Cath Carroll
Encyclopedia
Cath Carroll is a British musician and music journalist.
, then Manchester
. She played guitar in post-punk band Property of... in 1978, which also included former Warsaw
drummer Tony Tabac. In 1979 she formed the band Glass Animals with her friend Liz Naylor. The band was renamed Gay Animals in 1980, before disbanding in 1984. Carroll stated that the band aimed to be "the lesbian Rolling Stones", but "it sounded like a very bad Fall". During this time she also produced the City Fun
fanzine with Naylor. In 1984 she began writing for New Musical Express magazine and City Limits under the pen-name Myrna Minkoff, and also formed a new band, Miaow
, who released their first single, "Belle Vue" on their own Venus label in 1985. In 1986 Miaow contributed a track to the NMEs C86
compilation. In early 1987 they came to the attention of Factory Records
head Tony Wilson
, who released two singles; "When it All Comes Down", and "Break the Code". The band also recorded two Peel Sessions, in June 1986 and January 1987. After several line-up changes, Miaow disbanded in 1988, with Carroll going on to work with The Hit Parade
.
Carroll married former Big Black
guitarist Santiago Durango
, and embarked on a solo career. In June 1988 Carroll began working on her debut solo album, England Made Me, named after a Graham Greene
novel. The album was recorded in Sheffield
, Sao Paulo
, London, and in Chicago with Steve Albini
. Carroll and Albini also recorded a version of "King Creole
" for New Musical Express The Last Temptation of Elvis compilation album. Carroll subsequently moved to Chicago in late 1989. There she worked with Chicago house music
producer, Vince Lawrence
. Their song "Too Good To Live" was a single from the album England Made Me and the album was released in June 1991 on the Factory Records
label.
American band Unrest
paid tribute to Carroll in 1993, with the Cath Carroll EP released on TeenBeat records, and used a Robert Mapplethorpe
portrait of Carroll on the cover of their Perfect Teeth album in the same year.
Carroll released two singles ("My Cold Heart" in 1994 and "Bad Star" in 1995) and her second album, True Crime Motel, on Teenbeat Records
in 1995. In 1996 she married musician and audio engineer Kerry Kelekovich, with whom she released her eponymously titled third album in 2000, on Carroll and Kelekovich's own Lilypad label. In November 2002, Carroll released her fourth album, The Gondoliers of Ghost Lake on LTM. In 2003, LTM also released When It All Comes Down by Miaow, which compiled all of Factory's Miaow catalogue, rarities, Peel Sessions
for the BBC
and tracks which were never released.
In 2001, Carroll's critical discography detailing the works of Tom Waits
for Unanimous Publishing's "Kill Your Idol" series was published. Three years later, the book written for Chicago Review Press examining Fleetwood Mac
's Rumours was published entitled, Never Break The Chain (2004).
In 2008, Carroll continued to write musically related content for the likes of the UK music magazine, The Word, and Kevin Cummins
picture book on Joy Division
, Juvenes, while also releasing the debut album from the Morris, Illinois
duo, worldwideriot, on which she appeared on the song, "Lori".
In 2009, Carroll hosted the music podcast, "The Pad",http://blog.lilypadrecords.com re-releasing "When It All Comes Down" and "Moves Like You" which are included on Rhino/WEA box set, Factory Records: Communications 1978–92 and her latest single, "Desiree Won't Come Down" (Lilypad 2009) released on 22 April that year.
In 2010, Trembling Blue Stars
, called upon Carroll to sing, "The Imperfection Of Memory" which will appear on their Fast Trains And Telegraph Wires album to be released on Elefant Records. She also contributed lead vocals to songs appearing on the new Hit Parade album, Cornish Love Songs which is currently in the studio with producer Ian Catt. Her new single, "It All Looks Good On You" was released on 16 February 2010 by Lilypad Records, who are also reissuing her eponymous 2000 album (retitled Glommer) and the never-was Factory Records album, Priceless Innuendo.
Career
Carroll was raised in SwanseaSwansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, then Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. She played guitar in post-punk band Property of... in 1978, which also included former Warsaw
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
drummer Tony Tabac. In 1979 she formed the band Glass Animals with her friend Liz Naylor. The band was renamed Gay Animals in 1980, before disbanding in 1984. Carroll stated that the band aimed to be "the lesbian Rolling Stones", but "it sounded like a very bad Fall". During this time she also produced the City Fun
City Fun
City Fun was a magazine/fanzine documenting the music scene in Manchester, England between 1977 and 1984. Initially run by a collective, its editors included Martin Wade, Liz Naylor, Cath Carroll and Nigel Chatfield....
fanzine with Naylor. In 1984 she began writing for New Musical Express magazine and City Limits under the pen-name Myrna Minkoff, and also formed a new band, Miaow
Miaow (band)
Miaow were an indie band from Manchester, England, active between 1984 and 1988. They were led by former Glass Animals singer and NME writer Cath Carroll on vocals and guitar, with Steve Maguire , Ron Caine and Chris Fenner...
, who released their first single, "Belle Vue" on their own Venus label in 1985. In 1986 Miaow contributed a track to the NMEs C86
C86 (music)
C86 is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine NME in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from independent labels of the time. As a phrase, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based musical genre characterised by "jangly" guitars and fey melodies, although other...
compilation. In early 1987 they came to the attention of Factory Records
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
head Tony Wilson
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....
, who released two singles; "When it All Comes Down", and "Break the Code". The band also recorded two Peel Sessions, in June 1986 and January 1987. After several line-up changes, Miaow disbanded in 1988, with Carroll going on to work with The Hit Parade
The Hit Parade
The Hit Parade is a British pop music group, based in London, England. Named after the NBC US television programme, Your Hit Parade, which was broadcast across America in the 1950s as a showcase of the best of chart music, The Hit Parade was formed in 1984, by three schoolfriends Raymond Watts,...
.
Carroll married former Big Black
Big Black
Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Naked Raygun...
guitarist Santiago Durango
Santiago Durango
Santiago Durango is an American guitarist remembered for his work with the 1980s punk rock groups Naked Raygun and Big Black. Mostly retired from music as of the early 2000s, he works as an attorney.- Biography :...
, and embarked on a solo career. In June 1988 Carroll began working on her debut solo album, England Made Me, named after a Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
novel. The album was recorded in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, Sao Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, London, and in Chicago with Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
. Carroll and Albini also recorded a version of "King Creole
King Creole
King Creole is a 1958 American film directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Hal B. Wallis. The story was adapted from the Harold Robbins novel A Stone for Danny Fisher and featured Elvis Presley, Carolyn Jones, and Walter Matthau. The film tells the story of a nineteen-year-old who gets mixed...
" for New Musical Express The Last Temptation of Elvis compilation album. Carroll subsequently moved to Chicago in late 1989. There she worked with Chicago house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
producer, Vince Lawrence
Vince Lawrence
Vince Lawrence is a dance music producer, businessman and is one of the leading innovators of the genre of music called "House Music"....
. Their song "Too Good To Live" was a single from the album England Made Me and the album was released in June 1991 on the Factory Records
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
label.
American band Unrest
Unrest (band)
Unrest is an indie rock band from the Washington, D.C. area. It was one of Mark Robinson's projects for what would eventually become the TeenBeat label, also created by Mark while in high school. Developing from an experimental approach of never playing the same song twice, earlier material seemed...
paid tribute to Carroll in 1993, with the Cath Carroll EP released on TeenBeat records, and used a Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits, photos of flowers and nude men...
portrait of Carroll on the cover of their Perfect Teeth album in the same year.
Carroll released two singles ("My Cold Heart" in 1994 and "Bad Star" in 1995) and her second album, True Crime Motel, on Teenbeat Records
TeenBeat Records
Teen Beat is an independent record label, originally based in Arlington, VA, now based in Cambridge, MA. It was founded by Mark Robinson in 1984 at Wakefield High School along with Phil Krauth , Andrew Beaujon , Tim Moran , and Ian Zack .The label was originally set up like a lending library...
in 1995. In 1996 she married musician and audio engineer Kerry Kelekovich, with whom she released her eponymously titled third album in 2000, on Carroll and Kelekovich's own Lilypad label. In November 2002, Carroll released her fourth album, The Gondoliers of Ghost Lake on LTM. In 2003, LTM also released When It All Comes Down by Miaow, which compiled all of Factory's Miaow catalogue, rarities, Peel Sessions
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and tracks which were never released.
In 2001, Carroll's critical discography detailing the works of Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
for Unanimous Publishing's "Kill Your Idol" series was published. Three years later, the book written for Chicago Review Press examining Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
's Rumours was published entitled, Never Break The Chain (2004).
In 2008, Carroll continued to write musically related content for the likes of the UK music magazine, The Word, and Kevin Cummins
Kevin Cummins (photographer)
Kevin Cummins is a British photographer, perhaps most famous for his photographs of rock bands and musicians. He has photographed a large number of legendary musicians throughout his career, including Mick Jagger, Ian Curtis, Morrissey, Courtney Love, Patti Smith, and David Bowie.- Career :Cummins...
picture book on Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
, Juvenes, while also releasing the debut album from the Morris, Illinois
Morris, Illinois
Morris is a city in Grundy County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,636 at the 2010 census.Morris is home to the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant, which provides a substantial portion of the electricity supply for the Chicago metropolitan area...
duo, worldwideriot, on which she appeared on the song, "Lori".
In 2009, Carroll hosted the music podcast, "The Pad",http://blog.lilypadrecords.com re-releasing "When It All Comes Down" and "Moves Like You" which are included on Rhino/WEA box set, Factory Records: Communications 1978–92 and her latest single, "Desiree Won't Come Down" (Lilypad 2009) released on 22 April that year.
In 2010, Trembling Blue Stars
Trembling Blue Stars
Trembling Blue Stars is a London-based band that currently includes members Robert Wratten and Beth Arzy . Begun as a side project of Wratten's previous band Northern Picture Library, Trembling Blue Stars became Wratten's main band when Northern Picture Library broke up in 1995...
, called upon Carroll to sing, "The Imperfection Of Memory" which will appear on their Fast Trains And Telegraph Wires album to be released on Elefant Records. She also contributed lead vocals to songs appearing on the new Hit Parade album, Cornish Love Songs which is currently in the studio with producer Ian Catt. Her new single, "It All Looks Good On You" was released on 16 February 2010 by Lilypad Records, who are also reissuing her eponymous 2000 album (retitled Glommer) and the never-was Factory Records album, Priceless Innuendo.
Singles
- "Belle Vue" b/w "Fate", "Grocer's Devil Daughter" (1985), Venus
- "When It All Comes Down" b/w "Did She", and on the 12": "When It All Comes Down (cotechism mix)" (1987), FactoryFactory RecordsFactory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
FAC179 - "Break the Code" b/w "Stolen Cars" (1987, Factory FAC189
Compilation appearances
- C86 (1986) includes "Sport Most Royal"
- Palatine – The Beat Groups (1991), factory – includes "When It All Comes Down"
- Factory Records: Communications 1978–92 (2009), Rhino – includes "When It All Comes Down"
Albums
- England Made Me (1991), Factory
- True Crime Motel (1995), TeenBeat/Matador
- Cath Carroll (2000), Heart and Soul
- The Gondoliers Of Ghost Lake (2002), LTM
Singles
- "Beast on the Streets" (1990), Factory
- "Moves Like You" (1991), Factory
- "My Cold Heart" b/w "Into Day" (1994), TeenBeat
- "Bad Star" b/w "Mississippi River Factory Town" (1995), TeenBeat
- "Free" (2001), Lilypad – promotional-only single
- "True Crime Motel 2001" (2001),
- "The Gravity Within" (2007), All Over The Place
- "Snobears" (2008), Lilypad
- "Desiree Won't Come Down" (2009), Lilypad
Compilation appearances
- The Last Temptation of Elvis (1990), NME includes "King Creole" (w/Steve Albini)
- SELECT FAC305C – The Factory Tape (1991) Factory / Select UK magazine includes "Moves Like You" & "Next Time (Edit)"
- Palatine – Selling Out (1991), Factory includes "Moves Like You (remix)"
- The Factory Story, Part One (1997), London includes "Moves Like You (remix)"
- Forever Dusty (2000), R & D – includes "No Easy Way Down"
- Black Music (2003), LTM – includes "True Crime Motel remix"
- Edge of Time (2004), Fairbanks – includes "I Remember The Sun"
- Factory Records: Communications 1978–92 (2009), Rhino – includes "Moves Like You"
Contributing vocals
- The Hit Parade – The Sound Of The Hit Parade (1993), Polystar
- The Hit Parade – "Autobiography" (1994), SarahSarah RecordsSarah Records was a UK independent record label active between 1987 and 1995, best known for its recordings of indie pop.The label was formed in Bristol in 1987 by Clare Wadd and Matt Haynes, and grew out of the fanzine scene at the time, Haynes having previously edited Are You Scared To Get...
- Nomad Planets – The Indestructible Drop (1998), Fairbanks – backing vocals on "Dance" and "Wink & A Prayer"
- Trembling Blue Stars – Fast Trains and Telegraph Wires – vocals on "The Imperfections of Memory", 2010, Elefant Records