Bulletin Board of Bad Behavior

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - Liam Gallagher (news), wild-man vocalist of British rock band Oasis detained after a brawl in a five-star Munich hotel at the weekend, has been freed from jail after posting bail of more than $100,000, police said Monday.


Reuters Photo


AP Photo
Slideshow: Oasis




A Munich police source told Reuters Gallagher was released Sunday after his management team came up with the bail. He faces charges of grievous bodily assault and resisting arrest for beating a number of people, including a police officer.


"The Oasis management had to come up with a six-figure sum to have the guys released," the police source said.


Gallagher, 30, lost several teeth in the punch-out, the latest in a string of misadventures for the singer, noted for reviving Britain's tradition of rock 'n' roll.


"The boy didn't look good, several of his teeth were punched out," said Munich police spokesman Christoph Reichenbach.


He said Gallagher and two other band members had got into a fight with some Italians in a nightclub at Munich's top hotel, the Bayerischer Hof, at around 2 a.m. Sunday. Liam's brother Noel was not involved.


The hotel was built in 1840 by Bavaria's King Ludwig I and was popular with 19th-century royalty.


Munich's state prosecutor Anton Winkler said the bail could be used as a fine if Gallagher is convicted.


"It is possible the bail could be kept as a fine if the investigation leads to a conviction," Winkler told Reuters. "The police are still investigating."


Gallagher's spokeswoman said he would be spending much of Monday in a dentist's chair, while a German promoter said a Hamburg gig planned for Monday night had been canceled.


It was unclear what would happen with Oasis concerts set for Dec. 4 in Duesseldorf and Dec. 5 in Bremen.

'KICKED IN RIBS'

Officers arrived at the scene after being alerted by the nightclub manager, by which time the fight had moved into the hotel foyer. When Liam was detained he kicked a police officer in the ribs "with full force," Reichenbach said.

"According to witness statements, the band members first argued among themselves," he added. "Then they started hitting each other and were shoving each other around in the nightclub.

"In the midst of all of this one of the musicians fell on a table at which a group of five to six Italians were sitting ... A brawl ensued -- band members and their security guards attacked other guests in the club."

The band's Web site said they were innocent victims.

"Several members of Oasis and their entourage were the victims of an unprovoked attack by a group of youths in a Munich club," it said, adding that Gallagher had "sustained facial injuries" in the assault.

The band said their attackers fled before police arrived, having left two of their security guards in need of hospital treatment.

The Gallagher brothers were as famous for their hell-raising in the early 1990s as for their Beatles-influenced sound, but lately marriage and children appeared to have mellowed them.

Oasis was formed by Liam Gallagher in his native Manchester, in northern England, in 1991. Three years later, they released their debut album "Definitely Maybe," billed as the fastest-selling debut in British history.

In April, they released their first single in nearly two years, "Hindu Times," and in July released a fifth album "Heathen Chemistry." Still not as good as Defiently Maybe.

To some, like the boys at Pax Acidus, he is a classic rock and roll hero. To others, he is a childish and arrogant lout whose mouth works faster than his brain.

Whatever your view of Liam Gallagher, there is little doubt that Oasis would not have been as big without his hellraising antics that helped define the band.


The wild behaviour has been inseparable from the music. His seemingly constant rows with brother and bandmate Noel, the public spats with other stars and tempestuous stage performances have all added to his reputation for wild behaviour.

Music fans have let him get away with it because in a world of manufactured pop, we relish someone with a colourful personality - as long as it stays firmly in the realm of tabloid fantasy.

When the world first heard of Oasis in 1994, the image of the brawling brothers went hand-in-hand with the music.

Before Oasis became household names, Liam and guitarist Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan were locked up on a ferry for causing mayhem in the bar.

'Hooligan'

The incident sparked a row between Liam and Noel during a press interview that was so ferocious and - to many - hilarious that it was later released by the journalist as an unofficial single.

In it, Noel accused Liam of acting like a football hooligan.


The singer was married to Patsy Kensit for three years

Later that year, as the band enjoyed their first top 10 single, another incident saw Liam dragged away from a fight after a fan punched Noel, and the gig descended into a riot.

As the group's stature grew and they became the biggest band in the UK, the bickering and unpredictable behaviour continued.

In 1996, the band scaled new heights by playing to 250,000 people at two outdoor concerts in Knebworth - a record for a single band in the UK.

But two weeks later, their future looked in doubt after Liam pulled out of a US tour at the last minute to go house-hunting with then girlfriend Patsy Kensit.

He only informed his bandmates of his decision 15 minutes before their flight was due to leave, saying: "I can't go and look at houses while I'm in America trying to perform for silly Yanks."

The band went on without him and he flew out later, but Noel was reportedly furious.


The band released their fifth album in July

Two weeks into the tour, the tensions reached boiling point when the pair had a huge row that was said to have led to them coming to blows. The remaining dates were scrapped.

Cocaine

On their return, Liam had a brush with the law when he was cautioned for cocaine possession on London's Oxford Street.

But by that evening, he was back at home with Kensit giving journalists the V-sign through his front door.

A group of MPs complained that his lenient treatment could "only bring the law into disrepute".

In 1997, he was cautioned again after a road rage incident in which he leant out of his Mercedes window, grabbed the shirt of a cyclist and pulled him along with the car. The man was unhurt.

Marriage did not appear to mellow Liam, and in 1999 police were called to the couple's home after neighbours complained about screaming and shouting.

It was one of a string of rows, but a baby, Lennon, followed in September 1999. The divorce came 12 months later.

The other tempestuous relationship in Liam's life - with his brother - led to the pair coming to blows again during a European tour in 2000.


Nicole Appleton and Liam have a baby, Gene

Noel left the rest of the band to play without him for all shows outside the UK because he could not stand to travel with them.

"We don't have a relationship outside the band. We are not good at playing happy families," he told a newspaper.

Spiteful

Later that year, Liam walked off stage after being pelted with bottles and cans at a Swiss festival.

The organisers said Liam was "a paranoid idiot" who had repeatedly hurled insults at the crowd and almost incited a riot.

At that year's Brit Awards, Robbie Williams challenged Gallagher to a fight - sparking one of the most spiteful spats in rock.

As Oasis slipped away from the cutting edge of music, Liam stayed in the headlines - although, with a reputation that is now firmly entrenched, it is hard to know how much is blown out of proportion.

In 2001, police dropped an investigation after allegations of an indecent assault on a female member of British Airways staff.

A year later, he was investigated by police again after allegations that he assaulted someone at a London bar.

What kind of Italians go on vacation to Germany? They never shut up about how much they hate the Germans.

So.... something sounds a little fishy.

I think it was the mafia trying to collect on all the cocaine money owed them from the 90's.

Well f*** me, I thought the guy had mellowed out! I do recall hearing he'd started drinking again sometime before the last album came out though, and that he'd been refusing to work on the album, thereby pissing Noel off. Oh well, who knows. This goes with your post in the quotes section McC - I guess kids don't always mellow people out. I think that's really sad. How would you explain things like that to your kid anyway? Jeez.

Good theory on the mafia, though, Ooh.

You don't explain shit like that to your kids. you tell them that you were a good kid and that you knever did anything out of the ordinary. Or, alternatively, you tell them something along the lines of- "that's when I was a kid and I didn't know any better." Neither really seem to work but at least you can avoid the issue.