Soundtrack Of My Life: Nadine Coyle

3 November, 2023

Nadine Coyle

The first song I fell in love with

The Drifters – ‘Saturday Night At The Movies’

“I thought this song was brilliant. I loved everything about it and tried to sing like it all the time. I was this small child busting out ad libs and stuff, so my family would be like, ‘Wow, she’s really going for it, she’s actually really good.'”

The first album I bought

Sugababes – ‘One Touch’

“It’s the first Sugababes album – the one before ‘Angels With Dirty Faces’. Remember when you would go into Virgin Megastore on a Saturday and queue up to listen to CDs on those fuzzy headphones? You’d think you were super-cool going up town with your friends to do that. I remember listening to this album on the fuzzy headphones and then buying it with some babysitting money I’d managed to gather up. And now I know the Sugababes!”

The song I can’t get out of my head

Kylie Minogue – ‘Padam Padam’

“This song has been dominating my thought processes since it came out in May. Me and my little girl have conversations to ‘Padam Padam’. Like, we’ll sing ‘we’re going to the shops, the shops…’ to the tune of ‘Padam’, it’s a big thing in my household.

“I actually saw Kylie at the airport recently – we were heading to the BA lounge and there was Miss Padam in all her glory. I know Kylie because we used to share the same manager, but I still wanted to say ‘padam’ to her because I’m so used to putting it in every conversation. Luckily I managed to calm down and have a normal conversation with her. Sadly we weren’t on the same flight – she was going to LA and I was flying to Nice.”

The song I can no longer listen to

A-ha – ‘Take On Me’

“Any time I hear ‘Take On Me’, it immediately puts me in a bad mood because something about it is so jarring. I don’t feel the same way about any of the songs I’ve recorded, except for maybe [Girls Aloud‘s final single] ‘Beautiful ‘Cause You Love Me’. But we just forget that song ever happened – it’s a mirage; it didn’t happen.”

The song that makes me want to dance

Tina Turner – ‘Proud Mary’

“It’s got to be the proper long extended version that Tina used to sing live. I keep threatening to make ‘Proud Mary’ part of my live shows and believe me, I will dance to it on stage. If you’re going to do ‘Proud Mary’, you’ve got to go the whole hog, haven’t you?”

The song that makes me cry

Tom Odell – ‘Another Love’

“Believe me, I’m a crier. I need to be careful watching TV adverts because a sad one can really ruin my day. But the song that makes me cry at the minute is ‘Another Love’ because of the beautiful piano chords and all the sad notes he hits. It’s another song I’m threatening to throw into my live shows, actually!”

The song that reminds me of home

Chris de Burgh – ‘Lady In Red’

“My mummy used to play this song because she loved anything romantic, so it takes me back to a specific moment in time when I was really young. I wish I could think of something specifically Irish, but another song that reminds me of growing up in Derry is ‘Sweet Caroline’ because all the local bands used to play it.”

The song I’m most proud of

Nadine Coyle – ‘Fool For Love’

“This is a solo song I did with [Girls Aloud] producer Brian Higgins. I’m particularly proud of my vocal. Whenever I hear it, I’m like, ‘I’m so glad I did that because I don’t know if I could do it again!’ Believe me, it’s an absolute killer to sing live.”