Just three singles into their stellar pop career, Girls Aloud fell foul of Oasis. Their third single, Life Got Cold, taken from their debut album Sound of the Underground, was described as the band’s favourite track on the album by Nicola Roberts. However, instead of garnering attention for the soaring vocals, it was the guitar riff that made people’s ears prick up as it drew heavy comparisons with Wonderwall. The five-piece, comprised of Nicola and bandmates Kimberly Walsh, Cheryl Cole, Sarah Harding, and Nadine Coyle, ended up having to give the Mancunian band a writing credit for the track.
Released in 2003, it became their third consecutive top-three hit on the UK Singles Chart, but it is best remembered for its resemblance to Oasis’s 1995 classic. It was originally credited only to writers Miranda Cooper and Brian Higgins, who produced with their production team Xenomania. However, the writing credit for Oasis means they now get a share of any royalties associated with the song.
Despite the furore, there were clearly no hard feelings between the bands as Girls Aloud subsequently made a cameo appearance in Oasis’ 2007 rockumentary Lord Don’t Slow Me Down.
In 2013, Kimberly also revealed a conversation she had with Noel Gallagher when he approached the girl group to perform at the Royal Albert Hall for an upcoming series of gigs for Teenage Cancer.
The band was unable to accept the offer due to touring commitments, but Kimberley admitted he made an interesting revelation.
“Yeah, he called me up out of the blue. It’s great that he’s involved and is arranging it. It was exciting to speak to him. I was like, ‘Really?’ He said I was his favourite (Girls Aloud member) and Sarah wasn’t very happy about that,” she told The Sun.
Oasis has also been the target of plagiarism rows. Their first top-5 track, 1994’s Whatever, led to a lawsuit.
It was claimed that the opening lines and main refrain of the track bore a striking similarity to the melody of How Sweet To Be An Idiot, which was performed at some of Monty Python’s live shows, written in 1973 by comedian and musician Neil Innes. The band settled the suit, and Innes received a songwriting credit on the single.
Disgraced popstar Gary Glitter also sued them over Hello, the opening track on their album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, which sampled lyrics from his 1973 hit Hello, Hello, I’m Back Again.
The convicted paedophile is now credited as a co-writer on Hello, which meant he was entitled to royalties from the track until he sold his catalogue.
