The Family Cat were a British indie band, formed by Paul Frederick (vocals/guitar), Stephen Jelbert (lead guitar), Tim McVay (rhythm guitar), John Graves (bass) and Kevin Downing (drums) in London. Three of the members came from Cornwall (Jelbert, McVay and Downing) and the other two came from other parts of southern England. The group were active between 1988 and the end of 1994. They also grabbed headlines in the 90's by naming one of their songs "Bring Me the Head of Michael Portillo". Michael Portillo was Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Secretary of State for Employment for the Conservative Party around the time the song was in production.
Links to Peel
The Family Cat - Bring Me the Head of Michael Portillo
Between 1989 and 1992, the band recorded three Peel Sessions at Maida Vale Studios, and were included in John Peel's Festive Fifty in 1989.
In 1991, when doing the NME Singles Reviews, Peel mentioned when reviewing the band's Colour Me Grey single that he was impressed with the band at Reading and was happy that the group brought back singing in the line of bands such as Microdisney, Teardrop Explodes, Echo & The Bunnymen and Wah!. Interestingly the Colour Me Grey track featured vocals from PJ Harvey.
Peel played the band's controversial track, Bring Me the Head of Michael Portillo in 1994 on his shows on various stations, including his own BBC Radio One show.
