The Courteeners biography
The Courteeners are a rock band formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, England in 2006 by Liam Fray (guitar/vocals), Michael Campbell (drums/backing vocals), Daniel Conan Moores (Guitar), Mark Cuppello (bass)
History
Formation
The band members have known each other since they were ten years old. Liam and Conan attended Cardinal Langley RC High School in Middleton, Mark Cuppello attended St Monica's RC High School in nearby Prestwich, and Michael Campbell attended St Cuthberts RC High school (Rochdale).
While at the University of Salford (studying Creative Writing), Liam Fray started to perform acoustic sets as a singer-songwriter around bars and at open-mic nights in Manchester. After getting positive reactions from the crowd, Fray decided to leave University and form a band. Liam recruited long-time friend and neighbour Michael Campbell, who had never played the drums before. They played as 'Liam Fray' until Conan Moores (guitar) and Mark Cuppello (bass) joined the band.
Their first gig was at the Manchester Roadhouse in October 2006, and the band went from strength to strength in Manchester, largely through a word-of-mouth following brought on by extensive gigging and television publicity. The Courteeners released their debut single "Cavorting" on 6 August 2007 by Loog Records. A second single, "Acrylic" was released on 22 October 2007 reaching number 44 in the UK Chart.
The Courteeners were approached by producer, Stephen Street, of the Smiths, Blur and Morrissey fame through their label Polydor about the possibility of working together they made the Courteeners' debut album, They first released a single "What Took You So Long?" on 14 January 2008, a song which reached #20 in the United Kingdom charts. The debut album, St. Jude, was released on 7 April 2008 by Polydor Records. It was launched at Manchester's Market Street HMV store where they performed and sold their first albums bought by Andrew Harris at 12.01am and signed and noted by Liam as the first album to be sold.
The album reached No 4 in the UK Albums Chart, and has since gone on to achieve gold status. The album was preceded by the release of single "Not Nineteen Forever" on 31 March 2008, entering at #19 and becoming their highest charting single to date. A fifth single, "No You Didn't, No You Don't" was released on 23 June 2008.
The band played to a packed out John Peel tent at the 2008 Glastonbury Festival. and played major slots at V Festival, T In The Park, and other festivals across Europe. They played with Kasabian and Primal Scream at the Fuji Rock Festival in Niigata Prefecture in Japan.
"That Kiss" was released on 6 October 2008, produced again by Stephen Street. The song was released as a stand alone track and entered the charts at number five in the Midweek Top 40.
By October 2008 the band had begun a sell out tour of major venues across the UK including two nights at Manchester Apollo and London's Shepherd's Bush Empire. A first taste of Arena shows came with their December 2008 support slot on the Stereophonics' Decade In The Sun Tour. This saw them appear at huge venues such Manchester's MEN Arena, London's O2 Arena, and Glasgow's Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
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