Teen-Beat. Cath Carroll.

Carroll was raised in Swansea, then Manchester. She played guitar in post-punk band Property of... in 1978. 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. During this time she also produced the City Fun fanzine with Naylor.

In 1984 she began writing for New Musical Express magazine under the pen-name Myrna Minkoff, and also formed a new band, Miaow. In 1986 Miaow contributed a track to the NME's 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". After several line-up changes, Miaow disbanded in 1988, with Carroll going on to a solo career.

RELATED ARTISTS

GLASS ANIMALS/GAY ANIMALS

THE HIT PARADE

MIAOW

PROPERTY OF...

CATH CARROLL My Cold Heart 7-inch single

CATH CARROLL photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe

Cath Carroll
Photo by Robert Mapplethorpe

Cath Carroll
with Kerry Kelekovich
Photo by [unknown]

COLLABORATORS

Steve Albini, (1988-90)

Mark Brydon, (1990)

Jorquinho Cebion, (1989)

Oswaldinho De Cuica, (1989)

Barry R. Harden, (1989)

Valerie A. James, (1989)

Kerry Kelekovich, (1994-)

Sim Lister, (1988-90)

John Maier, (1995)

Nicholas Markos, (1992-1995)

Dirceu Simones De Medeiros, (1989)

Antenor Suares Gandra Neto, (1989)

Matthew Payne, (1994)

Fred Penteado, (1989)

Vincente Da Paula Silva, (1989)

Balto Da Silva, (1989)

Marcos Sueiro, (1994-1995)

RECORD LABELS ASSOCIATED WITH

Factory,
Lilypad,
L.T.M.,
Teen-Beat

FILM

BEAST ON THE STREETS

Directed by the Douglas Brothers.

MOVES LIKE YOU

Directed by the Douglas Brothers.

BIOGRAPHY

Cath Carroll was born in Bristol and raised in Swansea, Ipswich and finally, her family hometown of Manchester. In 1979 she joined forces with fellow Mancunian Liz Naylor to form the band Glass Animals in addition to co-editing the infamously vitriolic City Fun fanzine. Although the city then boasted an embarrassment of musical riches - Joy Division, New Order, Factory, Magazine, Buzzcocks - City's Fun's whining pages were loathe to admit this. Only The Fall, The Smiths and Ludus seem ever to have been singled out for praise, with Cath and Liz even managing the latter wayward band for a brief period in 1982/83. In 1980 the Glass Animals changed their name to the Gay Animals and, having worn out their welcome in the north of England, moved to London in 1984. They immediately broke up.

Here Cath embarked on a dual career, writing for the New Musical Express (as Myrna Minkoff) and fronting her band Miaow. The group released their first single, Belle Vue, on their own Venus label in 1985, and in early 1987 their recording When It All Comes Down brought them to the attention of Tony Wilson at Factory. Despite City Fun having made a career out of carping about Factory, the celebrated label released the song as a single and went on to release another, Break the Code. During this time the band were also rewarded with two Peel sessions and appearances on several high-profile compilations, including the seminal C86. Cath also recorded extensively with The Hit Parade, for releases in England and Japan.

Sadly Miaow were destined never to complete their planned Factory album debut, and after several line-up changes finally parted company in 1988. Cath started work on her solo album debut for Factory, England Made Me, in June 1988, and over the next year various sessions were recorded in Sheffield, Sao Paolo, London and Chicago. The title, incidently, was inspired by the Graham Greene novel about middle-class life during the Depressed 1930s, and the songs largely co-written with Sim Lister. Towards the end of the recording schedule she went to Chicago to record with Steven Albini, whom she had met while working for Big Black's British label, Blast First. Together they contributed a version of King Creole to the NME compilation The Last Temptation of Elvis. Albini and fellow ex-Big Black member, Santiago Durango, also contributed to the track Train You're On, from England Made Me.

In late 1989, Cath relocated to Chicago and EMM was finally released in June 1991. The set was acclaimed as a sinister collection of moody dance and bizarre bossa nova, and is particularly effective on dance orientated cuts such as Send Me Over, Subtitled and the single Moves Like You. After the collapse of Factory in November 1992 the relative expense of the project (including photo sessions with Robert Mapplethorpe) was cited as a factor in the label's demise, but in truth the album's high budget was only one of a series is fiscal indiscretions by Factory.

Cath's status as an indie cult figure was affirmed by DC band Unrest, who included the quirky tribute "Cath Carroll" on their 1993 4AD album Perfect Teeth. Mainman Mark Robinson's appreciation lead to two singles for his Teenbeat label, My Cold Heart and Bad Star, as well as the second Cath Carroll solo album, True Crime Motel, released in 1995. In 1994 Cath began recording with Kerry Kelekovich, a Chicago-based musician and engineer whom she married in 1996. TCM marked a return to guitars, and the album was a critical success, with the word noir frequently aired in describing the shadowy lyrical undertow and understated vocal delivery. However, personnel changes and family health problems meant that touring to promote the set was problematic, and instead Cath and Kerry concentrated on recording a new album.

This became the eponymous Cath Carroll, which appeared in 2000. The pair's first real collaboration, both contributed equally to the writing, while Kerry handled most of the playing. The album appeared on their own Lilypad label (via Chicago-based Heart and Soul), and was described by one reviewer as a blend of Astrud Gilberto and Roxy Music, and by another as a shadowy corner of the adult pop universe.

In 2002 Cath and Kerry completed a new album, The Gondoliers of Ghost Lake. Written and produced in her adopted home town of Chicago, standout tracks include The Divine Miss A (Morrissey meets the Kinks in tribute to transgendered Mancunian), Free (post 60s mystical rock), Man Goes Down the Highway (rarified folk-dub, on the same continuum as Luscious Jackson and Pulsillama) and the infectious Mystified (romping dance-pop with a latin underpin).

In tandem with her musical career, Cath continues to write prose. Her teenage memoir Les Gray's Erection chronicles the horrors of solitary fandom during the teenybop 1970s, and appeared in the anthology Girls, Girls, Girls. In 2000 her critical discography of Tom Waits was published in the UK, while she also contributes reviews to a number of magazines.

- James Nice, LTM

DISCOGRAPHY

SINGLES

Beast
Moves Like You
My Cold Heart
Bad Star
Free
True Crime Motel 2001
The Gravity Within
Snobears
Desiree Won't Come Down
It All Looks Good On You

ALBUMS

England Made Me
True Crime Motel
Cath Carroll (Glommer)
The Gondoliers of Ghost Lake

COMPILATIONS

The Last Temptation of Elvis
Select FAC 305c
Palatine, The Factory Story, Vol.4, Selling Out
Wakefield: Volume 2
Wakefield: Volume 3
Wakefield: The Teen-Beat Boxed Set
1996 Teenbeat Sampler
1997 Teenbeat Sampler
Forever Dusty
Black Music / Atlantic Crossing
The Factory Box Set

ALSO

Permission to use likeness on Teen-Beat 119
Teen-Beat Circus Tour
Teen-Beat's 10th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 11th Anniversary

Glass Animals
The Hit Parade
Miaow
Property of...

SONGS

All Our Lives
All Our Lives (Epilogue)
Angel
Average & Unsaved
Bad Star
Beast on the Streets
Blood Roar
The Boy From Islamorada
Breathe for Me
The Circle Bends
The Divine Miss A.
Dunvant Junior Prayers
Easter Bunny Song
England Made Me
Falling Over Tomorrow
Free
Giving In
The Gravity Within
Green Grows the Ground
I Remember the Sun
I Know
In the White Room
In Your Own Way
Into Day
Jimmy's Candy
Just Once
King Creole
L'amour C'est Ca
Leaving Song
London, Queen of My Heart
Lullaby for a Steeplejack
Man Goes Down the Highway
Mississippi River Factory Town
Moves Like You
Moves Like You (12" Version)
Moves Like You (7" Version)
My Cold Heart
Mystified
Next Time
Next Time (He's Mine)
No Easy Way Down
Send Me Over
Subtitled
This Is How We Fall
To Close Your Eyes Forever
Too Good To Live
Train You're On
True Crime Motel
Unforgettable
Watching You
What Are You Doing
Yellow Garden
You Know It's You

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