McCarthy (band)

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McCarthy
Country	London, England
Years active	1984 – 1990
Genres	Indie rock
Labels	Pink Records Midnight Music September Records Cherry Red
Members	Tim Gane Malcolm Eden John Williamson Gary Baker Lætitia Sadier

McCarthy were a British indie pop band, formed in Barking, Essex, England in 1984 by schoolmates Malcolm Eden, Tim Gane, John Williamson and Gary Baker. They mixed a sweetly melodic style, dominated by Gane's 12-string guitar playing, with Eden's overtly political lyrics, often satirical in tone, which reflected the band's far left leanings.

After a string of singles, including "Red Sleeping Beauty" and "Frans Hals", and a track on the NME C86 album, their debut album I Am A Wallet was released in 1987, and has since been described by Nicky Wire as "the most perfect record, a Communist manifesto with tunes" [1], and was rated by James Dean Bradfield as his top British album of all time [2]. Two further singles appeared in early 1988, then an EP in February 1989 was followed by a second album, The Enraged Will Inherit The Earth, which was considerably less well received. A year later, they released a third album Banking, Violence And The Inner Life Today, on which they were joined by Gane's girlfriend Lætitia Sadier on vocals. The album suggested a new willingness to experiment musically, and was seen by critics as something of a return to form, but it in fact proved to be their swansong and they split soon afterwards.

Gane and Sadier went on to form Stereolab, while Eden formed Herzfeld while studying Literature.

McCarthy were a major early influence on the Manic Street Preachers who covered "We Are All Bourgeois Now" that appeared as a hidden track on their Know Your Enemy album. The group have also covered "Charles Windsor" which appeared as a b-side on their Life Becoming A Landslide EP. Manics frontman James Dean Bradfield has also covered "Red Sleeping Beauty".