- Mirabelle
- March 11, 1967
- Courtesy of Bruce Lawrie
CATS' STORY
- He’s only eighteen, has been in show
business for under a year, yet in this short time he has achieved what takes many singers
a lifetime – success and a top ten hit record. His name is Stephen Georgiou, probably
better known to you as "Cat" Stevens, the guy whose first record "I Love My
Dog" surprised a lot of people in the business by getting into the charts.
Cat Stevens with dog Wililmina.
Could this be the premises of Mathew and Son where they are having a Sit -Down?
NO FLASH IN
THE PAN
But Cat proved with
his next record Matthew and Son" that "Dog" wasn’t just a
flash-in-the-pan success. And not only is he a talented singer, but also an excellent
songwriter. Both "Dog" and "Matthew" were penned by Cat.
Everything has
happened so quickly for him,
That one would think
that this would change his character and outlook on life. But I’m glad to report that
he didn’t seem to have changed all that much when I saw him recently. He still has
time to be nice to fans – to sit and talk about things in general.
At the beginning of
the year he said that he wanted to get a really good year behind him and then he’d
like to take a holiday in Greece. With so much work behind him you’d think he
deserves a holiday now, but Cat never lets up, he just keeps working – he’s
determined to see the year out and then perhaps he’ll take a rest!
He’s one of
those people who never rest on their laurels – always looking into the future, he
never looks back.
Cat spoke about his
Dad’s philosophy. "Dad always said to me, right from when I was so
high…" he waved his hand about three feet from the ground and laughed,
"that I should never look back. I think that’s something I’ll always
remember. It’s played quite a main part in my life.
DARKLY
HANDSOME
Cat is darkly
handsome, with dark brown eyes that he screws up at odd intervals when he doesn’t
agree with what is being said. Of average height and slim, he looks good in any gear and
always seems to wear different clothes whenever seen, especially for television
appearances.
He told me: "I
like clothes very much – a large variety of clothes, but I don’t think I spend
that much money on them. I’m certainly not extravagant over clothes."
He told me about his
first appearance on television. "I knew I was to appear on Top of the Pops, and I
wanted to wear a white suit. Well I spent ages looking round all the shops and boutiques
in London and couldn’t find one anywhere. However, eventually I found one – but
only the day before the show!" Does he like doing television work?
"Oh yes. But
the first time, I was a little nervous. I find that with the success of my records
I’ve gained more confidence now and I feel more ready to face the cameras and live
audiences.
 NO BIG-HEAD
He’s gained
more confidence, he’s matured a little more - but he’s not big-headed and
conceited. In fact he’s a very modest fellow - he’s had a lot of success
songwriting – The
Tremeloes recorded
his song "Here Comes my Baby" and Paul and Barry Ryan are recording one of his
numbers – yet he never boasts.
"Here Comes my
Baby’ is one of my old numbers, written about eighteen months ago, and I was
surprised when I heard it. It’s not how I meant it to be done but I really quite like
it. I love other people doing my songs"
Well that’s Cat, a nice, modest
and talented guy – we’re sure that ’67 will prove to be not only the year
of the Monkees but of Cat Stevens too!
- Cat Stevens cooking
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