Have a Listen
“Cool Cat” is a funky masterpiece. The track’s sexy bassline and Freddie Mercury’s intoxicating falsetto make for a major head-bopping experience.
I mean we all knew Freddie could rock, but we didn’t know he could groove too!
The song was written by Mercury along with Queen drummer John Deacon. All the instruments in the song were played by Deacon, except for the electric piano played by Mercury. Brian May and Roger Taylor did not contribute to the track.
According to Mercury, the song was inspired by his love of cats, although it is open to interpretation whether the lyrics are about a person or a feline.
Fun fact, David Bowie originally sang backing vocals to the track. However, he requested they be removed a few days before the album was scheduled for release. It is also one of Queen’s songs the band never played live.
Cool Cat is listed on the band’s album Hot Space, released in May of 1982. The album, despite featuring one of the band’s biggest hits, Under Pressure, was considered a great disappointment, having radically shifted direction from their previous rock sound to a more disco-themed, funk inspired composition.
In a 1989 interview, May reflected “I think Hot Space was a mistake, if only timing-wise. We got heavily into funk and it was quite similar to what Michael Jackson did on Thriller. But the timing was wrong. Back then disco was a dirty word.”
The album’s “unsuccessfulness” comes only relative to their previous works, as it still managed to reach top ten chart positions across Europe and achieved gold sales status both in the UK and US.
