The Mike Flowers Pops became famous in the UK in 1995 when they released a cover version of Oasis’ hit song” Wonderwall.”
Flowers had been recruited by BBC Radio 1 DJ Kevin Greening to cover the ‘Hits of 95’ for Greening’s Saturday show; “Wonderwall” was his first week’s project. Chris Evans heard the song and made it “single of the week” on his Radio 1 breakfast show, telling listeners that this was the original version of the song leading people to believe that Noel Gallagher had ripped the song off.
The single, issued by London Records under the name The Mike Flowers Pops, was released while the Oasis original was still in the UK Singles Chart, and itself reached the Top 10. Flowers’ version peaked at number 2 in the Christmas 1995 chart. Oasis had previously refused to let other novelty acts parody the song, but were said to have enjoyed Flowers’ tape so much that they allowed the group to cut it .
Watch Noel and Liam Gallagher talk about “Wonderwall” and how people thought the ripped it off.