Follow TV Tropes

Following

Music / Cat Stevens

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cat_stevens_yusuf_gettyimages_85231303.jpg
"Ooh baby baby, it's a wild world..."

Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens (born July 21, 1948 as Steven Demetre Georgiou) is a British-born Singer-Songwriter, known for performing in many genres including folk, rock, pop and Islamic music.

Cat Stevens was a highly successful artist through the early seventies, although his popularity faded by the end of the seventies around his 1978 album Back to Earth, his first record after his 1977 Islam conversion. He eventually changed his name to Yusuf Islam and left the music world for 20 years; he returned in 1998 to do a series of Muslim-themed albums, then re-entered the pop field with An Other Cup in 2006. He still performs today.

Studio discography:

Secular albums as Cat Stevens

  • Matthew & Son (1967)
  • New Masters (1967)
  • Mona Bone Jakon (1970)
  • Tea for the Tillerman (1970)
  • Teaser and the Firecat (1971)
  • Catch Bull at Four (1972)
  • Foreigner (1973)
  • Buddha and the Chocolate Box (1974)
  • Numbers (A Pythagorean Theory Tale) (1975)
  • Izitso (1977)
  • Back to Earth (1978)

Secular albums as Yusuf

  • An Other Cup (2006)
  • Roadsinger (2009)
  • Tell 'Em I'm Gone (2014)
  • The Laughing Apple (credited to Yusuf/Cat Stevens; 2017)
  • Tea for the Tillerman 2 (as above; 2020)

Religious albums, both solo and collaborations, all released under the name Yusuf Islam

  • Prayers of the Last Prophet (1998)
  • A Is for Allah (2000)
  • 30th Juz Of The Holy Qur'An (with Sheikh Muhammad Al-Minyauoi; 2000)
  • Bismillah (credited to Yusuf Islam & Friends; 2001)
  • In Praise of the Prophet, aka Son Peygamber'e Övgüler (credited to Yusuf Islam & Arkadaşları; 2002)
  • I Look, I See (credited to Yusuf Islam, Friends & Children; 2003)
  • I Look, I See 2 (as above; 2008)

"Glide on the trope train":

  • Album Title Drop: The title of Izitso appears in "I Never Wanted To Be A Star".
  • Alliterative Title: "Wild World".
  • Big Rotten Apple: "New York Times" paints a very bleak picture of New York City, in contrast to the bouncy synths.
  • Call-Back: "I Never Wanted To Be A Star" name drops some of his older songs, including "Matthew And Son", "I'm Gonna Get Me A Gun", "A Bad Night" and "I Think I See The Light".
  • Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Has a couple moments in Majikat, like claiming that "Peace Train" was inspired by the chin of Alfred Hitchcock and that loving Hitchcock could lead to a better world. Earlier in the show, he interrupts his own rambling to assure the audience that he isn't stoned, but is high on oxygen because it gives him "zonk".
  • Concept Album: Numbers (A Pythagorean Theory Tale), not to mention his religious albums.
  • Concert Film: Majikat, which features him performing on his Earth Tour 1976. However, he left the music business a year and a half later, leaving the footage unedited and unreleased for 38 years.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: Cat's/Yusuf's first two albums are heavily orchestrated Pop albums with a very whimsical tone, compared to the more intimate Folk Music he is known for. Even his appearance was drastically different, as seen in this promotional video for "I'm Gonna Get Me A Gun".
  • I Have Many Names: "Cat Stevens", "Yusuf Islam", "Steve Adams", "Yusuf"; his most recent albums have credited him as "Yusuf/Cat Stevens", at least on the cover stickers.
  • Lyrical Dissonance: "I'm Gonna Get Me A Gun" has upbeat, almost whimsical orchestration as the the narrator sings about getting revenge on those who wronged him.
  • Meaningful Rename: Changed his name to Yusuf Islam after converting. "Cat Stevens" itself was a stage name for Steven Demetre Georgiou, whose girlfriend told him he had eyes like a cat.
  • New Sound Album:
    • Matthew and Son and New Masters are basically Baroque Pop, popular at the time.
    • Mona Bone Jakon and Tea for the Tillerman are complete and definite folk-rock.
    • Teaser and the Firecat has a little more pop.
    • Catch Bull at Four is basically a mixed bag with the use of electric guitars (on "Sitting" and "Freezing Steel") and organ (on "Can't Keep It In") becoming quite dominant — not that his acoustic moments were gone.
    • Foreigner has a lot of keyboards and sounds like classic rock.
    • Buddha and the Chocolate Box is a combination of the folk- and pop-rock (respectively of Tea for the Tillerman and Catch Bull at Four) with the keyboards of Foreigner and some spiritual lyrics.
    • Numbers, Izitso and Back to Earth are Synth-Pop.
    • Several albums he recorded as Yusuf Islam (labelled as "Spiritual Albums" on Wikipedia but still actual studio albums in all but name and format) are basically spiritual messages on Islam.
    • An Other Cup and Roadsinger are folk-rock all over again.
    • Tell 'Em I'm Gone is folk-rock with some blues-rock in the mix.
  • Old Man Conversation Song: "Father and Son" is about a father passing down some life advice to his son, who is about to move away.
  • Pop-Star Composer: Contributed music from his Mona Bone Jakon and Tea for the Tillerman albums to Harold and Maude, as well as two original songs "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out".
  • Product Placement: Coca-Cola is mentioned in "Bad Brakes".
  • Refuge in Audacity: Writing a Pop song called "I'm Gonna Get Me A Gun" in 1967, the "Summer Of Love", surely counts as this.
  • Train Song: "Peace Train"
  • A World Half Full: "Moonshadow"
    I ever lose my eyes, if my colours all run dry,
    Yes if I ever lose my eyes, Oh if... I won't have to cry no more.

Alternative Title(s): Yusuf, Yusuf Islam

Top