Cath Carroll

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Cath Carroll is a British musician and music journalist. She was born in Bristol and raised in Swansea, before finding home in Manchester. 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. In 1984 she began writing for New Musical Express magazine 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 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". T he band also recorded for the Peel Sessions, and contributed a track to the genre-defining C86 compilation. After several line-up changes, Miaow disbanded in 1988.

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 Paolo, 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. England Made Me was released in June 1991 on the Factory Records label. The album's extensive recording schedule, and the expense of the cover design (including photography by Robert Mapplethorpe) has been cited as one of the reasons for the demise of Factory Records.

Carroll released two singles 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 2002 Carroll released her fourth album, The Gondoliers of Ghost Lake.