Johnny Thunders & Patti Palladin 'Copy Cats' CD - excellent 50's & 60's covers

JOHNNY THUNDERS & PATTI PALLADIN

~ COPY CATS ~

The classic Johnny & Patti album ‘COPY CATS’ from 1988 is reissued on CD.  An acclaimed, affectionate collection of tunes that the expatriate New York pair grew up with, it features songs by The Shangri-La’s, Dion, Elvis, The Seeds, The Shirelles, Roy Head and Screaming Jay Hawkins amongst others. 

Johnny is of course the late New York Doll & Heartbreaker notorious rock legend; his pal Patti is half of punk girl duo Snatch as well as being an Eno and Flying Lizards collaborator.

The positive reaction on its release was unanimous; DJs John Peel and Charlie Gillett both declared it to be “better than the originals”!  With Patti in the producer’s chair, the extended 1987 sessions enlisted well over 20 musicians including real brass and strings players to create a meticulously crafted homage to the originals.  Whilst stamping the duos own personalities on the songs, this thorough and conscientious project is also in high contrast to Johnny’s often-wayward live persona.

The album features the indie-chart hit singles 'Crawfish', 'She Wants To Mambo' and '(I Was) Born To Cry'.

The assembled players included guitarist John Perry (Only Ones), bassist Robbie A. Gordon (Gil Scott Heron band), keyboardist Bob Andrews (The Rumour, Brinsley Schwartz), guest backing vocals by The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, violinist Alex Balanescu, brass section Jim Dvorak, Nick Evans & John ‘Irish’ Earle, percussionist Pedro Ortiz, drummer Steve Washington, Heartbreakers Billy Rath and Jerry Nolan, plus Jayne County and numerous others.

12 Tracks:

Can’t Seem To Make You Mine, Baby It’s You, She Wants To Mambo, Treat Her Right, Uptown To Harlem, Crawfish, Alligator Wine, Two Time Loser, Love Is Strange, I Was Born To Cry, He Cried, Let Me Entertain You (Pts 1 & 2).

UNCUT: “Contender for coolest album of all time. A labour of love, which worked beautifully.”
CLASSIC ROCK: “It drips quality and class.  Pop diamonds from 1960’s NYC in cinematic soundscapes somewhere between Spector and Scorcese.  Still stunning.”  June 07

Stock photo. Factory Shrinkwrapped.