The CAT Club (Classic Album Thursdays)

The CAT Club presents a long playing vinyl record . . . FAIRGROUND ATTRACTION – THE FIRST OF A MILLION KISSES with special guest MARK NEVIN Released in 1988, 'The First Of A Million Kisses,' was the double platinum debut album from Fairground Attraction, a band originally formed with Mark Nevin and Eddi Reader. Largely written by guitarist Nevin, it blended folk, jazz, country and pop infl...

The CAT Club in association with Route Publishing presents a long playing vinyl record . . . BOB DYLAN – BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME Bob Dylan’s fifth album Bringing It All Back Home was released in March 1965. The introduction of electric guitar into his sound set off a wave of controversy that came symbolically crashing down at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester fourteen months later when some wag...

The CAT Club presents An Appreciation of THE PRETTY THINGS  With special guest, former band member WALLY WALLER The Pretty Things hold a unique place in the history of British rock. Formed in the early sixties from the same London R&B scene that produced The Rolling Stones, they began as one of the rawest and most uncompromising groups before evolving into one of its most adventurous. Over the...

The CAT Club presents An Audience With GRAHAM PARKER  “After doing numerous promotional podcasts and interviews discussing my musical career as it hits 50 years since my first album was released, being onstage at the CAT Club in Pontefract in front of a full house of delightful folks has been the absolute highlight of the entire experience.  The dedication of the people who run the venue is beyond...

The CAT Club presents a long playing vinyl record: MARIANNE FAITHFULL – BROKEN ENGLISH with special guest JUDE ROGERS Marianne Faithfull’s brilliant album, 'Broken English' from 1979, isn’t pretty and it was never meant to be. It consists of wracked, haunting tales, told over a hypnotic mesh of throbbing synths & wrecked guitars. Our special guests was journalist, arts critic, broadcas...

The CAT Club presents a long playing vinyl record: TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS (debut album) with special guest JOHN WILLIAMS At the time Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' eponymous debut was released in 1976, the band were fresh enough to almost be considered punk. Like the Ramones, they shared a love for ‘60s rock and roll. For the Heartbreakers that meant embracing the Byrds as much...

The CAT Club presents a long playing vinyl record . . . DAVID BOWIE – BLACK STAR with special guest PAUL MORLEY The visionary and haunting Blackstar was released in January 2016 on Bowie’s birthday and just two days before his untimely death. Writer, broadcaster and cultural critic Paul Morley has written about music, art & entertainment since the 1970s. A founding member of the electronic col...

The CAT Club presents An Audience with Jethro Tull guitarist MARTIN BARRE – A Life In Music His iconic riff in Jethro Tull’s 'Aqualung' is widely recognised as one of the best in rock history and was also voted as one of the top rock guitar solos of all time by Guitar Player magazine readers. From 1968 to 2014, his guitar work defined much of the band's sound, contributing to their success and end...

The CAT Club in association with Strangebrew podcasts presents An Audience with MARK WEBBER Mark Webber first discovered Pulp as a teenage fan in 1985. He soon began helping with stage sets and light shows, later becoming the band’s tour manager and fan club organiser. In 1995, he officially joined the group as guitarist during the creation of 'Different Class.' Mark joined us to share his extraor...

The CAT Club presents RINGO STARR – An Appreciation with special guest and Ringo Starr biographer TOM DOYLE Ringo Starr’s story is the ride of a lifetime, from his brushes with death as a child brought up in poverty, through to dizzying heights of fame and success with the most famous band in the world. He then had to cope with life outside of it all, including a film career, children’s TV narrato...

The CAT Club presents a long playing vinyl record . . . BE-BOP DELUXE – SUNBURST FINISH with special guest JOHN LECKIE Sunburst Finish, from 1976, is often described as the finest hour for both Be-Bop Deluxe & Bill Nelson. Before making his debut as a producer on this classic album, John Leckie worked as a tape operator and engineer with such artists as George Harrison, Pink Floyd, Paul McCart...

The CAT Club presents a long playing vinyl record . . . THE KINKS ARE THE VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY with special guest CHRIS WADE Many regard 'The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society' as Ray Davies’ magnum opus. We were delighted to welcome Chris Wade along to explore the ins & outs of that 1968 album and the work of one of the greatest bands of all time. Chris is...

The CAT Club presents An Audience with PAUL JONES Nine top 10 singles (including two number ones) as a member of one of the iconic bands of the sixties and also as a solo singer and so much more . . . Paul Jones was the original frontman of Manfred Mann from 1962 to 1966 and co-wrote the signature tune for Ready, Steady, Go! Paul, who is also one of the great harmonica players, was at the forefron...

The CAT Club presents a classic vinyl album: THE WEDDING PRESENT – GEORGE BEST  with special guest  DAVID GEDGE We were absolutely delighted to welcome Wedding Present songwriter and singer, David Gedge to talk about one of the great debut albums, 'George Best.' “George Best triumphantly confirms that unique standing, being both a surprise and a thing of beauty” (NME 1987). “The boy Gedge...

The CAT Club presents a classic vinyl album: MAGAZINE – REAL LIFE with special guest HELEN CHASE Magazine’s strength lay in their ability to marry together punk roots, a vision of the future and a keen literary mind. This can be a fine line to walk without falling off to one side or the other, but Magazine walked it superbly with ‘Real Life.’ Helen Chase’s revised and updated edition of ‘Magazine:...

A CAT Club presentation AN AUDIENCE WITH JOHN ALTMAN John Altman has four Lifetime Achievement Awards and four Grammy Participation Certificates. He has composed music for over fifty movies – winning, and being nominated for BAFTAS, Golden Globes, Golden Reels and Emmy Awards long the way for Titanic, Monty Python’s Life Of Brian, Goldeneye, Hear My Song, Sheltering Sky, Léon: The Professional, RK...

OH MERCY – BOB DYLAN with special guest Michael Gray In 1989 Bob Dylan appeared to be a busted flush, the God bothering had faded and the glory decades were long gone but with Daniel Lanois at the helm ‘Oh Mercy’ smashed any preconceptions of creative malaise and delivered his most vital work for years. For many ‘Oh Mercy' was a gateway drug to both Dylan and the genre of Americana. It is a ge...

The CAT Club presents a classic vinyl album: COMBAT ROCK – THE CLASH Released in 1982, ‘Combat Rock’ covers old ground with almost gleeful energy, stakes out new territory with confidence, and delivers more than enough timeless classics to make it stand proudly next to any of their earlier work. With special guest CHRIS SALEWICZ The author of Redemption Song: 'The Definitive Biography Of Joe Strum...

The CAT Club presents a classic vinyl album: THE CURE – THE HEAD ON THE DOOR with special guest DAVID M ALLEN Released in 1985, 'The Head On The Door' was The Cure’s first real international success. At the helm during the recording of this terrific classic album was producer David M Allen. David is also an engineer and mixer. He has worked with The Sisters Of Mercy, The Chameleons, Depeche Mode,...

The CAT Club presents a classic vinyl album: GRACE JONES – SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM with special guest BRUCE WOOLLEY Bruce Woolley co-wrote all the songs on Grace Jones’ classic album from 1985, 'Slave To The Rhythm' and he plays guitar, bass and keyboards on the album, as well as singing background vocals. His band, Bruce Woolley & The Camera Club, recorded 'Video Killed The Radio Star...

The CAT Club presents a classic vinyl album: LIVE AT THE WITCH TRIALS – THE FALL with special guests MARK HOYLE & PAUL HANLEY An incendiary debut album,  Live At The Witch Trials  introduces The Fall as 'northern white crap that talks back'. And so it was for the next four decades: abrasive, non-conformist, literate, witty, rhythmic. It was a sound and attitude obsessed over by two tee...

A CAT Club presentation in association with Strange Brew podcasts: AN AUDIENCE WITH KEN SCOTT “The venue, the team and the audience were all wonderful and made my presentation at the CAT Club totally enjoyable. Thank you everyone!” Ken Scott. Here’s a lovely write up from our good friend Elliot Smaje (he of Wall of Sound Records fame) about the final CAT Club gathering of 2024. Following on from t...

The CAT Club, in association with Strange Brew podcasts, presents a classic vinyl album:: OGDENS’ NUT GONE FLAKE – THE SMALL FACES There was no shortage of outstanding psychedelic albums in the late 1960s, but the Small Faces classic Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, proved to be one of the greatest. With special guest PHILL BROWN A sixteen year old called Phill Brown was the tape operator on Ogdens’ Nut Go...

AN AUDIENCE WITH IAN RANKIN A Life in Music . .  The superb Inspector Rebus novels are littered with musical references throughout, so we were delighted when legendary award winning author, Sir Ian Rankin agreed to come along to talk about his own life with our favourite art form.  Originally, Ian’s friend (and also a best selling Scottish author), John Niven was to be the interviewer, but an impo...

THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN with special guest ARTHUR BROWN. The eponymous ‘The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown,’ which included the smash hit single ‘Fire,’ was released in 1968. With Vincent Crane on keyboards, Drachen Theaker on drums and Nick Greenwood (billed as Sean Nicholas) on bass guitar, and with Brown’s extraordinary vocals, it was perhaps an album that could never be repeated and it re...