BIOGRAPHY

Catatonia originally formed when Mark Roberts saw Cerys busking outside a shop in Cardiff. There is much controversy as to which shop it was but it is rumoured to be Specsavers or Debenhams. Mark happened to have a guitar string which Cerys needed and after a long conversation, Catatonia began.

In the early years, Catatonia were signed to the Welsh independent label, Crai on which they released "For Tinkerbell" and "Hooked", both of which had massive critical acclaim.

Eventually, in April 1995, Catatonia signed to Blanco Y Negro and in the autumn of 1995, they finally started recording their first album, "Way Beyond Blue" with the help of Stephen Street, the producer.

On February 12th, 1996, Catatonia released the first single from their new LP, "Sweet Catatonia". "Lost Cat", released in April reached number 41 in the charts; their highest position yet.

In August 1996, Catatonia finally went into the top 40 with the release of "You've Got a Lot to Answer For" :

"...ten-storey love song with a killer twist, sonorous church-bell guitars and a towering alpine tune." (Stephen Dalton, NME)

In early 1997, Catatonia released "Bleed" which reached number 46 in the charts and this was followed by "I am the Mob", the first single from their forthcoming album, "International Velvet". It reached number 40 in the charts.

In January 1998, Catatonia finally made it big with the release of "Mulder and Scully", which reached number 3 in the charts. There long climb to fame was finally at an end.

In February, "International Velvet" was released and immdeiately entered the top 20 album chart.

Catatonia's next single, "Road Rage" entered the charts at number 5 and is probably one of the most popular and critically acclaimed songs they have ever done. It also boosted "International Velvet's" sales, which climbed up the charts to number 1. Since its release, it has gone triple platinum - thats over 900,000 copies!

In the summer of 1998, Catatonia released one of their more emotional songs, "Strange Glue" and it entered the charts at number 11.

This was followed by "Game On" which only reached number 33 in the charts.

Catatonia then returned on March 29th 1999 with the release of "Dead From the Waist Down", the first single from their third album, "Equally Cursed and Blessed". It went straight into the charts at number 7.

On April 12th, Catatonia released "Equally Cursed and Blessed" which entered the charts at number 1, having sold over 60,000 copies in its first week.

On July 12th, Catatonia released Londinium which entered the charts at number 20.

In November, Catatonia followed up Londinium with the release of a remix of Karaoke Queen. It surprised fans by only entering the charts at a very disappointing number 36.

In March 2000, Catatonia went across the big pond to release Equally Cursed and Blessed in America...and that was the last we saw of them.

Things have been very quiet recently, but Catatonia are in a room in Wales, preparing for the next album which should be released in late 2000/early 2001.