‘Noel Gallagher gave me an Oasis demo. I taped over it’, says lead singer of legendary Cork band

The lead singer of legendary Cork band The Frank and Walters has spoken of the time Noel Gallagher was a roadie for the Cork band when they toured the UK with the Inspiral Carpets back in the early 1990s, a time when Oasis were beginning to put their first demo tape together.

Paul Lenihan told The Echo that the band got on really well with Noel because of their strong Irish connection and had parted ways amicably when the tour ended.

Noel had even given Paul a demo tape with a number of songs which were good, according to the Frank and Walters singer, but nothing that “jumped out at him”.

“We were touring with the Inspiral Carpets and he was their roadie at the time and we had a roadie on the tour but he left us because he had other commitments halfway through,” said Paul.

“Noel agreed to pick up the slack and do the roadie for us for the rest of the tour.

“It was great, brilliant, I mean we kind of bonded with him at the time; he was Irish, Irish descent, we were Irish, we got on very well with him, of all the people we were hanging out with on the tour, probably Noel was the guy we got on with the best.”

Paul became aware towards the end of the tour that Noel had his own musical ambitions.

“Towards the end of the tour, he gave me a demo of Oasis. I didn’t realise how good he was. He gave me a demo which wasn’t bad, but it didn’t jump out at me, so I ended up taping up over it with one of my own songs.

“There were a couple of songs and it sounded very like the Stone Roses. I kind of thought it was a bit too like the Stone Roses so, I suppose, I dismissed it a bit.

“A lot of bands at that time were sounding like the Stone Roses, they were the band a lot of other groups were trying to copy.

“I’d say it was their first demo tape, it just didn’t jump out at me, maybe the songs were average, I don’t know.

“Obviously they got a lot better — when they were at their peak they were great, brilliant, they’ve written some great songs, I love ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’.”

When asked about the prospect of an appearance by The Frank and Walters as for next year’s reunion tour of Oasis in Ireland and Britain, Paul said the band would be interested.

“I don’t think we will be getting it,” said Paul, who expressed his doubts that one of the most sought-after gigs in years would go ahead despite the huge sums of money that are involved.

“It might go ahead, but I think there’s going to be a rocky road to it,” he said.

“I think Oasis are going to give the public a bit of a fright along the way, whether they do it intentionally or whether it’s the truth is another thing — they know how to play the game, you know.”

The good news for fans of The Franks is that the band is enjoying a great revival as it was the headline act at last year’s Macroom Music Festival and this year were named as Cork Persons of the Year. They have gigs coming up, including a concert in The Palace Theatre in Fermoy on September 14.

Paul left a tantalising hint to finish up.

“I’ll be recording another album,” said Paul, who is on the lookout for a studio for the band’s first album since ‘Songs for the Walking Wounded’ was released in 2016.