The British band Noel Gallagher called one of his “favourite ever”
Even when Noel Gallagher was a member of the world’s biggest band, the Oasis chief wasn’t above visiting a grotty venue to see an artist on the rise. In 2001, British music was starting to enter a bright new era following years of bleakness, and Gallagher put his faith in a set of teenagers from the Wirral who were fresh out of school.
The band in question is The Coral. Despite their young age at the time of their breakthrough, they had a psychedelic charm and songwriting instincts beyond their years. Whispers began to spread about the group before they’d officially released any material. Understandably, Gallagher was eager to find out if they were as talented as he’d been told on the grapevine.
Most teenage acts have an element of rawness to their artistry, yet The Coral were the finished article, in a musical sense at least. Their eponymous debut album was released in 2002, selling over 300,000 copies and earning the band a nomination for the Mercury Prize. Over the subsequent 20 years, they’ve been one of the most consistent bands in Britain who have aged gracefully and adventurously.
During an appearance on Later with Jools Holland in 2021, Gallagher was asked to pick a selection of his favourite musical appearances in the history of the programme. After picking The Coral’s debut on the BBC in 2002, when they performed ‘Dreaming Of You’, the High Flying Birds leader discussed his love affair with the band.
Gallagher said of his discovery of The Coral: “Oasis were out in the studio at the time, we had Alvin Lee’s studio in Wycombe called Wheeler End, and we were out there doing something. This band were playing at Dingwalls (London venue), so we got in the van and traipsed into London.”
He continued: “These lads walked on stage, and they were kids. They were so young that they had signed their record deal that day, but their parents had to sign it for them, and they played this song. It sounded like Frank Sinatra meets The Who meets Burt Bacharach. This was the first song, and it was an instrumental. I’m like, ‘Who are these?'”
“We kind of went backstage to see them, and they’re all sat there all ruddy-cheeked and topless. ‘No way, it’s these fellas off the telly. Look at that, no way, la,'” he jovially says in a comically bad Scouse accent. “We became really good mates with them and took them on tour. They’re still one of my favourite ever bands. ‘Dreaming Of You’ is just… it’s a classic,” Gallagher sincerely added.
Two decades on from his first taste of The Coral, they still regularly play shows together, such as at Brighton Beach this summer and have built a friendship built on mutual admiration. As Gallagher rightly said, ‘Dreaming Of You’ is a modern-day classic, and their youthful debut on Jools Holland is equally a performance for the ages.
