One of the reasons why the movie Trainspotting was so beloved back in 1996 was its soundtrack, full of stars from the contemporary world of Britpop such as Elastica, Pulp, Underworld and Leftfield. But one of the biggest names in music was missing: that of Oasis, the biggest name on the scene.

It turns out that the Manchester legends were offered the opportunity to record a track for the movies, but that Noel Gallagher turned it down because he presumed the film to actually be about trainspotters, rather than poverty-stricken heroin addicts in Edinburgh.

OasisOasis performing in Heaton Park, Manchester in 2009

In a question and answer session with the original film’s crew on Tuesday (October 18th), as reported by The Telegraph, producer Andrew Macdonald and costume designer Rachel Fleming explained why one of the leading luminaries of Britpop failed to contribute a song.

“Danny [Boyle, who directed the movie] is from near Manchester and he was very keen to have Noel Gallagher do something but there was a reason why he didn’t do it,” Macdonald said. “He came to the launch party in Cannes, but I don’t know why he didn’t do a piece of music.”

More: Liam Gallagher says his “bags are packed” if he’s offered an Oasis reunion

Fleming went on to add: “I met Noel at a thing the other week and he said to me: ‘I would have done something, but honestly I thought it was about trainspotters. I didn’t know.’ That’s what he actually said.”

The film was recorded on a comparatively small budget yet became an international award-winning success, spawning two best-selling soundtracks.

The long-awaited sequel to Trainspotting, titled T2 and based on Irvine Welsh’s follow-up novel to ‘Trainspotting’ entitled ‘Porno’, is finally released on January 27th next year. It picks up the film’s original cast of Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle and Ewen Bremner as they live their lives two decades later.

More: ‘Trainspotting 2’ teaser trailer released, with first new footage