Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson responds to insults received from Mark E. Smith and Oasis
Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson has recalled the past insults he’s received from Mark E. Smith and Oasis.
Speaking to NME as part of our ‘Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?!’ quiz, Wilson correctly guessed that the late Fall icon Smith once said “the Kaiser Chiefs and Arctic Monkeys should open a chain of chip shops in North Yorkshire”.
The comment came as part of a 2006 interview, in which Smith added: “I think the East Germans had it right actually. Every group used to have a permit. Until they came up with anything culturally relevant like a classical composition, I think they should bring them in here.
“I should start a musical Stasi. If you can’t play in fookin’ time, then fook off back to the factory.”
Responding to the dig almost two decades on, Wilson told NME: “I respect and admire Mark E. Smith a lot, and I’d respect and admire him a lot less if he respected me! [Laughs].”
He continued: “So well done Mark E, RIP. You know what though, nobody ever said that he should have opened a tent company called Marquee Smiths.”
Elsewhere in the Q&A, Wilson was quizzed on which four acts he beat to bag the Best Dressed prize at the 2006 NME Awards. This prompted the frontman to remind NME that he “never received the one-finger-salute statuette” following the win.
Wilson this time gave an incorrect answer before being reminded that it was in fact Brandon Flowers, Alex Kapranos, Pete Doherty and Liam Gallagher.
He went on to remember that he has previously “met up” with Oasis, “but we haven’t laughed about old pops they’ve had at me”. Wilson added: “[I’m] not the kind of guy who would confront Liam Gallagher about the things he’s said about me in the past, because I’m sure he’s forgotten most of them and I don’t care.
“Would I like to be his friend? Definitely. Do I think I could be? Probably not. I think he’s very good at being hilarious. I don’t think he’s ever tried to be hurtful towards me – and long may he reign in his hilarity.”
Back in 2008, Wilson said that Oasis had “disappeared up their own arse”. He continued: “They think they are Led Zeppelin. They’re not. Music has moved on and I think we are the band that most music fans would see as their successor.”
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Noel Gallagher hit back later that year, saying: “I did drugs for 18 years and I never got that bad as to say, ‘You know what? I think the Kaiser Chiefs are brilliant’.”
In 2019, Liam called the Kaisers’ keyboardist Peanut a “pissflap” over a stage safety row. “It’s naff c***s like you that give Leeds a bad name,” he wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Kaiser Chiefs are set to release ‘Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album’ on March 1 (pre-order/pre-save here). They shared the latest single from the project, ‘Burning In Flames’, last month.
The group will embark on a UK headline tour this spring – you can find any remaining tickets here.
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Tom Skinner
NME
