You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.

Subject: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 08:34 AM

Any thoughts?

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Spartacus
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 08:58 AM

I overdosed on cat stevens after the 150th time i heard his records....I still can't stomach him to this day...what a strange thread to start.

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Willie-O
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 08:58 AM

I had OD'd on Cat Stevens by the time I was 17.

Long before he endorsed the fatwah on Salman Rushdie.

There was once a certain naive charm to him, but he never matured as an artist.

Wonder if he ever wrote a sequel to "Peace Train" to mark his evolving views. "Jihad Express?"

W-O

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 09:05 AM

I'm being quoted! What an honor! Guest, please identify yourself, I like to know who's flattering me...

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Maryrrf
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 11:07 AM

Well, I have to admit I liked Cat Stevens back then and I still like his old albums. Don't think I'd care for some of the ones he put out after his conversion, like "'A' is for Allah"!

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Spartacus
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 11:12 AM

You can overdose on cat stevens, but you can't rollerskate in a buffalo herd.

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 11:26 AM

Actually, I DO think he matured (early) as an artist. Loved his first three albums, and then he started repeating himself. Saw him in concert and he was great.

Rick

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: M.Ted
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 12:09 PM

Saw a VH1 special on him a couple weeks back, and watched, just to see what he had to say about the Rushdie thing--I was stunned to see what he has become, which is a totally committed humanitarian and philanthropist--he essentially walked away from his career when it was at the top, and dedicated himself and his considerable fortunes to providing aid, assistance, particularly for children, in such places as Bosnia--and he has been out there, occasionally in the line of fire, fighting for peace, human rights, and all that stuff that he used to just sing about--

As to the Rushdie thing, he says never asked anything directly about Rushdie, he was asked what the Q'uran specified the punishment for blasphemy should be, and as a new and slightly naive religious convert, he simply said what the law was. At any rate, his explanation and other info can be found at catstevens.com--

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 12:28 PM

I don't know that he qualifies as a "new and slightly naive religious convert" M Ted, since he converted to Islam more than ten years ago.

I'm a big fan of his old songs, and I wish him the best.

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Jenny the T
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 12:30 PM

Bah! Cat/Yusuf's self-serving 'explanation' is all spin and no fact, as might be expected from material on his own website. There's still plenty of information that hasn't been whitewashed through his PR people.

Here's an excerpt from the NY Times (1989):

LONDON, May 22 -- The musician known as Cat Stevens said in a British television program to be broadcast next week that rather than go to a demonstration to burn an effigy of the author Salman Rushdie, ''I would have hoped that it'd be the real thing.''

The singer, who adopted the name Yusuf Islam when he converted to Islam, made the remark during a panel discussion of British reactions to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's call for Mr. Rushdie to be killed for allegedly blaspheming Islam in his best-selling novel ''The Satanic Verses.'' He also said that if Mr. Rushdie turned up at his doorstep looking for help, ''I might ring somebody who might do more damage to him than he would like.''

''I'd try to phone the Ayatollah Khomeini and tell him exactly where this man is,'' said Mr. Islam, who watched a preview of the program today and said in an interview that he stood by his comments.

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Jenny the T
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 12:36 PM

Missed getting this into the above; sorry for the multi-post:

Yusuf/Cat converted to Islam in 1977. The Rushdie furor was more than ten years later. 'Naive new convert.' Sure.

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: M.Ted
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 12:52 PM

Regardless of JennyT's opinions, he seems to have dedicated his life and his fortune to positive, humanitarian efforts--at any rate, the phrasings were mine, from memory, as it were, since, if researched and footnoted every comment that I made here, I would never get anything done--he seems more concerned with the work that he is doing than with what anyone thinks--

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 01:00 PM

He said it best when he wrote...

"I don't want no god on my lawn, Just a flower I can help along..."

Too bad it was just words to him...

"he seems more concerned with the work that he is doing than with what anyone thinks"

I'm certain Hitler felt the same way...

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Jenny the T
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 01:36 PM

If advocating the burning alive of a man, strictly on the grounds that you don't like his book, is a 'positive, humanitarian effort, I'm George W. Bush.

Look--maybe he's done lots of good things, and has long since atoned for a rash statement made 20 years ago. I'm willing to grant that, even without seeing the evidence. People shoot off their mouths without thinking things through all the time; maybe that's all it was.

But he said those things, in front of a national audience, and a man's life was endangered. Now he's trying to pretend that is was all a big misunderstanding? Sorry--that won't wash.

If you don't have time to verify statements you present as fact, the best policy is to not make the statement. Or just let your readers know up front, for convenience's sake, that the truth isn't important to you.

It took me all of 30 seconds to pull up that little NYT tidbit. And yet I still have plenty of time left in the day! A search engine is a wonderful thing.

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 02:16 PM

I think the man's life was already endangered, no?

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Jenny the T
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 02:35 PM

... and finally, my last word on the topic:

In fairness to Yusuf/Cat, I continued poking around the search engines after posting the above, and found articles about him, plus a recent one authored by him.

To his credit, he calls for the release of kidnapped journalist Daniel Pearl, and eloquently makes a case for Islam as a religion founded on peaceful, merciful precepts.

Other articles highlight his afore-mentioned humanitarian efforts, although at least one also noted that he'd become persona non grata in Israel after carrying funds for the Hamas organization into the country. I found no other substantiation for the Israeli claim, though, and I take all official announcements from that quarter with a large dose of salt these days.

So maybe he's not such a bad guy, all things considered. I still don't understand the whitewash over the Rushdie fatwa, though. To stand behind your statements, or repudiate them after becoming older and wiser--these positions I could respect. To try to pretend, in the face of documentary evidence, that they 'never happened'--I can't respect that at all.

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: M.Ted
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 02:37 PM

I stand by what I said JennyT----as to my postings,and my credibility, I contribute a fair amount around here--and do more than my fair share of research--

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Jenny the T
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 02:45 PM

And what you said, MTed, was, in effect, that you couldn't be bothered to check facts.

So--based on that--I have to think, in relation to this topic ... _what_ credibility?

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: RichM
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 03:27 PM

awfercrissakes--or allah's, or bubastis'--- have another look at the words to the Universal Soldier!

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: M.Ted
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 04:15 PM

I never said that I couldn't be bothered to check the facts, only that I wasn't inclined to footnote--I did post the fansite, evidence that had enough checked around a bit--at any rate, I had assumed, wrongly, it seems, that this was a friendly chat, rather than either an academic debate or a judicial proceeding--next time, I guess I'll have to subpoena witnesses--Your Honor, I move for dismissal--

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Jenny the T
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 04:38 PM

Oh, please.

Could you be a bigger baby about this? Do we really have to have this self-indulgent rubbish?

Enough already. Who has time to waste with people who think watching a VH1 puff piece and glancing at a 'fansite' constitutes 'checking around,' and who whine about hurt feelings when presented with contradictory evidence?

Save it, Ted, just save it.

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Noreen
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 04:49 PM

So an unnamed GUEST with no opinions of his/her own has got us fighting amongst ourselves again...

Chill, folks.

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 04:53 PM

Actually, you can overdose on Cat Stevens. I did once back around 1975, and it was a horrible experience. I wandered around for days raving "Moonshadow, moonshadow, leapin' and a-hoppin' on a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshad..." on and on and on and on...couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't walk the dog...was finally cured by spending 48 hours in a sensory deprivation tank and then immediately listening to Bob Dylan singing "I Want You" upon emerging.

I strictly avoided Cat Stevens recordings for the next 3 years, by which time I had fully recovered, and had no more cravings.

I agree that his first three albums were very good, but after that he was ready for something completely different...and it turned out to be Islam. I can certainly forgive him for that, although I may not agree with him on every point of doctrine...

Clinton - Hitler was more idealistic and motivated than your average 10 ordinary human beings...but the dark side of his nature unfortunately got hold of all that passion and energy and turned it to utterly destructive purposes. Read John Toland's book "Adolf Hitler" for a fascinating study of the man. To merely judge him as a one-dimensional archvillain is to be poorly informed. He was a complex individual, as most of us are...and like most of us he was convinced that he was on the side of progress, rightness, and all that is noble. He never stopped believing it right until the very end, with the Russians a block away, and his insane empire falling in ruins all around him. Such is the stubborness of the human ego in the grip of its chosen obsessions.

Spaw - You can rollerskate in a buffalo herd. Just not for very long. I believe that Yurko would be willing to do it on a bet...

- LH

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Desdemona
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 04:54 PM

Puts me in mind of something I heard years ago:

"Oh baby, baby it's a wild world, And it's hard to get by without some infidel blaspheming the prophet and having to disembowel him....."

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 05:01 PM

Yeah, Des...well, any infidel who disembowels the prophet deserves more than just a slap on the wrist if ya ask me! :-)

- LH

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: GUEST,mmm1a
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 06:38 PM

OK I'll admit it I always did like Cat Stevens not everything but alot of his stuff. I am like that with most music I listen to . I like early Rollong Stones but would not waste my money on an album that came out after Stickey Fingers and even that I didn't think was all that great. Heck I don't even like everything by Bob Dylan ok just about everything but not all. I guess with me I listen to what I like and tend to tune out the rest. mmm

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: mmm1a
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 06:40 PM

just checking to see if my cookie reset mmm

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Rolfyboy6
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 09:13 PM

Cat Stevens? Ooooooooohhhhhhhh. Cooooooooooo. Baaaaaabbyyyyy. Goooooooooshsshhh. Before and after conversion he was a lightweight. Soft squishy goo.

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 10:08 PM

Typical. Don't blame the GUESTs for this. The only nastiness comes from full fledged members, one of whom uses his full name. I guess the holy mudcat membership makes racism. flames, and bad manners OK.

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: technission
Date: 27 Feb 02 - 12:31 AM

I also stopped listening after the first three albums; I even received one of the post-conversion discs(vinyl,then) free from a rewviewer and it wasn't my cup of anything. I actually liked Natalie Merchant covering "Peace Train", but I definitely OD'd on Moon Shadow because it's SOP on film sets to razz the sound crew with "I'm being followed by a boom shadow..." Many songs that seemed deep when I was in my late teens seem far shallower 30 years later, but if "pop" or "folk" music and words still affect emotions of many people 30 years after their origin they must have some cachet by definition. Will they still earn attention a century from now? I would dearly love to open a small and benign time rift to see the Mudcat postings of 2102...

Sometime within the last year I fixated on the tune and a few limited lyrics (couldn't remember most of them) of "Boy with the moon and star on his head." Is it star or stars plural? And isn't the crescent moon and a single star an Islamic symbol? Did this song have anything whatsoever to do with Islam? I never perceived it that way; just asking. The music was in my head for days but that was OK at the time.

Why must we go on fighting, why can't we live in bliss...

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Suzy Sock Puppet
Date: 05 Jun 13 - 01:41 AM

The word in 2012 is that comments Yusuf/Cat made regarding the Rushdie fatwa were indeed "British humor." I bought that earlier, after reading Jenny T's comments, I'm not so sure...

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: melodeonboy
Date: 05 Jun 13 - 02:31 AM

Oh yes you can. And it don't take much!

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 05 Jun 13 - 05:28 AM

Cat....Yusuf....I expect he considered John or Jim as names, but they were too showbiz.......

Subject: RE: You can't overdose on Cat Stevens.
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 05 Jun 13 - 06:48 AM

Little Hawk: Actually, you can overdose on Cat Stevens. I did once back around 1975, and it was a horrible experience. I wandered around for days raving "Moonshadow, moonshadow, leapin' and a-hoppin' on a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshad..." on and on and on and on...couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't walk the dog...

I recall as students we'd go around singing "I am being swallowed by a huge sparrow" and similar parodies, some printable, some not. I thinkwe overdoesed in about 3 days.