The Fratellis
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The Fratellis |
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The Fratellis are an award-winning band from Glasgow, Scotland.
Band members
- John Lawler: Jon Fratelli – vocals & guitar
- Barry Wallace: Barry Fratelli – bass guitar
- Gordon McRory: Mince Fratelli – drums, backing vocals & occasional guitar and banjo
History
The Fratellis played their first ever gig on March 4, 2005 in the O'Henry's bar in Glasgow, and have since made their breakthrough year in 2006. They were discovered by their manager Tony Fratelli in McChuills Bar, Glasgow soon after this. The Fratellis EP was released April 3, 2006, featuring the tracks "Creepin' Up The Backstairs", "Stacie Anne" and "The Gutterati?". Due to its limited availability, copies can now be found reaching more than £30 on eBay.
Different sources tell of different origins of the band's name. Some claim it derives from the 1985 movie The Goonies; however, the band denied this live on air on BBC Radio 2's Jonathan Ross Show on 9 September, 2006. Others tell of the band forming from a four-piece band who would play at weddings. However in an interview in The Sun newspaper, it would appear that the name is taken from bassist Barry, whose original surname is Fratelli, the other members of the band simply adopted that pseudonym. Ironically, the word "fratelli" in Italian means "brothers". According to Top of the Pops, the band met after placing ads in the same record shop. NME ran a two page feature on The Fratellis in the August 10, 2006 issue proclaiming them "the best new band in Britain".
They have also claimed to have met while they were working on a fairground. "That sounds a lot more romantic than it actually is," admits Jon. "It was a travelling fairground that didn't travel very far because it was always breaking down. It was a bit like touring - you'd go to one place, set it up, pack it all away at the end of the week and go elsewhere. It was good for a while, then we all fancied being rock stars instead."
On 14th February 2007 they won the Best British Breakthrough Act, voted for by Radio One listeners, at the 2007 Brit Awards.
Performances
- Later with Jools Holland – June 16, 2006. They performed "Chelsea Dagger" and "Henrietta".
- Top of the Pops – June 18, 2006. They performed "Henrietta".
- The Friday Night Project – August 25, 2006. Hosted by Cheryl Cole, Kimberley Walsh and Sarah Harding of Girls Aloud. They performed "Chelsea Dagger".
- Friday Night with Jonathan Ross – December 1, 2006. They performed "Whistle for the Choir".
Miscellaneous
- Costello Music was released on September 11, 2006 to critical acclaim and charted at number two in the official UK album charts. It stayed there for two more weeks.
- Apparently the name for the album comes from the name of the studio where they used to play, which is situated in Budhill, Glasgow above a Chinese takeaway.
- The band have recently featured as the headline act on the NME Rock 'n' Roll Riot Tour. According to the lead article in the 28 October, 2006 issue of NME, the tour has so far been blighted by rumours of a feud between the Fratellis and fellow tour act The Horrors, which both bands claim was originally started by the other.
- The Fratellis once played two home coming shows at the Glasgow Barrowlands which both sold out in 7 minutes, a record for the venue. On both nights a limited edition CD of the respective performances was sold shortly after the gig for £15 for the limited edition cd of which only a 1000 were made.
- The Fratellis song "Flathead" is featured on Apple's January 2007 iPod TV advertisement. Also in January 2007, Safeway used the introductory portion of "Chelsea Dagger" for an animated ad campaign.
- It is most likely that the album title was inspired by the rock movie "Still Crazy". The film is about a fictional rock band named Strange Fruit reforming and when collecting their Brit Award the band thanked each member of Strange Fruit, claiming they would never have formed a band without them. In the movie, keyboard player Tony Costello is featured answering his mobile phone "Costello Music, good morning".
- The Fratellis have contributed a specially made track for the film Hot Fuzz
Discography
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Costello Music #2 UK #48 US
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The Fratellis EP (Nomadic Music) 3 April, 2006 -
Flathead EP (Universal-Island Records) 23 January, 2007 (US only)
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | US | |||
| 2006 | "Henrietta" | 19 | Costello Music | |
| "Chelsea Dagger" | 5 | |||
| "Whistle for the Choir" | 9 | |||
| 2007 | "Flathead" | 67 [Downloads Only] | 73 | |
| "Baby Fratelli" | 24 | |||
Awards
|- ! header 1 Date ! header 2 Award ! header 3 Show |- | row 1, cell 1 14th February 2007 | row 1, cell 2 Best British Breakthrough Act | row 1, cell 3 BRIT Awards 2007 |-
References