Raven diary #48 The Raven 15 pt 4

Dear diary,

Raven here.

Well folks. It’s time for my 4^th edition of the Raven 15.

10. My next album has to be Evil Eyed Cat, the sixth studio album for Kansas power-metal trio Black Cat Down, released in 2006. Formed by vocalist Danny Darkfur, guitarist Patricia Pawla and drummer Dede Scratcher, the band named themselves as a play on a famous human movie. In 1999, they signed to Blackfur’s independent label Claws Out Records and released their first three LPs, 2000’s Yowl Like Your Life Depends on It, 2001’s Livin’ in the Litter Box, and 2002’s He’s a Scratchin Post. Then, in 2003, they made the jump to Kansas major label Hairball Records, which angered the feline underground. Even so, they released their next two albums My Favorite Humans in 2004 and Driving in My Cat Car in 2005, both of which debuted at #1 on the Catboard Hot 100. Driving in My Cat Car is arguably Black Cat Down’s best album, but I’d like to make a case for Evil Eyed Cat, the album released the following year. While Cat Car shows the band transitioning to a harder metal sound, Evil Eyed Cat has more songs that deal with the stress of having human owners. The album only sold 200,000,000 copies and reached #40 on the Catboard Albums Chart, but still remains a crucial point in BCD’s ongoing discography. Favorite tracks include “Just Gimme Some Kibble,” “Let Me Roam the Streets,” and “Here. Have a Dead Rat!”

11. My next album for you is the first of a few TV and movie soundtracks on this list. It’s the original soundtrack from the classic early 2000s show Bark Meow, performed by Athens, Georgia trio The Cat Fight Boys. The Cat Fight Boys formed in Athens in 1999, by vocalist Felinio Mendell, guitarist Daron Pawdro and drummer Johny Tailtip. They released their first single “Tailtip Bop” on Athens major label Meowy Records. “Tailtip Bop” received little success and failed to chart. “We were our own thing musically,” remembers guitarist Pawdro in an interview with PAWS magazine for the 20^th anniversary of Bark Meow’s TV debut. “Tailtip wanted our own unique sound. We all loved it because Tailtip was such a musical genius, and now Tailtip Bop is considered an underrated great song. But at the time, the feline music industry hacked us up like a hairball. It seemed like this whole band idea was a waste of time.” But that would all change in 2000, when Kitty Collins, a director at Cattywood studios, asked The Cat Fight Boys if they would write the music for Bark Meow, a new show he was working on about a cat and a dog who become best friends through being adopted in the same human house. “Collins was one of the only cats who liked Tailtip Bop,” remembers Mendell in the same interview. “In fact, he loved Tailtip Bop so much that he enthusiastically told us about how he planned to blast it on repeat as his ninth life ended. He then asked us if we could write some songs for the soundtrack. We immediately said yes.” They soon signed on with Cattywood and wrote the soundtrack. The first episode of Bark Meow aired on New Year’s Eve, 2000 and the show would go on to be a smashing success. The iconic theme song, “Two Unlikely Pet Pals,” has become an anthem among any unlikely pet friendship or romance. Other favorites include “Let’s Just Litter,” “Chase That Squirrel,” “Tail Wag, Tail Drag,” and even a take on the holiday tune, “12 Days of Catsmas.”

12. My next album for you is the soundtrack for the 1986 hit movie Fur Shedder’s Paradise, performed by various artists including The Fur Flingers, Petie Catterson, The Cat Collars, and Kitten Karma. The movie Fur Shedders Paradise and its soundtrack is revolutionary in many ways, one being that it’s one of the first examples in movie history with a true, meaningful collaboration between dogs and cats. In 1984, a doggy director by the name of Perry Poodlepuff had the idea of including cats in his productions. He reached out to a few feline and canine friends and asked if anyone could help with his new project, a canine murder mystery film called Fur Flingers Paradise. Some of the biggest names in the pet movie industry pitched in, and a few different bands offered to provide the soundtrack. Fur Shedder’s Paradise and its accompanying soundtrack were released in 1986 and the movie would go on to become one of the most successful of all time. The movie stars Perro Jackson, Labby Barker and Gerry Growler as a ragtag trio of crime-solving pups, but also includes Jeff Catniper as a friend and assistant detective, Norbert Litterhoff as a kind police officer and Sarah Grayfur as a kitten witness to the crime. Favorite songs from the soundtrack include Petie Catterson’s “Whoever Killed the Cat,” The Fur Flingers’ “He’s On the Canine Case,” and Kitten Karma’s “Key to the Yarnball.”

Well, that’s all for now. See you next time for my last edition of the Raven 15!!

THE END…