An archive of previously unheard Oasis recordings, known as The Desk Tapes, has been withdrawn from auction after the band filed an injunction to block the sale. The tapes were collected by Huw Richards, the band’s sound engineer from their 1994 debut until 2001.
The auction house’s statement
“Littleton Auctions confirms that the Oasis recordings known as The Desk Tapes have been withdrawn from our October 3 auction in light of legal proceedings,” said Managing Director Ben Homer. “We are very disappointed that we cannot offer this significant archive as planned.”
The auction house had billed the sale as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity for fans and collectors alike,” though it acknowledged when the sale was announced that the band was opposed.
The seller’s response
The recordings were brought to auction by Huw’s son, Owain Richards, who confirmed that Oasis had “sued me and my father to try to prevent the auction of the tapes.” He said the auction had been postponed so the dispute could be resolved, whether through litigation or otherwise, in an orderly way.
“We respect the legal process and will make no further comment on the proceedings at this stage.”
Richards, himself a sound engineer, called the collection “a piece of history” that his father had carefully preserved. He added that he had earlier been in discussions with Oasis’s management when the band wanted to acquire some of the recordings.
What the archive contains
The collection holds more than 100 hours of early Oasis recordings and session outtakes, priced at between £1.2 million and £1.6 million. It reportedly includes 63 live shows across 209 DAT tapes, 73 analog cassettes and three MiniDiscs, among them what is believed to be the only recording of the band’s 1996 concert on the banks of Loch Lomond in Scotland.
