Littleton Auctions withdraws “The Desk Tapes” following a lawsuit filed by the band against a former sound engineer and his son.
Oasis has taken legal action against former front-of-house sound engineer Huw Richards and his son, Owain Richards, to prevent the sale of “The Desk Tapes,” an archive of previously unheard recordings. Compiled between 1995 and 2001, the collection consists of 209 DAT tapes, 73 analogue cassettes, and three MiniDiscs containing audio from 63 concerts, over 100 hours of rehearsals and soundchecks, and candid conversations involving Noel and Liam Gallagher.
Estimated at £1.2 million to £1.6 million, the collection was scheduled to go under the hammer on October 3 through Littleton Auctions. Managing director Ben Homer confirmed the recordings have been withdrawn from the sale due to the legal proceedings, though the rest of the October 3 auction event will proceed as planned. Oasis retains the intellectual property rights to the recordings, meaning commercial exploitation of the material requires permission from the band.
