Black Cats (in Persian بلک کتس) is a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

based

Persian pop Iranian pop music or Persian pop music ( fa, موسیقی پاپ ایرانی) refers to pop music originated in Iran, with songs mainly in Persian and other regional Persian dialects of the country and region. History Early Iranian popular music ...

group founded and produced by Shahbal Shabpareh. The band was originally formed in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in the 1960s and other than Shabpareh, the members have been constantly changing every few years. Some of the most popular members have been

Ebi Ebrahim Hamedi ( fa, اِبراهیم حامدی, also Romanized as "Ebrāhim Hāmedi"; born 1949), better known by his stage name Ebi (Persian: ), is an Iranian pop singer who first started his career in Tehran, gaining fame as part of a ban ...

Hassan Shamaizadeh Hassan Shamaizadeh ( fa, حسن شماعی‌زاده, also Romanized as Hasan-é Šamâ'izâde; born January 15, 1943 in Isfahan) is an Iranian pop singer, songwriter and saxophonist. Over the past three decades, he composed songs for artists ...

Farhad Mehrad Farhad Mehrad (20 January 1944 – 31 August 2002), commonly known as Farhad, was an Iranian pop, rock, and folk singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist, who released the first English rock and roll album in Iran. He rose to prominence amon ...

, Shabpareh's brother

Shahram Shabpareh Shahram Shabpareh ( fa, شهرام شب‌پره) is an Iranian Pop singer and songwriter. Career He started his career as a drum player in the early 1960s when he was 13. In the mid 1960s at the age of 17, he formed a band of his own named "Re ...

and Kamran & Hooman.

Background

The group was originally formed in 1966 in

as a rock band with members

, Shahbal Shabpareh. In the 1990s, the band was relaunched in

as a pop group. While the band members and singers changed frequently over the next three decades, Shahbal Shabpareh has consistently remained the group's main musician, producer and manager. Shahbal's brother and ex-member, Shahram Shabpareh, who originally played guitar for the band, became a very popular Persian singer after leaving the band in the 1970s.

, one of the most popular Persian singers, was part of the group Black Cats from 1967 to 1979 before starting his solo career.

, who played the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

for the band, also ended up being a very popular solo singer as well a song writer for many popular artists such as

Googoosh Faegheh Atashin ( fa, فائقه آتشین; born 5 May 1950), known professionally as Googoosh ( fa, گوگوش, ), is an Iranian singer and former actress. One of the most popular and prolific entertainers in Iran, her career has spanned over ...

. From 1992 to 1999, ''Pyruz'' and ''David'' were the members, who were very popular. From 1999 to 2004, ''Kamran'' and ''Hooman'' were also very successful members, who ended up separating and starting their own very popular group called ''"Kamran & Hooman''." ''Kamyar & Hakim'' were the main members from 2004 to 2008. ''Kamyer'', who was influenced by Steve Wonder, also became successful on his own. This iteration of the band was known as Black Cats Next Level. In 2008, Shabpareh recruited two new members ''Sami'' and ''Eddie'' and recorded an album called "Dimbology". In 2013, the new iteration of the band was named Black Cats Ultimate, with the lead vocalist Edvin. Edvin was an

X-Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

contestant based in Dubai who got the gig by contacting Shabpareh via email and then auditioning. He has since moved to Los Angeles. Over the years they have had at least 43 members.

Style

The band's music is traditional upbeat style of Persian pop, but are also known to blend in

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, R&B, Hip-Hop,

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

Rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

and

Rapcore Rap rock is a fusion genre that fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock's most popular subgenres include rap metal and rapcore, which include heavy metal and hardcore punk-oriented influences, resp ...

influences into their music. Most their beats and timing is in traditional Persian shesh-o-hast format, meaning 6/8th, but often songs switch back and forth from 6/8 to 4/4 rock or pop format. Shabpareh calls it ''"rock dambuli."''

Discography

External links

Black Cats
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

Long video recording of early Black Cats, featuring Farhad Mehrad and Shahbal Shabpareh

References

{{Reflist Iranian musical groups Iranian pop music groups Musical groups from Tehran Caltex Records artists