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| Cath Carroll by Robert Mapplethorp |
Carroll was raised in Swansea, 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 the NME 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 NME's C86 compilation. 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.
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.
Since then, she continued her journalistic activities, has released two new albums and founded the label Lilypad
Lilipad Records website
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| Cath Carroll EP by Unrest |
