover a little more interesting than simply being five people sitting in a living room, Jones played around with the position of band members and even included a few easter eggs, too.

Aside from the band members and furniture, the album cover includes glasses of wine, a flamingo, photographs of various famous figures dotted around the room, and a giant inflatable Earth. Explaining the inclusion of wine, Jones once told The Guardian, “It’s actually Ribena in the glass, though. The urban myth is that it’s because they couldn’t afford wine, but that’s complete rubbish. When I was at art college, I learned that when you photograph ‘red wine’, you always use diluted Ribena because wine just comes out black.”

As well as the wine/Ribena, the easter eggs included on the cover each represented things that were important to the band members. “I asked them to bring objects that were personal to them. The pink flamingo was Bonehead’s. Liam, Noel and Guigsy were City fans, so we put a photo of Rodney Marsh in the fireplace. Bonehead, being a United fan, wanted the George Best picture that’s at the window – and Noel and Liam allowed it because Best sort of transcended football.”

Meanwhile, Noel also brought a Burt Bacharach gatefold album, which was propped up on the side of the sofa next to where he was sitting. While Bacharach might not seem the most obvious influence on Gallagher, the Oasis songwriter has regularly attested to the fact that the easy-listening king is among his favourite vocalists. Noel’s favourite film, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, can also be seen playing on the television on the right of the cover.

Ultimately, therefore, the easter eggs and inclusions on the cover of Definitely Maybe help to represent the three greatest loves of Oasis: football, alcohol, and music. These added references help to make the album cover a lot more interesting and engaging than if it had just been a photo of the band members together in the front room of a house in West Didsbury.

So, who are the figures in the photographs on Definitely Maybe?

Sitting on the fireplace on the Definitely Maybe album cover is the legendary footballer Rodney Marsh. After starting his footballing career in London, playing for the youth team of West Ham in 1959, Marsh entered his prime during the 1970s, during which time he played for Manchester City. Between 1972 and 1976, Marsh made 118 appearances for the Gallaghers’ beloved blues, scoring 36 goals in the process and cementing his position as a club legend.

Continuing the football theme, George Best can be seen in the window, next to Bonehead, on the album cover. Best was among the most iconic footballers of all time, and he spent the vast majority of his football career playing at Manchester United. Between 1963 and 1974, Best made 361 league appearances for the Red Devils, scoring 137 goals.

Burt Bacharach, the iconic easy-listening musician who has always been a favourite of Noel Gallagher, is on the bottom left of the album cover. The image on the cover itself is actually the inside gatefold album sleeve, specifically the one for his legendary 1971 album Portrait in Music.

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