The Secret Goldfish are a band from

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The group was formed by ex- Fizzbombs singer Katy McCullars, guitarist John Morose, and the rhythm section from The Mackenzies, Graham Lironi and Paul Turnbull.

History

The band took their name from an imaginary book mentioned in the novel ''

The Catcher in the Rye ''The Catcher in the Rye'' is an American novel by J. D. Salinger that was partially published in serial form from 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its themes of angst ...

''.Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Secret Goldfish", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, They released three albums and several singles in the 1990s, on the Glasgow-based Creeping Bent record label. Their first album, 1996's ''Aqua Pet...You Make Me'', was produced by Stephen Lironi. Their sound has been described as "sounding much like

The Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid. After signing to independent label Creation Records, they rele ...

locked in a public toilet with

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...

and

The New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial succe ...

". An album of B-sides and outtakes, ''Jet Streams'', was released in 1997, and in 1999 they issued the ''Somewhere in the World'' EP, the lead track of which was co-written by

Vic Godard Vic Godard (born Victor John Napper) is an English singer-songwriter formerly of the punk group Subway Sect. He is now also a solo performer, while continuing to appear with various incarnations of Subway Sect. Biography Born Victor John Napper ...

and featured

Francis MacDonald Francis Macdonald (born 11 September 1970) drums with Teenage Fanclub. He makes music for filmmakers and TV and manages Camera Obscura and The Vaselines. On 30 March 2015, he released ''Music For String Quartet, Piano And Celeste'', described b ...

and

Stevie Jackson Stephen Jackson (born 16 January 1969) is a Scottish musician and songwriter. He plays lead guitar and sings in the Glasgow-based indie band Belle and Sebastian. Career Jackson's early musical influences include Madness, ABBA, Orchestral Ma ...

. A second album, ''Mink Riots'' followed in 1999. After a lengthy hiatus, The Secret Goldfish returned to live performance in 2016 with a second guitarist (former Orange Juice guitarist James Kirk), with a third album (Petal Split) being released on Creeping Bent in April 2017. Final line-up: * Katy McCullars: vocals * John Morose: guitar * Steven McSeveney: bass * Paul Turnbull: drums

Releases

Albums

*''Aqua Pet... You Make Me'' (BENT 012) (1996) *''Jet Streams'' (MACD 44712) (April 1997) *''Mink Riots'' (BENT 044) (1999)

E.P.'s and singles

*"Seasick" (BENT004) (1995) *"Come Undone" (BENT008) (1996) *''Dandelion Milk Summer e.k.o.k. e.p.'' (BENT016) (1996) *''Venus Bonding E.P.'' (BENT018) (1996) *"Tartan Envy" (BENT020) (1997) *"

Give Him a Great Big Kiss "Give Him a Great Big Kiss" (sometimes entitled "Great Big Kiss") is a song written by Shadow Morton and performed by the Shangri-Las. It debuted at number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late December 1964, and peaked at #18 for two weeks in l ...

" (BENT024) (1997) (split single with Policecat) *"Punk Drone" (BENT032) (1998) (split single with Scientific Support Dept.) *"Somewhere In China" (ER-193) (1998) *''Somewhere in the World E.P.'' (November 1998) *"You're Funny 'Bout That Aren't You" (BENT042) (1999) (split single with

Nectarine No. 9 The Nectarine No. 9 was an indie (music), indie band from Edinburgh, Scotland. Formed by former The Fire Engines, Fire Engines frontman Davy Henderson in 1991, the band's music has been described as "dark, moody and brilliant" "noisy guitar ...

) *"4 Excited People" (BENT048) (1999) (split single with

)

Album track listings

''Aqua Pet... You Make Me''

#"Come Undone" (3:01) #"Tartan Envy" (3:09) #"The Boy Who Left Home To Learn Fear" (5:52) #"Pet Thang" (1:56) #"Dandelion Milk Summer" (3:43) #"Venus Bonding : Erotic Mars" (2:08) #"I Will See You Through" (4:52) #"I Left One Out, Where Did It Go" (2:23) #"Seasick" (2:51) #"Glass Mountain" (2:09) #"The Catalyst" (2:20) #"Strawberry St." (2:35) #"Another Short Song About Love And Loss" (2:35) #"Bandovian Curve" (2:43) *Produced by Stephen Lironi & engineered by Larry Primrose, except "The Catalyst" & "I Left One Out, Where Did It Go", produced by The Secret Goldfish & engineered by Johnny Cameron *Mastered by John Davis at Whitfield Street Studios, London *All songs by McCullars / Morose, except "The Catalyst" written by G Lironex

''Jet Streams''

The album includes covers of

The Fire Engines The Fire Engines were a post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland. The Fire Engines were an influence on many bands that followed, including Franz Ferdinand and The Rapture, with Meat Whiplash and The Candyskins both taking their names from Fire ...

, Shangri-Las,

Orange Juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. A ...

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise w ...

and

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

songs. #"This Arsehole's Been Burned Too Many Times Before" (2:42) #"Casanova Killer" (4:40) #"Ambulance" (0:43) #"Give Him A Great Big Kiss" (2:45) #"Wasted In Carluke" (1:53) #"Blue Sky Yesterday" (1:23) #"Sunless" (3:36) #"Tartan Envy (Luv n Haight Version)" (3:23) #"Allegro" (0:42) #"Come as You Are" (3:12) #"Rude Awakening" (3:51) #"Everywhere That You Go" (3:49) #"Pink Drone" (5:07) #"Afterhours/Intuition Told Me" (3:02) *Produced by The Secret Goldfish, except 3, 7 & 12 - produced by Stephen Lironi *Recorded by Johnny Cameron, Paul McGeechan & Larry Primrose *Design - Stefan Kassel *Photography - Colin Dunsmuir *Released on

Marina Records Marina Records is a German record label started in 1993 and specialising in indie pop. Acts include Ashby, Pearlfishers, Cowboy Mouth (the Grahame Skinner band, not the better-known American act) and The Bathers. Marina has also released albums b ...

''Mink Riots''

#"You're Funny 'Bout That, Aren't You?" (4:37) #"Somewhere in the World" (3:45) #"Laughing Inside" (6:13) #"Scenecruiser" (4:09) #"Honestly, It Was Nothing" (3:16) #"4 Excited People" (2:41) #"Take My Hand" (2:39) #"Hey! Mr. Fox" (2:48) #"Elevate #2" (3:10) #"Pink Drone" (9:18) *Douglas MacIntyre — producer *Katy McCullars — vocals *John Morose — guitar, vocals (background) *Steven McSeveney - bass, vocals (background) *Paul Turnbull - drums *Stevie Jackson — vocals (background) *Francis MacDonald — organ (hammond), wurlitzer, vocals (background) *Gregor Reid — engineer, mixing, producer, vibraphone, tape manipulation *Paul McGeechan — mastering

''Petal Split''

#"O. Pioneers" (3:14) #"Amelia Star" (3:48) #"Phonecall" (2:52) #"X" (3:00) #"Winter Tears # 2" (1:49) #"Outrageous Things" (3:56) #"Good Kissers" (2:49) #"El Capitan Y Mi" (3:01) #"A Different Game" (2:14) #"Ain't That Always The Way" (3:00) *Artwork – Victoria Braithwaite *Bass – Steven McSeveney *Co-producer – David Scott (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10) *Drums – Paul Turnbull *Guitar, Keyboards, Written By – John Morose *Keyboards – David Scott (tracks: 1, 2, 6, 10) *Lead Vocals, Written By – Katy McCullars *Producer – Douglas MacIntyre (tracks: All) *Written By – David Henderson (tracks: A1), Edwyn Collins (tracks: 10), M. Ashman (tracks: 6), Simon Smeeton (tracks: 1), Vic Godard (tracks: 6) *All tracks written / co-written by McCullars & Morose, except 6 & 10.

References

External links

Everything2 bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Secret Goldfish Scottish rock music groups