Copyright © 1995-2004
John P. GibbonsSee our Privacy Policy
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- WHAT IS CAT STEVENS' REAL NAME?
- WHERE AND WHEN WAS CAT STEVENS BORN?
- IS THERE A SOUNDTRACK FOR THE FILM "HAROLD AND MAUDE?"
- WHAT IS THE SONG "LONGER BOATS" ABOUT?
- HAS ALUN DAVIES (CAT'S GUITARIST) RECORDED ANY ALBUMS?
- WHY DID CAT STEVENS LEAVE MUSIC?
- IS HE A MONK? DID HE TAKE A VOW OF SILENCE?
- IS HE MARRIED/DOES HE HAVE ANY CHILDREN?
- WHAT DOES HE THINK OF HIS MUSIC NOW?
- HAS HE/WILL HE MAKE ANY NEW MUSIC?
- DID YUSUF ISLAM CALL FOR THE DEATH OF SALMAN RUSHDIE OR SUPPORT THE FATWA?
- DID CAT STEVENS SING/WRITE "CAT'S IN THE CRADLE?"
- HOW CAN I CONTACT/WRITE CAT STEVENS (YUSUF ISLAM)?
- WHERE CAN I GET THE BOOK, "THE BOY WHO LOOKED AT THE MOON?"
- WHERE CAN I GET THE BOOK, "THE DEFINITIVE CAREER BIOGRAPHY?"
- WHERE CAN I GET THE BOOTLEGS LISTED ON CATSTEVENS.COM?
- WHAT DOES MONA BONE JAKON MEAN?
- CAN I DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO/VIDEO FILES ON CATSTEVENS.COM? WHY ARE THERE NO MP3 FILES HERE?
- DO YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON YUSUF'S CHARITIES?
- WHAT WAS YUSUF'S RESPONSE TO THE SEPTEMBER 11TH TERRORIST ATTACKS?
- WHO IS LADY D'ARBANVILLE?
- HAS YUSUF/CAT STEVENS EVER GIVEN MONEY TO CHARITIES THAT SUPPORT TERRORISM, AND/OR DOES HE SUPPORT TERRORISM IN ANY WAY?
Q: WHAT IS CAT STEVENS' REAL NAME?:
Cat Stevens (Bio)' real name is Stephen Demetre Georgiou. He later changed it to Yusuf Islam (Bio). People close to him during his career always referred to him as Steve, not Cat.
Q: WHERE AND WHEN WAS CAT STEVENS BORN?:
Cat Stevens (Bio) (Stephen Demitri Georgiou) was born July 21st, 1948 in London.
Q: IS THERE A SOUNDTRACK FOR THE FILM "HAROLD AND MAUDE?":
Yes and No. A soundtrack was released for Harold And Maude (Video) (Album), only in Japan, but did not include the two original songs from the film. Apparently they wanted to both boost sales of Cat's actual albums and also encourage fans to go see the movie to hear the new songs.
Thankfully all of the songs from the film are now available on various albums. They are "Mona Bone Jakon (Album)," "Tea For The Tillerman (Song) (Album)," and "Footsteps in the Dark (Album)."
Q: WHAT IS THE SONG "LONGER BOATS" ABOUT?:
Cat has said in interviews and during live performances that the song is about "flying saucers." He later added a verse which more clearly shows this.
Lift your mind up and look around
You may see them, yes they're looking down
From a lonely asteroid, in a vacant void
Dying, but not destroyed
UFO's were not an uncommon theme for Stevens, he made references to them in at least two other songs, "It's a super (dupa) life," and "Freezing Steel (Song)."
Q: HAS ALUN DAVIES (CAT'S GUITARIST) RECORDED ANY ALBUMS?:
Alun has recorded at least one solo album, "Daydo (Album)" and one album with the band "Sweet Thursday (Bio) (Album)." On "Daydo" Stevens is credited on keyboards and as a co-producer with Paul Samwell-Smith (Bio). Many of Cat's regular band play on this record as well, including Gerry Conway (Bio) and Jean Roussel (Bio).
Q: WHY DID CAT STEVENS LEAVE MUSIC?:
This is a very long and complicated issue. The simple version is that he adopted the Islamic faith and felt that the life of a pop star and the life of a Muslim were basically incompatible. There is an entire section of CatStevens.Com devoted to this very subject entitled On The Road To Findout (Song).
Q: IS HE A MONK? DID HE TAKE A VOW OF SILENCE?:
There have been many rumors floating around over the years like this, but the answer is no. He lives a happy and active life with his wife and children in London and is a prominent member of the British Islamic community.
Q: IS HE MARRIED/DOES HE HAVE ANY CHILDREN?:
The answer to both questions is yes. He has five children. Four girls, and one son (Muhammad).
Q: WHAT DOES HE THINK OF HIS MUSIC NOW?:
This is another complicated question. Yusuf has been quoted as saying that he had written the record companies asking them to stop selling his music. However, he has also had many positive things to say. He still takes an active role in anything the record companies do with Cat Stevens (Bio) material, which would indicate that he is still interested in that part of his life. For example he chose the track listings for both "Footsteps in the Dark (Album)" and "Classics Vol. 24 (Album)." He also chose the design for the recently released "Three" box set.
Yusuf offers his complete catalog for sale out of his London office, (both Cat Stevens and Yusuf Islam (Bio) titles and merchandise). He also owns a number of his original master tapes which he also keeps in his office, which is equipped with a full recording studio.
He has said that he feels some of his songs were immoral, but he amends that by saying he realizes that nothing he did was really "bad." It is my understanding that royalties are distributed mostly to charities. The royalties from tracks he feels are certainly "immoral" go directly to charity and do not pass through Yusuf's hands at all. He lives off of investments from the wealth he had earned up to the point when he left the music business and does not use the royalties for himself directly. He does use them for specific projects however. Unfortunately I don't have any more specific details on this.
Also of interest is the following comment sent to my by Haney Nimr: After one of his lectures on how he came to Islam, a fellow asked Yusuf if he still listens to his old songs from time to time. Brother Yusuf immediately answered no, then after a few second pause he started laughing and said, "um, yes I do..."
Q: HAS HE/WILL HE MAKE ANY NEW MUSIC?:
In 1995 Yusuf released an official new album "The Life Of The Last Prophet (Album)." It is a spoken word recording on the life of the prophet Muhammad. Included is a disc with three songs, one of which has Yusuf on vocals. Since then Yusuf has released several albums including re-recording The Wind and Peace Train (Song). See the discography section for more details.
Q: DID YUSUF ISLAM CALL FOR THE DEATH OF SALMAN RUSHDIE OR SUPPORT THE FATWA?:
No. See Yusuf's most recent statement, here which details the entire matter. Yusuf also issued a statement denying this when it happened in 1989, Yusuf's Original 1989 Press Release.
Q: DID CAT STEVENS SING/WRITE "CAT'S IN THE CRADLE?":
No. "Cat's In The Cradle" was written and recorded by Harry Chapin. This is a VERY common misconception. Recently there have been a number of Cat's In The Cradle MP3 files on file sharing services that claim to be either Cat Stevens (Bio), or Harry Chapin and Cat Stevens. They are not, it's just Harry. Or in some cases some other artist who recorded the song. Cat not only didn't write the song but never performed it. Not live, not in the studio, and not even privately.
Q: HOW CAN I CONTACT/WRITE CAT STEVENS (YUSUF ISLAM)?:
Yusuf has no public email address that I am aware of. However Yusuf's company, "Mountain of Light" listed the following address on the video release for "The Making Of The Life Of The Last Prophet (Video) (Album)."
Mountain Of Light Productions
PO Box 7404
London N7 8JQ
UK
Q: WHERE CAN I GET THE BOOK, "THE BOY WHO LOOKED AT THE MOON?":
This book is currently out of print so used book stores and eBay are the best places to try.
Q: WHERE CAN I GET THE BOOK, "THE DEFINITIVE CAREER BIOGRAPHY?":
This book is currently out of print so used book stores and eBay are the best places to try.
Q: WHERE CAN I GET THE BOOTLEGS LISTED ON CATSTEVENS.COM?:
As with just about everything eBay is a great place to start. The Classified Ads forum on CatStevens.Com is another option. However keep in mind that only bootlegs for trade can be posted here. Finally, try your local "hole in the wall" record shop. You never know what you may find.
Q: WHAT DOES MONA BONE JAKON MEAN?:
See here or here.
Q: CAN I DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO/VIDEO FILES ON CATSTEVENS.COM? WHY ARE THERE NO MP3 FILES HERE?:
No. The audio/video files on the site can only be "streamed" to your computer, so you have to be on CatStevens.Com to access them. You can buy copies of ALL of Cat Stevens (Bio) albums, including the new releases by Yusuf Islam (Bio) online or in stores. It's also fairly easy to find collectors willing to trade bootleg audio and video. We do not encourage piracy and allowing the files to be downloaded would contribute to that.
Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON YUSUF'S CHARITIES?:
Some. Here is the contact information for Small Kindness.
Registered Charity No: 1079579
Account No: 1001803
For Details Please contact:
Raad Salman Project Co-ordinator on 020 8830 1111
E-mail:info@smallkindness.org.uk
www.smallkindness.org.uk
Q: WHAT WAS YUSUF'S RESPONSE TO THE SEPTEMBER 11TH TERRORIST ATTACKS?:
Yusuf, like all right minded people completely opposed the attacks. He feels that the actions of the terrorists were wrong and completely unislamic.
He has written many articles and issued a number of statements on the matter. See his initial statement here.
Yusuf also donated royalties from his box set release to Sept. 11 charities and performed Peace Train (Song) live to show his support.
Q: WHO IS LADY D'ARBANVILLE?:
Lady D'Arbanville (Song) was written about actress Patti D'arbanville (Bio). She also has claimed that Wild World (Song) was written about her.
Q: HAS YUSUF/CAT STEVENS EVER GIVEN MONEY TO CHARITIES THAT SUPPORT TERRORISM, AND/OR DOES HE SUPPORT TERRORISM IN ANY WAY?:
No, of course not. Yusuf is a man of peace and feels that terrorism is un-islamic. He has never given any money or support to any terrorist organization. The same goes for charities that front terrorist groups. In fact Yusuf devotes most of his resources to his own charities. One, "Small Kindness" gives the money directly to the families in need (there are no middle-men involved).
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