Courteeners

After seeing English indie outfit Courteeners perform, legendary producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur) agreed to helm their debut album, 2008’s St. Jude. ∙ Courteneers frontman Liam Fray dropped out of university and formed the band after a successful string of acoustic solo gigs at bars and open-mic nights around Manchester. ∙ Prior to joining the group, drummer Michael Campbell had never played the instrument before. ∙ St. Jude cracked the Top 10 of the UK album charts, a feat that Courteeners have repeated with all five of their subsequent LPs. ∙ In 2013, Manchester United named Courteeners’ “Not Nineteen Forever” the official celebration song of their 20th Premier League victory. ∙ “Winter Wonderland,” their first Christmas single, was written by Fray on Norah Jones’ piano at her home in New York City. ∙ Author Emma Jane Unsworth wrote a short story called Better specifically for Courteeners, who made it into a film comprising three music videos.