BIOGRAPHY – Cats in Boots

Whilst the likes of Mötley Crüe, Ratt and White Lion would enjoy repeated success during the late 1980s, there were countless other hair metal groups that would be considered nothing more than one hit wonders. One such band was Cats in Boots, whose 1989 single Shotgun Sally received a modest amount of airplay on music channels. The origin of the band can be traced back to Japan in the early 1980s, when a heavy metal group formed in Tokyo called Seikima-II. In 1985 they decided to recruit a second guitarist and eventually hired Takashi O’Hashi, a native of Toyohashi City, Aichi, who had begun performing under the name Jail O’Hashi and would join the band shortly after they signed to Sony. After recording three albums with Seikima-II, O’Hashi set his sights on becoming a rock star and announced his decision to his bandmates. In 1987 he relocated from Japan to the United States with his friend and bass player Yasuhiro Hatae, with their intention of forming a new group and breaking into the mainstream.

Arriving in Hollywood, O’Hashi began searching for a talented and charismatic singer and soon approached Joel Ellis, who at the time had been performing with a Cleveland-based rock outfit called Merri Hoax. Having recently signed a contract with Atlantic, the band were eager to commence work on touring and recording but felt that the label were not supportive. O’Hashi asked Ellis if he was interested in forming a group and promised that they would have an audience in Japan. Having struggled to gain any exposure with Merri Hoax Ellis was easily tempted and, following the hiring of American drummer Randy Meeks, who had briefly toured with Black Oak Arkansas during the late 1970s, Cats in Boots was formed. True to his word, O’Hashi brought his new band over to Japan and was able to book a series of shows almost immediately. Their first first release came in May 1988; a seven-track EP appropriately titled Demonstration: East Meets West. The promise of their mini-album and the enthusiastic response from their performances in Japan soon brought Cats in Boots to the attention of a major label, EMI, who signed the group the following September.

Despite the language barrier between two Japanese and two American musicians, the writing for their full length debut album would go relatively smoothly, with nine of the eleven songs written solely by O’Hashi and Ellis. With the label having high hopes for their new clients, they brought in Tom Werman to handle the production. Werman, who hailed from Boston, Massachusetts, had worked with on several successful hair metal albums, most notably Girls, Girls, Girls by Mötley Crüe and Open Up and Say… Ahh! by Poison. Creative differences between Werman and the band over his handing of the sessions would lead to his eventual dismissal, with EMI bringing in Mark Opitz, who had worked with a variety of artists, from AC/DC to INXS, as well as overseeing the soundtracks to the hit movies Pretty in Pink and The Lost Boys. Recording would take place throughout April and May 1989, primarily at Amigo Studios, which was based on North Hollywood and had been purchased by Warner Bros. during the 1970s, although other locations used during the sessions were Ameraycan Studios (which had been built by Ray Parker, Jr. over a decade earlier as his private recording space), Summa Studios and Can-Am Recorders in Tarzana, Los Angeles.

Although Cats in Boots had yet to make a name for themselves in the United States and the label had few expectations for them, once the recording sessions were completed the tapes were handed over the George Marino of Sterling Sound in New York, who had made a name for himself throughout the 1970s and 1980s mastering albums from a diverse range of successful artists. The first single to be released would also become their most well known; Shotgun Sally received minor airplay on MTV, accompanied by an energetic video and lyrics that told of a young delinquent girl with an itchy trigger finger. The album, Kicked & Klawed, was released by EMI in late 1989 and featured re-workings of four songs originally featured on Demonstration: East Meets West. Perhaps not surprisingly, Cats in Boots would enjoy more success in Japan than in the United States, where the release of Kicked & Klawed was overshadowed by Faster Pussycat‘s Wake Me When It’s Over, L.A. Guns‘ Cocked & Loaded (produced, ironically, by Werman) and Skid Row‘s eponymous debut.

Following disputes with their record label over the direction of the group, with EMI wanting them to recycle their material, Cats in Boots disbanded soon after the touring for Kicked & Klawed came to an end. O’Hashi decided to work on a solo album entitled Neither Reality Nor Fiction, which featured a mixture of original material and covers of the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Elvis Costello, while Ellis formed Heavy Bones, who recorded one album with guitarist-turned-producer Richie Zito. Cats in Boots finally reformed in 2003 for a tour of Japan, although Hatae would be the only member not to take part and the group had no intentions of returning to the studio to record an album.