Noel Gallagher says his Supernova Heights ’90s party mansion was like a “cocaine arcade” as it was filled with drugs and retro shoot-’em-up games.
Noel Gallagher says his Supernova Heights ’90s party mansion was like a ‘cocaine arcade’ as it was filled with drugs and retro shoot-’em-up games
The ex-Oasis rocker, 56, has revealed for the first time his infamous pad in London was packed with full-size arcade games and a collectible pinball machine from The Who’s ‘Tommy’ film he thinks he bought at a pop music auction.
Noel told his comedy writer friend Matt Morgan, 47, on his podcast: “Talking of the Nineties, I was at my (storage) lock up the other day. It’s like going back in time because of all the Nineties (stuff) in there.
“I’ve got an original Pinball Wizard pinball machine (from The Who’s merchandise) in the lock-up.
“It’s called ‘The Pinball Wizard’ and the picture (on it) is Elton John in big boots, and it’s a really primitive pinball machine.
“And I’ve got an original ‘Pac-Man’ and a sit-down ‘Space Invaders’ and air hockey (arcade game.)
“I had them at Supernova Heights. It was a cocaine arcade!”
Noel went on about his love of full-size arcade games: “Pac-Man doesn’t take up much room, it just stands against the wall.
“I used to like the ‘Defender’ arcade game. It was a spaceship shoot-’em-up.
“It was great and you could hit hyper-space where you would appear somewhere else – it was a great machine.”
Noel said he had his Pac-Man game fitted with a plug instead of a coin slot so it could constantly be played without pumping coins into the machine.
He spoke of his love of computer games despite ranting in 2011 he was convinced shoot-’em-ups were to blame for the riots that shook Britain that year.
Despite the looting that broke out during the rampages being sparked by the police shooting of a black man and experts also linking them to socioeconomic issues, Noel told ‘Guitar World’: “I can’t understand where their energy for these riots is coming from. We live in this age of violence – and I don’t care what other people say: Brutal TV and brutal video games are a reason for this pointless violence as well… the people are immune to violence, they are used to it.
“And if they get caught they aren’t punished the right way. The prisons are already full? Then build new ones. It’s crazy.”
In 2008, Noel also said video games were partly to blame for a knife crime spree that claimed the lives of more than 18 teenagers in London at the time.
He added to the BBC: “People say it’s through violent videogames and I guess that’s got something to do with it.
“If kids are sitting up all night smoking super skunk and they come so desensitised to crime because they’re playing these videogames, it’s really, really scary.”
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