Alley Cat by Bent Fabric

Album: Very Best of Bent Fabric and His Piano (1962)

Charted: 7

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Songfacts®:

This won the Grammy Award for Best Rock & Roll Recording, 1962.
Bent Fabric is a man, not a group. His real name is Bent Fabricus-Bjerre, and he wrote this under the pseudonym "Frank Bjorn."
Fabric is a piano player from Denmark. The Danish title of this is "Omkring et Flygel," which means "Around the Piano."
This was the theme song of popular Danish TV show of same name, hosted by Fabric.
Farbic led a jazz band in the 1940s. He became head of Denmark's Metronome Records in 1950, making the transition to pop music about the same time. >>
Suggestion credit:
Brad Wind - Miami, FL, for all above
An instrumental, this used to be very popular at weddings. It has a goofy dance that speeds up with the music.
A later vocal version features lyrics by Jack Harlen.

Comments: 12

Barry from Sauquoit, NyPer: www.legacy.com
Danish pianist Bent Fabric passed away on July 28th, 2020 after a short illness. He was 95 years old...
Born Bent Fabricius-Bjerre in Frederiksberg, Denmark, he won a Grammy Award for 'Best Rock ‘N’ Roll' recording for his 1962 Top 10 hit, “Alley Cat"...
"Alley Cat" peaked at #7 {for 1 week} on Billboard's Top 100 chart in September of 1962 and it spent eighteen weeks on the Top 100...
He had one other Top 100 record, "Chicken Feed", it reached #63 in 1963 and stay on the chart for eight weeks...
May he R.I.P.
Greg Y. from Monterey, CaLove the music, my senior line-dance group dances to it. Isn't there a version that gets faster and faster towards the end?
Frank from Granchester Meadows, GreenlandThanks Mike from PA--------never knew the lyrics before...those are cool.
Mike from Franklin County, Pa(P.S.) This is one of the first songs I've learned to play on the keyboard of an electric organ my dad uaed to owned when I was younger . I still play it every now and then on my small Casio keyboard organ ( this organ which is a musical keyboard toy , has 100 different tunes ; so you can press any two buttons on the instrument to change the sound from a organ to a glass harmonica , a pipe organ , bagpipe , harpsichord , etc. )
Mike from Franklin County, Pa(Lyrics to song )1. He goes on the prowl each night , Like an alley cat. Looking for some new delight , Like an alley cat . ..2. She can't trust him out of sight , There's no doubt of that . He just don't know wrong from right , Like an alley cat. ..He meets them (meow) , And loves them (meow) ,And leaves them (meow) , Like that "Casanova" does. ..3. That's no way to treat a pal , She should tell him "Scat !" . Aren't you sorry for that gal , And her alley cat . ( instrumental interlude ).. He meets them (meow), And loves them (meow) , And leaves them (meow), Like that "Casanova" does . .. 4. He don't know that faithful means , There's no doubt of that. He's too busy makin' scenes , Like am alley cat . ... And that's the sad , sad tale of a lonesome quail , And her alley cat . (ends)
Reed from New Ulm, MnCan someone [probably age 50 or over]tell me if this particular song was played on the Jackie Gleason show everytime he introduced Frank Fontane as "Crazy Googenhime"?...or is it just my imagination. i seem to remember that for some reason.
Lars from Copenhagen, DenmarkPerhaps wishful thinking, but Bent Fabric claims
in his latest autobiography (of a kind) "Tanker ved tangenterne" that "Alley Cat" was a #1 hit for several weeks on the Billboard Charts. This isn´t true, it peaked at #7, but still a great tune which he can be proud of!
Louis Rodriguez from Lancaster, CaI've been a rock and roll fan for most of my life,but i just can't understand how "alley cat"
got selected as a grammy for best rock and roll
recording. What about hey baby or do you love me
or maybe green onions. don't get me wrong i like
this song it just doesn't belong in that catagory
Peter from Sandager, DenmarkThis year (2004) Bent Fabricus-Bjerre's hit song Jukebox was used in a european Coca Cola comercial.
Soren from Copenhagen, DenmarkThe US record company introduced a story that Bent Fabric was inspired by his two cats "Tim" and "Tom" to write the song. But in fact Bent had no cats - he'd written it as a theme-song for a TV-series. But the cat story went with him on his promo-tour in the US - culminating with the opening of a cat exebishion in the top of Empire State Building...
Soren from Copenhagen, DenmarkThe US record company disliked the orignal title "Around The Piano" and wanted to come up with a title involving an animal. The first idea was "Drunken Penguin" - but the name was already taken... so was "Pink Elephant" and several other ideas. Bent Fabric came up with "Alley Cat" after reading a column in a magazine written by a guy, who called himself "Alley Cat"...
Soren from Copenhagen, DenmarkAt the age of more than 80 Bent Fabric hit the dance charts in Denmark with "shake" and "Jukebox".

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