Auction halted after legal action
Legal action by Oasis has halted the sale of a batch of previously unreleased recordings by the group. Littleton Auctions, based in Worcestershire, England, had put the archive on the market in September with an estimated price of £1.2m to £1.6m. The material features 63 concert recordings, many hours of practice sessions and informal exchanges between Noel and Liam Gallagher. Managing director Ben Homer informed the BBC that the lots, referred to as The Desk Tapes, were removed from the October 3 sale because of the legal proceedings, and that the auction house was deeply disappointed it could not proceed with offering the archive.[S1]
The archive was assembled by Huw Richards, the band's one-time sound engineer, whose work with Oasis spanned from their 1994 debut Definitely, Maybe through to 2001. It contains 209 DAT tapes, 73 analogue cassettes and three MiniDiscs, and his son Owain Richards, himself a sound engineer, was handling the sale. Speaking to the Times in September, Owain Richards called the material a piece of history and said the audio was still in reasonably good shape, though he pointed out that since Oasis held the intellectual property rights, any buyer would need the band's agreement before releasing the recordings.[S1]
Seller confirms postponement
On Wednesday, Owain Richards told the BBC that Oasis had brought a lawsuit against him and his father in an effort to block the sale of the tapes his father had created years earlier. He explained that they had chosen to delay the auction so the legal matter could be settled, whether through the courts or by other means, in a measured fashion. Littleton Auctions will go ahead with the remainder of its Saturday sale, which features further music memorabilia such as an original Kangol Oasis tour parka from Richards' collection, signed Nirvana photographs, autographs from two Rolling Stones members and a guitar bearing Brian May's signature. Homer said the other lots were unaffected and the sale would proceed as scheduled, adding that the auction house respected the legal process and would not comment further on the proceedings at that point.[S1]
The previous month, Noel and Liam Gallagher were present at the Venice film festival for the world premiere of the documentary Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger, which was followed by a UK premiere in London. The group has also just revealed plans for its Live '27 world tour, coming after a well-received reunion tour in 2025. Oasis have been contacted for a response.[S1]
