Biography
Singer and cult heroine Cath Carroll entered the world on August 25, 1960, in Avon, England. Her upbringing took place largely in Manchester, where she caught early sets by outfits such as Warsaw—later renamed Joy Division—and the Fall while sharing overlapping social scenes with a still-unknown Stephen Morrissey. Alongside Liz Naylor she performed in the Gay Animals and co-edited the sharp-tongued fanzine City Fun, which earned strong backing from Factory Records; legend holds that the pair received the initial memberships to the label’s celebrated Haçienda nightclub.
In 1984 Carroll moved to London and began contributing to the weekly New Musical Express, eventually taking charge of its “T-Zers” gossip page. She also fronted the indie band Miaow, whose enduring 1986 Factory single “When It All Comes Down” and inclusion on the landmark C-86 compilation remain its chief markers. Relocating to Chicago in 1990 to join future husband and ex-Big Black bassist Santiago Durango, she released the solo EP Beast that year; the album England Made Me appeared the following year and yielded the single “Moves Like You.”
Unrest closed its run in 1993 with the album Perfect Teeth, which carried a Robert Mapplethorpe portrait of Carroll on its cover and opened with the track “Cath Carroll,” whose lyrics alluded to Durango, Naylor, and her NME alias Myrna Minkoff. Although Unrest leader and Teen Beat Records chief Mark Robinson asked her to support one of the group’s Chicago shows—an offer she turned down—his continued outreach prompted her to join the label. Her Teen Beat debut arrived in 1994 with “My Cold Heart,” followed a year later by the full-length True Crime Motel.
In 1984 Carroll moved to London and began contributing to the weekly New Musical Express, eventually taking charge of its “T-Zers” gossip page. She also fronted the indie band Miaow, whose enduring 1986 Factory single “When It All Comes Down” and inclusion on the landmark C-86 compilation remain its chief markers. Relocating to Chicago in 1990 to join future husband and ex-Big Black bassist Santiago Durango, she released the solo EP Beast that year; the album England Made Me appeared the following year and yielded the single “Moves Like You.”
Unrest closed its run in 1993 with the album Perfect Teeth, which carried a Robert Mapplethorpe portrait of Carroll on its cover and opened with the track “Cath Carroll,” whose lyrics alluded to Durango, Naylor, and her NME alias Myrna Minkoff. Although Unrest leader and Teen Beat Records chief Mark Robinson asked her to support one of the group’s Chicago shows—an offer she turned down—his continued outreach prompted her to join the label. Her Teen Beat debut arrived in 1994 with “My Cold Heart,” followed a year later by the full-length True Crime Motel.
Albums