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Sarah Records

Mitcham, Ian Catt's bedroom

The Field Mice

Bobby Wratten and Michael Hiscock met at school in Mitcham at sixteen, lost touch, and ran into each other again two years later in the Croydon branch of Our Price. Their first demo was made in November 1987 in producer Ian Catt's bedroom, and a second bedroom session the next spring got Clare Wadd and Matt Haynes to sign them. Catt went on to produce most of their records at his parents' house, and through them met Bob Stanley and started working with Saint Etienne. Wratten wrote and sang everything, and the sleeves carried no band photos and no credits. The mini-album Snowball reached No. 3 on the indie albums chart, they recorded a session for John Peel in 1990, and reviewers called them a missing link between New Order and the Smiths.

Reading, Sarah 55 to Sarah 99

Blueboy

Blueboy came together in Reading around 1989, built around singer Keith Girdler and guitarist Paul Stewart, who had played together in Feverfew. Gemma Townley added cello and vocals, and Harvey Williams came over from the Field Mice. Their Sarah records began in 1991, with albums following in 1992 and 1994, and they stayed with the label right up to its last weeks. They recorded a Peel session in October 1994. Later records came out on Shinkansen and the Spanish label Siesta. Girdler died in 2007, and in 2024 the band played the Water Rats in London again.

West Bromwich, Sarah 1, 1987

The Sea Urchins

The Sea Urchins formed in West Bromwich in 1986, with James Roberts singing, Simon Woodcock and Robert Cooksey on guitars, Mark Bevin on bass, Bridget Duffy on tambourine and organ, and Patrick Roberts on drums. Their first recordings went out as flexi-discs with fanzines, and in 1987 they became the first band ever released by Sarah Records. By 1988 their sound had turned harder, closer to mod rock, and they were doing well on the indie chart. After line-up changes Woodcock moved to bass and James Roberts picked up a guitar. They fell out with the label over what to release next, moved to Cheree Records in 1991 and split that summer. Sarah gathered their singles and flexis on a compilation in 1992.

Swansea, Sarah 36, 1990

The Sweetest Ache

The Sweetest Ache came from Swansea and started out in the late 1980s as the Spirals, fronted by guitarist Stuart Vincent, until Simon Court joined and took over the singing. Sarah signed them after hearing a demo tape the band had been selling at their own gigs, and their seven-inches started coming out in 1990. Those were cut at Von's studio in Islington, and the album they made for Sarah in 1992 was recorded at the White House in Weston-super-Mare with Martin Nichols. A second album followed on Vinyl Japan, after which they called it a day. In December 2025 they came back with a new EP that sold out, and a new album is due in November 2026.

Worthing trio, 1989–93

Brighter

Brighter were a trio from Worthing on the south coast of England: Keris Howard on vocals and guitar, Alison Cousens on guitar and Alex Sharkey on bass. Howard made their first two EPs largely on his own. The sound was built on reverb-soaked acoustic and electric guitars and busy basslines, with little or no drums at first and drum machines later. A debut album planned for 1990 was shelved, and the ten-inch mini-album Laurel came out instead in 1991. Select called them simply timeless. They split early in 1993, worn down by press comparisons and arguments with the label over what to release. Howard later played bass in Trembling Blue Stars, and Matinée Recordings collected their EPs on CD in 2003.

The Collection