Catch (band)

Catch were a British indie pop group consisting of musicians Toby Slater (vocals and keyboards), Wayne Murray (bass and vocals) and Ben Etchells (guitar). The band were signed to Virgin Records and released two singles - "Bingo", which reached No. 23 in the UK Singles Chart, and "Dive In", which reached No. 44.[2] The band released one self-titled album, which was only issued in Indonesia. The album is no longer in print or available online, however various tracks have surfaced on file and video sharing websites over the years.

Catch
Catch in Bangkok, Thailand.
Background information
OriginEngland
GenresAlternative rock, indie pop, Britpop[1]
Years active1997–1999
LabelsVirgin
MembersToby Slater
Wayne Murray
Ben Etchells

History

Reputedly formed when Slater, Murray and Etchells kissed the same girl at a party, Catch were in fact formed from the ashes of Brattish, Slater's first band, formed in 1994/95, which also Included the bass guitarist and backing vocalist Matthew Harding, who was briefly a member of Catch, but reputedly left when Slater refused to give him a writing credit. Brattish rehearsed the Catch material extensively, paid for by interested A&R men, but never gigged. Slater also was a driving-force behind the Romo movement, DJing at Soho's Arcadia at L'Equippe Anglais and Madame Jojo's in the autumn/winter of 1995. Melody Maker reported that an eleven track demo tape of Brattish, featuring a heavily synth/electro sound, was circulating among an elite handful at Arcadia/Club Skinny at the time.[3]

"Bingo" was Catch's biggest hit, and resulted in the band appearing on Top Of The Pops, Light Lunch, The Paul Ross Show (performing three songs live), The Jack Docherty Show and various Saturday morning UK TV shows. "Bingo" was also being shown on the ITV Chart Show when ITN interrupted programming to report on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997.[4] Slater also presented some shows on MTV around this time. An album was quickly released in Indonesia due to the band's popularity there, but was never released in the UK due to Slater being unhappy with it at the time. The band visited Jakarta for a promotional tour and performed acoustically for fans.

Despite finding success in the Far East, the band achieved only one Top 40 hit in the UK, and disbanded after completing their only album. A UK album was due for release, with different track listing to the Indonesian issue, but this was never released. It is not known whether the UK album was fully completed or not, a working title was believed have been Victim Support, however a gold recordable CD-R, dated 4 October 1997, featured a proposed running order for an unnamed and unreleased UK album.[5]

Slater moved to Los Angeles and began pursuing a solo career. Returning to London, he formed a group featuring former members of the UK band Salamanda, and began recording and gigging, under his own name. The Toby Slater Band released one single, "Consumption", and other songs that were made available online via Slater's own website and via the fledgling Napster file sharing service, on which Slater was a featured artist during August 2000.[6]

More recently, Slater has written, recorded and released music with a band, initially under the name Kunta Kinte and subsequently as Tough Love. He is also involved in the White Mischief series of Steampunk entertainment events based predominantly in London.[7]

Wayne Murray is currently the touring guitarist for the Manic Street Preachers and fronts a music project named Boy Cried Wolf.[8] Ben Etchells is a sound engineer at Live Sound Training.

In November 2019, Stephen Hill of the Riot Act Podcast, described Catch's debut single 'Bingo' as the worst song ever released by a record label.

Discography

Singles
  • "Bingo" (#23 UK, September 1997)
  • "Dive In" (#44 UK, February 1998)[2]

Albums
  • Catch (Indonesian only release - now out of print)

List of Catch songs

Singles
  • "Bingo"
  • "Dive In"

Album tracks
  • "Half The World Away"
  • "A New Soul"
  • "Don't Wait Up"
  • "Pity The Man"
  • "My Burst Balloon"
  • "Expensive Kiss"
  • "Goodbye"
  • "Start Of Something"
  • "Over Again"
  • "Maybe Tonight"

B-sides
  • "Boys Will Be Boys"
  • "Bitten By You"
  • "The Better Me"
  • "Simon Says"
  • "Pullover Boy"
  • "No-One Knows"
  • "The Possibilities"
  • "Morning Sun"

Known demos
  • "Blue Room"
  • "Under The Bed"
  • "Victorian Names"
  • "Paper Aeroplanes"
  • "The Worst Years"
  • "My Bright Child"
  • "Second to None"

See also

References
  1. "Remember Catch?", Britpop News, 8 January 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  2. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 98. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. Romo: The Next Generation: Brattish, Romo special feature, Melody Maker 25 November 1995 page 17
  4. YouTube footage of ITV's Breaking News
  5. "Catch (5) - Album Mixes (CDr, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  6. Brad King. "Napster: Artists Getting Screwed". Wired.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 2013-02-14.
  7. "Steaming in London at White Mischief's Ghost in the Machine". Steampunkchronicle.com. 29 November 2011. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-14.
  8. "Manic Street Preachers guest on newcomer Boy Cried Wolf's EP". NME. Retrieved 5 April 2014.

https://www.riotactpodcast.com/70-the-anal-timekeeper/

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