Cath Carroll was part of yesterday’s Factory ICA and it was the very inclusion of England Made Me that stopped me featuring FAC 179 in the posting:-
mp3 : Miaow – When It All Comes Down
Miaow had Cath Carroll on vocals and guitar, with Ron Caine on bass and Chris Fenner on drums. They had released a debut single Belle Vue in late 1985 on their own Venus Records which led to Factory taking them into the studio with the first fruits being this catchy pop single that sounded pure indie-pop but also tipped its hat to 60s girl/harmony groups.
It really is a hugely enjoyable piece of music and I’ve gone digging deep to find the extended 12″ remix.
mp3 : Miaow – When It All Comes Down (Catechism)
And finally, here’s your b-side:-
mp3 : Miaow – Did She
More evidence that the Manc label in the mid 80s wasn’t entirely devoted to miserablists or the painfully obscure.
We are simpatico. This was my next post after you didn’t include it on the ICA yesterday. Quite possibly my favorite Factory A-side.
Never heard ‘Did She’ before. What a great song! And I agree with Brian about the classic a-side. Whatever became of this band?
Totally missed Miaow, great b-side! Sounds very much like stuff released on Factory Benelux, Les disques du Crepescule and Antler Records around this period. That’s a quality stamp.
A wonderful single.
One of my top 10 Factory releases. Excellent. Unrest covered this in 1991.
I always thought Miaow would be one of those bands destined to move off to a major from Factory, but I’m not sure if they really ever had the desire or if Factory ever really groomed them for the big time. They were quite wonderful though.
Cath Carroll graces a number of the hit parades best sings
There’s a great compilation on LTM of the same name which contains pretty much everything they did most of which is equally brilliant. Also Cath’s England Made Me is a great electronic/Latin pop album and worth a listen