Oasis Lawsuit Halts Auction of 100-Hour Archive

Oasis, Liam and Noel Gallagher, and Sony Music Entertainment U.K. have filed legal action to stop former sound engineer Huw Richards and his son Owain from auctioning the band’s archive of unreleased recordings. Known as the “Desk Tapes,” the collection includes more than 100 hours of 1990s live shows, rehearsals, soundchecks and informal conversations, including a potentially unique recording of a 1996 concert in Scotland. Littleton Auctions withdrew the archive from its planned October 3 sale while the legal dispute proceeds; the rest of the memorabilia auction is scheduled to go ahead. The lawsuit’s details have not been made public.