Bent Fabric “Alley Cat”

I would probably buy any record with a cat on the cover, that’s how much I like cats—the exception being if it’s treated badly or something, like compromised—coerced to perform human activities, like stir-frying or bong hits. Cats are more dignified than that. And this one is a really cute cat… and takes up the whole cover. I think I used to own a copy of this, lost it, and picked up another for a few dollars—you see it in cheap record bins. It’s probably a record that many people have, but if you asked them to describe the music, they couldn’t. (I mean hum the melodies—you know it’s somewhat cornball easy listening piano based instrumentals.) But then, when they do hear it—or Bent Fabric’s most famous composition, “Alley Cat”—brought to life on this record—they’ll recognize it—“Oh, that song. I never knew what the name of that was. That’s the song in that…” (And then they can’t remember.) I suppose that might go for a lot of popular tunes, standards, and jingles. A Danish guy, Bent Fabric was more or less his real name, I think, or close, I think (okay: Bent Fabricius-Bjerre). You wouldn’t make something like “Bent Fabric” up—when you could call yourself Soiled Fabric or Bent Fender or Frank Bjorn (the composer of “Alley Cat”). Or, simply, Bjorn. That’d be my choice. But still, he became a household word, a question on “Jeopardy” (most likely), and recorded a lot of records and soundtracks for half a century (he passed away in 2020). The liner notes by Bob Altschuler are nonsense, but the Bent Fabric photo on back is a classic.

3.17.23