TONY McCARROLL.

Tony is one of the original members of the band Rain, which later was renamed to Oasis. Tony is from Manchester and he is a childhood friend of Guigsy and Bonehead. Tony played the drums on Definitely Maybe and the singles to that album, he is also the drummer on Some Might Say. Tony was never really accepted by Noel, and in 1995 Noel threw him out of the band because of lack of talent. Noel: "Well, I like Tony as a geezer but he wouldn't have been able to drum the new songs. People can say: "Oh, you didn't give him the chance" and I didn't, so call my an asshole if you want." In 1998, just after the b-side album The Masterplan was released, Tony sued Oasis, he wanted a cut of the album sales. Fair enough, as he is the drummer on 5 out of 14 tracks on the album. Tony's and Oasis' lawyers agreed on a settlement: Oasis bought out Tony's share of all future royalties on the Oasis recordings on which he played, for £ 550,000. McCARROLL'S DAY IN THE SUN by Dominic Mohan, 5th March 1999. Tony McCarroll could have been living off Oasis royalties for the rest of his life. Greatest hits albums, video compilations, money from advertising deals - he would be entitled to a cut from all future releases featuring his drumming. Instead, on Wednesday in the High Court, he agreed to give up any future royalties in return for a lump sum of 550,000. An estimated 250,000 of Tony's payout goes on legal fees. He is taxed on the rest. As his old pal Liam sings on Champagne Supernova: "Why? Why? Why? Why?" I'm told that Oasis would have been prepared to accept his buy-out proposal at the outset without even going to court saving him a few hundred grand in legal fees. What Tony failed to realise was that he effectively held a lottery ticket which would mean he'd carry on winning every year. Picture the scene: It's 2002 and a car company pay Oasis 5 million to use Live Forever in one of their commercials. Tony would have been entitled to a 20% cut. Now he won't get a penny. "I reckon Tony McCarroll is the biggest mug in showbiz since the Decca Records executive who turned down the Beatles. As he left court, he held his arm aloft as if in victory. He should have been weeping."

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