Cleveland, Ohio, native Joel Ellis moved to Los Angeles in the mid Eighties and joined Merry Hoax, featuring drummer Randy Meers. Could there be any connection between this band and Merri Hoax who recorded a very Brit Metal influenced track on the Cleveland compilation album 'Etched in Steel » ? The band managed to win a production deal from Atlantic Records but the liaison really went no further. One of the Merry Hoax's demos fell into the hands of Seiki Matsu guitarist Takashi O'Hashi in Tokyo, however. Convinced that Ellis was the perfect man for the job of fronting the band, the Japanese axepert flew to LA and convinced both Ellis and Meers that their future lay in the far East with Seiki Matsu. The Tokyo based group had released three albums, the last of which had sold something in the region of 400,000 copies. The addition of the two Americans to the existing duo of O'Hashi and bassist Yasuhiro Hatae was expected to increase such a figure next time out of the box. A name change to Cats in Boots and a demo album, suitably entitled « Demonstration-East Meets West » was released on the indie label Bronze Age in Japan to great success, finding the band at their rawest.
01 Shot Gun Sally
02 Nine Lives (save Me)
03 Her Monkey
04 Whip It Out
05 Long, Long Way From Home
06 Coast To Coast
07 Every Sunrise
08 Evil Angel
09 Bad Boys Are Back
10 Judas Kiss
11 Heaven On A Heartbreak
12 Tokyo Screamin' (bonus Track)
13 Girl's All Right, Tonight (bonus Track)
14 Judas Kiss (bonus Track)
15 Bad Boys (bonus Track)
16 9 Lives (save Me) (bonus Track)
17 The Bayou Fool (bonus Track)
18 Her Monkey (bonus Track)
19 Heaven On A Heartbeat (bonus Track)
Joel Ellis: lead vocals, harmonica
Takashi “Jam” O’Hashi: guitars, vocals
Yasuhiro Hatae: bass, vocals
Randy Meers: drums, vocals
Dave Amato: guest backing vocals
Cats In Boots – Kicked & Klawed (Bad Reputation Remaster + 8 Bonus Tracks) 2021, CD-Rip
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